JP2943695B2 - Shared file management device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shared file management apparatus for managing shared files shared by a plurality of computers via a computer network, and more particularly, to an automatic load balancing method for a computer network and automatic recovery from a failure of a shared file. The present invention relates to a shared file management device that is dynamically performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a computer system in which a plurality of computers are connected via a network, a shared file management apparatus of this type for managing a shared file shared by a plurality of computers constituting the system increases the reliability of the system. In order to improve this, shared files are multiplexed and managed in the external storage device, and when a failure occurs in one shared file, another shared file is substituted. Further, the conventional shared file management device stores a shared file in an external storage device installed at one place on a network, and multiplexes the shared file in the external storage device.

[0003] As a conventional shared file management device, there is, for example, a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-230542. The shared file management device described in the publication is
In an information processing system having a plurality of host computers and an external storage device shared by the host computer, the external storage device stores a main file storing various data and the same contents as the main file. It has one or a plurality of sub-system files, manages the failure information of the main system file and the sub-system file, and inputs / outputs data to one normal file when an access request to the file occurs. Further, when a failure occurs in the primary file or the secondary file, a normal area on the external storage device is secured, and the failed file is restored.

Further, as a conventional shared file management technique, there is a technique of multiplexing shared files and distributing the files to a plurality of computers connected to a network.
According to this conventional technique, even if a failure occurs in a shared file located on one computer, it is possible to access the same shared file located on another computer. In this type of conventional technology, when a failure occurs in one shared file, an operator or a user avoids accessing the shared file in which the failure has occurred, and distributes the access to another multiplexed shared file. It is necessary to set.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned conventional shared file management apparatus, the external storage device is connected to the
Since there is only one external storage device, there is a drawback that access is concentrated on the one external storage device and the load on the network increases.

Also, since there is only one external storage device,
If a failure occurs in the external storage device itself, it cannot be dealt with immediately, and it takes time to restore the system.

Further, in the prior art in which multiplexed shared files are distributed and arranged on a plurality of computers connected to a network, if a failure occurs in one shared file, the failure is avoided by an operator or a user. System settings must be performed, and the work is complicated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a shared file management device which shares an external storage device arranged for each computer system, distributes the load on the network, and improves the operation efficiency of the system.

Another object of the present invention is to share an external storage device arranged for each computer system and automatically substitute another external storage device when a failure occurs in a predetermined external storage device. To provide a shared file management device.

[0010]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shared file management apparatus for managing a shared file shared by a plurality of computers connected via a network. The state of the shared file and the state of the file storage unit storing the shared file are monitored, and at least the frequency of access to the shared file, the presence or absence of updating of the content of the shared file, and the sharing File monitoring means for acquiring information regarding the presence or absence of a failure in a file or the file storage unit, and system management for planning arrangement or multiplexing of the shared file as required based on the monitoring result of the file monitoring means Means and the review plan by the system management means It has a configuration and a file access control means for executing a move or multiplexing of the shared file Te.

In another aspect, there is further provided a network monitoring means for monitoring a state of the network and acquiring at least information on the presence / absence of an excessive access load and the presence / absence of a line failure in a predetermined line portion of the network. The system management unit plans to review the arrangement or multiplexing of the shared files as needed based on the monitoring result of the network monitoring unit.

[0012] In still another aspect, the system management means, based on the monitoring results of the file monitoring means and the network monitoring means, has little access to the shared file located on the own computer by the own computer, and the shared file is not transmitted from another computer. When it is determined that there is a large number of accesses, the shared file located on the own computer is deleted as necessary.

In another preferred aspect, the system management means plans to review the arrangement or multiplexing of the shared file, and changes the access path to the shared file based on the new shared file arrangement position. And the file access control unit notifies all the other computers connected to the network of the new access path to the shared file changed by the system management unit.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a computer network system equipped with a shared file management device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the shared file management apparatus of this embodiment is mounted on a computer 20 connected to a network 10 such as a LAN or WAN, and stores a shared file in a file storage unit 21 and a file storage unit 21. Monitoring unit 22 that monitors shared files stored in the
And a network monitoring unit 2 for monitoring the network 10
3, the file monitoring unit 22 and the network monitoring unit 23
System management unit 24 for managing a shared file by referring to the monitoring result of the file, a file access control unit 25 for controlling access to the shared file, and a file for executing file transfer under the control of the file access control unit 25. And a transfer unit 26. In the drawing, only the characteristic configuration of the present embodiment is described, and the description of other configurations is omitted. Although not particularly shown, the network 1
Each of the computers 20 connected to the shared file management device 0 has a shared file management device having the same configuration.

