JP2000004231A - Transmission equipment for controlling multiplexed terminal route - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid the burden of program development or the like on the side of terminal equipment by performing the monitoring of a terminal route and route switching in the case of any fault on the side of a bridge when duplexing the terminal route between the terminal equipment and the bridge. SOLUTION: While using a terminal route 60-1 corresponding to a port mechanism 80-1 as active one and using a terminal route 60-2 corresponding to a port mechanism 80-2 as reserve one, virtual local area network(VLAN) information is received from a managing device 10 and set into a storage device by bridges 20-1 and 20-2. Based on this VLAN information, the bridges 20-1 and 20-2 perform control so as to transmit and discard the same frame received from the terminal routes 60-1 and 60-2. When the managing device 10 detects any fault related to the port mechanism 80-1, by transmitting the updated VLAN information to the bridges 20-1 and 20-1, the bridges 20-1 and 20-2 perform control so as to discard and transmit the same frame received from the respective terminal routes 60-1 and 60-2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transmission apparatus connected to a plurality of terminal apparatuses via a LAN (Local Area Network) path, and more particularly to multiplexing a terminal path between the same terminal apparatus and the transmission apparatus. And a transmission device for controlling a multiplexed terminal path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A terminal device and a transmission device such as a LAN switch are connected by a LAN path, and are connected to an IEEE 802.3.
2. Description of the Related Art Networks that perform communication using the 2.3 or Ethernet LAN method are known. Conventional terminal device and LA
In the case where the terminal path to the N switch is duplicated, it is necessary for the terminal device to monitor the terminal path and switch the path when a failure occurs. That is, two LAN boards are provided in the terminal device, each is connected to the port of the LAN switch via the terminal path, and one terminal path is considered to be active and the other terminal path is considered to be spare. The terminal device-side program constantly monitors the terminal route by constantly polling the LAN switch via the active terminal route, and when a failure of the active terminal route is detected, the standby terminal route is set to the active terminal route. The terminal route must be switched with the terminal route as a backup.

On the other hand, a plurality of terminal devices or terminal routes connected to a LAN switch are defined as one or a plurality of VLANs (Virtual LAN) according to IEEE 802.1Q.
And VLAN information is set in each LAN switch, and the flow of data from a terminal device to another terminal device can be controlled by the VLAN information. Conventional L
The setting of the VLAN information in the AN switch is performed for each LAN switch constituting the network. For this reason, as the size of the VLAN network system increases, it becomes difficult to set and change the VLAN information, and the burden on the network administrator increases.

[0004]

According to the above prior art, when a terminal route is duplicated, a program for monitoring a terminal route and switching a route when a failure occurs must be incorporated in the terminal device. This leads to the burden of designing the specifications and creating programs. In addition, polling must be periodically performed with the LAN switch to monitor the terminal route, which causes an increase in network traffic. In particular, when the terminal device is a server computer, accesses from other terminal devices are concentrated, and such polling for route monitoring hinders access from other terminal devices, resulting in a decrease in response. Further, when multiplexing of terminal routes is supported in the framework of the VLAN network, the VLAN to each LAN switch is
It is desirable to automatically set and change information as much as possible to reduce the burden on network administrators.

It is an object of the present invention to monitor terminal routes and switch routes in the event of a fault on the LAN switch side to avoid the burden on the terminal device side.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the burden on a network administrator by centrally managing the setting and change of VLAN information including multiplexing support of terminal paths for LAN switches by a network management device.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there are provided a plurality of port mechanisms each connected to the same terminal device via a plurality of terminal paths, and a terminal corresponding to one of the plurality of port mechanisms. Storage means for storing a route as an active terminal route and storing a terminal route corresponding to another port mechanism as a standby terminal route; and transmitting data received via the active terminal route to another terminal device to store the standby terminal route. Means for controlling to discard data received via the path and controlling the multiplexed terminal path. Also, one of the two terminal paths connected to the same terminal apparatus is connected to the first transmission apparatus, and the other is connected to the second transmission apparatus. If the terminal path is an active terminal path, the control means transmits data received via this active terminal path to another terminal device, and the terminal path is set to a standby terminal In the case of a route, control can be made so as to discard data received via this spare terminal route. With such a network configuration, even when a failure occurs in one of the transmission devices, the terminal device can continue communication using the terminal path connected to the other transmission device.

