JP2009081609A - Computer and communicating processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the usability of a computer loading a network device, when it is connected to the network, as well as, to improve the reliability of a computer. <P>SOLUTION: The computer is provided with a network processing unit for processing communication data to be transmitted and received to and from the network and a communication control processing unit for controlling the communicating operation via the network processing unit. The computer is further provided with a processing result extracting means for extracting processing result of communication data by the network processing unit; an equivalent process executing means for executing the communication data process same as the process by the network processing unit in the communication control processing unit; a processing result comparing means for comparing the processing result by the network processing unit and the processing result by the communication control processing unit; and a communication processing substitutive means for substituting at least a part of the processes of the network processing unit, based on this comparison result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a computer, and more particularly to a computer including a network processing unit that performs processing for connecting to a network.

  In recent years, it has been realized that a computer connects to a communication network and accesses another computer. At this time, the computer is connected to the communication network using processing by the network device. The network device implements data communication by performing, for example, TPC / IP processing.

  On the other hand, when a failure occurs in a part of the network device, the network device mounted on the computer minimizes the influence on the connected network by disconnecting the network device itself and switching to another network device. It was. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a network connection device externally attached to a computer is provided in a duplex manner, and when a failure occurs on one side, the other is switched to the other side.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-91233

  However, in a network with many transactions, disconnection of the interface of the network device may cause a system down due to packet storm and heartbeat confirmation failure. Therefore, there is a problem that the availability of the network device itself cannot be improved and the reliability is lacking.

  For this reason, the present invention improves the inconveniences of the above-mentioned conventional example, and in particular, can improve the availability of a computer equipped with a network device when connected to the network, and improve the reliability of the computer. For that purpose.

Therefore, a computer which is one embodiment of the present invention
A processing result that includes a network processing unit that processes communication data to be transmitted / received to / from the network and a communication control processing unit that controls a communication operation via the network processing unit, and extracts a processing result of the communication data by the network processing unit Extraction means, same processing execution means for executing the same communication data processing as the processing by the network processing section in the communication control processing section, and processing for comparing the processing result by the network processing section and the processing result by the communication control processing section A configuration is adopted in which a result comparison unit and a communication processing substitution unit that substitutes at least a part of the processing of the network processing unit based on the comparison result are provided.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, according to this, the temporary stop of the network device is suppressed, the network connection is continuously used, the availability of the computer is improved, and the reliability of the computer is improved. It has the outstanding effect which cannot be aimed at by the conventional example.

  A computer according to an aspect of the present invention includes a network processing unit that processes communication data transmitted to and received from a network, and a communication control processing unit that controls a communication operation via the network processing unit. A processing result extracting unit that extracts a processing result of the communication data by the network processing unit; an identical processing executing unit that executes processing of the same communication data as the processing by the network processing unit in the communication control processing unit; and a network processing unit The processing result comparison means for comparing the processing result by the communication control processing section and the processing result by the communication control processing section, and the communication processing alternative means for substituting at least a part of the processing of the network processing section based on the comparison result The composition is taken.

  In the present invention, the network processing unit includes a plurality of processing units for processing communication data, and the processing result extraction unit extracts processing results of at least one processing unit among the plurality of processing units and performs the same processing. The execution unit executes at least the same processing as the processing unit that extracts the processing result by the processing result extraction unit, and the communication processing alternative unit includes the processing unit included in the network processing unit based on the comparison result by the processing result comparison unit. Among them, a configuration is adopted in which a faulty part is specified and communication data processing by this faulty part is substituted.

  According to the above invention, first, the communication data is processed by the network processing unit, and the processing result is taken out. The communication control processing unit performs the same processing as that of the network processing unit. Then, the processing result by the network processing unit is compared with the processing result by the communication control processing unit. Thereby, for example, a faulty part of a network processing unit including a plurality of processing units is specified. And based on a comparison result, a part of process of a network processing part, ie, the process by a faulty part, is substituted. Therefore, even if a failure occurs in the network processing unit, the processing by the part where the failure has occurred is replaced by another, so that the temporary stop of the network processing can be suppressed, the availability can be improved, and the computer It is possible to improve the reliability.

