JP2003122865A - Maintenance charge computing device and maintenance charge computing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve problems of rather high cost for customers of a system of small-scale constitution while worsening profit on the maintenance service providing side if large-scale constitutions are increased due to the fixed maintenance charge of an information processor regardless of hardware constitution. SOLUTION: This maintenance charge computing device is provided with a maintenance charge definition database storage means 22 storing a maintenance charge definition database that defines a maintenance charge to each hardware component of an information processor 1, and a constitution acquiring means 20, and the maintenance charge of the information processor is computed from the hardware constitution information of the information processor acquired by the constitution information acquiring means 20, referring to the maintenance charge definition database.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a maintenance fee calculation device and a maintenance fee calculation method for an information processing apparatus, and in particular obtains information such as the hardware configuration, operating status, and environmental conditions of the information processing apparatus. The present invention relates to a maintenance fee calculation device and a maintenance fee calculation method for calculating a maintenance fee based on the acquired information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Charges for maintenance services of conventional information processing devices include repair types such as on-site and sendback, response time to repair requests, standard price of standard configuration,
It is determined by parameters such as the maintenance contract period and the number of years since system introduction.

That is, it is introduced regardless of optional hardware such as a hard disk device, an additional memory device, a RAID controller, environmental equipment such as an air conditioning equipment and a stabilized power supply equipment, and an installation environment such as an empty space around a housing. When the standard configuration of the information processing device is determined, the maintenance fee is uniquely determined according to the contract conditions.

[0004]

The mean time between failures (MTBF) of an information processing apparatus becomes worse as the number of hardware components increases. Therefore, the MTBF is different between the information processing apparatus configured only with standard hardware and the information processing apparatus added with optional hardware. However, maintenance service costs are fixed regardless of the hardware configuration because they are determined by the price of the standard configuration regardless of the presence or absence of options. There was a problem that the maintenance service provider's profitability deteriorated and it became impossible to provide appropriate services.

Further, even when the operating environment of the information processing apparatus is improved by investing in the environment surrounding the information processing apparatus such as the air conditioning equipment and the power supply equipment, the user who has not made any special environment improvement similarly. You have to pay the same maintenance service fee as.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a maintenance charge calculation device and a maintenance charge calculation method for calculating a maintenance service charge according to a hardware configuration and an installation environment. To aim.

[0007]

A maintenance fee calculation apparatus according to the present invention obtains hardware configuration information of an information processing apparatus, and determines a maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus based on the obtained hardware configuration information. To do.

Further, the maintenance fee calculation device according to the present invention is
A maintenance charge calculation device for determining a maintenance charge of an information processing device, a configuration information acquisition unit for acquiring hardware configuration information that is information about a hardware component of the information processing device, and a hardware component of the information processing device. Acquisition of the above configuration information with reference to a maintenance charge definition database storage means storing a maintenance charge definition database defining a maintenance charge for the hardware component and a maintenance charge definition database stored in the maintenance charge definition database storage means. The maintenance fee calculation means for calculating the maintenance fee of the information processing device from the hardware configuration information acquired by the means is provided.

The maintenance fee calculation device according to the present invention is
A maintenance charge calculation device for determining a maintenance charge of an information processing device, a configuration information acquisition means for acquiring hardware configuration information describing hardware components of the information processing device and failure reduction means of the information processing device, and information. Maintenance fee definition database storage means storing a maintenance fee definition database that defines a hardware configuration element of a processing device and a maintenance fee for the hardware configuration element, and defines a maintenance fee reduction rate for failure reduction means of an information processing device A temporary maintenance charge of the information processing apparatus is calculated from the hardware components described in the hardware configuration information, and the failure reducing means described in the hardware configuration information is referenced. The maintenance fee reduction rate is calculated from the above, and the information processing device is calculated from the above temporary maintenance fee and the maintenance fee reduction rate. It is those with a maintenance fee calculation means for calculating a maintenance fee.

Further, the maintenance fee calculation device according to the present invention is
A maintenance charge calculation device for determining a maintenance charge of an information processing device, which acquires hardware configuration information about hardware components of the information processing device, and further hardware related to changes in the hardware configuration after the hardware configuration information is acquired. Hardware configuration information that holds configuration information acquisition means for acquiring change information, hardware configuration information acquired by the configuration information acquisition means, and further holds hardware change information acquired by the configuration information acquisition means. A data holding means for reflecting new hardware configuration information by reflecting in the above, and a maintenance charge definition database storing a hardware charge of the information processing apparatus and a maintenance charge definition database defining a maintenance charge for the hardware charge. And the maintenance fee stored in the maintenance fee definition database storage means. Referring rates defined database are those having a maintenance charge calculating means for calculating the maintenance charge of the information processing apparatus from the hardware configuration information held by the data holding means.

Further, the maintenance fee calculation device according to the present invention is
The data holding means can hold hardware configuration information of a plurality of information processing devices, and extracts the number of each type of hardware component from the hardware configuration information of each information processing device held by the data holding device. It is equipped with a counting means.

Further, the maintenance fee calculation device according to the present invention is
The operating time information of the information processing device is acquired, and the maintenance fee of the information processing device is determined based on the acquired operating time information.

