JP2001069172A - Network service order processor and network/service managing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide precise services. SOLUTION: In a service level agreement (SLA) for service order from a customer to a network service order processor 1, a code such as managing operation code describing network/service managing operation is contained and the network service order processor 1 is provided with a receiving means 1a for an SLA plan, a converting means 1b for conversion into managing code that a network/service managing device 3 can interpret, a means 1c for discriminating whether the SLA plan can be accepted or not, a storage means 1d for storing the accepted SLA plan, a storage means 1e storing the rule of acceptance, a means 1f for acquiring network/service managing information and a means 1g for storing the managing code.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network / service order processing apparatus for receiving and processing a service order from a customer and a network / service management system using the processing apparatus.

[0002] With the spread of the Internet and intranets, various data communications including voice communications have been accommodated in IP networks. With regard to public network services, particularly public IP network services, diversification of network service quality is required in accordance with the diversity of data communication. For example, the specification of bandwidth reservation to ensure the transfer of important files at the end of the month, or VoIP (V
oice over Internet Protocol). For this reason, an interface is required so that the customer can finely specify the use form of the public network service.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional public network service order processing, a system in which a service provider presents a service menu created in advance to a customer, and the customer selects an order from the service menu to create an order is generally used. It was a target. Therefore, even if a relatively abundant service menu is provided, it is fixed, so that the customer often cannot find the desired service content, in which case the customer must select a service close to the request. Was something. For example, when the service menu provides a service with a communication band of 10 Mbit / s and 20 Mbit / s, the customer needs only 20 Mbit / s in the daytime.
Even when a communication band of it / s is required, if there is no menu for selecting daytime, nighttime, etc., 20 Mbit / s which requires an extra communication band at night must be selected.

A predefined schedule, for example,
A service that changes the service quality according to daytime and nighttime is also considered. According to such a service, in the case described above, only 20 Mbit / s in the daytime and 10 Mb / night in the nighttime.
It is possible to request a communication band of it / s. However, since the event that triggers such a conventional change in service quality (for example, the time at which the bandwidth is changed) is fixed, even if the service content requested by the customer cannot be found, a service close to the request is selected. You have to do it. For example, when the service menu provides a service in which the communication bandwidth is increased by 10 Mbit / s from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, the customer may select the communication bandwidth from 9:00 am to 12:00 only at the end of the month. Even if there is a request to increase, to satisfy this request,
Since the menu for increasing the communication bandwidth every day from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm has to be selected, the communication cost increases.

[0005] Conventional customer network management (CNM; Cus) for providing services in response to customer requests.
In the tomer Network Management service,
Notify public network network management event information,
It receives a network management operation command for the public network. In this case, it may be necessary to communicate between a customer network management (CNM) service system and a public network management system. Accordingly, when an event requiring urgency occurs, communication between the systems is performed, and as a result, the time required for performing a management operation for the event increases. Among events that can be detected in the public network, those that cannot be notified to the customer due to security or the like cannot be used as a trigger to perform a management operation.
In particular, execution of the management operation command for the shared network resource cannot be guaranteed.

[0006]

A conventional network /
In the service management system, as described above, a service provider presents a service or schedule that can be provided to a customer, and the customer selects it to form an order. There is a problem that cannot be selected. As a result, by securing a communication band more than necessary, there arises a problem of an increase in cost and a problem of not being able to provide sufficient services to other customers by making the shared network resource exclusive.
This is due to the inadequate response to a wide variety of customer needs. Furthermore, in the network / service management including the public network and the corporate network, there is a problem that it is difficult to quickly process an event because the central management is not performed. The present invention enables the provision of detailed services to customers,
It is another object of the present invention to enable quick network / service management.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a network is provided.
The service order processing device is (1) a network service order processing device 1 for processing a service order received from a customer, and a service level agreement (SLA; Service) constituting a service order from the customer.
Level Agreement) includes a code describing a network / service management operation, and has a configuration for processing a service level agreement (SLA) including the code.