  In the present invention, the communication processing alternative means adopts a configuration in which the communication control processing unit executes processing of communication data by the faulty part and transmits this processed data to the network processing unit. The communication processing alternative means adopts a configuration in which processed data is transmitted to a processing unit that executes processing of communication data next to a faulty part provided in the network processing unit. The network processing unit includes a TCP offload engine, an IP processing unit, and an Ethernet processing unit, and the processing result comparison unit includes a processing result by the TCP offload engine of the network processing unit and a communication control processing unit. The TCP processing result is compared, and the communication processing alternative means detects the failure of the TCP offload engine based on the comparison result, and processes the processed data obtained by performing the TCP processing on the communication data to the IP processing unit of the network processing unit. The transmission is adopted. Furthermore, the communication data to be processed in order to compare the processing results in the network processing unit and the communication control processing unit is a dummy data.

  Thereby, the failure of the TCP processing unit provided in the network processing unit can be detected. And even if a failure occurs, it can be quickly recovered and the stop of the computer operation can be suppressed. In particular, since the occurrence of a failure can be detected with dummy data, the failure can be detected at an arbitrary timing, not during communication.

  In the present invention, the network processing unit includes another network processing unit having the same configuration as the network processing unit, and the communication processing alternative unit is configured to perform processing of communication data transmitted / received to / from the network in another network processing unit. The configuration of “Yes” is adopted. In addition, the processing result extraction unit extracts the processing result of the communication data by the other network processing unit, and the processing result comparison unit compares the processing result by the network processing unit with the processing result by the communication control processing unit. The processing result by the network processing unit is compared with the processing result by the communication control processing unit. In addition, the network processing unit and other network processing units each have a configuration including a TCP offload engine, an IP processing unit, and an Ethernet processing unit. Furthermore, the communication data processed in order to compare a processing result in a network processing part, another network processing part, and a communication control processing part is taken as the structure that it is dummy data.

  Thereby, even when a failure occurs in the network processing unit, by setting the other network processing unit of the same configuration to perform transmission / reception processing of communication data to the network, a part of the processing of the network processing unit, that is, The processing by the faulty part can be replaced by another network processing unit. Accordingly, temporary stop of network processing can be suppressed, availability can be improved, and computer reliability can be improved.

  A program according to another aspect of the present invention includes a network processing unit that processes communication data transmitted to and received from a network, and a communication control processing unit that controls a communication operation via the network processing unit. A processing result extracting means for extracting a processing result of communication data by the network processing section in the computer; an identical processing executing means for executing processing of the same communication data as the processing by the network processing section in the communication control processing section; and a network processing section And a communication processing alternative means for comparing at least a part of the processing of the network processing unit based on the comparison result by comparing the processing result of the above and the processing result of the communication control processing unit.

  In addition, the processing result extracting unit extracts processing results of at least one processing unit among a plurality of processing units that process communication data included in the network processing unit, and the same processing execution unit includes at least the processing result extracting unit. The network processing unit that retrieves the processing result executes the same processing as the processing unit, and the communication processing alternative means identifies the faulty part of the processing unit provided in the network processing unit based on the comparison result, and A configuration is adopted in which communication data processing by a part is replaced.

  Further, the communication processing alternative means adopts a configuration in which the communication control processing unit executes processing of communication data by the faulty part and transmits the processed data to the network processing unit. Or the said communication processing alternative means employ | adopts the structure of setting so that the processing of the communication data transmitted / received with respect to a network may be performed in the other network processing part of the same structure as a network processing part.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication processing method comprising: a network processing unit that processes communication data transmitted to and received from a network; and a communication control processing unit that controls a communication operation via the network processing unit. A communication processing method using a computer provided with a processing result extraction step of extracting a processing result of communication data by a network processing unit, and a network processing unit at a communication control processing unit before and after the processing result extraction step The same processing execution step for executing the same communication data processing as the processing by the processing, the processing result comparison step for comparing the processing result by the network processing unit and the processing result by the communication control processing unit, and the network processing unit based on the comparison result And a communication processing alternative step of substituting at least a part of the processing.

  In addition, the processing result extraction step extracts processing results of at least one processing unit among a plurality of processing units that process communication data included in the network processing unit, and the same processing execution step includes at least a processing result extraction step. The processing process is the same as the processing unit provided in the network processing unit that extracts the processing result, and the communication processing alternative process identifies the faulty part among the processing units provided in the network processing unit based on the comparison result, A configuration is adopted in which communication data processing by a part is replaced. Further, the communication processing substitution step adopts a configuration in which the communication control processing unit executes processing of communication data by the faulty part and transmits the processed data to the network processing unit. Alternatively, the communication processing alternative process adopts a configuration in which processing of communication data transmitted / received to / from the network is set to be performed by another network processing unit having the same configuration as the network processing unit.

