Help: SQL Server

While preparing for the Virtual TechDays Session, I received an email where AlwaysOn Setup was failing on Windows Server 2008 with below error message while attempting to use the create new availability group wizard in SQL Server Management Studio.

Here is the text for message for better search.
<Error>

The local node is not part of quorum and is therefore unable to process this operation. This may be due to one of the following reasons:

• The local node is not able to communicate with the WSFC cluster.

• No quorum set across the WSFC cluster.

</Error>

My research of pre-requisites revealed that we need below patch to be available on the operating to make it work.
1. KB 976097 ( Hotfix to add support for asymmetric storages to the Failover Cluster Management MMC snap-in for a failover cluster that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2)

– Supports SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances with AlwaysOn Availability Groups

2. KB 2494036 (A hotfix is available to let you configure a cluster node that does not have quorum votes in Windows Server 2008 and in Windows Server 2008 R2)

– Supports configuring optimal quorum with non-automatic failover targets

This is already documented in http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff878487(SQL.110).aspx

See you at Virtual TechDays!

Cheers,
Balmukund Lakhani
Twitter @blakhani