Booting Node May Prevent Running Node from Accessing Quorum Disk

ID: Q248663

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

If the network connection between cluster nodes does not function properly on Windows NT 4.0-based computers that are configured as part of a cluster with a quorum disk, a cluster node that is starting can prevent a node that is currently running from gaining access to the quorum disk. This may cause the cluster on the running node to stop and all processing to be moved to the second node.

During Windows NT 4.0 arbitration when a communication loss occurs, drives owned by the non-quorum owner may not have their cache flushed during arbitration.

RESOLUTION

A supported fix that corrects this problem is now available from Microsoft, but it has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. If you are not severely affected by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Windows NT 4.0 service pack that contains this fix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information on support costs, please go to the following address on the World Wide Web:

http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/overview/overview.asp

The English-language version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:


   Date      Time        Size      File name      Platform
   -------------------------------------------------------
   11/22/1999   02:43p    29,424   Clusdisk.sys   x86
   11/22/1999   02:42p   175,888   Clusres.dll    x86
   11/22/1999   02:36p    49,360   Clusdisk.sys   Alpha
   11/22/1999   02:36p   281,872   Clusres.dll    Alpha

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about clusters and quorum disks, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q245626 INFO: Use the -localquorum Switch to Install a Single-Node MSCS Cluster

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbnetwork ntsp kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00
Version : winnt:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug