JPH01258058A - Network system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the capacity of a network system by allowing a processor requiring the utilization of a processor having a resource such as a printer in the same network to specify the resource on the basis of identification (ID) information for the processor and the ID of a resource control means. CONSTITUTION:Plural processors 12-i-12-i+l out of all processors 12-1-12-n connected to the network have resources 14-i-14-i+l such as magnetic disks and their resource control means 16-i-16-i+l. Respective processors have means 18-1-18-n for storing the ID information of all the processors and the ID information of all the resource control means. Thus, the resource control means are specified from resource utilization request generating means 20-1-20-n and information searching means 22-1-22-n and the utilization of the specified resource control means is requested by resource utilization requesting means 24-1-24-n.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Overview Industrial field of application Conventional technology Problems to be solved by the invention Means for solving the problems Effects of the invention [Summary] A plurality of processing devices are connected to a network line. Regarding the network system in which the 'AR' in the network is used by all of these processing devices, we aim to improve the operability of each processing device when using the shared i in the network system while increasing the capability of the network system as a whole. Among all the processing devices connected to the network line, a plurality of processing devices are each equipped with resources that can be used by all the processing devices and VRR management means for managing the resources, and each processing device has the ability to and information that identifies all resource management means; usage request generating means that generates resource usage requests; and information that specifies the resource of the usage request. The present invention is characterized by comprising an information search means for searching from a storage means, and a resource usage requesting means for requesting the resource management means specified by the searched information to use the managed resources.

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a network system in which a plurality of processing devices are connected to the same network line and resources within the network are shared by these processing devices.

When a plurality of processing devices are connected through the same network line, resources such as a printer, a magnetic disk device, a gateway, etc. provided in one of the processing devices are also used by the other processing devices.

This makes effective use of those resources and enables efficient use of the network system.

[Prior Art] In the network system shown in FIG. 13, host processing units 1300, 1302, 1304, and 1306 are connected via a public line 1308, and the resources provided on each of them are mutually used. .

For this reason, processing devices 1300.1302, 1304.13
At step 06, the machine number and network address are input by the operator in order to specify the resources to be used.

Therefore, operators who do not have knowledge about network configuration cannot easily utilize the desired resources, resulting in extremely low operability for those operators.

For this reason, the format of the information file for network configuration has been made public, and there is a method by which host application software can acquire resources indirectly or directly using conversion software.However, when the network configuration is changed, In this case, it becomes necessary to change the host's application software and conversion software accordingly, making it impossible to respond flexibly to such changes.

FIG. 14 shows another network system in which the host processing device 1400 has workstation processing devices 1402.1404.1406.1408 connected to it.
They are connected via an AN line 1410 (abbreviation for local area network).

The processing device 1400 is provided with magnetic disk devices 1412.1414 and printers 1416.1418 as shared resources within the network, and when these are used, their fixed logical names are the processing device 1402.1404.1406 of the workstation. .1408 side.

The specification is made according to an operator's instruction to application software running on the workstation side, and this application software requests the network control program to acquire resources.

In this type of network system, when the system is started up, the environment is automatically set to associate each resource with its fixed logical name, and the workstation immediately requests the acquisition of the corresponding resource by specifying the fixed logical name. can.

This allows for flexible response to changes in network configuration.
Furthermore, even operators who do not have sufficient knowledge about the configuration can easily utilize shared resources within the network.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Here, the processing device 1402.1 for a workstation
404, 1406, and 1408 with extremely high functionality can be easily used, and these intelligent workstations can be provided with resources such as printers in the same way as hosts.

Therefore, the network system shown in FIG. 4 has been proposed.

In FIG. 4, a host processing device 400 is used for a server, and its gateway GWI is a public line 402.
It is connected to the.

The host processing device 400 includes a magnetic disk device 4.
04 is provided, and the processing devices 406, 408, 410, and 412 for workstations are connected to a LAN line 414.
It is connected to the host processing device 400 via.