Further, the maintenance fee calculation device according to the present invention is
A maintenance charge calculation device that determines the maintenance charge of the information processing device, a power supply information acquisition unit that acquires power-on information indicating whether the power supply of the information processing device is on or off, and the operating time of the information processing device. Maintenance fee definition database storing means that defines a maintenance fee definition database that defines the maintenance fee, and operating time of the information processing device is calculated from the power-on information acquired by the power supply information acquisition means, and the maintenance charge storage is performed. The maintenance fee calculation means for calculating the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus is provided by referring to the maintenance fee definition database stored in the apparatus.

The maintenance fee calculation device according to the present invention is
A maintenance charge calculation device that determines a maintenance charge of the information processing device, a power supply information acquisition unit that acquires power-on information indicating whether the power supply of the information processing device is on or off, and a predetermined period of the information processing device. Maintenance fee definition database storing means that stores a maintenance fee definition database that defines the maintenance fee corresponding to the number of startups in the internal power supply, and the number of startups of the information processing apparatus within a predetermined period from the power-on information acquired by the power supply information acquisition means. Is calculated, and the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus is calculated with reference to the maintenance fee definition database stored in the maintenance fee storage device.

Further, the maintenance fee calculation device according to the present invention is
A maintenance charge calculation device that determines the maintenance charge of the information processing device, acquires temperature excess information indicating that the environmental temperature of the information processing device is outside the allowable temperature condition, and counts the number of times the temperature excess information is acquired. Temperature information acquisition means, maintenance charge definition database storage means storing a maintenance charge definition database defining a maintenance charge for the number of times the temperature excess information is acquired, and maintenance charge definition database stored in the maintenance charge definition database storage means The maintenance fee calculation means for calculating the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus from the number of times the temperature information acquisition means has acquired the temperature excess information is referred to.

Further, the maintenance fee calculation device according to the present invention is
It is a maintenance fee calculation device that determines the maintenance fee of the information processing device, and the out-of-condition transition time information that is the time when the environmental temperature of the information processing device is outside the allowable temperature condition and the environmental temperature of the information processing device The temperature information acquisition means for acquiring the return time information which is the time when the inside of the information processing device and the maintenance charge definition database that defines the maintenance charge for the time when the environmental temperature of the information processing device is outside the allowable temperature condition are stored. The time when the environmental temperature of the information processing apparatus is out of the allowable temperature condition is calculated from the maintenance charge definition database storage means and the out-of-condition shift time information and the return time information, and stored in the maintenance charge definition database storage means. The maintenance fee calculation means for calculating the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus is provided by referring to the maintenance fee definition database.

The maintenance fee calculation method according to the present invention is
A maintenance charge calculation method for determining a maintenance charge of an information processing device, comprising a maintenance charge definition database storing means for storing a maintenance charge definition database defining a maintenance charge for hardware components of an information processing device. Yes, the configuration information acquisition step for acquiring the hardware configuration information describing the hardware configuration elements of the information processing apparatus, and the configuration information acquisition means with reference to the maintenance charge definition database stored in the maintenance charge definition database storage means. The maintenance fee calculation step of calculating the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus from the hardware configuration information acquired by the above.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1. The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is a block diagram showing a maintenance charge calculation system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is an information processing apparatus, 2 is a maintenance fee calculation apparatus for calculating the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus 1,
Reference numeral 10 is standard hardware of the information processing apparatus 1, 11 is optional hardware of the information processing apparatus 1,
The standard hardware 10 and the optional hardware 11 are composed of various hardware components.

Reference numeral 12 is a system monitoring means such as a service processor (SVP), 13 is a memory or a disk device, and hardware configuration information holding means (H / H) for holding the hardware configuration information obtained by the system monitoring means 12. W configuration information holding means), 14 compares the previous hardware configuration information held in the hardware configuration information holding means 13 with the current (latest) hardware configuration information obtained by the system monitoring means 12 to determine the configuration. A configuration change detecting means for detecting a change, 15 is a transmitting means such as a modem for transmitting information from the information processing apparatus 1 to the maintenance fee calculating apparatus 2, and 20 is a means for receiving information from the information processing apparatus 1. Receiving means, 21 is a data holding device such as a memory or a disk device for holding the information received by the receiving means 20. Step 22, 22 is a maintenance charge definition database storage unit (maintenance charge definition DB storage unit) that stores a maintenance charge definition database that defines a maintenance charge corresponding to the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 1, and 23 is stored in the data holding unit 21. The maintenance fee calculation means calculates the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus 1 from the hardware configuration information and the maintenance fee definition database stored in the maintenance fee definition database storage means 22.

The maintenance fee mentioned here is a cost for guaranteeing the maintenance within the contract period for the hardware configuration within the contract range. The receiving means 20 is the configuration information acquiring means in the present invention.

Next, the hardware configuration information stored in the hardware configuration holding means 13 will be described with reference to FIG. The hardware configuration information has a table configuration as shown in FIG. 2, and includes hardware components, sockets in which the hardware components are installed, identification numbers of the hardware, and respective specifications. The hardware component may be simply referred to as hardware.
In the example of the figure, the CPU is one CPU 0, and the memory has 256 MB mounted in the socket 0. This CPU0
, Socket 0, etc. are standard hardware, and CPU1,
2, sockets 1, 2 and slots 1, 2 correspond to optional hardware.

