JP2003022190A - Multiboot method and program for computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the efficiency of system manager's operation by reducing the number of disk drives required to be practically managed in accordance with the increase of the number of disk drives to be operated and managed by a large scale computer system and easily constructing various environments. SOLUTION: A start disk shared by two or more central processing units(CPUs) and storing one or more starting programs is prepared and a different starting program is transferred to each CPU in accordance with the application purpose of the CPU to start the CPU so that the operation environment of the CPU can be changed. The disk device stores a file server program, a web server program, a database program, etc., so that the operation environments of respective CPUs can be changed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-boot method for a computer system, and more particularly to a multi-boot method for a computer system that is suitable for flexible operation of various servers on this computer system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a large-scale computer system, a plurality of central processing units and a plurality of disks are prepared and each computer is operated in a different environment. Such a system has a problem that the number of disk devices to be managed increases and the burden of management and operation work increases, as compared with a computer system including a single central processing unit and a single disk device. ing.

In order to solve this problem, in a computer system composed of a plurality of central processing units and a plurality of disk devices, the disk devices are shared in order to reduce the number of disk devices to be managed and to improve the efficiency of operation management work. Sometimes. However, when the disk device is shared, a large amount of transfer is performed between the central processing device and the disk device, especially when a plurality of central processing devices are activated in parallel. There is a case where transfer conflict occurs between the disk and the disk device, and system startup is delayed.

As a conventional technique for solving the problem of transfer conflict between the central processing unit and the disk device and activating the system at a high speed, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-2242.
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 43 is known. This prior art is to equip a system resident volume shared by each central processing unit, and transfer the shared information from each central processing unit into a device capable of storing the information shared by each central processing unit. is there.

[0005]

In the above prior art, since the information shared by the central processing units is shared by the system resident volume for starting, the operating environment of each central processing unit is the same. In this case, the efficiency of operation management work can be improved.

However, when the operating environment differs for each central processing unit, it is necessary to make settings on the disk unit occupied by each central processing unit, which increases the burden of operation management work. There was a point. Moreover, if the setting on the system resident volume is changed in an attempt to change only the setting of one central processing unit, the setting for starting the other central processing units is also changed, making it difficult to perform flexible operation management work. There was a point.

Generally, as a computer system becomes large in scale and the number of central processing units and disk devices increases, the burden of operation management work increases. In order to improve the efficiency of the operation management work in such a large-scale computer system, it is necessary to have a function of centrally managing the settings of the boot disk device shared by each central processing unit.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to enable the contents of a boot program transferred from a boot disk to be changed each time each central processing unit is booted. Reduce the number of disk devices that actually need to be managed when performing management tasks,
Further, it is to improve the efficiency of the operation work of the system administrator by making it possible to easily construct various environments.

[0009]

In a computer system composed of a plurality of central processing units and a plurality of disk units and capable of communicating with each other, at least one of them is shared as a boot disk unit, and each central processing unit is There is an environment in which the boot disk device can be used to boot. At this time, in order to activate each central processing unit, a program for activation is transferred from the shared activation disk unit to the central processing unit.

In the shared disk device, the program for starting is changed according to the intended use of the central processing unit to be transferred, and the program is transferred.

With this configuration, the settings for each arithmetic unit can be set on the shared boot disk unit, so that the number of disk units for operation management can be reduced. The number of disk devices that are directly operated and managed can be reduced, and various environments can be easily constructed, so that the efficiency of operation and management work is improved.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

First, the system configuration of the computer system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a computer system according to the present invention.

This computer system comprises a plurality of central processing units 3a, 3b and 3c and a plurality of disk units 4A and 4A.
B, 4C, and 4D are connected to each other, and data transfer processing can be performed. Central processing unit 3a, 3b, 3c
Is a device that executes programs, and the disk devices 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D store programs and data handled by each central processing unit.

The startup disk unit 2 is a central processing unit 4
The starting program for starting A, 4B, 4C, and 4D is stored.

The system management unit 1 activates each central processing unit by sending a command to the boot disk unit 2 and the central processing units 3a, 3b, 3c.

The disk devices 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D are
The content is tailored to the intended use of the central processing unit.
For example, the disk device 4A has programs, data and settings for using the central processing unit as a file server, and the disk device 4B has programs, data and settings for using the central processing unit as a Web server. is there.

That is, when the disk unit 4A is connected to the central processing unit 3a and the central processing unit 3a is started, the central processing unit 3a is operated as a file server, and the disk unit 4B is connected to the central processing unit 3a to perform central processing. When the processing device 3a is activated, the central processing device 3a operates as a web server. With respect to other central processing units, a server having a purpose corresponding to the connected disk is operated.