  Even in the invention of the program and method having the above-described configuration, the above-described object of the present invention can be achieved because it operates in the same manner as the computer. Hereinafter, specific configurations and operations of the present invention will be described with reference to examples.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 1 and 2 are block diagrams showing the configuration of the computer in this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the computer.

[Constitution]
As shown in FIG. 1, the computer 1 in this embodiment first has an operation means 11 such as a mouse and a keyboard, an OS management unit 2 that manages the operation of the computer itself, and a display that displays the status of the OS management unit 2. Means 12 and a network device 3 for performing transmission / reception processing of communication data with respect to the communication network 10. Hereinafter, each configuration will be described in detail.

  First, the network device 3 has a function of connecting the computer 1 to an external communication network 10. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a network main processing unit 4 (network processing unit) having a TCP offload engine 41, an IP processing unit 42, an Ethernet processing unit 43, and a network interface 43, A network interface 6 and a memory 5 are provided. Here, the network main processing unit 4 has a function of performing TCP / IP processing on communication data in each of the processing units 41, 42, and 43 in accordance with a command from the OS management unit 2. In other words, as described above, each processing unit 41, 42, 43 dedicated to communication that originally executes processing of communication data that can be performed by the OS management unit 2 is provided, and the processing load on the OS management unit 2 is reduced. In addition, the network device 3 in this embodiment includes a bypass circuit 71 for taking out the processing results such as the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 to the memory 5, thereby The processing results of the processing units 41, 42, and 43 can be stored in the memory 5. The processing result stored in the memory 5 can be acquired by the OS management unit 2.

  The processing results by the processing units 41, 42, and 43 of the network main processing unit 4 are dummy data as communication data sent from the OS management unit 2 to the TCP offload engine 41 via the path 72 indicated by reference numeral 72 at the time of diagnosis. Are the processing results executed by the processing units 41, 42, and 43 on the dummy data. Then, data with a header representing the processing result of each processing unit 41, 42, 43 is stored in the memory 5. Here, for example, (1) during the machine initialization at the time of starting the computer, (2) the communication network, the dummy data is transmitted from the OS management unit 2 and the processing results of the respective processing units 41, 42, 43 are acquired. When there is a checksum error in the packet transmitted / received from, there are (3) periodic polling by the OS management unit 2 and (4) activation by the user from the operation means 11. However, the processing result at the time of normal network processing may be taken out to the memory.

  The OS management unit 2 (communication control processing unit) is a control device that controls a communication operation via the network device 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the OS management unit 2 includes a communication data processing unit 21, an identical processing execution unit 22, a processing result acquisition unit 23, A result comparison unit 24 and a communication processing alternative unit 25 are provided.

  The communication data processing unit 21 basically has a function of controlling communication processing via the network device 3. Accordingly, communication data is transmitted to and received from the TCP offload engine 41 during normal communication processing. The communication data processing unit 21 has a function of transmitting dummy data to the TCP offload engine 41 via the path 72 at the diagnosis timing described above. Further, when the communication data processing unit 21 detects a failure of the TCP offload engine 41 in response to a command from the communication processing alternative unit 25 described later, the communication data processing unit 21 executes the TCP processing on the communication data, and the processed data is processed. It has a function of transmitting data to the IP processing unit 42 via a path 73 indicated by reference numeral 73. This function will be described later.

  The same process execution unit 22 (same process execution means) executes the communication process for the dummy data when the communication data processing unit 21 transmits dummy data to the TCP offload engine 41. That is, the same processing as the processing executed by the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 in the network device 3 is executed, and the processing result at each stage (TCP, IP, Ethernet) is obtained. It is generated as data with a header indicating that the process is performed at each stage.

  Further, as described above, the processing result acquisition unit 23 acquires the processing results by the processing units 41, 42, and 43 of the network main processing unit 4 stored in the memory 5. Then, the result is sent to the processing result comparison unit 24 together with the processing result executed by the same processing execution unit 22. In this way, the processing result acquisition unit 23 functions as a processing result extraction unit that extracts processing results by the processing units 41, 42, and 43 equipped in the network device 3 together with the bypass 71 and the memory 5 described above.