Further, FIG. 3 shows a maintenance charge definition DB stored in the maintenance charge definition database storage means 22. In a large class of "apparatus", maintenance per hardware is made according to the specifications of each hardware. Charges are defined. Further, in the large category of "system configuration", for example, a discount rate for discounting the maintenance fee is defined when a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) is used as a power source or a disk device has a RAID configuration. The discounted maintenance fee is calculated by multiplying the maintenance fee calculated by the large category "apparatus" by all the applicable discount rates in the "system configuration".

In the hardware shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, R
AID and UPS are the failure reduction means of the information processing device,
Discount rate s1 for RAID and UPS in Figure 3
%, S2%, etc. are maintenance fee reduction rates.

Next, the operation will be described. First, in the initial state, the hardware configuration information holding unit 13 holds the initial value of the hardware configuration information as shown in FIG. 4 in which all the hardware is not mounted with respect to the hardware configuration. When the information processing apparatus 1 is activated, the system monitoring means 12 inspects the configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 and sends the hardware configuration information as shown in FIG. The configuration change detecting means 14 compares the contents of the hardware configuration holding means 13 with the latest hardware configuration information sent from the system monitoring means 12. Since the previous hardware configuration stored in the hardware configuration information holding means 13 (FIG. 4) and the current hardware configuration sent from the system monitoring means 12 (FIG. 2) are different,
The configuration change detection means 14 saves the latest hardware configuration information in the hardware configuration information holding means 13, and sends the latest hardware configuration information to the maintenance fee calculation device 2 by the transmission means 15.

The transmitted hardware configuration information is received by the receiving means 20 and stored in the data holding means 21. The maintenance fee calculation means 23 reads the maintenance fee data of FIG. 3 from the maintenance fee definition database 22 based on the hardware configuration information of the information processing means 1 stored in the data holding means 21, and calculates the maintenance fee. CP in this example
A1 yen for U, 256MB for memory, so b2
Yen, 3 18GB disks, so c1 x 3 yen, RA
Since it has an ID controller and a SCSI controller,
The costs are d1 yen and d2 yen, respectively, and the maintenance charge T is T = (a1 + b2 + c1 × 3 + d1 + d2) × (1-s because UPS is used and the disk has a RAID configuration.
It becomes 1/100) × (1-s2 / 100) circle.

The above (a1 + b2 + c1 × 3 + d1 + d
2) is the temporary maintenance fee in this invention. Further, the step of receiving the hardware configuration information by the receiving means 20 is the configuration information obtaining step, and the step of the maintenance fee calculating means calculating the maintenance fee is the maintenance fee calculating step.

Next, when the optional hardware 11 is added to or deleted from the information processing device 1, the information processing device 1
Is stopped, the optional hardware 11 is added or deleted, and then the information processing apparatus 1 is started. At startup, the system monitoring means 12 inspects the latest hardware configuration information, and thereafter, by the same operation as described above, the configuration change detection means 1
A change in the configuration is detected by 4, and is stored in the hardware configuration information holding means 13 and is also sent to the maintenance charge calculation device 2 by the transmission means 15, and a new maintenance charge is calculated by the maintenance charge calculation means 23. In this way
The maintenance charge according to the latest hardware configuration of the information processing device 1 is calculated.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the system monitoring means 12 checks the latest hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 when the information processing apparatus 1 is activated, and the transmission means 15 updates the latest hardware configuration. Since the information is sent to the maintenance fee calculation device 2, and the maintenance fee calculation device 2 calculates the maintenance fee based on the latest hardware configuration information of the information processing device 1 received, the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1 It is possible to calculate the maintenance fee according to Therefore, even if the hardware configuration is changed within the maintenance contract period, the maintenance fee can be revised to the one corresponding to the latest hardware. Further, according to this embodiment, since the maintenance fee can be calculated online, the maintenance fee calculation work can be simplified.

In the above embodiment, the information processing apparatus 1 is stopped and activated to detect the hardware configuration when the optional hardware 11 is added or deleted, but the state of the hardware configuration may be regularly inspected. You may
In the inspection in this case, an inspection request is transmitted from the controller (not shown) of the maintenance fee calculation device 2 to the information processing device 1 at a predetermined inspection timing, and in response to this, the system monitoring means 12 inspects the hardware configuration. . At this time, before the system monitoring means 12 inspects the hardware configuration, the hardware configuration information in the hardware configuration information holding means 13 is reset and set to an initial value, and thereafter, the system monitoring means 12 controls the information processing device 1 of the information processing apparatus 1. After the inspection of the configuration, the latest maintenance fee is calculated by the same operation as in the above embodiment. According to this example, even if the hardware configuration is changed without stopping / starting due to hot plug or hot swap, the maintenance fee can be calculated with the latest hardware configuration. It is easy to deal with changes in the configuration. Further, the system monitoring means has a configuration change detecting means for detecting the addition / replacement of hardware, and detects the latest hardware configuration information of the information processing device, so the maintenance fee is calculated based on the latest hardware configuration. You can do it.

