JPH09305439A - Fault monitoring and reporting device for distributedly arranged computer systems - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the time required for executing correspondent measures to a fault and to prevent a secondary fault by reporting a hardware fault immediately to an operator on the job site and simultaneously reporting it to the computer of a head office. SOLUTION: The information concerning the hardware fault is immediately reported to the operator on the job site and at the same time, that information is stored in a hardware fault log file 11 and a fault information file 12 of a job site computer 10. Then, a fault monitoring part 13 detects the generation of any new fault at that job site computer 10, and that detected fault is reported to a head office computer 20 by a fault reporting means 14. That reported fault information is displayed on a display device 15. Thus, the time required for executing the correspondent measures of the fault can be shortened and the secondary fault can be prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distributed monitoring computer system configured by arranging a large number of computers in a wide area, and detects a failure occurring in hardware and promptly notifies the server computer at the headquarters of the failure. Regarding reporting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large number of computers are arranged in a wide area and W
In a distributed computer system that transmits and receives information by connecting with an AN or the like, in order to appropriately deal with a failure in the hardware (computer) that configures the system, the headquarters manages the information related to the failure. Is equipped with a means for reporting problems. Conventionally, in a distributed computer system of this type, an operator of a computer in which a failure is detected notifies the operator of the server computer of the headquarters (hereinafter, referred to as a head operator) of the occurrence of the failure and its content.

Here, when a hardware failure occurs in a computer (hereinafter, referred to as a local computer) that constitutes the distributed computer system, an operator of the local computer (hereinafter, referred to as a local operator) operates the computer as a hardware. It operates with a hardware failure, and the occurrence of a hardware failure is detected by causing a program failure or the like and causing a malfunction or the like.

If the local computer in which the hardware failure has occurred is not the server computer of the head office of the distributed computer system, the head office operator does not use the local computer on the system for the first time at the stage of receiving the report from the local operator. Was aware of the hardware failure and its contents.

Therefore, the countermeasure against the hardware failure of the local computer will be decided by the instruction from the head office operator after the report from the local operator, and the countermeasure will be taken from the occurrence of the hardware failure. It took a lot of time before.

[0006]

The first problem of the fault reporting means in the above-mentioned conventional distributed computer system is that it takes time until the countermeasure for the fault is executed, and the system cannot be promptly restored. That is. The reason is that the local operator detects the occurrence of the hardware failure due to the malfunction of the computer in which the hardware failure has occurred, and notifies the headquarters operator of the failure.

The second problem is that there is a risk of causing a secondary failure such as an illegal file data due to the delay in the execution of the countermeasure for the hardware failure. The reason is that it takes a lot of time from the occurrence of a hardware failure to the execution of countermeasures, and quick recovery cannot be performed.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to immediately notify a local operator of a hardware failure occurring in a computer constituting a distributed arrangement computer system, and at the same time, notify a computer of a headquarters. The purpose is to reduce the time required to implement countermeasures against failures and prevent secondary failures.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the fault monitoring and reporting device of the present invention is installed in a local computer that constitutes a distributed computer system.
When a hardware failure occurs in the local computer, failure monitoring means for acquiring failure information about the hardware failure and notifying the operator of the failure information, and the failure information acquired by the failure monitoring means for the distributed arrangement computer Failure reporting means for configuring a system and transmitting to a headquarters computer connected to the local computer via a communication line; and a hardware fault in the local computer, which is installed in the headquarters computer and receives the failure information, and informs the operator of a hardware failure in the local computer. It is configured to include failure notification receiving means for notifying the occurrence.

In another aspect, the local computer stores first fault information storage means for storing and accumulating fault information relating to the detected hardware fault, and fault information to be reported to the headquarters computer. A second fault information storage means is further provided, and the fault monitoring means compares the first fault information storage means with the second fault information storage means and stores in the first fault information storage means. When failure information newer than failure information in the second failure information storage means is stored, the failure information is written in the second failure information storage means, and the failure notification means causes the second failure information to be stored. When the unreported fault information is stored in the information storage means, the fault information is read and transmitted to the headquarters computer.

In still another mode, the fault monitoring means is independent of a normal program / job, and has the first fault information storing means and the second fault information storing means at predetermined timings. Compare with.

[0012] In another preferred aspect, the fault notification receiving means further comprises third fault information storage means for storing and accumulating the fault information received by the fault notification receiving means.