  Further, the processing result comparison unit 24 (processing result comparison unit) obtains the processing results obtained by the processing units 41, 42, and 43 of the network device 3 and the processing results obtained by the OS management unit 2 as described above. Compare. Specifically, the processing result by the TCP offload engine 41, the processing result of the TCP processing by the OS management unit 2, the processing result by the IP processing unit 42, the processing result of the IP processing by the OS management unit 2, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 The processing result and the processing result of the Ethernet processing by the OS management unit 2 are compared, and the processing result that should have the same processing content is compared with each other. Then, the communication processing alternative unit 25 is notified of the comparison result.

  The communication processing alternative unit 25 determines that the processing units 41, 42, and 43 of the network device 3 are out of order if there is a difference between the processes as a result of the comparison. For example, if there is a difference between the result of processing by the TCP offload engine 41 and the result of TCP processing by the OS management unit 2, it is determined that the TCP offload engine 41 is out of order (failure has occurred). . In this situation, when there is no difference between the processing result by the IP processing unit 42 and the result of the IP processing by the OS management unit 2, the processing result by the Ethernet processing unit 43 and the result of the Ethernet processing by the OS management unit 2. It is determined that only the TCP offload engine 41 has failed. In this case, the communication processing alternative unit 25 issues a command to the communication data processing unit 21, and the subsequent communication data is subjected to the same TCP processing as the TCP offload engine 41 in the communication data processing unit 21, and the path 73 is set. To the IP processing unit 42 that performs the next processing of the TCP offload engine 41 via the network. As described above, the communication processing alternative unit 25 and the communication data processing unit 21 function as a communication processing alternative unit that performs a part of the processing of the network device 3 as an alternative. On the other hand, if there is a difference in the processing results of the IP processing unit 42 and the like, recovery is often difficult, and the operation of the network device 3 itself is stopped.

[Operation]
Next, the operation of the computer 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. Although the TCP offload engine 41 is used here, a description will be given assuming that a failure occurs during operation.

First, for example, the failure diagnosis process is executed with the following four operations as a trigger.
(1) During machine initialization at computer startup (2) When there is a checksum error in a packet transmitted / received from the communication network 10 (3) Periodic polling by the OS management unit 2 (4) From the operation means 11 by the user Activation At the above timing, the OS management unit 2 transmits dummy communication data to the TCP offload engine 41 of the network device 3 via the path 72 (step S1). Then, each of the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 of the network device 3 executes a process for dummy data (step S2). And the data with a header used as the process result by each process part 41,42,43 are preserve | saved in the memory 5 via the bypass circuit 71 (step S3, process result extraction process).

  In parallel with step 2, the OS management unit 2 executes TCP, IP, and Ethernet processes at each stage on the dummy data transmitted to the network device 3 to generate data with a header ( Step S4). That is, each processing result by the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 of the normal network device 3 is generated by the OS management unit 2 (same processing execution process).

  Subsequently, the OS processing unit 2 acquires, from the memory 5, data with a header actually processed by the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 (step S5, processing result acquisition step). Further, the OS management unit 2 reads the header-attached data that is the processing result generated by executing the TCP, IP, and Ethernet processes, and compares the header-added data that is the processing result between the corresponding processes (step S6). , Processing result comparison step).

  Then, here, a difference appears between the processing result of the TCP offload engine 41 and the result of the TCP processing. At this time, if there is no difference between the comparison results after the IP and Ethernet processing, it is determined that only the TCP offload engine 41 has failed (step S7). Then, the TCP offload engine 41 is logically separated, and the OS management unit 2 performs TCP processing on the communication packet during communication control, and the processed communication packet is transferred to the IP processing unit 42 via the path 73. Send to. That is, the OS management unit 2 performs TCP processing on the communication data instead of the failed TCP offload engine 41, and transmits this to the IP processing unit 42 located ahead of the TCP offload engine 41 (step S8, Communication processing alternative process). As a result, subsequent communication processing for the communication network can be executed normally.

  Furthermore, when a difference is found in the comparison result after the IP and Ethernet processing, the network device 3 is stopped because the network device 3 cannot be recovered with the above configuration. Thereafter, the display unit 12 displays the processing results of steps S7 and S8 described above and the fact that the network device 3 is stopped.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if a failure occurs in the network device 3, the processing by the part where the failure has occurred is replaced by the OS management unit 2, so that the temporary network device Can be suppressed, the availability can be improved, and the reliability of the computer 1 can be improved.

