Dell PowerStore Protecting Your Data

Selecting Protection > Metro Witness > [witness] displays the witness properties.

The witness maintains communication with every node on every appliance.

The witness Properties window displays the connection state for each node and the overall connection state of the witness.

Possible connection states:

• Initializing - All nodes are initializing the connection to the witness.
• OK - All nodes can communicate with the witness.
• Deleting - The witness is being deleted from the cluster.
• Partially Connected - Some nodes on some appliances can communicate with the witness, or the same witness is not registered on the peer system.
• Disconnected - All nodes cannot communicate with the witness.

After the witness is configured, each metro session independently attempts to engage with it. Each metro session has a state which indicates whether the metro session can use the witness when failure occurs. Possible witness states for a metro session:

• Initializing - The witness is initializing but not engaged.
• Disengaged - The metro session is paused or fractured.
• Engaged - All nodes on all appliances are connected to the witness and can use it if failure occurs.
• Disengaged Invalid Configuration or Unavailable - The witness configuration is invalid (for example, witness is configured only on one PowerStore system, or two different witnesses are configured on the local and remote systems), or the witness is unavailable.
• Disengaged Failed to Initialize - The witness failed to initialize with the metro session.
• Unconfigure in Progress - The witness is being removed from the PowerStore system.

When the cluster has multiple appliances, some of the appliances may be connected to the witness while others are not. As a result, the witness may not be engaged for all existing metro sessions.