Witness The witness is an essential component for leveraging automated failover events. It is used to act as the third party in the quorum to break a tie. A witness is a software component that can either run on Windows or Linux system. This witness system can either be a virtual or a bare-metal server. It is important to note that the witness system cannot be one of the cluster nodes itself. The witness installs as a lightweight service and communicates with both HA cluster nodes via the management interface. The witness does not take any part during manual failover initiated by a system administrator nor does it play any role in data presentation. The witness systems supplied by RackTop are shipped with a flavor of Windows or Linux operating system (OS) chosen by the customer. It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure the OS on the witness system is kept up-to-date with security patches and updates. To install the witness on a Linux or Windows system, follow the appropriate guide below. Installing the Linux Witness Installing the Windows Witness