[0013] In another preferred aspect, the headquarters computer further comprises a failure information search means for searching the failure information stored in the third failure information storage means according to a predetermined search condition.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 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 fault monitoring / reporting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, in a distributed arrangement computer system in which a large number of computers arranged in a wide area are connected by using WAN or the like, the local computers 10 arranged in various places and the local computers 10 are arranged. The main computer 20 is provided. Although not particularly shown, the local computer 10 and the headquarters computer 20 are connected by a WAN line or the like. It should be noted that only the characteristic configuration of this embodiment is shown in the drawing, and the other description is omitted.

The local computer 10 has a hardware fault log file 11 and a fault information file 12 for storing information about hardware faults, a fault monitoring section 13 for detecting the occurrence of a new fault in the local computer,
The headphone computer is provided with a failure notification means 14 for notifying the detected failure, and a display device 15 for displaying failure information and notifying an operator of the occurrence of the failure. It should be noted that detection of a hardware failure such as a DISK failure or a CPU failure in the local computer 10 is performed by the local computer 10
It is executed as a function of the operating system installed in.

The hardware failure log file 11 is realized by a storage device such as a magnetic disk device, and when the operating system finds a hardware failure during execution of processing, information on the hardware failure (hereinafter,
Stored as failure information). Specifically, the error code indicating the occurrence and type of the failure, the device in which the failure occurred, the time when the failure occurred, and the like are stored. The information output format of the hardware failure log file 11 complies with the specifications of the operating system in use.

The fault information file 12 is realized by a storage device such as a magnetic disk device, and the fault information file 12 is
The information to be reported to the headquarters computer 20 is stored. The information to be stored is the same as the failure information stored in the hardware failure log file 11. Further, the failure information file 12 holds the failure information transmitted to the headquarters computer 20 until failure information relating to a new hardware failure is stored. Therefore, the failure information transmitted to the headquarters computer 20 immediately before is left until the next hardware failure occurs.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the format of information stored in the failure information file 12. As described above, the information stored in the hardware failure log file 11 when a hardware failure occurs is also stored in the same format.

The fault monitoring unit 13 is realized by a program-controlled CPU or the like, and performs the following processing in order to monitor the fault of the local computer 10.

First, the information stored in the failure information file 12, that is, the information reported to the head office computer 20 immediately before and the information stored in the hardware failure log file 11 are searched, and both information are retrieved. Compare the date and time of failure occurrence. Then, the hardware error log file 11
When the failure information whose failure date and time is newer than the failure occurrence date and time of the failure information stored in the failure information file 12 is detected in the failure information stored in, the failure information is written in the failure information file 12. Since the fault information is newer than the fault information stored in the fault information file 12, it can be seen that the fault information is the fault information regarding the hardware fault that has occurred after the fault information was last transmitted to the headquarter computer 20.

Second, the detected new fault information is displayed on the display device 15 of the local computer 10. As a result, it is possible to notify the local operator of the occurrence of the hardware failure. When displaying the failure information on the display device 15, a warning sound may be emitted together. Further, the display of the failure information on the display device 15 is continued until the failure information is printed out using a printer, for example, according to an instruction from the local operator.

Thirdly, the fault notification unit 14 is notified that new fault information has been detected. By this notification, the operation by the failure notification unit 14 described later is activated.

Each of the above processes is periodically executed at a predetermined cycle set by the local operator. For this reason,
When a hardware failure occurs, the hardware failure can be detected by a regular process without waiting until the failure causes a program failure and a malfunction or the like occurs.

The fault notifying section 14 is realized by a program-controlled CPU, an interface, etc., and transmits the newly detected fault information to the head office computer 20. The failure notification unit 14 is activated by receiving a notification indicating the occurrence of a failure from the failure monitoring unit 13, reads the failure information from the failure information file 12, and sends the failure information to the headquarters computer 20 via a WAN line or the like. When the failure notification to the head office computer 20 has been normally completed, the item “normal end” is stamped on the head computer transmission result item corresponding to the failure information in the failure information file 12.

The display device 15 is realized by a CRT display device, a liquid crystal display device, or the like, and has a fault monitoring section 13.
The failure information read from the failure information file 12 is displayed under the control of. The local operator can recognize that a hardware failure has occurred in the local computer 10 by referring to this display. FIG. 4 shows an example of the display screen of the display device 15.

The head office computer 20 has a trouble report receiving section 21 for receiving a trouble report received from the local computer 10 and a head office trouble information file 2 for storing trouble information.
2, a fault information retrieval unit 23 for retrieving arbitrary fault information from the headquarters fault information file 22, and a display device 24 for displaying fault information and notifying an operator of the occurrence of a fault.