[0008] (2) The network / service order processing unit receives a service level agreement (SLA) including a management operation code describing a network / service management operation from a customer, that is, a service order receiving unit 1a. A management operation code is extracted from the means for determining whether or not to accept the service level agreement (SLA), that is, the SLA proposal acceptance / non-acceptance determination means 1c and the service level agreement determined to be acceptable. There is provided a means for storing the program so as to be executed based on the event, that is, a management code storage means 1g.

(3) The network / service order processing device receives a service level agreement (SLA) including a management operation code describing a network / service management operation from a customer (service order receiving means 1).
a), storage means for storing an acceptable service level agreement (accepted SLA storage means 1d), means for obtaining network resource state information (network / service management information obtaining means 1f), and storage in the storage means Means for determining whether to accept the service level agreement including the received management operation code based on the received service level agreement and the state information of the network resource (SLA proposal acceptance / non-acceptance determination means 1c); Means for extracting a management operation code from the service level agreement and storing it so that it can be executed based on a network event (management code storage means 1g).

(4) The network / service order processing device receives a service level agreement (SLA) including a management operation code describing a network / service management operation from a customer (service order receiving means 1).
a), storage means for storing an acceptable service level agreement (accepted SLA storage means 1d), means for obtaining network resource status information (network / service management information obtaining means 1f), and service provision rules (SLA proposal acceptance rule storage means 1
e) determining whether or not to accept the service level agreement including the received management operation code based on the accepted service level agreement, the state information of the network resource, and the service provision rule (SLA proposal acceptance) Applicability determination means 1c) and means (management code storage means 1g) for extracting a management operation code from the service level agreement determined to be acceptable and storing it so that it can be executed based on a network event.

(5) The network / service management system of the present invention comprises a network / service order processing device 1 for processing a service order based on a service level agreement (SLA) from a customer, execution of a network management operation and monitoring of the network. Network /
The network / service order processing device 1 includes a service management device 3, a service level agreement receiving means 1a including a management operation code describing a network / service management operation from a customer, and a service level agreement acceptance determining means 1c. Conversion means 1b for converting the management operation code included in the acceptable service level agreement into a management code that can be interpreted by the network / service management apparatus 3, and storage means for storing the management code converted by the conversion means 1b. 1g, the network / service management device 3 is a database that stores management codes, a monitoring unit for the network 4, a database that stores management information for the network 4, and the network / service order processing device 1 can accept them. Based on service level agreement determined And a means for executing a management operation of the network 4 by referring to the management code and the management information based on the event by the monitoring means and executes the management operation of the network 4.

(6) The network / service order processing apparatus 1 has a storage unit 1d for storing the accepted service level agreement, a storage unit 1e for storing the rule of acceptance, and It comprises means 1f for acquiring management information, and determining means 1c for determining whether or not to accept the received service level agreement based on the accepted service level agreement, acceptance rule and network management information.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention, wherein 1 is a network service order processing device of a public network service provider, 2 is a customer network management device, 3 is a network / service management device, 4 Is a network (device), 1a is a service order receiving means,
1b is a management code conversion means, 1c is an SLA (Service
LevelAgreement: service level agreement) Proposal acceptance decision means, 1d is accepted SLA storage means, 1e is SL
A proposal acceptance rule storage means, 1f indicates network / service monitoring information acquisition means, and 1g indicates management code storage means.

The customer is provided with a service through a dedicated line or the like of the network 4, and receives an SLA from the customer network management device 2 such as a workstation.
(Service level agreement) Send out draft. network·
Service order receiving means 1 of service order processing device 1
a is the SLA from the customer network management device 2
The SLA plan includes a service contract content and a management operation code describing a network / service management operation, as shown in the service order explanatory diagram of FIG.

The SL of the means for judging whether or not to accept the SLA plan including the service contract contents from the customer and the management operation code received from the service order receiving means 1a.
A Transfer to the proposal acceptability determination means 1c. Also, the accepted SLA storage means 1d of the means for storing the SLA determined to be acceptable, and the SLA of the means for storing the service provision rule.
LA proposal acceptance rule storage means 1e, network / service management information storage means 1f for obtaining status information of network resources, and management codes which extract management operation codes and can be interpreted by network / service management apparatus 3. Management code conversion means 1b for conversion means
And a management code storage unit 1g for storing the management code, and the SLA proposal acceptability determination unit 1c is
Another SLA plan stored as acceptable in the accepted SLA storage means 1d, an acceptance rule stored in the SLA proposal acceptance rule storage means 1e, a network /
The service management information acquisition means 1f refers to at least one of the management information such as information on the resources of the network 4 to determine whether or not acceptance is possible.

