Installation, Storage, and Compute with Windows Server 2016 — Question 142

You have a five-node failover cluster named Cluster1. All the nodes run Windows Server 2012 R2. All the nodes run on physical hardware.
You need to upgrade Cluster1 to Windows Server 2016. The solution must minimize administrative effort and costs.
What should you do first?

Answer options

• A. Add a Windows Server 2016 node to Cluster1
• B. Create a new Windows Server 2016 failover cluster
• C. Enable Cluster-Aware updating (CAU) on Cluster1
• D. Drain and evict a node from Cluster1

Correct answer: D

Explanation

The correct approach is to drain and evict a node from Cluster1 first to facilitate a safe upgrade path. This step is necessary to ensure that the cluster can be upgraded node by node without disrupting the entire cluster's operation. The other options either introduce unnecessary complexity or do not address the need to first prepare the existing cluster for the upgrade.