Processing equipment for these workstations 406°408
．． Of the 410 and 412, the processing device 408 and 412 are considered to be highly functional intelligent type, and the processing device 408 has a magnetic disk chamber 416, and the processing device 412
A magnetic disk device 418 and a printer 420 are each provided.

However, in this type of network system, magnetic disk devices 416, 418. When using the printer 420 as a shared resource in a network together with the magnetic disk device 404 of the host processing device 400, when using the printer 420 as a shared resource in a network as shown in FIG. If a resource is specified, there may be cases where the resource corresponding to the specification cannot be specified.

For example, in FIG. 4, if a fixed logical name for specifying a magnetic disk device is input in the processing unit 406 of the first workstation, three magnetic disk devices 404, 416, and 418 exist in the network. Therefore, it is impossible to identify any one of them.

As described above, in the past, it has been difficult to share the resources provided in a highly functional and intelligent processing device among all the processing devices in the network to increase the overall capability of the network system.

The present invention is different from the above-mentioned conventional method! ! The purpose of this was to increase the capacity of the network system as a whole by sharing the resources provided in multiple processing devices within the network among all the processing devices; It is an object of the present invention to provide a network system that can improve the operability of each processing device when using shared resources like the conventional system shown above.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, a network system according to the present invention is configured as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

In FIG. 1, a network line 10 includes a processing device 1.
2-1, 12-2...12-n are connected.

And those processing devices 12-1, 12-2...12-
Among the processing devices 12-i and 1 shown in FIG.
2-i + 1-6 number 12-j 19 is ill! 14-j
, 14-i+1 dispute ・ ・ 14-i-
i, and resource management means 1B-4, 16-i+1...1
B-4+l are provided respectively, and resources 14-j+14
-j+1...14-i+l is resource management means 1B-j,
16-i+1 conflict and Φ16-j+l, respectively.

In addition, as shown in FIG.
2...12-n includes information storage means 18-L 18-
2...18-n, usage request generation means 20-1.2
0-2...20-n, information search means 22-1
．． 22-2...22-n, resource usage requesting means 2
4-1, 24-2...24-n are included, respectively.

Among these, information storage means 1B-1, 18-2...1
8-n includes all the processing devices 12-1゜12-2...
12-n and each resource management means 16-i, 1
6-i+1 . . . information identifying 1G-i+l is stored.

Furthermore, resource utilization request generating means 1B-1, 18-2---
18-n is 14-4. 14-i+1...1
4-i+l usage request occurs, information search means 22-
1.22-2...22-n, means 20-1.
Resources 14-4.1 requested for use by 20-2...20
4-j+1...14-i+Il is searched from the information storage means 18-1.18-2...1B-n of the own processing device 12-1.12-2...12-n. Ru.

and resource usage requesting means 24-1.24-2...24
-n, the information search means 22-1, 22-2,
...Resource management means 1 identified by the search information of 22-n
6-L A request to use the management resources 14-i, 14-i+1...14-i+l is issued to 1B-j+1...16-j+l.

[Operation] In the present invention, all processing devices 12-1, 32-2, --12
−n can use responsibility i, 4-1.14-i+1...1
A plurality of processing devices 12-4.12 each having 4-i+l
−i+1...12-i+ exist in the network, and resources 14-t, 14-i+1-φ・14-i+I
When using l, the corresponding processing device 12-1, 12-2...
・】2-n and purpose resource management means 1B-i, 16-4
+l...16-4+l makes it possible to rent it! 14
-i, 14-i+1...14-4+l are specified.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the network system according to the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

In this embodiment, the network configuration shown in FIG. 4 is adopted, and the host processing device 400. All of the workstation processing devices 406, 408, 410, and 412 are provided with an application software processing section 500. A network configuration information storage section 504 is provided for each of the network communication system &j1 sections 502 and 1.