If it is determined that the SLA is acceptable, the SLA plan is stored in the accepted SLA storage means 1d, and the network / service management apparatus 3 can interpret the management target name included in the management operation code by the management code conversion means 1b. The name is converted into a management target name, and the action name (procedure or command name) is similarly converted so that the network / service management device 3 can interpret it, and stored in the management code storage unit 1g.

[0017] Therefore, the customer sets the SLA plan including the management operation code for requesting the increase of the communication band at the end of the month, for example, as S
If the LA proposal acceptance acceptability judging means 1c judges that the acceptance is acceptable, the management operation code included in the SLA plan is converted into a management code that can be interpreted by the network / service management device 3, so that, for example, only at the end of the month in accordance with the customer's request, Bandwidth can be increased. Also, the management code received and stored in the management code storage means 1g can be executed by the management code execution environment in the network / service management device 3, so that it is possible to easily cope with the occurrence of an urgent event. Become. Also S
Since the LA proposal acceptability determination means 1c can reject an SLA proposal that hinders network management, network / service management can be maintained safely.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 10 is a service order processing device, and 20 is a customer order processing device.
A network management device, 30 is a network / service management device, 40 is a network, 11 is an SLA plan receiving unit, 12 is a management code conversion unit, 13 is an SLA plan acceptability determining unit, 14 is an accepted SLA database, 15
Denotes an SLA plan acceptance rule database, 16 denotes a network / service management information acquisition unit, and 17 denotes a management code storage unit.

Also, 21 is an SLA drafting means, 22 is an SLA
A plan database, 23 is an SLA plan transmitting unit, 31 is a network / service management information database, 32 is a management operation execution unit, 33 is a network / service management code database, 34 is a management operation execution request unit, and 35 is a network monitoring unit. .

The service order processing device 10 corresponds to the network / service order processing device 1 of FIG. 1, and the functions of reference numerals 11 to 17 correspond to the functions of reference numerals 1a to 1g of FIG. Also, the customer network management device 20
This corresponds to the customer network management device 2 in FIG. 1, and the customer network management device 2 includes an SLA plan creation unit 21, an SLA plan database 22, and an SLA plan transmission unit 23. The network / service management device 30 is the network / service management device 3 of FIG.
And includes a network / service management information database 31, a management operation execution unit 32, a network / service management code database 33, a management operation execution request unit 34, and a network monitoring unit 35.

The customer network management device 20
A service order is transmitted to a network service provider. The SLA plan creation means 21 creates an SLA plan including service contract contents and management operation codes as shown in FIG.
2 and transmitted from the SLA plan transmitting means 23 to the service order processing device 20.

The format of the SLA plan created by the customer needs to be defined so that the service order processing apparatus 10 can automatically process the plan. So, for example, SLA
The structure creating means 21 may be provided with a structured editor function, or may be provided with a form display function of displaying a form presented in advance by the provider and inputting it in an entry field. When this form display function is applied, the form presented by the provider is converted to HTML (Hyper Text).
If the document is a Markup Language) document, the SLA plan creating means 21 can be realized by general WWW (World Wide Web) client software. In such a case, the transmission and reception of the SLA plan requires HTTP (Hyp
er Text Transfer Protocol) can be used. In this case, the SLA plan transmitting unit 23 uses a general W
This can be realized by using WW client software.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the SLA plan, in which IP-VAN (Internet-based virtual leased line) is used as the service name of the service contract contents, and the terminal point of the network is po.
int-a, point-z, QoS (Quality of S
ervice; service quality) with 10 Mbits of bandwidth guarantee
/ S, and the management operation code indicates a case where the QoS is changed at the end of the month and the bandwidth guarantee is set to 20 Mbit / s. That is, the daily bandwidth guarantee of the virtual leased line between the end points a and z of the network, for example, between Tokyo and Osaka is 10 Mbi.
t / s, and the bandwidth guarantee at the end of each month is 20 Mbi
This indicates that the value is changed to t / s. Although the management operation code in this case shows a case of a configuration including a condition part and an action part, it can be described using a mobile code such as an agent control language (ACL). Also, the SLA plan can be text data as illustrated in FIG.
It is also possible to use FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