The file storage unit 21 is implemented by an external storage device such as a magnetic disk device, and stores a shared file shared by the computers 20 connected to the network 10.

The file monitoring unit 22 is implemented by a program-controlled CPU or the like, and periodically monitors the file storage unit 21 to determine the frequency of access to each file by each computer system, whether or not each file is updated, and whether or not each file is updated. Information on the presence or absence of a failure in the file is obtained and notified to the system management unit 24.

The network monitoring unit 23 is realized by a program-controlled CPU or the like, monitors the network 10 periodically, acquires information on the amount of data passing through the line and the presence / absence of a line failure, and a system management unit 24. Notify.

The system management unit 24 is realized by a program-controlled CPU or the like, and based on information notified from the file monitoring unit 22 and the network monitoring unit 23,
Manage shared files. As specific contents of management,
Perform the following operation.

First, the free size of the storage area of the file storage unit 21, the degree of multiplexing of each shared file, and the frequency of access to each shared file are input and analyzed. The computer 20 on which the multiplexed shared file is to be placed is determined, and the file access control unit 24 is notified of the transfer instruction and the access path of the shared file. Here, the multiplexing of the shared file is performed, for example, when the specific computer 20 frequently accesses the shared file and the load on the computer 20 and the network 10 connected to the computer 20 increases. . Thereby, the shared file is multiplexed and placed on another computer 20,
The load on the computer 20 is distributed. Also, the location of the multiplexed shared file is determined so as to avoid the network in which the failure has occurred.

Second, when a failure occurs in a shared file, the file is restored. If there is a failure in only a predetermined shared file, restoration is performed from a multiplexed normal shared file. Further, when there is a failure in the file storage unit 21 storing the shared file, the file access is performed such that the substitute file is placed in the normal file storage device by the same operation as the above-described operation of determining the placement destination of the shared file. Instructs the control unit 25 to transfer the shared file.

Third, when one of the multiplexed shared files is updated, the file access control unit 2 updates the other multiplexed shared files similarly.
5 is instructed to transfer the updated contents.

Here, the operation of the system management unit 24 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. FIG.
Is an operation based on the notification from the file monitoring unit 22,
FIG. 3 shows an operation based on a notification from the network monitoring unit 23.

Upon receiving a notification from the file monitoring unit 22 for the shared file stored in the file storage unit 21 (step 201 in FIG. 2), based on the information, whether a failure has occurred in the shared file, and The access frequency and the presence / absence of update of the shared file are checked (steps 202, 204 and 206). If it is detected that a failure has occurred in the shared file, a review of the arrangement of the shared file is planned (steps 202 and 20).
3). By reviewing the arrangement of the shared file, the shared file is relocated to a normal area of the file storage unit 21 or the shared file is transferred to another computer 2.
0 in the file storage unit 21. If it is detected that the frequency of access to a specific shared file is too high, it is planned to further multiplex the shared file (steps 204 and 205). If the maximum multiplexing degree is specified for the shared file, multiplexing is performed within that range. When it is detected that the shared file has been updated, if the shared file is multiplexed, a plan is made to update the multiplexed other shared file in the same manner, and the file access control unit 25 is notified. (Steps 206 and 207).

In addition to the above-described processing based on the notification from the file monitoring unit 22, when a notification about the network 10 is received from the network monitoring unit 23 (FIG. 3, step 301), a failure in the network 10 is determined based on the information. The presence or absence of the occurrence and the presence or absence of line congestion are checked (steps 302 and 304). When it is detected that a failure has occurred on the line of the network 10, a plan is made so as to access the shared file while avoiding the line on which the failure has occurred (steps 302 and 303). Here, when accessing a shared file, the access path is changed so that the line portion is not used, or the computer 2 that can access without using the line portion is used.
0 to place shared files. Network 10
If it is detected that the amount of data flowing through a specific portion of the line is too large, the distribution of the load on the congested line portion of the network 10 is planned (steps 304 and 30).
5). Here, the access route to the shared file is changed so as to avoid the congested line portion, and the computer 20 that can access without using the line portion is used.
The shared files necessary for the operation are rearranged, and the shared files are further multiplexed within the maximum multiplicity.

