JPH06259239A - Preparation system for information processing system configuration - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the preparation system for information processing system configuration even for a non-specialist lacking product knowledge and techincal knowledge to efficiently program the suitable system configuration in a short time while considering various system conditions/limitations at the same level as a specialist. CONSTITUTION:This system is provided with a condition input part 1 for inputting the system conditions, limit conditions and priority of an information processing system, knowledge data base 2 storing the spec of a hardware, spec of a software, spec of a networkware and the configuration, function and inference rule of the existent information processing system so as to retrieve them, inference part 3 for generating and visibly displaying output data containing the technical limit conditions, system scale and alternative plan corresponding to retrieval conditions and inference rules, system configuration generation part 4 for preparing and visibly displaying a system configuration table, new rule generation part 5 for registering the new system configuration on the knowledge data base 2, and system configuration output part 6 for outputting the table of system configuration as a hard copy.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing system configuration creating system, and more particularly to an information processing system configuration creating system utilizing a knowledge database.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to determine the optimum configuration of an information processing system, a device configuration that meets the system requirements of customers and whose technical support is guaranteed is selected from many product information. You have to choose, create many alternatives and compare.

In the conventional method of creating an information processing system configuration, an expert first researches and selects the target hardware and software products based on the system requirements and constraints of the information processing system desired by the customer. After investigating and confirming various hardware / software specifications, past connection cases and system configuration cases such as technical connection availability, create a system configuration plan including alternatives that meet the system requirements and constraint conditions. Next, the software development scale (including customization) in the system configuration plan including the alternative plan is calculated based on the expert's know-how, the system configuration plan and the development scale are taken into consideration, and the information processing system configuration satisfying the customer is obtained. Take the steps to pack.

[0004]

The conventional method of creating the information processing system configuration has the following problems. 1) In order to create a system configuration that satisfies customers under multi-vendors (multiple manufacturers), various hardware specifications, software specifications, technical constraint surveys, prioritization of system configuration plans derived from the constraint conditions, customers It is not efficient because it takes time to contact and adjust with. 2) When an expert conducts hearings with a customer and creates a system configuration, it is difficult to convey nuances such as the importance of the restrictions requested by the customer. 3) Past know-how such as technical know-how for estimating application development, development scale and cost required for package customization, etc. is accumulated in individuals, and sharing and sharing of know-how is insufficient. It can be very different. 4) Even if a customer who has no experience in building a system configuration wants to create his / her own system configuration, it is difficult to convey the necessary knowledge in a short time.

In the above-mentioned conventional method, a simple constraint condition,
Although it is a problem that is difficult to manifest until under a single vendor,
When a complicated and diverse choice is given like multi-vendor, it takes a lot of trial and error to create a system configuration proposal and its alternatives, and it takes a lot of time to coordinate with the customer.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional methods and improve the service to customers.

[0007]

A system for creating an information processing system configuration according to the present invention is a blank entry format in which the system requirements of an information processing system required by a customer and their constraints and priorities are visually displayed. Condition input means for inputting to the input screen of, various hardware specifications (specifications), various software specifications, configuration and function data of existing information processing systems, and rules based on specialized know-how and past experience. A knowledge database that is stored and searched by a search condition based on the constraint condition and the priority that is input to the condition input unit; and system requirements for inputting in the blank entry format,
And, by searching the knowledge database for hardware and software suitable for the information processing system according to the search condition, and applying the rule to the hardware and software, the technical constraint condition and system of the information processing system. Inference means for generating output data including scale and alternatives, visually displaying it, and selecting components of the information processing system from the visually displayed output data, creating a table showing the system configuration, and visually System configuration generating means for displaying, new rule generating means for registering the system configuration of the newly created information processing system in the knowledge database, and system configuration outputting means for outputting the table showing the system configuration as a hard copy , Is provided.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1 showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, the information processing system configuration creating system includes:
A condition input unit 1 for inputting system requirements of the information processing system, constraint conditions and priorities thereof, hardware specifications (specifications), software specifications and networkware specifications, configuration examples of existing information processing systems, and A searchable knowledge database 2 for storing functions and inference rules; an inference unit 3 for generating and visually displaying output data including a technical constraint condition, a system scale, and alternatives according to a search condition and an inference rule; A system configuration generation unit 4 that creates and visually displays a system configuration table, a new rule generation unit 5 that registers a new system configuration in a knowledge database, and a system configuration output unit that outputs the system configuration table as a hard copy. Prepare

Further, the knowledge database 2 is composed of various hardware (main unit, main device,
Peripheral device), software (OS, communication software, database, software package, etc.) specifications are stored. Product name, price, operating environment (O
S, Ptocol, etc.), physical specifications, target functions (sales, production, accounting, personnel, quality control, etc.), provided manufacturer names, etc. Furthermore, the knowledge database 2 includes rules for selecting hardware and software that meet the requirements of customers and know-how of experts.
Stored in. Hardware (main unit, peripheral device) and software (OS, communication software) based on the rules for calculating the application development scale and the customized scale, which are registered as expert know-how, and the network and hardware connection rules illustrated in FIG. , Database), the knowledge database 2 has inference rules to be selected.