The SLA plan receiving means 11 of the service order processing device 10 uses, for example, the above-described HTTP to
Service orders expressed in TML format are
It receives the data from the network management device 20, analyzes the HTML document, extracts the SLA plan, and transfers the SLA plan to the management code conversion unit 12 and the SLA plan acceptability determination unit 13. As described with reference to FIG. 1, the SLA plan acceptability determination means 13 determines whether another SLA plan has been previously determined to be acceptable in the accepted SLA database 14 and stored in the SLA plan acceptance rule database 15. Based on the rules and the information obtained by the network / service management information obtaining means 16, it is determined whether or not the acceptance of the SLA plan is permitted.

If the acceptance is permitted, the SLA plan is stored in the accepted SLA database 14, and a network / service management operation based on the SLA plan is requested to the management operation executing means 32 of the network / service management apparatus 30. . Also, the management operation code included in the SLA plan is extracted, converted into a management code that can be interpreted by the network / service management device 30 by the management code conversion unit 12, and stored in the management code storage unit 17. From the management code storage means 17, the network / service management device 3
0 network / service management code database 3
3 and stored. It also requests the management operation execution means 32 to execute a management operation according to the service contract content.

The network / service management information database 31 of the network / service management device 30
Indicates the content that always reflects the status of the network / service. For example, the content is updated in accordance with a change in the status of the network or the service corresponding to the execution of the management operation of the network 40 by the management operation execution means 32.
It is referred to by the management operation execution request unit 34 and the network / service management information acquisition unit 16.

The network monitoring means 35 has a function of receiving a failure notification or the like from the network 40, and issues an execution request to the management operation execution requesting means 34 when an event such as a failure occurs. The management operation execution requesting unit 34 extracts a management code whose condition part is satisfied from management codes stored in the network / service management code database 33,
The management operation of the action unit is executed by the management operation
Request to.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams of network / service management information. FIG. 5A shows a correspondence table of a management target between a customer view and a management view, and FIG. 5B shows a link management of a link, a maximum bandwidth, and an accommodation path. Indicates information. For example, the end points point-a and point-z of the service contract contents in FIG.
Is converted to path # 102 as a management target name from the management target correspondence table of (a). The link management information is
Corresponding to the links LINK # 1, LINK # 2,..., The maximum bandwidth is 40 Mbps, 600 Mbps,.
This indicates that the link belongs to the link LINK # 1 of 0 Mbps.

As a rule for converting an action name, for example, QoS change (bandwidth guarantee, X) → modify-band
widthX QoS change (priority, Y) → modify-prior
where Y and X are variables for pattern matching, “QoS conversion (bandwidth guarantee, 20 Mbit / s)” of the action part of the management operation code shown in FIG.
bandwidth 20 Mbit / s ".

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the process of determining whether or not to accept the SLA plan. First, the SLA plan acceptability judging means 13 (see FIG. 1) receives the SL received by the SLA plan receiving means 11.
The A plan A1 is read, the service contract content A2 of the SLA plan A1 is read (a), and network management information related to the path specified by the service contract content A2 is read from the network / service management information database 31 (b) In order to provide the service A2, it is determined whether the network resources are insufficient (c).

For example, when all the lines for providing the service A2 are in use, this corresponds to a case where the network resources are insufficient, and it is determined that the line cannot be accepted (i). If the network resources are not insufficient,
The management code A3 of the SLA plan A1 is read, and all the management codes related to the management target specified by the management code A3 are read from the accepted SLA database 14 (d).

When the condition part of the management code A3 becomes true, the other management codes whose condition part becomes true are extracted (e). Then, network management information related to the management target specified in the action section is transmitted to the network /
It is read from the service management information database 31 (f).

Then, to execute all the targeted actions, it is determined whether or not the network resources are insufficient (g). If the number is insufficient, it is determined that the reception is impossible (i). If there is no shortage, it is determined that acceptance is possible (h).