The file access control unit 25 is realized by a program-controlled CPU. When a request for access to a shared file is issued, the file access control unit 25 accesses the shared file according to the access path notified from the system management unit 24, and Perform input and output. Here, when the shared file to be accessed is stored in the file storage unit 21 of the computer 20, an access request is issued to the file storage unit 21 to input / output data. If the shared file to be accessed is stored in the file storage unit 21 of another computer 20, an access request is issued to the file transfer unit 26 by designating the other computer 20 to input / output data. I do.

Here, the operation of the file access control unit 25 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. FIG. 4 shows the operation when multiplexing files, and FIG.
Is an operation when a file access request is received.

When multiplexing a shared file according to an instruction from the system management unit 24, a multiplexed file of the shared file is created (steps 401 and 402 in FIG. 4), and the created multiplexed file is transferred by file transfer. (Steps 403 and 404), and further instructs the file transfer unit 26 to notify another computer 20 of the access path to the multiplexed file (step 4).
05, 406).

When the file access control unit 25 receives a request to access a shared file generated in the computer 20 (step 501 in FIG. 5), first, the shared file to be accessed is stored in the computer 20.
It is checked whether the file exists in the file storage unit 21 (step 502). If the shared file exists in the file storage unit 21, the file storage unit 21 is accessed by a normal access method, and a desired shared file is input / output (step 504).

On the other hand, when the desired shared file does not exist in the file storage unit 21, the file access control unit 25 responds to the access request and
The other computer 20 that owns the shared file is accessed via (step 503), and data is input / output (step 504).

The file transfer unit 26 is realized by a program-controlled CPU and an interface corresponding to the network 10, and sends a file or a predetermined file to another computer 20 designated according to a request from the file access control unit 25. Send or receive notifications for.

Next, with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 2 to 5 and FIG. 6, a specific operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described in detail.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between a plurality of computers 20 connected to the network 10. The computers 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D are all equipped with the shared file management device configured as described above. In the following description, the components in each of the computers 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D are described below. , The same suffix of A, B, C, or D as that of the computer is attached to the code. For example, in the computer 20A, it is described as a file storage unit 21A and a file monitoring unit 22A, and in the computer 20B, it is described as a network monitoring unit 23B and a system management unit 24B.

As an initial state, a predetermined multiplexed shared file is stored in the file storage unit 21A of the computer 20A.
And the file stored in the file storage unit 21D of the computer 20D, and the frequency of access to the shared file stored in the file storage unit 21A of the computer 20A is high for system operation. The multiplicity of the shared file is set to 3.

In the computer 20A, it is assumed that the file monitoring unit 22A monitors the shared file in the file storage unit 21A, and it is detected that the frequency of access to the shared file in the file storage unit 21A is high by the notification of the monitoring result (FIG. 2). , Steps 201, 204). In contrast,
The system management unit 24A plans multiplexing of the shared file in order to reduce the access load on the file storage unit 21A (Step 205).

First, it is examined whether multiplexing of the shared file is possible. Here, the maximum multiplicity of the shared file is 3, and the multiplicity of the shared file is 2 (present in the computer 20A and the computer 20D) at this point, so that the shared file can be further multiplexed. It is possible. Therefore, the shared file is multiplexed, the computer 20 with a light load on the file storage unit 21 is searched, and the multiplexed shared file is arranged.
Here, it is assumed that the load on the file storage unit 21B of the computer 20B is light.

The system management unit 24A instructs the file access control unit 25A to place the multiplexed shared file in the file storage unit 21B of the computer 20B. The file access control unit 25A reads the shared file from the file storage unit 21A and instructs the file transfer unit 26A to transfer the shared file to the file storage unit 21B of the computer 20B (FIG. 4, step 401). , 402). Further, it instructs other computers 20C and 20D to multiplex the shared file and place it on the computer 20B. The file transfer unit 26A transfers the multiplexed shared file to the file storage unit 21B of the computer 20B according to the instruction of the file access control unit 25A,
The other computers 20C and 20D are notified of the multiplexing and arrangement of the shared file.

Next, the computer 20 is operated by the above operation.
Although the access load to the file storage unit 21A from A itself is reduced, the access to the file storage unit 21A from other computers 20C is large, and the network 10
Consider a case where the load on the line portion around the computer 20A is high.