  Here, the case where the processing results of the processing units 41, 42, 43 are taken out to the memory 5 and each processing corresponding to these is executed by the OS management unit 2 has been exemplified. It is not limited to performing. For example, only a process with a high occurrence frequency of failure may be taken out to the memory 5 and executed and compared by the OS management unit 2 to detect the occurrence of a failure and perform a replacement process for the failed portion. That is, in the above, the case where the TCP offload engine 41 has failed has been illustrated, but when the failure of the other processing units 42 and 43 is detected, the OS management unit 2 performs processing on the communication data by the network processing unit 4. It may be executed and transmitted to the network interface 6.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 5 are block diagrams showing the configuration of the computer in this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the computer.

[Constitution]
The computer 1 in the present embodiment has a configuration substantially similar to that of the first embodiment. Therefore, the configuration different from that of the first embodiment will be particularly described below.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the network device 3 of the computer 1 in this embodiment includes a frame comparison unit 51 in place of the memory 5 described above. The frame comparison unit 51 extracts the processing results of the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 provided in the network main processing unit 4 via the bypass circuit 71. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the frame comparison unit 51 acquires data representing each processing result of TCP, IP, and Ethernet generated by the same processing execution unit 22 provided in the OS management unit 2. The frame comparison unit 51 has a function of comparing each processing result by each processing unit 41, 42, 43 of the network main processing unit 4 with each processing result by the OS management unit 2. As described above, the frame comparison unit 51 functions as a processing result acquisition unit and a processing result comparison unit. Further, the comparison result is notified to the comparison result acquisition unit 26 provided in the OS management unit 2. Then, the OS management unit 2 that has acquired the comparison result detects the failure of the network main processing unit 4 in the communication processing substitution unit 25 and performs the substitution processing in the same manner as described above.

[Operation]
Next, the operation of the computer 1 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. Although the TCP offload engine 41 is used here, a description will be given assuming that a failure occurs during operation.

  First, at the diagnosis timing as described above, the OS management unit 2 transmits dummy communication data to the TCP offload engine 41 of the network device 3 via the path 72 (step S11). Then, each of the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 in the network device 3 executes processing for dummy data (step S12). Then, the header-attached data that is the processing result by each of the processing units 41, 42, and 43 is extracted by the frame comparison unit 51 via the bypass circuit 71 (processing result extraction step).

  In parallel with step 2, the OS management unit 2 executes TCP, IP, and Ethernet processes at each stage on the dummy data transmitted to the network device 3 to generate data with a header ( Step S13). That is, each processing result by the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 of the normal network device 3 is generated by the OS management unit 2 (same processing execution process). Then, the OS processing unit 2 transmits these processing results to the frame comparison unit 51 (step S14).

  Subsequently, the frame comparison unit 51 executes the TCP, IP, and Ethernet processing in the header management data actually processed by the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43, and the OS management unit 2. The header-attached data that is the processing result generated in step S15 is compared (step S15, processing result comparison step). Then, the comparison result is transmitted to the OS management unit 2 (step S16).

  Thereafter, the OS management unit 2 identifies the failure location of the network device 3 from the comparison result, as described above. Here, it is assumed that there is a difference between the processing result of the TCP offload engine 41 and the result of the TCP processing by the OS management unit 2. At this time, if there is no difference in the comparison results after the IP and Ethernet processing, it is determined that only the TCP offload engine 41 has failed (step S17). Then, the TCP offload engine 41 is logically disconnected, and the OS management unit 2 transmits a communication packet subjected to TCP processing to the IP processing unit 42 via the path 73 during communication control. That is, the OS management unit 2 performs TCP processing on the communication data instead of the failed TCP offload engine 41, and transmits this to the IP processing unit 42 located ahead of the TCP offload engine 41 (step S18, Communication processing alternative process). Thereby, the communication process with respect to a communication network can be continued.

  Furthermore, when a difference is found in the comparison result after the IP and Ethernet processing, the network device 3 is stopped because the network device 3 cannot be recovered with the above configuration. Thereafter, the display unit 12 displays the processing results of steps S7 and S8 described above and the fact that the network device 3 is stopped.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if a failure occurs in the network device 3, the processing by the part where the failure has occurred is replaced by the OS management unit 2, so that the temporary network device Can be suppressed, the availability can be improved, and the reliability of the computer 1 can be improved.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 8 are block diagrams showing the configuration of the computer in this embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of the computer.