In the above description, an example in which only one information processing device 1 is connected to the maintenance fee calculation device 2 has been described, but an information processing device connected to one maintenance fee calculation device 2 has been described. 1 may be plural.

Embodiment 2. In the first embodiment,
An example of transmitting all the hardware configuration information as shown in FIG. 2 from the information processing device 1 to the maintenance charge calculation device 2 at the time of calculating the maintenance charge has been shown. An example in which only the changed amount of the hardware configuration from the information processing device 1 is transmitted to the maintenance fee calculation device 2 will be described.

The system of this embodiment is the same as the first embodiment.
It is similar to FIG. When the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1 is inspected for the first time, the hardware configuration information held in the hardware configuration information holding means 13 is set to the initial value as in the first embodiment. The maintenance fee is calculated from the latest hardware configuration information detected by the system monitoring means 12 in the same manner as described above. At this time, the hardware configuration information set to the initial value of the hardware configuration information holding means 13 is replaced with the hardware configuration information detected by the system monitoring means 12. The hardware configuration information newly held in the hardware configuration information holding means 13 is referred to as comparison hardware configuration information. This comparison hardware configuration information is also stored in the data holding means 21 of the maintenance fee calculation device 2.

In the second and subsequent inspections, the configuration change detection means 14 compares the hardware configuration information detected by the system monitoring means 12 with the comparison hardware configuration information read from the hardware configuration information holding means 13, and they are different. Only the partial information is extracted and transmitted from the transmission means 15 to the maintenance fee calculation device 2 as change information. The hardware configuration information detected by the system monitoring means 12 is stored as new comparison hardware configuration information instead of the previous comparison hardware configuration information stored in the hardware configuration information holding means 13.

In the maintenance fee calculation device 2 which has received the change information, the data holding means 21 reflects the change information in the held hardware configuration information for comparison. That is, the comparison hardware configuration information is changed based on the change information. As a result, the comparison hardware configuration information held by the data holding means 21 becomes the same as the new hardware configuration information stored in the hardware configuration information holding means 13. Thereafter, the maintenance fee calculation means 23 refers to the maintenance fee definition database and calculates the maintenance fee. The change information is hardware change information in the present invention.

With the above configuration, the amount of data transmitted from the information processing device 1 to the maintenance fee calculation device 2 can be reduced. Further, by providing the change information storage means for storing the change information in the maintenance fee calculation device 2, it becomes easy to obtain the change history of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1. Further, the system monitoring means has a configuration change detecting means for detecting the addition / replacement of hardware, and detects the latest hardware configuration information of the information processing device, so the maintenance fee is calculated based on the latest hardware configuration. You can do it. Note that the above operation may be performed when the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1 is changed and stopped / started, or may be performed periodically.

Embodiment 3. Embodiment 3 is shown in FIGS.
Will be explained. Although it has been described in the first embodiment that a plurality of information processing apparatuses 1 may be connected to the maintenance fee calculating apparatus 2, in the third embodiment, the maintenance fee calculating apparatus is a plurality of information processing apparatuses. An example having a data totaling means for totaling the data of the hardware configuration will be described.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the structure of the third embodiment, in which parts having the same functions as those in FIG. In FIG. 5, 1a,
Information processing devices 1b, 1c, ..., 1n have the same configuration as the information processing device 1 of FIG. The data holding means 21 is a data holding means such as a memory or a disk device for holding the information received by the receiving means 20, and holds “specification data” regarding the specifications of each information processing apparatus as shown in FIG. To do. Reference numeral 24 is a data totaling means, which acquires and totals the specification data of FIG. 6 held by the data holding means 21.

Each information processing apparatus 1 in this embodiment
The operations of a, ..., 1n are the same as in the first embodiment.
The data holding means 21 includes the information processing devices 1a, ..., 1
The hardware configuration information transmitted from the n is held as "specification data" in one table format as shown in FIG. 6, and the maintenance fee calculation means 23 receives from the data holding means 21 the respective information processing devices 1a ,. 1n are read out, and the maintenance fee definition database of FIG. 3 read out from the maintenance fee definition database storage means 22 is referred to to calculate the maintenance fee of each of the information processing apparatuses 1a, ..., 1n.

Further, the data totaling means 24 acquires "specification data", classifies the hardware described therein into the same type, and counts the total number of each type. For example, X of 256 MB capacity, capacity of 18
The number of GB disk devices is counted as Y, and the number information is held. The data totaling means 24 is the totaling means in this invention.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, since the hardware configurations of a plurality of information processing devices can be grasped, it is possible to hold an appropriate number of parts for maintenance service, and in case of failure occurrence. It is possible to prevent shortage of parts for maintenance service, and to keep the cost required for maintenance service to a minimum by keeping the number of parts to a minimum.