The fault report receiver 21 is realized by a program-controlled CPU and an interface, and receives a fault report from the local computer 10 to notify the headquarters operator. Also, the failure information received together with the failure notification is written in the headquarters information file 22. The notification of the failure notification reception to the headquarter operator is performed by displaying the same display screen as the display screen displayed on the display device 15 of the local computer 10 shown in FIG. 4 on the display device 24. As in the case of the notification to the local operator in the local computer 10, a warning sound may be emitted together with the failure information displayed on the display device 24, or the failure information may be displayed on the display device 24 by a printer. It can be continued until it is printed out.

The head office failure information file 22 is realized by a storage device such as a magnetic disk device, and receives information about failures that have occurred in the past in each computer constituting the distributed computer system from the failure notification receiving section 21 and stores them. To do. Specifically, it is the failure information received for each computer and the ID of the computer.
The data, the error code, the device in which the failure has occurred, the date and time when the failure occurred, and the like are stored in association with each other. FIG. 3 shows an example of the format of information stored in the headquarter failure information file 22.

The fault information retrieval section 23 is realized by a program-controlled CPU or the like, and retrieves fault information stored in the headquarter fault information file 22 under various retrieval conditions.
As a search condition, the operator can arbitrarily specify, for example, a local computer ID, a failure occurrence date and time, etc. according to the failure information item. In addition, the failure information search unit 23
Displays failure information corresponding to the prefectural policy condition obtained by searching according to the input search condition on the display device 24. FIG. 5 shows a display example of the display screen of the display device 24 when displaying the search result.

The display device 24 is realized by a CRT display device, a liquid crystal display device, or the like, and under the control of the trouble notification receiving unit 21 or the trouble information searching unit 23, the trouble information or trouble information read from the head office trouble information file 22. Display the search results of. The headquarter operator can refer to this display to recognize that a hardware failure has occurred in a predetermined local computer 10 or to recognize a past failure occurrence tendency.

Next, the operation of the fault monitoring and reporting apparatus of this embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG.

As an initial state, the local computer 10
Executes a predetermined program / job according to an operator's instruction, a preset time start, or the like. And
When a processing error occurs due to a DISK access error, a CPU failure, or the like during execution of a program / job, information about the failure is written in the hardware failure log file 11 by the function of the operating system.

The fault monitoring unit 13 starts processing independently of the program / job at the same time when the local computer 10 is started, and performs the following processing at time intervals set by the local operator. First, the failure information file 12 is searched and the failure occurrence date and time of the stored failure information is acquired (step 601). Then, the hardware failure log file 11 is searched (step 602). This time,
The date and time of occurrence of the fault information acquired from the fault information file 12 is compared with the date and time of occurrence of the fault information stored in the hardware fault log file 11 (step 603). If newer failure information is detected, the failure information is read and written in the failure information file 12 (step 6).
04, 605).

On the other hand, if no new failure information is detected, it is determined that no hardware failure has occurred after the failure already transmitted to the head office computer 20, the processing is terminated, and the next failure information file 12 and the timing of searching the hardware failure log file 11 are awaited (step 604).

When information is output to the failure information file 12 after the search of the hardware failure log file 11 is completed, the failure monitoring unit 13 newly creates the failure information file 1
The failure information output to No. 2 is displayed on the display screen of the display device 15 to notify the local operator of the occurrence of the hardware failure (step 606). Then, the failure notification unit 14 is notified of the occurrence of the hardware failure (step 607).
When a plurality of pieces of new failure information are found, the failure information is notified in order from the oldest failure information.

The fault notifying section 14 is activated by receiving the hardware fault notice sent from the fault monitoring section 13, and is stamped with the fault information newly stored from the fault information file 12, that is, "normal end". The failure information that has not been obtained is acquired and transmitted to the headquarters computer 20 (step 608).

When the failure notification to the head office computer 20 has been normally completed, the heading computer transmission result item corresponding to the failure information in the failure information file 12 is stamped with "normal end" (step 609). If the failure notification to the headquarters computer 20 does not end normally,
The fault code is stamped on the item of the headquarter computer transmission result corresponding to the fault information in the fault information file 12. For example, when the failure notification to the head office computer 20 is abnormally ended due to a line failure, the error code of the line failure is stamped in the item of the head office computer transmission result.
When there are a plurality of pieces of new failure information to be reported to the headquarters computer 20, the above processing reads all the relevant failure information from the failure information file 12,
Relax until the call is completed.

