JP2000151741A - Host protocol converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently detect a communication fault by a host device by providing a host protocol converter with a fault detection function of a processor connected to a LAN. SOLUTION: A host protocol converter 110 is provided between a LAN connecting plural personal computers 121 to 12n and a host computer 130. A fault detection means 110C of the host protocol converter 110 regularly transmits a message for detecting a fault by way of a LAN connection means 110A only to the personal computer that needs fault detection while referring to contents of a log-in information storage means 110F and receives its response message. A fault notification means 110D notifies the host computer 130 of fault contents notified by the fault detection means 110C at the time of fault occurrence by a host computer connection means 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a processing device connected to a local area network (LAN),
The present invention relates to a host protocol conversion device that performs protocol conversion for matching protocols between an AN and a host device that manages a processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system in which a host computer and a plurality of personal computers (personal computers) are connected via a LAN has been widely used. In this system, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a LAN 3 connecting the personal computer 11, the personal computer 12, and the personal computer 1n and a LAN 5 connecting the host computer 4 include a plurality of routers 21, 22, 22, and 2n. They are connected in a format via a device, and communicate using the protocols of the LANs 3 and 5.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, when a communication failure occurs, there is a problem that it is difficult to specify the location where the failure occurs. The reason is that when the LAN protocol is used for the connection between the host computer and the personal computer as described above, it is not possible to identify where on the communication path communication is not possible, and to check the location of the failure while checking the communication path. It is necessary to look for. In addition, there is a problem in that a failure check is performed on a personal computer that is not actually used, and network traffic increases.

An object of the present invention is to provide a host protocol converter with a failure detection function of a processing device connected to a LAN so that a communication failure can be efficiently detected by the host device.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus connected to a LAN, comprising:
A host protocol converter that performs protocol conversion with a host device that manages the processing device, detects a failure in the processing device by transmitting a failure detection message to the processing device and receiving a response message to the failure detection message And a failure notifying means for notifying the host device when a faulty processing device is detected by the fault detecting means.

In the host protocol conversion device of the present invention, a message received from the host device is converted into a protocol compatible with the LAN and sent to a processing device connected to the LAN, and the message received from the processing device connected to the LAN is converted. Is converted into a protocol compatible with the host device and sent to the processing device. The failure detecting means of the host protocol converter transmits a failure detection message to a processing device connected to the LAN and receives a response message to detect a failure of the processing device. When the fault detecting means detects the processing device in which the fault has occurred, the fault notifying means notifies the host device of the processing device, the content of the fault, and the like. This allows the host device to efficiently detect a communication failure of the processing device connected to the LAN.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a host protocol converter according to the present invention will be described below. In this embodiment, a host protocol converter connected between a LAN and a host computer provides a function of notifying the host computer of a failure that has occurred in a personal computer connected to the LAN.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a network system including a host protocol converter according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the host protocol converter 110 of this example is provided between a host computer 130 and a LAN 120 connecting a plurality of personal computers 121 to 12n. This host protocol converter 1
10 is a LAN connection unit 110A, a protocol conversion unit 110B, a failure detection unit 110C, a failure notification unit 110D, a host computer connection unit 110E,
It has a login information storage unit 110F and a host computer failure detection unit 110C.

The LAN connection means 110A comprises a network card or the like, and connects the personal computer 121, the personal computer 122 and the personal computer 12n connected to the LAN 120 to the LAN 1
20 for transmitting and receiving messages in the LAN 120 protocol format. The host computer connection unit 110E is constituted by a communication control device and the like, and transmits and receives messages to and from the host computer 130 in a host protocol format. The protocol conversion unit 110B converts the message from the LAN 120 into a protocol under program control and transmits the message to the host computer 130, and converts the message from the host computer 130 into a protocol and transmits the message to the LAN 120.

[0010] The login information storage means 110F stores the terminal I
D, a log-in flag, a monitoring interval, a last communication time, and a failure are provided in a table 112. Terminal I
D indicates the ID of each of the personal computers 121, 122,..., 12n.
,..., 12n are host computers 130
Is a flag indicating whether or not the user is currently logged in. The monitoring interval is a time interval for periodically detecting a failure, and is set for each personal computer in this embodiment. That is, the monitoring interval can be appropriately set according to the usage form of the personal computer. The last communication time is the time at which each of the personal computers 121, 122,..., 12n last communicated with the host computer 130.
.., 12n are stored.

The failure detecting means 110C refers to the contents of the login information storage means 110F and targets only the personal computer which needs to detect the failure to the LAN connection means 110A.
Periodically send messages to detect failures,
Receive the response message. Failure notification means 110D
Notifies the host computer connecting means 6 of the content of the fault notified from the fault detecting means 110C when a fault occurs.
With the host protocol converter 110 having the above configuration, the personal computers 121 to 12 connected to the LAN 120 are
This makes it possible for the host computer 130 to detect a failure that has occurred in n.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the failure monitoring process of the host protocol converter 110 in this embodiment. Hereinafter, the operation of this example will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, the personal computer 121,
It is assumed that the personal computer 122 and the personal computer 12n are logging in to the host computer 130. In this state, the log-in flag of the log-in information storage unit 110F is on. Then, if there is no communication for more than the monitoring interval while logged in, a failure detection message is transmitted from the failure detection unit 110C. This failure detection message is sent to the personal computer 121 via the LAN connection means 110A,
Transmit to personal computer 122 and personal computer 12n (step A
1) is done.