Embodiment 4. The fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. In the first embodiment, the maintenance fee is calculated according to the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 1, but here, an example is shown in which the maintenance fee setting is calculated according to the operating status of the information processing apparatus 1.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a maintenance fee calculation system in such a case.
1 is an information processing apparatus, 2 is a maintenance fee calculation apparatus, 12 is a system monitoring means such as a service processor (SVP), and 15 is a maintenance fee calculation apparatus based on the operating status information of the information processing apparatus 1 acquired by the system monitoring section 12. 2, 100 is a power supply control signal of the information processing apparatus 1, 20 is a receiving means for receiving operating status information from the information processing apparatus 1, and 21 is operating status information received by the receiving means 20. Is a data holding means for storing the maintenance fee, 25 is a maintenance fee definition database storing means (maintenance fee definition DB storing means) for storing a maintenance fee database in which the operating status of the information processing apparatus is associated with the maintenance fee, and 26 is the data retaining means 21. From the maintenance status definition database stored in the maintenance status definition database storage means 25 and the operating status information stored in A maintenance fee calculation means for calculating the maintenance fee of 1 and a time counting means 27 for measuring the time.

Also in this embodiment, the information processing apparatus 1 includes at least the standard hardware 10 of the standard hardware 10 and the optional hardware 11 similar to those of FIG. 1, but omitted in FIG. I am doing it.
The power supply control signal 100 is a signal for controlling on / off of a power supply (not shown) of the information processing apparatus 1, and is a signal transmitted via a power supply control signal line (not shown).

The maintenance fee definition database storage means 2
The maintenance fee definition database stored in 5 stores the operating time of the information processing apparatus 1 within a fixed period (for example, one week) and the maintenance fee data corresponding thereto in a table format as shown in FIG. The maintenance fee mentioned here is a cost that includes at least the operating condition of the device in the contract and guarantees the maintenance within the contract period for the operating condition satisfying the condition.

Next, the operation will be described. When the information processing device 1 is activated, the power supply control signal 100 transitions from off to on. The system monitoring means 12 detects the transition state, and transmits to the maintenance fee calculation device 2 the information that it has been activated via the transmission means 15. Maintenance fee calculation device 2
Then, the receiving means 20 receives the transmitted information, and stores the information indicating that the information processing device 1 has been activated in the data holding means 21 together with the time indicated by the clocking means 26. Also,
When the information processing device 1 is stopped, the power supply control signal 100 transits from the on state to the off state. The system monitoring means 12 detects the transition state, and transmits the information that the system has been stopped to the maintenance fee calculation device 2 via the transmission means 15. In the maintenance fee calculation device 2, the reception means 20 receives the transmitted information, and stores the information indicating that the information processing device 1 has been stopped in the data holding means 21 together with the time indicated by the time counting means 26. The maintenance fee calculation means 25 reads the start and stop times of the information processing device 1 stored in the data holding means 21 at regular intervals (for example, once a week), and calculates the operating time of the information processing device 1 within this fixed period. At the same time, the maintenance charge definition database is read from the maintenance charge definition database storage unit 25, and the maintenance charge corresponding to the operating time is calculated.

The power-on information in the present invention is information that the receiving means 20 in the present invention is the power source information obtaining means and the information processing apparatus transmitted from the transmitting means 15 to the receiving means 20 is activated or stopped.

In this example, the timekeeping means 27 is provided in the maintenance charge calculation device 2, but the information processing device 1 is provided with the timekeeping means.
Transmitting means 15 together with start / stop information of the information processing device 1
May be sent from

As described above, the operating time of the information processing device 1 is calculated based on the start / stop time of the information processing device 1 and the maintenance charge standard is used to calculate the maintenance charge according to the operating time. Therefore, it is possible to set a maintenance fee that corresponds to deterioration of moving parts due to leaving for a long time or continuous operation for a long time. Further, as a result, if the operating time is out of the condition of the contract, the maintenance fee can be revised during the contract period or when the next contract is concluded.

Further, in the above embodiment, the maintenance charge definition database has a table format as shown in FIG.
This maintenance fee may be set to increase in response to an increase in operating hours, or may be set to the minimum or maximum within the range of a specific operating hour. Furthermore, the maintenance fee definition database maintains a fixed maintenance fee. It may be expressed as a function of any suitable form of operating time within the period. This function may have a form in which the maintenance fee monotonically increases with respect to the operating time, or may have a maximum value or a minimum value. In this way, regardless of whether the maintenance fee definition database is in the form of a table or a function, the relationship between the operating time and the maintenance fee can be determined according to the characteristics of the hardware (for example, weak for a long period of time). .

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the maintenance fee is determined by the operating time within a fixed period has been shown, but the maintenance fee is determined by the accumulated time after the information processing apparatus 1 is configured. May be.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the maintenance fee is determined by the operating time within a fixed period has been shown. However, in combination with the configuration of the first embodiment, the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 and the fixed configuration are fixed. The maintenance fee may be determined based on the operating time within the period. That is, in the fourth embodiment, the maintenance charge database is used as the maintenance charge for the operating time as shown in FIG. 8. However, the maintenance charge database in FIG. 8 is used as a table showing the coefficient corresponding to the operating time, and the same as in the first embodiment. The maintenance fee may be determined by multiplying the maintenance fee determined from the hardware configuration by a coefficient determined from the operating time. At this time, two maintenance fee databases may be used, one shown in FIG. 3 and the other shown in FIG.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the maintenance fee is determined by the operating time within a fixed period has been shown, but the maintenance fee may be determined by the number of activations within the fixed period. As a result, it is possible to determine the maintenance fee in consideration of a device which is vulnerable to frequent start / stop such as a fixed disk device. Further, the maintenance fee may be determined by combining the operating time and the number of times of activation, and multiplying the maintenance fee determined by the operation time by a coefficient determined by the number of activations.

