Windows 2008 R2 Failover Cluster: Removing Cluster Resource (SFW Disk Group)

[uners]

Hi forum,

I have to remove a SFW cluster resource (virtualized storage consisting of three disk arrays) from a Windows Server 2008 R2 Fileserver Cluster, and just want to make sure that I don't delete the SFW volume by removing it from the cluster. So my Step-by-Step plan looks like the following. Did I forget something or is something wrong? 

Name of the File Server: "MyFileServer"

Name of the volume to be removed: "MyVOL"

1. Open Windows Failover Cluster Manager and expand in the navigation column the tree to your File Server "MyFileServer"

2. Section "File Server" (in the main window): Switch File Server "MyVOL" to OFFLINE

3. Section "Drives" (in the main window): Switch Drive "MyVOL" to OFFLINE

4. Section "File Server" (in the main window): Right click on File Server "MyVOL" and select "Delete" from the context menu

5. Section "Drives" (in the main window): Right click on Drive "MyVOL" and select "Remove from MyFileServer" from the context menu

By step 5, I guess that under "Storage" (click on "Storage" in the navigation column) the resource "MyVOL" will be shown under "Available Resources".

Question: Does it have to be removed also from here to remove it completely from the Windows Cluster?

If the answer is "yes":

6. Choose "Storage" in the navigation column

7. Section "Available Drives": Delete MyVOL

Once again: The aim is to remove the MyVOL resource from the cluster but keep it as a SFW volume (as it has to be connected later on as a normal dynamic disk group to one of the file server nodes).

(I'm sure this is a very simple question to answer for anybody who has ever removed a SFW volume from a Windows Failover Cluster.) 

Thank you very much for your answer!

Regards,

Bob

[Donald_Cook · Accepted solution]

Hello Bob,

It is not possible to delete the actual volume from within the Windows Failover Cluster. The volume will always be present on the disks as long as you do not open Storage Foundation (VEA) and delete the volume. In the cluster, you can only delete vmdg resources that call on the diskgroups to import and deport. In the Windows Failover Cluster you are correct you delete the resource out of the group and storage if you want the diskgroup to be totally unavailable to the cluster. Please note that if you are removing the vmdg resource but keeping the group there are some additional steps. You cannot leave a group without a disk resource of some kind. Windows Failover Cluster requires you to have at least one disk resource in a group at any one given time. You can add a temporary disk resource, if need be, to delete the vmdg resource if this is the case.

Kind Regards,
Donald

[uners]

Thank you very much for your reply, Donald.

The cluster has 3 more SFW volumes and 3 more virtual File Server resources, so there won't be a problem with empty groups.

Have a nice day!

Regards,

Bob