Further, according to the present invention, the management apparatus integrally manages the VLAN information including the multiplexing support of the terminal path, and every time the VLAN information is created and changed, the management apparatus transmits the related VLAN information to each transmission apparatus. By sending the information, the burden on the network administrator when setting the VLAN information can be reduced.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a VLAN system according to the present embodiment. The system includes a terminal device 50, a plurality of bridges 20, a management device 10, and a transmission path connecting the devices. The terminal device 50 is a LAN board 70-
1 and 70-2, each having a separate layer 2 address (MAC address), and
Has one layer 3 address. Terminal route 60
-1 and 60-2 are the terminal device 50 and the bridge 20 respectively.
-1 and 20-2 are connected to each other to constitute a LAN, and are duplicated. The terminal device 50 is a terminal device viewed from a network, and is generally a computer such as a personal computer and a server dedicated machine.

The bridge 20 is a transmission device connected to the terminal device 50 via the port mechanism 80 and the terminal path 60, and is also called a LAN switch. Each bridge 20 has a plurality of port mechanisms 80 and each port mechanism 80
Is connected to a terminal device 50 having a duplicated terminal route 60 or a terminal device having a single terminal route. Bridge 20
Transmits a frame received from a terminal device to another terminal device connected to the same bridge 20 or a terminal device connected to another bridge 20 via a transmission path 90 between the bridges 20. The internal configuration of the bridge 20 includes a plurality of port mechanisms 80 for connecting to a terminal device,
0 and a storage device for storing tables such as a VLAN table, which will be described later, and a port device for controlling these port mechanisms, and a terminal device refers to a table on the storage device to allow another terminal device or another terminal device to operate. Bridge 2
It comprises a control device that executes a control operation such as controlling transmission of a data frame to 0. Hereinafter, when referring to the individual bridges 20, the bridges 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3 are separately referred to, and when any of the bridges is referred to, the bridges 20 are referred to. Terminal path 60, LAN board 70,
The same applies to the port mechanism 80.

The management device 10 manages a network composed of a plurality of bridges 20 and transmission paths 90, and is a computer such as a personal computer.

The LAN constituted by the terminal device 50, the terminal path 60, and the bridge 20 is logically an IEEE.
It is divided by a plurality of VLANs conforming to the 802.1Q standard specification. In this embodiment, the LAN path of the port mechanism 80-1, the terminal path 60-1, and the LAN board 70-1 is the same as the LAN path of the port mechanism 80-2, the terminal path 60-2, and the LAN board 70-2. Belongs to VLAN. The management device 10 creates policy information for setting the VLAN number, the device number of the bridge 20, the number of the port mechanism 80 included in the VLAN, and the priority of the port mechanism 80 in the same VLAN.
And transmits the policy information managed by the device. Each bridge 20 creates a VLAN table for managing a VLAN from the received policy information and a learning table that stores the correspondence between the port number and the layer 2 address, and based on the created VLAN table, the terminal device 50.
To the destination terminal or discard the frame. A frame received from a port having a higher priority among the port mechanisms 80-1 and 80-2 is transmitted, and a frame received from another port is discarded.

The management apparatus 10 monitors the state of the bridge 20 and, when detecting a failure of the bridge 20 or the port mechanism 80, changes the priority of the port mechanism 80 related to the failure and associates the changed policy information with the related information. Bridge 2
Send to 0. Bridge 2 that received this policy information
No. 0 reconfigures the VLAN table using the learning table at that time, and controls transmission of frames received from the terminal device 50 based on the reconfigured VLAN table.
As a result, when the priority of the LAN route having the highest priority is lowered, the LAN route is switched from the working route to the backup route.