The personal computer 121, the personal computer 122, and the personal computer 12n that have received the failure detection message
Sends a response message to the LAN connection means 110A, and the failure detection means 110C
(Step A2). Here, the failure detection unit 110C determines whether the received message is a normal response (step A3). If the message is a normal response, the failure detection unit 110C waits for the monitoring interval of the login information storage unit 110F (step A5), and detects the failure again. The message is transmitted (step A1), and in the case of an abnormal response, the content of the fault is notified to the fault notifying means 110D (step A4). Then, after waiting for the monitoring interval of the login information storage unit 110F (step A5), the failure detection message is transmitted again (step A1).

Next, the operation of the fault monitoring process in this embodiment will be described with reference to a specific example shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an operation example of the fault detecting means 110C and the fault notifying means 110D in the fault monitoring processing. As shown in FIG. 3, for example, the personal computers 121, 122, and 12n and the host protocol converter 110 use TCP / IP (Transmission Control) as an upper layer of the LAN protocol.
ol Protocol / Internet Protocol), and the host protocol converter 110 and the host computer 130 are connected to a HDLC (High Level Data Link Control).
l) Assume that they are connected by protocol. Therefore,
The host protocol converter 110 includes a personal computer 121,
The TCP / IP protocol message received from each of the host computers 122 and 12n is converted into the HDLC protocol and transmitted to the host computer 130.
0 is converted to a TCP / IP protocol and received by the PC 121,
22 and 12n.

Further, the failure detecting means 110C transmits to each of the personal computers 121, 122, and 12n an ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) which is an upper protocol of IP.
A message is transmitted according to the ping command of col) (step A1), and a response message is received from each personal computer (step A2). Here, the failure detection means 110C
When it is determined that there is no response from the personal computer 122 (step A3), the failure notification unit 110D notifies the failure notification unit 110D of the content of the failure (step A4). Failure notification means 1
10D notifies the host computer 130 of the notified failure content "terminal failure". Thus, the host computer 130 can detect that the personal computer 122 has a terminal failure.

As described above, in this example, when a failure occurs in a personal computer connected to the LAN, the host protocol conversion device periodically monitors the failure on the personal computer side and notifies the host computer of the failure. The failure can be properly detected without imposing a large burden on the computer side. Further, in this example, by providing the function of storing the login information in the host protocol converter, it is possible to transmit the failure detection message only to the personal computer connected (logged in) to the host computer, which is efficient. Failure detection can be performed, and the network traffic can be prevented from being excessively increased. Further, since the last communication time and the monitoring interval are managed for each personal computer and the failure is detected, it is possible to realize a detailed failure monitoring process according to the characteristics of the personal computer.

In the above example, a personal computer is described as an example of a processing device connected to the LAN. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to other information processing terminals and the like. Further, in the above example, failure detection is performed by a regular operation at a preset monitoring interval for a logged-in personal computer that has not communicated for a fixed time. The conditions are not limited to the conditions, and the same failure detection can be performed under other conditions.

[0018]

As described above, in the host protocol converter of the present invention, a failure detection message is transmitted to a processing device connected to a LAN, and a response message is received, whereby the failure of the processing device can be corrected. Detect
This is notified to the host device. For this reason,
A communication failure of the processing device connected to the LAN can be efficiently detected by the host device through the host protocol conversion device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a network system including a host protocol conversion device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of a failure monitoring process in the host protocol converter illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an operation example of a failure monitoring process in the host protocol conversion device illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a system using a conventional LAN.

[Explanation of symbols]

110: Host protocol conversion device, 110A: L
AN connection means 110B Protocol conversion means 11
0C: Failure detection means, 110D: Failure notification means, 1
10E ... host computer connection means, 110F ...
Login information storage means, 120, LAN, 121-1
2n: PC, 130: Host computer.

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Claims (6)

[Claims] A processing device connected to a LAN;
In a host protocol conversion device that performs protocol conversion between the AN and a host device that manages the processing device, a failure detection message is transmitted to the processing device, and a response message is received, whereby the failure of the processing device is detected. A host protocol conversion device, comprising: a failure detection unit for detecting the failure; and a failure notification unit for notifying the host device of the detection of the processing device in which the failure has been detected by the failure detection unit. . 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the failure detection unit analyzes a content of a failure of the processing device in response to a response message from the processing device, and notifies the host device of the analysis result by the failure detection unit. The host protocol converter according to claim 1, wherein 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the processing device is currently logged in, and performing a failure detection operation by the failure detection unit on the logged-in processing device. 3. The host protocol converter according to 1 or 2. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the failure detecting means transmits a failure detection message to the processing device by a periodic operation and receives a response.
4. The host protocol converter according to 2 or 3. 5. A processing unit for managing a last communication time of the processing device, wherein a failure detection operation of the failure detection unit is performed for a processing terminal having passed a predetermined time from the last communication time. Claim 1,
5. The host protocol converter according to 2, 3, or 4. 6. The host protocol conversion apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said fault detecting means has means for storing time information as a reference for executing a fault detecting operation.