Scale-Out File Server Cluster: Where Is the Witness Disk?

We were in a bit of a quandary as far as the how/what/where for a Witness Disk (quorum disk) for Scale-Out File Server (SOFS) cluster.

Our setup:

• (2) Intel Server Systems R2208GZ4GC
• Dual SAS HBAs, Dual Intel X540T2 10GbE
• Scale-Out File Server Nodes
• (2) Intel Storage Systems JBOD2224S2DP JBOD
• Mix of 10K SAS, 15K SAS, and SSD SAS drives mirrored in each JBOD
• (2) Intel Server Systems R2208GZ4GC
• Dual Intel X540T2 10GbE
• Hyper-V Nodes

In the case where we had a Hyper-V Failover Cluster using Direct Attached Storage via Promise VTrak E610sD dual SAS, Dell MD3220 dual SAS, or HP P2000 dual SAS we would set up a 1.5GB shared LUN for the quorum disk.

Well, in this case we don't have the logic in the storage to do that.

So, where do we put our Witness Disk for a SOFS based Storage Spaces cluster?

The only real clue we had was in Jose Barreto's blog post:

• Jose Barreto's Blog: Windows Server 2012 R2 Storage: Step-by-step with Storage Spaces, SMB Scale-Out and Shared VHDX (Physical)

Specifically this line in the Storage Spaces setup:

New-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName Space1 -StoragePoolFriendlyName Pool1 -ResiliencySettingName Mirror –Size 1GB

An e-mail to Jose asking about that command, and also an e-mail to my fellow Cluster MVPs, came back with Jose confirming that the 1GB Virtual Disk (Storage Space) would be used for the Witness Disk.

We have two options when it comes to configuring the disk. Either we set it up as per Jose's blog post and verify in Failover Cluster Management (FCM) that the Witness Disk is the allocated 1GB or we stand up the cluster, configure the 1GB Storage Space, and then designate the Witness Disk in FCM.

Further reading:

• Cluster and High-Availability Blog: Understanding Quorum in a Failover Cluster
• Ask Premier Field Engineering (PFE) Platforms Blog: Clustering: What exactly is a File Share Witness and when should I use one?

Thanks to Jose Barreto and my fellow Cluster MVPs that answered the N00b questions! :)

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Flash Multiple Intel or LSI RAID and SAS HBAs Together

We ran into a bit of a question mark around updating the SAS HBAs (Host Bus Adapters) in our Scale-Out File Server nodes. The question being how do we update all of the SAS HBAs in the server without having to take things a part physically.

When looking at the HBA.NSH file that comes with the firmware update for EFI Shell we see the default command line in the batch:

• sas2flash -f Intel\gb.fw -b mptsas2.rom -b x64sas2.rom

A quick search on the SAS2Flash utility and we found the LSI manual here:

• LSI SAS2Flash Utility Quick Reference Guide (Direct link to PDF)

In the guide we find what we need:

• sas2flash -fwall Intel\gb.fw -b mptsas2.rom -b x64sas2.rom

Once we power cycled through POST and CTRL+C into the HBA BIOS we saw:

Happiness is not having to pull apart the server systems to update things one at a time!

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

A Hyper-V Hardware and Software Configuration Guide

We install iDRAC Enterprise, iLO Advanced, or Intel RMM in the server for out-of-band KVM over IP management. Of course one needs to set a static IP address to that unit in order to gain access when DHCP goes offline. :)

The host should have a static IP address. We add the host to DNS so we can resolve the name while the guest DC is online.

We do _not_ join the guest's domain. We use John Howard's HVRemote to configure the host and a desktop OS based machine on the domain that has RSAT installed to manage that host. The Windows desktop OS machine or VM will also have a static IP address.

We plug a bootable USB flash drive with the host OS installer files, drivers, and management utilities into the host and _leave it there_ for the host's entire life. With the KVM over IP we are able to re-install the host OS and reconfigure it in short order if there is a need.

• System Configuration
• BIOS: Disable C3/C6 States
• Fastest GHz on CPU over number of Cores
• Correct memory speed for that CPU
• 1 memory stick per channel (16GB sticks are not that expensive anymore)
• Populate slot 0 on _all_ memory channels with same stick size for best performance
• Hardware RAID on Chip with 1GB of Non-Volatile or flash backed cache
• RAID 6 across (8) 10K SAS (blog post on why we only use SAS) spindles minimum
• Two Logical Drives set up on RAID Controller
• 90GB for host OS
• Balance to VHDX files
• A minimum of two (2) Intel Gigabit Server NICs
• Port 0 on both teamed for management
• Port 1+ on both teamed for exclusive vSwitch usage

We set a static page file of 4,192MB on the system partition as one of our first steps. A Hyper-V Role only server should never need the swap file. That would just kill the system.

We do not use Broadcom NICs. They get disabled in the BIOS.