Further, as in the first embodiment, the maintenance fee may be determined by multiplying the maintenance fee determined by the hardware configuration by a coefficient determined by the number of times of start / stop. Further, as in the first embodiment, the maintenance fee may be determined by multiplying the maintenance fee determined by the hardware configuration by the coefficient determined by the operating time and the coefficient determined by the number of startups. At this time, two maintenance charge databases may be used, one of which is shown in FIG. 3 and the other of which defines a coefficient for the number of times of starting / stopping or the operating time.

Embodiment 5. The fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment, the maintenance fee is determined by the hardware configuration of the information processing device 1. However, in this embodiment, the installation environment of the information processing device 1, that is, the periphery and the inside of the information processing device housing. An embodiment in which the maintenance charge setting is changed according to the temperature condition of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a maintenance fee calculation system in such a case. In the figure, 1 is an information processing apparatus, 2 is a maintenance fee calculation apparatus, and 16 is an information processing apparatus 1. A device ambient temperature sensor for measuring the ambient temperature of the device, 17 is an in-case temperature sensor for measuring the in-case temperature of the information processing device 1, and 18 is the information processing device 1
Temperature reference holding means for holding the allowable temperature condition of the device, 19 is a device ambient temperature sensor 16 and a housing temperature sensor 17
A temperature inspecting means for determining temperature information from the temperature information from the table and the allowable temperature condition held in the temperature reference unit 18, 15
Is a transmitting means for transmitting the information of the information processing apparatus 1 to the maintenance charge calculating apparatus 2, 20 is a receiving means for receiving the temperature information of the information processing apparatus 1, and 21 is a means for holding the information received by the receiving means 20. Data holding means, 28 is a maintenance charge definition database storage means (maintenance charge definition DB storage means) for storing a maintenance charge standard corresponding to temperature conditions, and 29 is temperature information and maintenance charge definition database storage means stored in the data holding means 21. It is a maintenance fee calculation means for calculating the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus 1 from the maintenance fee definition database read from 27.

The allowable temperature conditions held by the temperature reference holding means are set to different values between the allowable temperature conditions for the apparatus ambient temperature sensor 16 and the allowable temperature conditions for the in-casing temperature sensor 17. Also in this embodiment, the information processing apparatus 1 includes at least the standard hardware 10 of the standard hardware 10 and the option hardware 11 similar to those of FIG. 1, but they are omitted in FIG. .

Next, the operation will be described. The device ambient temperature sensor 16 and the in-housing temperature sensor 17 measure the temperature around the information processing device 1 and the temperature inside the housing at regular intervals (for example, every 60 minutes).

The measured values of the device ambient temperature sensor 16 and the in-casing temperature sensor are sent to the temperature inspecting means 19, which compares them with the respective allowable temperature conditions held in the temperature reference holding means 18. If it is outside the permissible temperature condition (for example, higher than the permissible temperature condition), the temperature excess information is sent to the transmitting means 15. In this case, the temperature excess information is information that at least one of the measured values of the two temperature sensors 16 and 17 exceeds the allowable temperature condition. The transmission unit 15 transmits the temperature excess information to the maintenance fee calculation device 2.

In the maintenance fee calculation device 2, the receiving means 20 receives the temperature excess information and increments the counter (not shown) in the data holding means 21. The maintenance fee calculation means 29 reads out the counter in the data holding means 21 at regular intervals (for example, once a week), and counts the number of times of exceeding the reference (the number of times the temperature excess information is acquired) within the fixed period,
The maintenance charge standard corresponding to the number of times of non-standard is read from the maintenance charge definition database storage means 28, and the maintenance charge standard corresponding to the installation environment of the information processing apparatus 1 is calculated. The receiving means 20 and the data holding means 21 constitute the temperature information acquisition means of the present invention.

When the two temperature sensors measure the temperature at intervals of 60 minutes as described above, the maintenance fee definition database indicates that the temperature excess information is 0 to 168 times (= 24 times / day ×) in a week. It is in the form of a table that determines the maintenance fee according to the case of 7 days).

As described above, in this embodiment, the temperature around the information processing apparatus 1 and the inside of the housing are detected, and the maintenance fee is charged depending on the number of times the temperature is out of the allowable temperature condition within a certain period. Since it is determined, it is possible to set a maintenance fee that takes into consideration the possibility of operation failure under nonstandard temperature conditions. Further, the user of the information processing device 1 can also reduce the maintenance fee by investing in the air conditioning equipment or the installation space.

In the above description, the temperature inspection means 19 outputs the temperature excess information even when only one measured value of the two temperature sensors is out of the allowable temperature condition, but both measured values are in the allowable temperature condition. The temperature excess information may be output only when the temperature is outside.