Next, the processing procedure of the multi-boot method of the computer system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the multi-boot method for the computer system of the present invention.

First, the system management apparatus 1 sends a start command to one of the central processing units, for example, the central processing unit 3a (S501).

Next, the boot program on the boot disk unit 2 is selected according to the intended use of the central processing unit (S5).
02).

Next, a program for booting is transferred from the boot disk device 2 to the central processing unit 3a (S503), and the central processing unit 3a starts booting (S).
504).

If the setting for starting the central processing unit 3a using the file server disk unit 4A is made in the program transferred at this time, the process 50 is executed.
5, the central processing unit 3a is activated as a file server (S505). Further, if the setting for starting using the disk device for Web server 4B instead of the disk device 4A is made, the central processing unit 3a is started as a Web server.

As described above, according to the multi-boot method of the present invention, the system management device 1 is used to activate the boot disk device 2
By changing the settings of the program transferred from the central processing unit to the central processing unit, it is possible to change the disk unit used by the central processing unit at the time of startup and start the central processing unit as a server according to the contents of the disk unit.

Next, the details of the multi-boot method of the computer system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. 3 and 4 are detailed configuration diagrams of a computer system that performs the multi-boot method of the present invention.

In the multi-boot method of the present invention, a plurality of central processing unit startup programs 201, 202, 203 are stored in advance in the startup disk unit 2, and an appropriate startup program is stored in the central processing unit 3 if necessary. Transfer to.

File server startup program 201
Is transferred to the central processing unit 3, the central processing unit 3 is activated and operates as a file server using the file server disk unit 41.

The Web server startup program 20
2 is transferred to the central processing unit 3, the central processing unit 3 is activated and the Web server disk unit 42 is used to execute the Web processing.
It will operate as a server. Further, if the database server start-up program 203 is transferred to the central processing unit 3, the central processing unit 3 is started and the database server disk unit 43 is used to operate as a database server.

The program stored in the boot disk device 2 may be as shown in FIG.

That is, a basic starting program 210 serving as a base is prepared in the starting disk device 2, and a difference 211 from the starting program for the file server and a difference 212 from the starting program for the Web server are respectively set according to various purposes. , A difference 213 from the database server startup program is prepared.

Differences 211, 212 between the basic startup program 210 and the respective server startup programs,
213 is used to generate and transfer a startup program according to various uses.

For example, the basic startup program 210
When a file server start program is generated using the difference 211 between the file server start program and the file server start program and transferred to the central processing unit 3, the central processing unit 3 starts and operates as a file server using the file server disk unit 41. Come to do.

Similarly, the basic startup program 210 and We
When the start program for the Web server is generated by using the difference 212 for the server b and transferred to the central processing unit 3, the central processing unit 3 is started and operates as the Web server using the disk unit for the Web server 42. . Further, when a database server startup program is generated using the basic startup program 210 and the database server difference 213 and transferred to the central processing unit 3, the central processing unit 3 is booted and the database server disk device 43 is started.
Will be used as a database server.

According to this embodiment, the boot disk device 2
In a computer system in which is shared by a plurality of central processing units 3a, 3b, 3c, the contents of each disk unit 4A, 4B, 4C can be changed by changing the contents of the program transferred from the boot disk unit 2. Instead, the service content provided by the central processing unit can be changed, and the labor of operation management work can be reduced.

[Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

This embodiment is similar in hardware configuration to the first embodiment, but is characterized in that the central processing unit is switched to the standby system when a failure occurs.

Also in this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, each disk device is configured with contents according to various server applications. The disk device 4A is for a file server,
The disk device 4B is for a Web server.

It is assumed that the central processing unit 3a is operating as a file server by using the file server disk unit 4A. It is assumed that the central processing unit 3b is operating as a Web server using the Web server disk device 4B. The central processing unit 3c is not operating.

In this embodiment, when one of the central processing units fails and it is desired to continue providing the service of the central processing unit, the central processing unit is switched from the failed one to the standby system. Keep the server running.

For example, when a failure occurs in the central processing unit 3a, the central processing unit 3a is stopped, and then the central processing unit 3c is provided with a boot program that uses the file server disk unit 4A. The central processing unit 3c, which has been waiting, is activated.

The activated central processing unit 3c operates as a file server, and the computer system can continue the service as a file server.

Similarly, when a failure occurs in the central processing unit 3b, after the central processing unit 3b is stopped, a boot program for using the Web server disk unit 4B for the central processing unit 3c is issued from the boot disk unit 2. The data is transferred and the central processing unit 3c is activated. The central processing unit 3c is We
It operates as a b server, and the computer system can continue the service as a Web server.