Next, FIG. 2 showing the operation flow of this embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 2, first, a user who examines the system configuration inputs search conditions including various system configuration requirements / constraints for an information processing system that the customer constructs in the future (step 11 in FIG. 2). Various system requirements / constraints are absolute requirements (conditions that must be cleared absolutely) and relative requirements (conditions that do not necessarily have to be cleared. Orders are also added by relative comparison) for each priority. The data is input in the standardized format illustrated in FIG. For example, the total investment scale must be kept within 200 million yen (absolute requirement), or if hardware is possible, if the manufacturer is XX, and an OS for distributed systems is preferable, conditions with priorities (relative Requirements).

Next, the knowledge database 2 is searched for hardware and software that satisfy various system requirements and clear various constraints according to the input search conditions. The hardware, software, and networkware candidates to be searched are visually displayed in the table format illustrated in FIG. 6 (step 12).

[0013] Then, based on the system configuration logic, various hardwares, various softwares, and various networkwares that are extracted are inadequate (technically, System components that are not supported) are deleted and the system configurable system is visually displayed in the blank entry format illustrated in FIG. 7 (step 1).
3).

Further, the system configuration generation unit 4 evaluates the remaining system configuration that has not been deleted, based on the rules of the priority determination logic stored in the knowledge database 2 and the absolute and relative requirements of the customer. Prioritize. For example, weighting is performed according to the priority of relative requirements, and priority is given by comparing the total sum of weights of cleared requirements (step 14). Then, the scale of the evaluated system configuration is calculated based on the development scale calculation logic, and the system configuration and the system scale are displayed in descending order of priority (step 15). Further, the newly created system configuration is automatically registered in the knowledge database 2 as new knowledge in the knowledge database (step 16).

On the other hand, it is judged whether or not the hardware deleted in step 12 can be modified, and the modifiable hardware is registered as conditional hardware (step 17). If the corresponding software does not exist at step 12, it is first judged whether or not the existing software can be customized. If the software can be customized, the customization scale is inferred based on the inference engine (step 1
8 and 19). For those that cannot be customized, the application development scale is inferred by the inference engine. For example, if a new work is input and the development scale is calculated from past cases, or if the number of inputs and outputs is concretely clear, the number is input and based on the development scale calculation logic. It is possible to calculate (step 20).

In the case where the visually displayed system configuration is not satisfied by the customer, it is possible to create a system configuration satisfying the customer by changing various system requirements / constraints and repeating the flow of steps 11 to 20. .

Furthermore, the following modifications can be made to this embodiment.

A pointing device is used as the data input means of the condition input section, and data is input by pointing to options or data items visually displayed on the display screen. It is obvious that the system configuration can be created by visually displaying the response to the data input in the form of options or data items and interactively inputting the conditions.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even non-experts who lack product knowledge and technical knowledge of in-house / other company's products hardware, software and networkware, consider various system requirements / constraints at the same level as experts, and make appropriate system configurations. Efficiently
You will be able to assemble in a short time. That is, the time required for the investigation of various product specifications, the confirmation of technical support, the calculation of the application development scale, and the customization scale is shortened, and it becomes possible to repeatedly consider the system configuration proposals in descending order of priority. Further, according to the present invention, the customer can operate the system without any specialist and can build a system configuration that reflects his own requirements.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of operations in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of knowledge attributes of the knowledge database shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a rule set of FIG.

5 is a diagram illustrating an input format of a condition input unit of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram exemplifying a search result of the knowledge database of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an output of the system generation unit in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Input Condition Section 2 Knowledge Database 3 Inference Section 4 System Configuration Generation Section 5 New Rule Generation Section 6 System Configuration Output Section

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A condition input means for inputting a system requirement of an information processing system required by a customer, a constraint condition and a priority of the information requirement in an input screen in a blank-filled format which is visually displayed, and specifications of various hardware. (Specifications), specifications of various software, data of configurations and functions of existing information processing systems, and rules based on specialized know-how and past experience are stored, and the constraint condition and the priority input to the condition input means are stored. Knowledge database searched by search conditions based on degree, system requirements to be entered in the blank entry form input screen,
Also, by searching the knowledge database for hardware and software suitable for the information processing system according to the search condition, and applying the rule to the hardware and software, the technical constraint condition of the information processing system and Inference means for generating output data including system scale and alternatives, visually displaying it, and selecting components of the information processing system from the visually displayed output data, and creating a table showing the system configuration, System configuration generating means for visually displaying, new rule generating means for registering the system configuration of a newly created information processing system in the knowledge database, and system configuration outputting means for outputting the table showing the system configuration as a hard copy Information processing characterized by including A system for creating a physical system configuration. 2. The choices and data items on the visually displayed display screen can be designated by a pointing means, and the system requirements of the information processing system required by the customer and their constraint conditions and priorities can be entered interactively. The system for creating an information processing system configuration according to claim 1, further comprising condition input means.