When it is detected from the notification from the network monitoring unit 23A that the load on the line portion around the computer 20A is high (FIG. 3, steps 301 and 304),
The system management unit 24A plans to review the layout of the shared file so as to avoid the line portion in order to reduce the load on the line portion of the network 10 (step 305). Here, the access load on the file storage units 21B and 21D of the computers 20B and 20D is assumed to be light, and the access from the computer 20C is distributed to the computer 20B or 20D. Therefore, the system management unit 24A instructs the file access control unit 25A to delete the shared file from the file storage unit 21A. The file access control unit 25A deletes the shared file from the file storage unit 21A and instructs the file transfer unit 26A to delete the shared file from the file storage unit 21A according to an instruction from the system management unit 24A. It instructs computers 20B, 20C, and 20D to notify. The file transfer unit 26A transmits the data to another computer 20 according to the instruction of the file access control unit 25A.
Notify B, 20C and 20D that the multiplexed file on computer 20A will be deleted.

With the above operation, in this embodiment, the shared files are distributed and arranged, and the access path to the shared files is determined so as to distribute the load on the network. Therefore, the load on only a specific portion of the network does not increase, and the connection efficiency to a desired shared file is improved.

Further, since shared files are multiplexed and stored in file storage units in a plurality of computer systems and monitored by a file monitoring unit, when a failure occurs in a specific shared file or when a file in a specific computer system When a failure occurs in the storage unit, the user can access the shared file without being aware of the failure.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above embodiments.

[0044]

As described above, the first effect of the shared file management device of the present invention is that the means for automatically accessing a substitute shared file when a failure occurs in the shared file or the file storage unit itself. To reduce the burden on the administrator of the computer system and allow the user to continue using the system without notifying the administrator of the failure, thereby improving system operation efficiency and operability. There is an effect that can be.

As a second effect, by automatically providing an alternative when a failure occurs in the network, the burden on the administrator of the computer system is reduced, and the failure of the administrator is also reduced for the user. Since the system can be used continuously without communication, there is an effect that the operation efficiency and operability of the system can be improved.

As a third effect, when the access load of the file storage unit and the specific part of the network is high, the load is automatically distributed, so that the access to the shared file can be performed comfortably. There is an effect that the operation efficiency and operability of the system can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a computer network system equipped with a shared file management device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a system management unit according to the embodiment, and illustrates a process corresponding to a file monitoring result.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a system management unit according to the embodiment, and is a diagram illustrating a process corresponding to a network monitoring result.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a file access control unit according to the embodiment, and is a diagram illustrating an execution process of multiplexing a shared file.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a file access control unit according to the embodiment, and is a diagram illustrating processing for accessing a shared file.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a network and a computer for multiplexing shared files according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Network 20 Computer 21 File storage part 22 File monitoring part 23 Network monitoring part 24 System management part 25 File access control part 26 File transfer part

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-4-48365 (JP, A) JP-A-4-230542 (JP, A) JP-A-5-28111 (JP, A) JP-A-5-28111 274210 (JP, A) JP-A-6-175902 (JP, A) JP-A-6-222964 (JP, A) JP-A-6-259478 (JP, A) JP-A-6-301587 (JP, A) JP-A-7-334400 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G06F 12/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] Claims 1. All commands connected via a network
Computer, and one or more on the network
Is a shared file management device that manages shared files distributed and mounted on a plurality of computers , wherein the shared file management device is connected to the network.
The shared file that is installed on all the computers that have been installed and that is installed on each computer
A management device monitors the state of the shared file and the state of the file storage unit that stores the shared file, and at least the frequency of access to the shared file, whether or not the content of the shared file is updated, and the shared file or the file. A file monitoring unit that acquires information on the presence or absence of a failure in the storage unit; and, based on the monitoring result of the file monitoring unit, the location of the shared file or the
System management means for planning the review of duplication , and file access control means for executing the movement of the shared file or the multiplexing of the shared file according to the review plan by the system management means. And a shared file management device. 2. The system management means further comprising: a network monitoring means for monitoring a state of the network and acquiring at least information on the presence / absence of an excessive access load and the presence / absence of a line failure in a predetermined line part of the network. 2. The shared file management device according to claim 1, wherein, based on a monitoring result of the network monitoring unit, the arrangement of the shared file or a review of the multiplexing of the shared file is planned as needed. 3. 3. The system management means according to a monitoring result of the file monitoring means and the network monitoring means, for a shared file located in its own computer.
3. The shared file management device according to claim 2, wherein when it is determined that the number of accesses by the own computer is small and the number of accesses from another computer is large, the shared file located on the own computer is deleted as necessary. . 4. The system management means plans to review the arrangement or multiplexing of the shared file, and plans to change the access path to the shared file based on the arrangement position of a new shared file. 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the access control unit notifies a new access path to the shared file changed by the system management unit to all the other computers connected to the network. A shared file management device as described.