In the above embodiment, the information processing device 1
The maintenance fee standard is calculated based on the number of times that the installation environment of the device is out of the standard of the allowable temperature condition. However, by storing the time information together in the data holding means 21, the information of the time out of the standard is obtained. Based on this, the maintenance fee standard can be calculated. In this case, the information processing device 1 has a timer (not shown) and two temperature sensors 16 and 17
Constantly measures the temperature, the temperature inspecting means 19 generates information on an out-of-condition transition time when at least one of the measured values is out of the allowable temperature condition, and the transmitting means 15 maintains the out-of-condition transition time information as a maintenance fee. The data is transmitted to the calculation device 2, and the data holding means 21 holds the out-of-condition transition time information. Next, when both the temperature sensors 16 and 17 are within the allowable temperature condition, the temperature inspecting means 19 generates return time information at that time, and the transmitting means 15 transmits this return time information to the maintenance fee calculating device 2. Then, the data holding unit 21 holds the return time information.

The maintenance fee calculation means 29 reads out data from the data holding means 21 at regular intervals (for example, one week),
From the out-of-condition transition time information and the corresponding return time information, the sum of the times when at least one of the two temperature sensors 16 and 17 is out of the allowable temperature condition within this fixed period is calculated, and the maintenance charge definition database storage means is obtained. The maintenance fee is determined with reference to the maintenance fee definition database stored in 28. This maintenance fee definition database storage means 2
The maintenance fee definition database stored in No. 8 is in a table format in which the maintenance fee is described for the total time when at least one of the two temperature sensors 16 and 17 is out of the allowable temperature condition. Also in this case, the receiving means 20
The data holding means 21 constitutes the temperature information acquisition means of the present invention.

Whether the maintenance fee is determined from the number of times the temperature is out of the allowable temperature condition or the maintenance fee is determined from the time when the temperature is out of the allowable temperature condition, the allowable temperature for the two temperature sensors is determined in either case. The conditions may be the same, or only one of the temperature sensors may be provided. When using the measured temperature of two temperature sensors as described above, the temperature of these two temperature sensors is the ambient temperature, and when using the measured temperature of one temperature sensor, the measured temperature of the temperature sensor used is It is the ambient temperature.

Further, multi-step allowable temperature conditions are set in the temperature reference holding means 19, the transition information between the set temperature conditions is detected by the temperature inspection means 19, and the maintenance fee calculation device 2 is sent via the transmission means 15. It is also possible to set a more detailed maintenance fee standard by sending it to.

Further, in the above example, the maintenance fee definition database defines the maintenance fee for the number of times of over temperature information, but a coefficient for the number of times of over temperature information may be defined. By doing so, as described in the fourth embodiment, the maintenance charge determined by the hardware configuration can be multiplied by the coefficient determined by the operating time and the coefficient determined by the number of times of startup, and further multiplied by the coefficient determined by the environmental temperature. This makes it possible to set an appropriate maintenance fee corresponding to the scale of the information processing apparatus, operating environment, and investment in environmental equipment. In these cases, the maintenance fee database may be used in the required number.

[0068]

As described above, the maintenance fee calculation device of the present invention acquires the hardware configuration information of the information processing device,
Since the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus is determined based on the acquired hardware configuration information, there is an effect that the maintenance fee can be set according to the configuration of the information processing apparatus.

Further, the maintenance fee calculation apparatus of the present invention acquires the operating time information of the information processing apparatus and determines the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus based on the acquired operating time information. The effect is that maintenance fees can be set.

