Quorum configuration choices

Node Majority (recommended for clusters with an odd number of nodes)

Can sustain failures of half the nodes (rounding up) minus one. For example, a seven node cluster can sustain three node failures.

Node and Disk Majority (recommended for clusters with an even number of nodes)

Can sustain failures of half the nodes (rounding up) if the disk witness remains online. For example, a six node cluster in which the disk witness is online could sustain three node failures.

Can sustain failures of half the nodes (rounding up) minus one if the disk witness goes offline or fails. For example, a six node cluster with a failed disk witness could sustain two (3-1=2) node failures.

Node and File Share Majority (for clusters with special configurations)

Works in a similar way to Node and Disk Majority, but instead of a disk witness, this cluster uses a file share witness.

Note that if you use Node and File Share Majority, at least one of the available cluster nodes must contain a current copy of the cluster configuration before you can start the cluster. Otherwise, you must force the starting of the cluster through a particular node.

No Majority: Disk Only (not recommended)

Can sustain failures of all nodes except one (if the disk is online). However, this configuration is not recommended because the disk might be a single point of failure.

 

Quorum Mode	Components that has vote	Votes for Quorum (v denotes vote)
Node Majority	Nodes (1 per node)	v/2 + 1
Node and Disk Majority	Nodes (1 per node) and Disk Witness Resource (1)	v/2 + 1
Node and File Share Majority	Nodes (1 per node) and File Share Witness Resource (1)	v/2 + 1
No Majority: Disk Only (Legacy)	Disk Witness Resource (1)	v