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By default, server clusters do not support GPT shared disks in Windows Server 2003

Article ID: 284134 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q284134

SYMPTOMS

The Cluster service does not support GUID partition table (GPT) disks for shared disks in the following versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003:

Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2)

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By default, Windows Server 2003-based server clusters cannot read GPT disks. Therefore, GPT disks are unavailable to programs or services that depend on these disk resources in the server cluster. Because GPT disks are not supported for shared disks, the option to upgrade these disks to or from GPT is unavailable after the Cluster service is installed.

If all the disks are converted to GPT before the Cluster service is configured, the Configuration Wizard does not detect that the GTP disks are available for use in the server cluster. Therefore, the wizard creates a single node cluster with a local quorum resource.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, and to enable support for GPT disks in Windows Server 2003-based server clusters, install hotfix 919117. For more information about hotfix 919117, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

919117

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919117/ )

A hotfix is available that adds support for GUID partition table (GPT) volumes that are larger than 2 terabytes on a Windows Server 2003-based server cluster

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WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, remove the Cluster service, and then convert all the disks back to basic disks that use the master boot record (MBR) format.

For more information about how to remove the Cluster service, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

282227

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282227/ )

How to Uninstall MSCS on a Windows Server 2003 Cluster

For more information about how to convert disks, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

282793

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282793/ )

How to Change a GPT disk into an MBR Disk (64-Bit Only)

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