[Constitution]
The computer 1 in the present embodiment basically has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the network apparatus 3 further includes two network main processing units 4 and 104. That is, the first network main processing unit 4 including the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 that are active systems, the TCP offload engine 141, the IP processing unit 142, and the Ethernet processing that are standby systems. A second network main processing unit 104 having a unit 143. In addition, a memory 5 is provided for storing each processing result in each of the network main processing units 4 and 104 through a bypass circuit 71.

  Further, the OS management unit 2 in the present embodiment basically has the same communication data processing unit 121, the same processing execution unit 22, a processing result acquisition unit 123, a processing result comparison unit 124, as in the first embodiment described above. A communication processing alternative unit 125 is provided. The communication data processing unit 121 transmits / receives communication data via the path 72 to / from the TCP offload engine 41 of the first network main processing unit 4 that is an active system. In addition, the communication data processing unit 121 sends the TCP offload engines 41 and 141 of the first and second network main processing units 4 and 104 to the TCP offload engines 41 and 141 via the path 72 and the path 75, respectively, at the diagnosis timing described above. It has a function of transmitting dummy data. Furthermore, when the communication data processing unit 121 detects a failure in the configuration of the active first network main processing unit 4 in response to a command from the communication processing alternative unit 125 described later, the communication data processing unit 121 detects the main second network in the standby system. The processing unit 104 is set as an active system, and communication data is transmitted to the TCP offload engine 141 of the second network main processing unit 104.

  Further, the same process execution unit 22 (same process execution means), when the dummy data is transmitted to the TCP offload engine 41 by the communication data processing unit 21 described above, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, Execute communication processing. That is, the same processing as the processing executed by the TCP offload engine 41, the IP processing unit 42, and the Ethernet processing unit 43 in the network device 3 is executed, and the processing result at each stage (TCP, IP, Ethernet) is obtained. It is generated as header data at each stage.

  The processing result acquisition unit 123 acquires all the processing results by the processing units 41, 42, 43, 141, 142, and 143 of the first and second network main processing units 4 and 104 stored in the memory 5. To do. Then, the result is delivered to the processing result comparison unit 124 together with the processing result executed by the same processing execution unit 22.

  In addition, the processing result comparison unit 124 (processing result comparison unit) acquires the processing results obtained by the processing units 41, 42, and 43 of the first network main processing unit 4 that is the active system acquired from the memory 5, and the OS management unit 2. Are compared with each other, and the comparison result is notified to the communication processing alternative unit 125. In addition, the processing result comparison unit 124 acquires the processing results by the processing units 141, 142, and 143 of the second network main processing unit 104 that is the standby system acquired from the memory 5, the processing results by the OS management unit 2, and And the comparison result is notified to the communication processing alternative unit 125.

  Then, similarly to the above, the communication processing alternative unit 125 first compares the processing results of the processing units 41, 42, 43 of the first network main processing unit 4 that is the active system with the processing results of the OS management unit 2. Based on the comparison result, it is determined that the processing units 41, 42, and 43 in the first network main processing unit 4 are out of order. For example, when there is a difference between the processing result by the IP processing unit 42 and the result of the IP processing by the OS management unit 2, it is determined that the IP processing unit 42 has failed (a failure has occurred). Further, the communication processing alternative unit 125 is based on the comparison result between the processing results of the processing units 141, 142, and 143 of the second network main processing unit 104 that is the standby system and the processing results of the OS management unit 2. It is checked whether the second network main processing unit 104 is normal. If it is normal, the communication data processing unit 21 is instructed to make the second network main processing unit 104 an active system. As a result, the subsequent communication data is transmitted from the communication data processing unit 121 to the TCP offload engine 141 of the second network main processing unit 104. If it can be determined from the comparison result that a failure has occurred in the second network main processing unit 104 as well, recovery is often difficult, and the operation of the network device 3 itself is stopped.

[Operation]
Next, the operation of the computer 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. In this example, the active IP processing unit 42 is used, but a description will be given assuming that a failure occurs during operation.

  First, at the arbitrary timing described above, the OS management unit 2 passes the dummy communication data via the path 72 and the path 75 on the first network main processing unit 4 that is the active system of the network device 3 and the standby system. It transmits each with respect to a certain 2nd network main process part 104 (step S21). Then, in the first and second network main processing units 4 and 104, the TCP offload engines 41 and 141, the IP processing units 42 and 142, and the Ethernet processing units 43 and 143 respectively execute processing for the dummy data. (Step S22). And the data with a header used as the processing result by each process part 41,42,43,141,142,143 is preserve | saved in the memory 5 via the bypass circuit 71 (step S3, process result extraction process).

