In larger ONTAP clusters, what is the purpose of the quorum disk?

• A. It stores system logs for troubleshooting
• B. It hosts the cluster interconnect
• C. It participates in quorum voting to maintain cluster health
• D. It caches frequently accessed data

Answer: (C)

In a multi-node ONTAP cluster, there must be a reliable tie-breaker to prevent split-brain and keep the cluster healthy. The quorum disk acts as a shared witness that participates in quorum voting, allowing the cluster to determine a true majority even if some nodes or links fail. By storing the quorum vote state, it helps ensure only the side that can reach a majority (including the quorum disk) can perform cluster operations, maintaining data integrity and availability. It’s not used for storing system logs, it does not host the cluster interconnect, and it doesn’t cache data for performance. The primary role is to participate in quorum voting to maintain cluster health.