In this embodiment, even if one of the bridges 20-1 and 20-2 to which the terminal device 50 is connected is stopped due to a failure, the bridge 20-3 and the like are connected by a bypass route via the transmission route 90. Communication with a terminal device connected to the other bridge, and bridge 2
The network configuration is such that even if a failure occurs in either the bridge 0-2 or the bridge 20-2, the management device 10 can transmit the policy information to the other bridge 20.
The network configuration of the present embodiment is an example.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data configuration of the policy table 11 provided on a storage device in the management device 10. Each entry of the policy table 11 is a VLAN
Number, device number, priority, and policy. The VLAN number is an identifier for identifying the VLAN. The device number is an identifier for identifying the bridge 20. The policy is information indicating a physical or logical category included in the VLAN in order to classify each VLAN, and is generally a port number of the port mechanism 80, a layer 2 address (MAC address) provided on the LAN board 70. , The layer 3 address of the terminal device 50, the layer 3 protocol of the terminal device 50, and the like. Since the present invention is characterized by the multiplexing method of the terminal path 60, the port number or the layer 2
Set the address. The priority indicates the priority of the port number or the layer 2 address set in the policy. Port or Layer 2 with highest priority
The terminal path 60 corresponding to the address is set as the working path, and the terminal path 60 corresponding to the port having the other priority or the layer 2 address is set as the backup path. The priority has meaning only for the terminal path 60 multiplexed between the terminal device 50 and the bridge 20, and the terminal path 60 not multiplexed is not set. Also the same VLA
The priorities set for the terminal routes belonging to N are unique and do not overlap.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data structure of a table provided on a storage device in the bridge 20. The data structure of the policy table 21 is the same as that of the policy table 11, and the contents include the portion of the policy table 11 whose device number corresponds to the bridge 20. Each entry of the learning table 22 is composed of items of a device number, a port number, and a MAC address. The device number is an identifier of the bridge 20. The port number is an identifier of the port mechanism 80 provided in the bridge 20. The MAC address is the LA corresponding to the port
This is the MAC address of the N board 70. Learning table 2
2 is a table showing the correspondence between the port number of the port mechanism 80 and the MAC address of the terminal device 50 obtained by monitoring the data frame passing through the bridge 20. Each entry of the VLAN table 23 includes a device number, a VLAN number, a priority, a port number, and a MAC.
It consists of each item of address. VLAN table 2
Reference numeral 3 denotes a table in which the policy table 21 and the learning table 22 are combined, and is a table used for managing the VLAN.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the program of the management device 10 for setting multiplexing control of terminal routes by setting VLAN information and the control device of the bridge 20. The management device 10 registers and updates the policy information having the VLAN number, the device number, the priority, and the policy as one entry in the policy table 11 based on the information input via the input device, or updates the policy information. A part is deleted (step 31). Next, policy information corresponding to the device number is transmitted to each bridge 20 using the management layer 3 address (IP address) (step 32). Each bridge 20 receives this policy information (step 33), and updates the policy table 21 with the received policy information (step 3).
4). Next, the policy table 21 and the learning table 22 are merged while preserving the correspondence between the device number, VLAN number, priority, port number, and MAC address.
The LAN table 23 is created (step 35). Thereafter, the terminal device 50 transmits the terminal route 60-1 and the terminal route 6 via the LAN board 70-1 and the LAN board 70-2.
The same frame is transmitted to 0-2. Bridge 20
When these frames are received via the port mechanism 80, if the priority of the received port is highest or unset by referring to the VLAN table 23, the frame is transmitted, and received from other ports. The frame is discarded (step 36).

FIG. 5 shows the VLAN table 2 of the bridge 20-1 based on the policy table 11 of the management apparatus 10.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a procedure for creating No. 3 using data examples.
The policy information of the device number 1 in the policy table 11 is sent to the bridge 20-1, and the policy table 21
Is updated. The bridge 20-1 merges the updated policy table 21 with the current learning table 22 to perform VL
An AN table 23 is created. As a result, the bridge 20
-1 transmits the frame transmitted through the port mechanism 80 of the port number 1. The policy information with the device number 2 in the policy table 11 is sent to the bridge 20-2, the policy table 21 is updated, and the VLA
An N table 23 is created. As a result, the bridge 20-
2 discards the frame transmitted from the same terminal device 50 transmitted via the port mechanism 80 of the port number 1.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the process of updating the learning table 22 performed by the control device of the bridge 20. When receiving a data frame from the terminal device 50 via the port mechanism 80 (step 41), the bridge 20 transmits the source MAC stored in the received frame.
The address is acquired (step 42), and the learning table 22
It is compared with the MAC address corresponding to the above port number (step 43). If the correspondence does not match (step 44 NO), the learning table 22 is updated (step 45). That is, the received MAC address is written in the area of the MAC address corresponding to the port number of the port mechanism 80 that has received the frame, and if there is the same MAC address as the received MAC address corresponding to another port number, it is deleted. . Next, the VLAN table 23 is created by merging the current policy table 21 and the updated learning table 22 (step 46). Next created VL
Referring to the AN table 23, if the frame is received from a port having the highest priority or an unset priority, the frame is transmitted. If the frame is received from another port, the frame is discarded (step 47). .