  On the other hand, in parallel with step 2, the OS management unit 2 executes TCP, IP, and Ethernet processes at each stage on the dummy data transmitted to the network device 3 to generate data with headers ( Step S24). That is, the processing results of the TCP offload engines 41 and 141, the IP processing units 42 and 142, and the Ethernet processing units 43 and 143 included in the first and second network main processing units 4 and 104 in the normal case are displayed as the OS management unit. 2 (same process execution step).

  Subsequently, the OS processing unit 2 includes, from the memory 5, TCP offload engines 41 and 141, IP processing units 42 and 142, and Ethernet processing units 43 and 143 of the first and second network main processing units 4 and 104. Data with headers actually processed is acquired (step S25, processing result acquisition step). Further, data with a header which is a processing result generated by executing the TCP, IP, and Ethernet processes in the OS management unit 2 is read, and the data with a header which is a processing result between corresponding processes is compared (step S26). , Processing result comparison step).

  At this time, first, it is checked whether there is a difference between the processing results of the processing units 41, 42, and 43 of the first network main processing unit 4 that is the active system and the processing results of the OS management unit 2. If there is a difference, it can be determined that any one of the processing units 41, 42, 43 has failed (step S27). If the active system is out of order, then, in order to check whether the second network main processing unit 104 as the standby system is normal, the processing results of the respective processing units 141, 142, and 143 And whether there is a difference between the processing result by the OS management unit 2. At this time, if there is no difference in the comparison result of the second network main processing unit 104 of the standby system, it is determined to be normal, the second network main processing unit 104 is set to the active system, and the first network main processing is performed. Set unit 4 to the standby system. That is, the OS management unit 2 transmits a communication packet to the TCP offload engine 141 of the second network main processing unit 104 via the path 75 during communication control. That is, communication processing is performed using the processing units 141, 142, and 143 of the normal second network main processing unit 104 without using the failed first network main processing unit 4. Thereby, the communication process with respect to a communication network can be performed continuously.

  If there is a difference in the comparison results of the second network main processing unit 104 of the standby system, it is considered that the second network main processing unit 104 has also failed and cannot be recovered. To stop. Thereafter, the display unit 12 displays the processing results of steps S27 and S28 described above and the fact that the network device 3 is stopped.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if a failure occurs in a part of the first network main processing unit 4, the processing is replaced with the second network main processing unit 104 having the same configuration. Temporary stop of the network device can be suppressed, the availability can be improved, and the reliability of the computer 1 can be improved. In particular, the failure of the second network main processing unit 104 is diagnosed at the same time as the diagnosis of the first network main processing unit 4, so that it has a higher speed and higher reliability.

  The present invention is suitable for computers that require continuous network connection, and has industrial applicability.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer in Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation of a computer in the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation of a computer according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer according to a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer according to a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation of a computer according to a third embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Computer 2 OS management part 3 Network apparatus 4 Network main process part (1st network main process part)
5 Memory 6 Network Interface 10 Communication Network 11 Operation Unit 12 Display Unit 21 Communication Data Processing Unit 22 Same Process Execution Unit 23 Processing Result Acquisition Unit 24 Processing Result Comparison Unit 25 Communication Processing Alternative Unit 26 Comparison Result Acquisition Units 41 and 141 TCP Offload Engines 42, 142 IP processing units 43, 143 Ethernet processing unit 51 Frame comparison unit 104 Second network main processing unit

Claims (18)