Further, since the maintenance fee calculation device of the present invention acquires information relating to the environmental temperature of the information processing device and determines the maintenance fee of the information processing device based on the acquired information, maintenance according to the installation environment is performed. The effect is that you can set a fee.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing a maintenance fee calculation system according to first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing hardware configuration information according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a maintenance charge definition database according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of hardware configuration information according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a maintenance charge calculation system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing specification data according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block configuration diagram showing a maintenance charge calculation system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a maintenance charge definition database according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block configuration diagram showing a maintenance fee calculation system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 information processing device, 2 maintenance fee calculation device, 10
Standard hardware, 11 optional hardware,
12 system monitoring means, 13 hardware configuration information holding means, 14 configuration change detection means, 15 transmission means, 16 device ambient temperature sensor, 17 in-casing temperature sensor, 18 temperature reference holding means, 19 temperature inspection means, 20 receiving means, 21 data holding means, 22 maintenance fee definition database storage means, 23
Maintenance fee calculation means, 24 Data aggregation means, 25
Maintenance fee definition database storage means, 26 maintenance fee calculation means, 27 timing means, 28 maintenance fee definition database storage means, 29 maintenance fee calculation means, 1
00 Power control signal.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A maintenance fee calculation apparatus for acquiring hardware configuration information of an information processing apparatus and determining a maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus based on the acquired hardware configuration information. 2. A maintenance fee calculation apparatus for determining a maintenance fee of an information processing apparatus, comprising: configuration information acquisition means for acquiring hardware configuration information describing hardware configuration elements of the information processing apparatus; The maintenance fee definition database storing means for storing the maintenance fee definition database for defining the maintenance fee for the hardware component, and the configuration information obtaining means by referring to the maintenance fee definition database stored in the maintenance fee definition database storing means. A maintenance charge calculation device comprising a maintenance charge calculation means for calculating a maintenance charge of the information processing device from the hardware configuration information acquired by the. 3. A maintenance charge calculation device for determining a maintenance charge for an information processing device, the configuration information acquiring hardware configuration information describing hardware components of the information processing device and failure reduction means of the information processing device. Maintenance that stores a maintenance charge definition database that defines acquisition means, hardware components of the information processing device and maintenance charges for the hardware components, and defines a maintenance charge reduction rate for failure reduction means of the information processing device. By referring to the charge definition database storage means and the maintenance charge definition database, the temporary maintenance charge of the information processing apparatus is calculated from the hardware components described in the hardware configuration information, and further described in the hardware configuration information. The maintenance fee reduction rate is calculated from the determined failure reduction measures, and the temporary maintenance fee and the maintenance fee reduction rate are calculated. A maintenance fee calculation device comprising: a maintenance fee calculation means for calculating a maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus from the information processing apparatus. 4. A maintenance charge calculation device for determining a maintenance charge of an information processing device, which acquires hardware configuration information describing hardware configuration elements of the information processing device, and further acquires hardware after the hardware configuration information is acquired. Configuration information acquisition means for acquiring hardware change information describing changes in the hardware components, hardware configuration information acquired by the configuration information acquisition means, and hardware change information acquired by the configuration information acquisition means A data holding means for reflecting the above in the held hardware configuration information as new hardware configuration information, and a maintenance charge definition database defining maintenance charges for each hardware component of the information processing device are stored. Stored in the maintenance charge definition database storage means and the maintenance charge definition database storage means Maintenance charge calculation device by referring to observe rates defined databases comprising the maintenance charge calculating means for calculating the maintenance charge of the information processing apparatus from the hardware configuration information held by the data holding means. 5. The data holding means is capable of holding hardware configuration information of a plurality of information processing devices, and from the hardware configuration information of each information processing device held by the data holding means, for each type of hardware component. 2. A counting means for extracting the number of
5. The maintenance fee calculation device according to claim 4. 6. Obtaining operating time information of the information processing device,
A maintenance fee calculation device that determines a maintenance fee of the information processing device based on the acquired operating time information. 7. A maintenance charge calculation device for determining a maintenance charge of an information processing device, and power supply information acquisition means for acquiring power-on information indicating whether the information processing device is powered on or off, and information. The operating time of the information processing device is calculated from the maintenance charge definition database storage means that stores the maintenance charge definition database that defines the maintenance charge corresponding to the operating time of the processing device, and the power-on information acquired by the power supply information acquisition device. A maintenance charge calculation device comprising a maintenance charge calculation means for calculating a maintenance charge of an information processing device with reference to a maintenance charge definition database stored in the maintenance charge storage device. 8. A maintenance charge calculation device for determining a maintenance charge of an information processing device, and a power supply information acquisition means for acquiring power-on information indicating whether the power supply of the information processing device is on or off, and information. The maintenance charge definition database storage means storing a maintenance charge definition database that defines the maintenance charge corresponding to the number of activations of the processing device within a predetermined period, and the power-on information acquired by the power supply information acquisition means, which determines the information processing device Maintenance fee calculation means for calculating the number of startups within a period and referring to the maintenance fee definition database stored in the maintenance fee storage device to calculate the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus apparatus. 9. A maintenance charge calculation device for determining a maintenance charge for an information processing device, which acquires temperature excess information indicating that the environmental temperature of the information processing device is out of the allowable temperature condition, and acquires the temperature excess information. Temperature information acquisition means for counting the number of times of acquisition, maintenance charge definition database storage means for storing a maintenance charge definition database for defining a maintenance charge for the number of times of acquisition of the over temperature information, and maintenance charge definition database storage means A maintenance charge calculation device comprising a maintenance charge calculation device for calculating a maintenance charge of the information processing device from the number of times the temperature information acquisition device has acquired the temperature excess information by referring to the maintenance charge definition database. 10. A maintenance charge calculation device for determining a maintenance charge for an information processing device, the non-condition transition time information being the time when the environmental temperature of the information processing device is out of the allowable temperature condition, and the environment of the information processing device. Temperature information acquisition means for acquiring return time information, which is the time when the temperature is within the allowable temperature condition, and maintenance charge definition, which defines the maintenance charge for the time when the environmental temperature of the information processing device is outside the allowable temperature condition. The maintenance charge definition database storing means that stores the database, and the time when the environmental temperature of the information processing device is out of the allowable temperature condition are calculated from the out-of-condition shift time information and the return time information, and the maintenance charge definition database is stored. Maintenance fee characterized by including a maintenance fee calculation means for calculating the maintenance fee of the information processing apparatus by referring to the maintenance fee definition database stored in the means. Calculator. 11. A maintenance fee calculation device for determining a maintenance fee of an information processing apparatus, comprising: a maintenance fee definition database storing means for storing a maintenance fee definition database defining a maintenance fee for a hardware component of the information processing apparatus. This is a maintenance fee calculation method, and refers to the configuration information acquisition step for obtaining the hardware configuration information describing the hardware configuration elements of the information processing device and the maintenance fee definition database stored in the maintenance fee definition database storage means. A maintenance fee calculation method comprising a maintenance fee calculation step of calculating a maintenance fee of the information processing device from the hardware configuration information acquired by the configuration information acquisition means.