Exchange 2019 DAG Witness Server

[jafnva]

We are planning a DR site to have some of our servers online in case of our primary site going offline.

We would like to have an Exchange server that is part of a DAG, at the DR site. Because we’re on the small side for an IT dept we do not have an “Exchange admin”, I have some Exchange experience but none regarding DAGs.

We currently have 1 Exchange 2019 server and would like to have the other Exchange server in an offline state at our DR site. Regarding a witness server, I read some information on Microsoft’s site stating that the witness server should be located at a 3rd site. Is this necessary, or can we have the witness server at our primary site?

Thanks,

John

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hi, witness server can be located anywhere to hold the quorum for the DAG. To consider the risk you can easily interpret scenarios of what happens if the witness server is located on site 1, 2, or 3. Please refer to the article https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/high-availability/plan-ha?view=exchserver-2019 , where all is clearly explained. Best regards

[#3]

That's good to know - thanks for the information Nejc! I'll take a look at the article.