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of a process of updating the policy information when a failure occurs in the bridge 20. The management device 10 monitors the status of each bridge 20 (Step 51). That is, the management device 10 inquires each bridge 20 of its state based on standard network management technology. Each bridge 20 transmits information about the state of the bridge 20 including the state of the port mechanism 80 to the management device 10 in response to this inquiry. The management device 10 determines whether a failure has occurred in any of the bridges 20 based on the received state information (Step 5).
2). If a failure has occurred (step 52 YES),
The policy table 11 is updated according to the failure state (step 53). For example, if the failure of the port mechanism 80,
The priority order corresponding to the port is changed to the lowest order on the policy table 11, and all the priority order values set in the same VLAN are moved up by one. Bridge 2
If the fault is 0, all entries having the device number of the bridge 20 are deleted from the policy table 11. If any of the deleted ports has the highest priority, the priority values set in the same VLAN are reassigned in order from the highest priority. Next, the relevant policy information is transmitted as an instruction to the changed bridge 20 (step 54). As a result, the associated bridge 20 executes the processing of steps 33 to 36 and updates the VLAN table 23.

FIG. 8 shows the port number 1 of the bridge 20-1.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a procedure for updating the VLAN table 23 by a data example due to a port failure. The port failure referred to here means the port mechanism 80, the terminal path 60
Or, it means a failure of the LAN board 70. Management device 10
Receives the notification of the failure of the port number 1 of the bridge 20-1, and changes the priority in the same VLAN in the policy table 11. Next, the updated policy information is transmitted to the associated bridges 20-1 and 20-2. The bridge 20-1 receives the policy information and updates the policy table 21, and accordingly, the VLAN table 23
To update. As a result, the priority of port number 1 is lowered, and when a frame is received from this port, this is discarded.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a procedure for updating the associated VLAN table 23 due to a failure of the bridge 20-1 by using data examples. The management device 10 detects the failure of the bridge 20-1 and deletes all entries having the device number of the bridge 20-1 from the policy table 11. As a result, the same VL is
The priority of port 1 of device number 2 in the AN is changed to the highest priority. Next, the updated policy information is transmitted to the bridge 20-2.
Send to The bridge 20-2 receives the policy information, updates the policy table 21, and updates the VLAN table 23 accordingly. As a result, the priority of port number 1 is set to the highest priority, and the frame received from this port is transmitted to the destination.

When the policy information is changed as described above, the route of the terminal device in the network may be changed. Further, in the case of terminal movement in which the terminal device is disconnected from one bridge 20 and connected to another bridge 20, or the terminal path 60 is switched by a port failure or a failure related to the bridge 20, the terminal route 50 is thereby switched. When the current MAC address is changed, the route of the terminal device in the network is changed. In this way, when the route of the terminal device of the data transmission destination is changed, the route switching is performed by ARP (A
address Resolution Protocol
1).

In the above embodiment, the failure of the bridge 20 is considered in addition to the failure of the terminal path, and the same terminal device 50 is used.
The terminal path 60-1 of the bridge 20-1 to the port mechanism 8
0-1 and the terminal route 60-2 to the bridge 20-2.
To the port mechanism 80-2. If the failure of the bridge 20 is not taken into consideration, the terminal route 60-1 and the terminal route 60-2 of the same terminal device 50 are connected to the same bridge 2
Port mechanism 80-1 and port mechanism 8 accommodated in 0-1
0-2 may be connected. In addition, four terminal routes 60-1, 60-2, 60-3, and 60-
4, and the terminal paths 60-1 and 60-2 are included in the port mechanisms 80-1 and 80- accommodated in the bridge 20-1.
2 and connect the terminal routes 60-3 and 60-4 to the bridge 2
It is also possible to adopt a configuration for connecting to the port mechanisms 80-3 and 80-4 housed in the port mechanism 0-2. The priority order of the port mechanism 80 in this case is, for example, the port mechanism 80-
1, 80-2, 80-3, and 80-4, and if a failure occurs in the terminal path corresponding to the port mechanism 80-1,
The priority order is the port mechanism 80-2, 80-3, 80-4,
80-1. When a failure occurs in the bridge 20-1, the priority order is changed to the port mechanisms 80-3 and 80-3.
-4, 80-1, and 80-2 in this order.