Along with the host processing device 400, the workstation processing devices 408 and 412 are provided with the resource management unit 506 shown in FIG. The workstation processing device 408 manages the magnetic disk device 416, and the workstation processing device 412 manages the magnetic disk device 4.
18 and printer 420 are managed.

Roughly speaking, the viR management unit 506 performs resource management by executing programs for each owned resource, and as shown in FIG.
W, by executing DASD, the gateway GW1. Each magnetic disk device 404 is managed, and the workstation processing device 408 manages the magnetic disk device 416 by executing the program DASAD.
By executing RINT, the magnetic disk 418. printer 4
20 are managed respectively.

In addition, the program name and processing device name are written into the network configuration information storage unit 504 according to the environment settings performed when starting up the network system.

FIG. 7 shows the information contents written in the network configuration information storage unit 504 of the workstation processing device 406, and the processing device 406°408, 410, 41
2.400 has the workstation name (i.e. processing unit name, WS name) WSoool, WSOOO2, WSOO
O3, WSO004, and WSOOO5 are given, and the program names for resource management are associated with them, and information for identifying the processing device itself and others is also written correspondingly.

Although FIG. 7 shows an example of only the workstation processing device 406, the pond processing device 408
, 410, 412, and 400, only the processing device self-other identification information is changed.

When actually building a network system,
OS I (Open System Inte
gateway GW1.rconnection). Magnetic disk device 404°416.418. printer 420
is shared within the network.

FIG. 8 shows the address structure within each processing device at this time, and the physical address D S A P in the same figure
(Data I ink 1ayer 5AP) and address NSA P (Network 1ayer 5
AP) and processing devices 400, 406, 4 as shown in FIG.
08, 410, 412 are identified, so any of them can be identified with these addresses.

Also, T S A P (Transpart 1 aye
r 5service Access Point),
S S A P (Session 1 ayer
5AP), PSAP (Presentasio)
n 1ayer 5AP) makes it possible to identify the resource management program name in FIG. 7, and in FIG. 8, the branch terminal information P1. P2゜S2. Different programs can be associated with T2.

That is, the first program is information TI, Sl.

At Pl, the second program receives information T1. Sl,
At P2, the third program generates information T1. At S2, each fourth program can be identified by information T2.

In addition, as understood from FIG. 8, the P selector.

Address management for the S selector is performed by the application software processing unit 500, and the T selector, N5A
Address management of P addresses and physical addresses is performed by the network communication control unit 502.

As described above, each network configuration information storage unit 504
The contents of the information stored as a kind of database in
The information is provided to each application processing unit 500 as shown in FIG.

In the figure, when the application software processing unit 500 requests a processing device list (WS-list), all processing device names (
A list of program names (WS name) is provided from the network configuration information storage unit 504, and when a program name list is requested and a processing device name (WS name) is specified, a list of program names in the specified processing device is provided. be done.

In addition, the 101st! It is also possible to change the content of II as shown in the i-th figure.

The operation of this embodiment is explained in FIG. 12, in which a request for resources (magnetic disk drive a>a) is sent from the operator (user) of the workstation processing device 410 to the application software processing section 500. is input.

As a result, the application software processing unit 500 issues a request to list processing device names (WS names) to the network configuration information storage unit 504, and the network configuration information storage unit 504 notifies the application software processing unit 500 of the list.

Next, the application software processing unit 500 requests the network configuration information storage unit 504 for a list of program names for resource management, and the network configuration information storage unit 504 notifies the application software processing unit 500 of the list of program names (see above). , see Figure 10).

As a result, a connection request containing the processing device name and program name DASD of the first searched processing device 408 among the processing devices 400. unit 500 to network communication control unit 502.

However, if a predetermined instruction is given to the application software processing section 500 by the operator, the processing device 4 equipped with the magnetic disk devices 404, 416, and 418
Processing device name and program name D of 00,408.412
ASD is displayed as a menu (when no resource is specified, all menus are displayed), and when any selection is input, the corresponding processing device name and program name D are displayed.
A connection request containing ASD is given from the application software processing unit δOO to the network communication control unit 502.