We always have a standalone DC in a cluster setting. Some will forgo such a step but that DC can be critical to keeping time on the domain for guest OS DCs and especially high load SQL, Exchange, and other data driven Line-of-Business applications. It can also be critical to bringing a cluster back online of something goes awry.

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Use Group Policy Preferences to Reveal Extensions in Windows Explorer

We have a number of different default Group Policy Objects that are set up and linked to specific Organizational Units.

With the advent of a flat OU setup in Windows Server Essentials we made an active decision to maintain a similar OU structure to Small Business Server Standard as it made more sense from so many perspectives.

One of our default GPOs that is created and linked at the domain level is the Default Domain User Security Policy. Once created we edit the GPO's properties to disable Computer Configuration settings and set a comment in place for the date created and by whom.

In this GPO we have a number of settings but the one we are focusing on here has to do with the recent RTF zero-day vulnerability we are hearing about.

Under User Configuration --> Preferences --> Control Panel Settings --> Folder Options we see the above.

We set Show hidden files and folders and uncheck Hide extensions for known file types.

Since these settings are user oriented they will be picked up by users on their next logon.

Note that while these settings help users to understand what they are seeing nothing replaces training users to hover over links, not click on links in an e-mail, or be cautious about the sites they visit.

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

HP Driver Clean-up Utility NTScrubber

If there are any problems with HP drivers then the NTScrubber utility is the one to use.

The utility will completely remove any remnants of HP's driver set on a machine. Once rebooted one can then work towards installing the printer or printers again.

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Crazy Week - Time to Take a Break

We have had one of the more challenging weeks in our business and family life this last week. It probably ranks in the top 3 for the most challenging.

On the lighter side we have a new little friend at home:

She's a fuzzy six week old Calico that does not have a name yet. We brought her in because our own Calico unfortunately did not make it giving birth to kittens and neither did the kittens. :(

From pipes bursting at home through to servers crashing and needing our full attention we've run the gamut this week.

Time to relax and take a break. Hopefully the weather is nice tomorrow so I can enjoy a cold citrus wheat on the deck.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Thanks for reading. :)

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

SMBKitchen Update - ASP Project

Good news!

We are continuing on with our SMB Kitchen Project.

My involvement will be changing to be more workable with the crazy schedule I've been having this last year.

Time involvement to produce documentation and How-To videos is huge. Trying to set aside time to make things happen has been nothing short of difficult.

We have been blessed. Our business is running at a brisk pace with changes happening in the midst of it all to adapt to the new IT realities of today.

While I do hope to contribute documentation to the project, especially the Step-By-Step Guides for things like setting up an RDS based environment or using ARR and URLReWrite to host everything behind one WAN IP, my main focus will be more of a mentorship role.

I will be hosting regular monthly webinars with topics relevant for consultancies like us on topics ranging from time and client management without a PSA and yet still be an MSP, hardware today and tomorrow, technologies we need to be on top of to adapt and grow, and more.

I surprised myself recently in a conversation with a prospect that is 100% Mac based by suggesting a Cloud based mail solution as the best option over an on-premises one. Why? Well, even a year ago I would have been hard-pressed to suggest that. ;)

Check out the site here: SMB Kitchen ASP Project.

Need a Go To Guy? Well, that can be me. :)

If you are interested in a Quarterly Mentorship Program (10 hours of direct access with me per quarter) please ping me (my ASP Project E-mail) and we can make it happen!

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen ASP Project
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Installing Windows 8.1 on a Toshiba Tecra Z50 with Secure Boot and uEFI

There seems to be a bit of a caveat installing Windows 8.1 onto a Tecra Z50 when Secure Boot and uEFI are enabled.

We cannot use an enclosure that mounts an ISO and presents it as a bootable optical drive or a USB flash drive formatted with NTFS. Whatever method we tried we ended up with various errors that lead nowhere.

Once we formatted a 4GB stick with FAT32, set it to active, and copied the Windows 8.1 content over to the flash drive we were able to install the OS as expected.

Thanks to Chris G. of Toshiba Canada for helping us to work through getting a new Tecra Z50-A set up.

Oh, and for now we need to get the required drivers from the Toshiba US site as the Canadian site is not hosting any yet.

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business

Fujitsu ScanSnap N1800 Caveat - Keep that Admin Username and Password

We just updated our ScanSnap N1800 network based scanner to the newest available OS.

Since it has been a while since the admin portal on the unit had been accessed no one had the admin name and password memorized.

In the network audit notes there did not seem to be anything indicating what that may be so we called into Fujitsu support to find out if we could hard reset the unit.

It turned out that we could not. They asked us to ship the unit to them so they could reset it to factory with a cost of $150 to do so plus shipping both ways.

Oh ...

After digging around our documentation a bit deeper it turned out that the line that held the admin name and password was not easily seen and thus missed.

So, fortunately we were able to move on without incurring the costs and downtime for the scanner.

Moral of the story?

Make sure to note down the admin name and password for the scanner!

Philip Elder
Microsoft Cluster MVP
MPECS Inc.
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
Third Tier: Enterprise Solutions for Small Business