According to the present embodiment, the terminal device 50 does not need to monitor the terminal routes 60-1 and 60-2, and the operating system of the terminal device 50 is only the LAN boards 70-1 and 70-2. It is only necessary to send the same data frame to this communication driver.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, when multiplexing a terminal path, the transmission device (LAN switch) monitors the terminal path and switches the path when a failure occurs.
The terminal device only has to send the same data to each terminal path, and the program development on the terminal device can be avoided.
In addition, since the network management apparatus centrally manages the VLAN information including the multiplexing support for the terminal path and sends the related VLAN information to each transmission apparatus, the burden on the network administrator associated with setting and changing the VLAN information can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a VLAN system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of a policy table provided in a management apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of various tables provided in a bridge 20 according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing from setting of VLAN information to multiplex control of a terminal route according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a procedure for creating a VLAN table 23 of the bridge 20-1 based on the policy table 11 of the management apparatus 10 by using a data example.

FIG. 6 is a learning table 2 performed by the bridge 20 of the embodiment.
9 is a flowchart showing the flow of an update process of No. 2;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process of updating policy information according to the occurrence of a failure in the bridge 20 according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the state of V when a port failure occurs in the bridge 20-1.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for updating the LAN table 23 by using a data example.

FIG. 9 shows a VL associated with a failure of the bridge 20-1.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for updating the AN table 23 by using a data example.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 management device, 20 bridge, 50 terminal device, 6
0: terminal path, 70: LAN board, 80: port mechanism

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5K033 AA04 AA06 DA15 DB01 DB04 DB12 DB17 DB19 DB20 EB06 EC04 5K035 AA04 BB03 LL18

Claims (5)

[Claims] A transmission device connected to a plurality of terminal devices via a terminal path, respectively, from one connected terminal device to another terminal device and to another terminal device via another transmission device. A plurality of port mechanisms respectively connected to the same terminal device via a plurality of terminal paths, and a terminal path corresponding to one of the plurality of port mechanisms is used for a current transmission device. Storage means for storing a terminal path corresponding to another port mechanism as a backup terminal path, and transmitting data received via the working terminal path to another terminal apparatus and storing the backup terminal path as a terminal path. Means for controlling so as to discard data received via the multiplexed terminal path. 2. A transmission device connected to a plurality of terminal devices via respective terminal paths, from one connected terminal device to another terminal device and to another terminal device via another transmission device. A port mechanism for connecting one of two terminal paths connected to the same terminal apparatus, and a connection between the current terminal path and the backup terminal path. Storage means for storing which one of them, and if the terminal path is an active terminal path, transmitting data received via the active terminal path to another terminal apparatus, and Means for controlling to discard data received via the spare terminal path if it is a terminal path, a transmission apparatus for controlling a multiplexed terminal path. 3. The control means according to claim 2, further comprising means for changing said spare terminal path on said storage means to said working terminal path in accordance with a command from an external management device. A transmission device for controlling a multiplexed terminal path according to any one of the preceding claims. 4. The transmission apparatus for controlling a multiplexed terminal path according to claim 2, wherein said working terminal path and said backup terminal path are classified as the same VLAN on said storage means. 5. A first transmission apparatus connected to one of two terminal paths connected to the same terminal apparatus, a second transmission apparatus connected to the other terminal path, What is claimed is: 1. A network system having a management device connected to a first transmission device and a second transmission device via a third transmission device, wherein the first transmission device has a terminal path connected to an active one. A storage unit for storing that the terminal path is used, and a unit for controlling transmission of data received via the connected working terminal path to another terminal apparatus, the second transmission apparatus includes: The management device, comprising: storage means for storing that the connected terminal path is a spare terminal path; and means for controlling to discard data received via the connected spare terminal path. Is the first transmission device via the third transmission device Multiplexing means for transmitting a command to make the terminal path connected to the terminal active, and transmitting a command to make the terminal path connected to the second transmission apparatus standby. Network system that controls the route of the terminal.