When this network communication control unit 502 receives a connection request from the application software processing unit 500, it issues a request for network configuration information to the network configuration information storage unit 504.

When the OSI address shown in FIG. 8 is given as network configuration information from the network configuration information storage unit 504 to the network communication control unit 502, network communication is performed with respect to the resource management unit 506 of the workstation processing device 408 in FIG. A connection request is issued from the control unit 502.

As a result, when permission for connection is granted from the resource management unit 506 of the other party via the LAN line 414, the network communication control unit 502 and the LAN line 414 are established between the application processing unit 500 and the program DASD of the resource management unit 506 of the other party. Communication takes place through the
The magnetic disk drive 416 of the processing device 408 is accessed by the processing device 410 .

As can be understood from the above description, according to this embodiment, resources in the network are distributed to all processing devices 400, 406, .
408, 410, and 412 can be shared, making it a highly functional and intelligent workstation processing device 408
．． By effectively utilizing the resources of 412, it becomes possible to significantly increase the capacity of the network system as a whole.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the resource to be used can be easily identified by specifying the corresponding processing device name and program name, and the desired resource can be selected from the menu, thereby improving the operability of the processing device when using shared resources. It is also possible to further improve the performance.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, resources to be used can be identified by the identification information of the processing device and the knowledge resources of the resource management means by the identification information of the processing device and the identification of the resource management means. Therefore, it is possible to significantly increase the capability of the network system and greatly improve the operability of each processing device when using shared resources.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a diagram explaining the principle of the invention (Part 2), Figure 2 is a diagram explaining the principle of the invention (Part 2), Figure 3 is a diagram explaining the principle of the invention (Part 3), Figure 4 is an intelligent workstation 5 is an explanatory diagram of each processing device, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of assignment of network configuration information, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the contents of network configuration information in workstation WSI. , Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram of addresses in each processing device, Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram of addresses in the network, Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram of contents of provision of network configuration information, and Figure i is an explanation of contents of provision of network configuration information. Fig. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the embodiment, Fig. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a network system using a public line configured by multiple hosts, and Fig. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a network system configured by a single host. . 400.406, 408, 410.412... Processing device, 402... Public line, 404.416.418... Magnetic disk device, 414... LAN line, 4204... Printer, 500...・Application software processing unit, 502・
...Network communication processing unit, 504...Network information storage unit, 12-i 12-i+1
12-i+l Principle explanatory diagram of invention (Part 2)
) Figure 2') An explanatory diagram of the configuration of each processing device Figure 5 An explanatory diagram of the contents of the network configuration information in the workstation WSI Figure 5 An explanatory diagram of addresses in the network

Claims (1)

[Claims] All processing devices (1) connected to the network line (10)
2-1, 12-2...12-n), the plurality of processing devices (12-i, 12-i+1...12-i+l) are all processing devices (12-1, 12-2...12-n). ...12-n) can use resources (14-i, 14-i+1...14-
i+l) and resources (14-i, 14-i+1...14-i+
l) resource management means (16-i, 16-i+1
...16-i+l), and each processing device (12-1, 12-2...12-n) is
All processing devices (12-1, 12-2...12-n)
and all resource management means (16-i, 16-i).
-i+1...16-i+l) and information storage means (18-1, 18-2...18-n).
) and resources (14-i, 14-i+1...14-i+
l) usage request generating means (20-1) for generating usage requests;
, 20-2...20-n) and the resources requested to use (14
-i, 14-i+1...14-i+l) is specified by the own processing device (12-1, 12-2...12-n).
) information storage means (18-1, 18-2...18-n
) information search means (22-1, 22-2)
...22-n) and the resource management means (16-i, 16-i+1...16-i+) specified by the searched information.
management resources (14-i, 14-i+1...
14-i+l)
4-1, 24-2...24-n), A network system characterized by: