A new disk resource from a SAN or from an iSCSI storage device does not appear in the Disk list on a Windows Server 2003-based server cluster

Consider the following scenario:

• You have a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based server cluster that uses shared storage. The shared storage is based on a storage area network (SAN) or on a storage server to which you connect by using iSCSI.
• You have more than one cluster node configured.
• You create a new logical unit number (LUN) on the SAN and then make that LUN available to a cluster node.

In this scenario, the LUN appears in the Disk Management tool on the particular cluster node as expected. However, after you create a partition, format the partition, and then assign a drive letter to that volume, you experience the following behavior:

• When you start Registry Editor on the cluster node, the disk signature of the new disk is displayed under the following registry subkey as expected:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ClusDisk\Parameters\Signatures
• When you start the Cluster Administrator tool on the cluster node, and then you try to add a new Physical Disk Resource object, the disk does not appear in the Disk list.

This issue occurs if you try to add the Physical Disk Resource object from a cluster node that does not own the quorum resource. When you use the Cluster Administrator tool to open a connection to a cluster, the Cluster Administrator tool examines the Signatures subkey only from the cluster node that owns the quorum resource. Therefore, if you open a connection to a cluster from a cluster node that does not own the quorum resource, the new disk does not appear in the Cluster Administrator tool.

To work around this issue, specify the local cluster node when you start the Cluster Administrator tool. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start the Cluster Administrator tool. If the Cluster Administrator tool automatically opens a connection to a cluster, exit that connection.
2. On the File menu, click Open Connection.
3. In the Open Connection to Cluster dialog box, type a period (.) in the Cluster or server name list, and then click OK.

Note You can also start the Cluster Administrator tool together with the dot parameter (a period) from a command line. To do this, click Start, click Run, type cluadmin ., and then click OK.