A computer including a network processing unit that processes communication data transmitted to and received from a network, and a communication control processing unit that controls a communication operation via the network processing unit,
Processing result extraction means for extracting processing results of communication data by the network processing section; same processing execution means for executing processing of communication data identical to the processing by the network processing section in the communication control processing section; and the network processing A processing result comparison unit that compares a processing result by the communication unit with a processing result by the communication control processing unit, and a communication processing alternative unit that replaces at least a part of the processing of the network processing unit based on the comparison result. The
A computer characterized by that. The network processing unit includes a plurality of processing units for processing communication data,
The processing result extraction unit extracts processing results of at least one processing unit among a plurality of processing units provided in the network processing unit,
The same process execution means executes at least the same processing as the processing section provided in the network processing section that extracts the processing result by the processing result extraction means,
The communication processing alternative means identifies a faulty part among the processing parts provided in the network processing part based on a comparison result by the processing result comparison means, and substitutes processing of communication data by the faulty part.
The computer according to claim 1. In the communication processing alternative means, the communication control processing unit executes processing of communication data by the faulty part, and transmits the processed data to the network processing unit.
The computer according to claim 2. The communication processing alternative means transmits the processed data to a processing unit that executes processing of communication data next to the faulty part provided in the network processing unit.
The computer according to claim 3. The network processing unit includes a TCP offload engine, an IP processing unit, and an Ethernet processing unit,
The processing result comparison means compares the processing result by the TCP offload engine of the network processing unit with the TCP processing result by the communication control processing unit,
The communication processing alternative means detects a failure of the TCP offload engine based on a comparison result, and transmits the processed data obtained by performing TCP processing on communication data to the IP processing unit of the network processing unit.
The computer according to claim 3 or 4, characterized by the above. Communication data to be processed in order to compare processing results in the network processing unit and the communication control processing unit is dummy data.
6. The computer according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. Other network processing units having the same configuration as the network processing unit,
The communication processing alternative means is configured to perform processing of communication data to be transmitted / received to / from the network in the other network processing unit.
The computer according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above. The processing result extraction unit extracts a processing result of communication data by the other network processing unit,
The processing result comparison unit compares the processing result by the network processing unit and the processing result by the communication control processing unit, and compares the processing result by the other network processing unit and the processing result by the communication control processing unit. To
The computer according to claim 7. The network processing unit and the other network processing unit each include a TCP offload engine, an IP processing unit, and an Ethernet processing unit.
The computer according to claim 8. Communication data to be processed in order to compare the processing results in the network processing unit, the other network processing unit, and the communication control processing unit is dummy data.
The computer according to claim 7, 8 or 9. A computer including a network processing unit that processes communication data to be transmitted to and received from a network, and a communication control processing unit that controls a communication operation via the network processing unit,
Processing result extraction means for extracting processing results of communication data by the network processing section; same processing execution means for executing processing of communication data identical to the processing by the network processing section in the communication control processing section; and the network processing A communication processing alternative means for comparing the processing result of the network processing unit with the processing result of the communication control processing unit and substituting at least a part of the processing of the network processing unit based on the comparison result;
A program to realize The processing result extraction unit extracts processing results of at least one processing unit among a plurality of processing units that process communication data included in the network processing unit, and
The same process executing means executes at least the same processing as the processing section provided in the network processing section for extracting the processing result by the processing result extracting means,
The communication processing alternative means specifies a faulty part among the processing parts provided in the network processing part based on the comparison result, and substitutes processing of communication data by the faulty part.
12. The program according to claim 11, wherein: In the communication processing alternative means, the communication control processing unit executes processing of communication data by the faulty part, and transmits the processed data to the network processing unit.
The program according to claim 12, wherein: The communication processing alternative means sets the processing of communication data to be transmitted / received to / from the network to be performed in another network processing unit having the same configuration as the network processing unit.
The program according to claim 12, wherein: A network processing unit that processes communication data to be transmitted to and received from a network, and a communication control processing unit that controls a communication operation via the network processing unit, a method of performing communication processing in a computer,
A processing result extraction step of extracting a processing result of communication data by the network processing unit;
Before and after this processing result extraction step, the same processing execution step of executing the same communication data processing as the processing by the network processing unit in the communication control processing unit,
A processing result comparison step for comparing a processing result by the network processing unit and a processing result by the communication control processing unit;
A communication processing substitution step of substituting at least a part of the processing of the network processing unit based on the comparison result;
A communication processing method characterized by comprising: The processing result extraction step extracts processing results of at least one processing unit among a plurality of processing units that process communication data included in the network processing unit, and
The same processing execution step executes at least the same processing as the processing unit included in the network processing unit that extracts the processing result in the processing result extraction step,
The communication processing substitution step identifies a faulty part among the processing units provided in the network processing unit based on the comparison result, and substitutes processing of communication data by the faulty part.
The communication processing method according to claim 15. In the communication processing alternative step, the communication control processing unit executes processing of communication data by the failure part, and transmits the processed data to the network processing unit.
The communication processing method according to claim 16. The communication processing alternative step is set so that processing of communication data transmitted / received to / from the network is performed in another network processing unit having the same configuration as the network processing unit.
The communication processing method according to claim 16.

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