When the failure notification to the head office computer 20 is abnormally terminated, a failure notification retry process is performed (steps 609 and 608). The local operator can arbitrarily set the time interval for executing the failure notification retry. The retry processing of the failure notification to the headquarters computer 20 is repeatedly executed until the item of the headquarters computer transmission result regarding the failure information is “normal end”.

Next, in the head office computer 20, when the trouble report receiving section 21 receives the trouble report from the local computer 10, it writes the trouble information into the head office trouble information file 22 (step 610). Further, the failure information is displayed on the display screen of the display device 24 to notify the head operator that a hardware failure has occurred in the local computer 10 (step 611).

As a result of the above operation, the headquarter operator can immediately know the occurrence of the hardware failure in the local computer 10 and its contents, so that the local operator of the local computer 10 in which the hardware damage has occurred. ,
It becomes possible to give appropriate instructions. In addition, by referring to the content of the failure displayed on the display device 24, when it is determined that the hardware failure reported from the local computer 10 is a serious failure, the local operator is instructed to stop the system. It is possible to issue
Further, the headquarter operator can easily use the failure information search unit 23 to easily search for a failure occurrence tendency such as a failure of a local computer 10 in which a specific hardware failure has occurred or the content of a failure in a specific local computer 10. It becomes possible to do.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above embodiments. For example, the items acquired as fault information are
The format may be appropriately set as needed, and the format is not limited to that shown in FIGS. Further, the display screen of the display device is not limited to that shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0044]

As described above, the present invention has, as a first effect, the effect of shortening the time until the countermeasure for the failure is executed and enabling the quick restoration of the system. The reason is that the computer detects the failure occurrence by the regular monitoring means without waiting for the occurrence of malfunction etc., and notifies the local operator and the headquarters operator so that the headquarters operator can promptly check the occurrence of the failure and its contents. This is because they can be acquainted and can take countermeasures.

As a second effect, there is an effect that it is possible to avoid a secondary failure such as an injustice of file data by promptly taking a countermeasure against the hardware failure. The reason is that the time from the occurrence of a hardware failure to the execution of countermeasures is shortened, and quick recovery is possible.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to immediately notify a local operator of a hardware failure occurring in a computer constituting a distributed arrangement computer system, and at the same time, to notify a computer of a headquarters. The purpose is to reduce the time required to implement countermeasures against failures and prevent secondary failures.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a fault monitoring and reporting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a format example of failure information accumulated in a local computer of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a format of fault information accumulated in the head office computer of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for notifying a failure occurrence on the display devices of the local computer and the headquarters computer of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when a failure search is executed by the display device of the headquarters computer of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 local computer 11 hardware failure log file 12 failure information file 13 failure monitoring section 14 failure reporting section 15 display device 20 headquarters computer 21 failure reporting receiver 22 headquarters failure information file 23 failure information search section 24 display device

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. When a hardware failure occurs in the local computer that is installed in a local computer that constitutes a distributed computer system, failure information regarding the hardware failure is acquired and the operator is notified of the failure information. Failure monitoring means, failure reporting means for sending the failure information acquired by the failure monitoring means to a headquarters computer that constitutes the distributed computer system and is connected to the local computer via a communication line, and mounted on the headquarters computer And a fault notification receiving unit that receives the fault information and notifies the operator of the occurrence of a hardware fault in the local computer. 2. The first local computer stores and accumulates fault information relating to a detected hardware fault.
And a second failure information storage means for storing failure information to be reported to the headquarters computer, wherein the failure monitoring means includes the first failure information storage means and the second failure information storage means. Comparing with the failure information storage means, if the failure information newer than the failure information in the second failure information storage means is stored in the first failure information storage means, the failure information is stored as the second failure information. Writing in the failure information storage means, and the failure notification means reads the failure information and sends it to the headquarters computer when unreported failure information is stored in the second failure information storage means. The fault monitoring and reporting device according to claim 1. 3. The failure monitoring means periodically executes the first failure information storage means and the second failure information storage means at a predetermined timing independent of a normal program / job. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that
The fault monitoring and reporting device described in. 4. The fault notification receiving means further comprises third fault information storage means for storing and accumulating fault information received by the fault notification receiving means. The fault monitoring and reporting device described in. 5. The headquarter computer further comprises failure information search means for searching the failure information stored in the third failure information storage means according to a predetermined search condition. Fault monitoring and reporting device.