In the present embodiment, the contents of the boot program transferred from the boot disk unit 2 are changed and the central processing unit is booted to dynamically change the configuration of each central processing unit and each disk unit. That is, the operation manager of the computer system manages the system management device and the boot disk device, and thereby the central processing units 3a, 3b, 3
c and the operation of each disk device 4A, 4B can be controlled.

According to this embodiment, in a computer system in which the boot disk device is shared by a plurality of central processing units, the contents of the program transferred from the boot disk device are changed to connect to the disk device. By changing the central processing unit from the faulty one to the standby system, it is possible to reduce the labor of the operation management work for changing the configuration of the computer system for avoiding the fault.

[Third Embodiment] A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

The present embodiment has the same hardware configuration as the first embodiment, but is characterized in that the operating system is switched by the multi-boot method of the present invention.

Each central processing unit 3 is included in the disk unit 4A.
A shared operating system used for a and 3b is built, the disk device 4B includes only a program and settings for operating a file server, and the disk device 4C includes a program for operating a Web server. Suppose that it only contains programs and settings.

The central processing unit 3a is assumed to be operating as a file server by using the shared operating system disk unit 4A and the file server disk unit 4B, while the central processing unit 3b is a shared operating system disk unit. 4A and the web server disk device 4C are used to operate as a web server.

At this time, when a defect is found in the operating system and the defect must be corrected or when the function of the operating system is expanded, the file server disk unit 4B or the Web server is used.
It is often unnecessary to change the contents of the server disk device 4C.

In such a case, a new version of the operating system is constructed on the disk device 4D and the central processing unit 3a is restarted. At this time, the boot program transferred from the boot disk 2 to the central processing unit 3a is set so that the central processing unit boots using the disk device 4D for the new version operating system and the disk device 4B for the file server. Then, the central processing unit 3a operates as a file server on the new version of the operating system.

The central processing unit 3b operating as a Web server is also restarted in the same manner, and the central processing unit from the boot disk unit 2 to the central processing unit 3b is the disk unit 4D for the new version operating system.
And a boot program that is booted using the Web server disk device 4C are transferred, the central processing unit 3b executes W on the new version of the operating system.
It will operate as an eb server.

In this embodiment, when the operating system common to a plurality of central processing units in the computer system is modified and changed, a new version of the operating system is prepared for one disk unit and each central processing unit The operating system can be centrally managed by rebooting to use the appropriate disk device.

[0054]

According to the present invention, the contents of the boot program transferred from the boot disk can be changed each time each central processing unit is booted, so that it is necessary to actually manage the operation management work. By reducing the number of disk devices and making it easy to create various environments,
It is possible to provide a multi-boot method for a computer system that can improve the efficiency of the operation work of the system administrator.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a computer system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a multi-boot method for a computer system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram of a computer system that performs the multi-boot method of the present invention (No. 1).

FIG. 4 is a detailed configuration diagram of a computer system that performs the multi-boot method of the present invention (No. 2).

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... System management device 2 ... Startup disk device 3a, 3b, 3c ... Central processing unit 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D ... Disk device 41 ... File server disk device 42 ... Web server disk device 43 ... Database server disk device 201 ... File server startup program 202 ... Web server startup program 203 ... Database server startup program 210 ... Basic startup program 211 ... Difference between file server startup program and basic startup program 212 ... Web server startup program and basic startup Difference between program 213 ... Difference between database server startup program and basic startup program

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A multi-boot method for a computer system comprising a plurality of central processing units and a plurality of disk units, wherein a boot disk shared by the plurality of central processing units and storing one or more boot programs is provided. Prepare and change the operating environment of the central processing unit by transferring different start programs to the central processing unit and using it to start the central processing unit according to the intended use of the central processing unit. A multi-boot method for a computer system characterized by being capable of performing. 2. An operating system and an application running on the disk system are stored in the plurality of disk devices, and the operating environment is changed by the boot program,
2. The multi-boot method for a computer system according to claim 1, wherein an operating system and an application running on the operating system can be selected as one unit. 3. The multi-boot method for a computer system according to claim 2, wherein the application is a file server program, a Web server program, and a database program. 4. A multi-boot program for a computer system comprising a plurality of central processing units and a plurality of disk units, wherein a boot disk shared by the plurality of central processing units and storing one or more boot programs is provided. Depending on the intended use of the central processing unit, different start programs are transferred to the central processing unit and used to start the central processing unit when the central processing unit operates. A multi-boot program for computer systems characterized by being able to change the environment. 5. When an operating system and an application running thereon are stored in the plurality of disk devices, the operating environment is changed by the boot program,
5. The multi-boot program for a computer system according to claim 4, wherein an operating system and an application running on the operating system can be selected as one unit. 6. The multi-boot program for a computer system according to claim 5, wherein the application is a file server program, a Web server program, and a database program.