For example, the accepted SLA database 1
4, SLA # 1: Service content = IP-VAN path # 101, 10 Mbit / s Management code = On the first day of each month, the bandwidth guarantee is set to 20 Mbit / s. If the SLA information is stored, the SLA shown in FIG.
For the LA plan, referring to FIG.
The service is provided by link LINK # 1 with ath # 102 and a maximum bandwidth of 40 Mbps, and the total bandwidth on the first day of each month and the last day of each month is 30 Mbit / s. Since this band does not exceed the maximum band of the link LINK # 1, it is determined that the band is acceptable.

In the SLA acceptance rule database 15,
For example, when the rule shown in FIG. 7 is stored, Rule Rule # 1 indicates a rule that determines that the acceptance is rejected when the available bandwidth is equal to or less than 20%. Since the total bandwidth of 30 Mbit / s for the bandwidth of 40 Mbit / s is a case where the available bandwidth is 20% or more, it is determined that the bandwidth is acceptable.

In the accepted SLA database 14, SLA # 1: service content = IP-VAN path # 101, 10 Mbit / s management code = bandwidth guarantee is set to 20 Mbit / s on the last day of every month. If the SLA information is stored, the SLA shown in FIG.
As for the LA plan, it is understood from the reading of the management code that a total of 40 Mbit / s is required on the last day of every month. In this case, the total bandwidth does not exceed 40 Mbit / s, but the free bandwidth on the last day of each month is 0%.
Here, applying the rule shown in FIG.
Since it is 0% or less, it is determined that acceptance is rejected. If there is no Rule Rule # 1, it can be determined that the rule is acceptable.

Rule # 2 for accepting the SLA proposal
Indicates that in the case of the best effort type service, if the number of customers using the same physical line becomes 10 or more, acceptance is rejected. As described above, the service provider sets the acceptance rule and rejects an inappropriate SLA plan that violates the acceptance rule, thereby enabling effective use of the shared network resources. In that case, the rules stored in the SLA acceptance rule database 15 can be changed by the service provider in accordance with the network management state and the like, and network / service management can be performed flexibly. .

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be added and changed in various ways, and each part of the service order processing device 10 and the network / service management device 30 The functions can be realized by the processing functions of the processor.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the SLA plan constituting the service order from the customer includes a code such as a management operation code describing a network / service management operation, the customer can obtain a desired service. It is possible to provide a detailed service easily, and by using this management operation code as a management code that can be interpreted by the network / service management device 3, network / service management can be performed quickly for network events. Execution is possible. Further, by determining whether or not to accept the SLA plan constituting the service order from the customer, the exclusive state of the shared network resource can be reliably avoided. Therefore, there is an advantage that the use efficiency of the network can be improved and the service provided to the customer can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a service order.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a service level agreement (SLA) proposal.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of network / service management information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an SLA plan acceptability determination.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an SLA plan acceptance rule.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network / service order processing apparatus 1a Service order receiving means 1b Management code conversion means 1c SLA proposal acceptance / non-permission judgment means 1d Accepted SLA storage means 1e SLA proposal acceptance rule storage means 1f Network / service management information acquisition means 1g Management code storage means 2 Customer network management device 3 Network / service management device 4 Network

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Makoto Minoura 4-1-1, Uedanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Hitoshi Ueno 4-1-1, Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture No. 1 Fujitsu Limited F term (reference) 5K030 GA01 HB00 HB08 JA10 KA01 KA02 LC09 MA01 5K033 AA02 CB06 DB12 DB14 DB20 9A001 CC02 CC07 JJ18 JZ25 LL02 LZ03

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A network service order processing device for processing a service order received from a customer, wherein the service level agreement constituting the service order from the customer includes a code describing a network / service management operation. And a service level agreement including the code. 2. A network service order processing device for processing a service order according to a service level agreement received from a customer, wherein the service level agreement including a management operation code describing a network / service management operation is received from the customer. Means for determining whether or not to accept the service level agreement, extracting the management operation code from the service level agreement determined to be acceptable, and executing the management operation code based on a network event. And a storage unit. 3. A network service order processing device for processing a service order according to a service level agreement received from a customer, wherein the service level agreement including a management operation code describing a network / service management operation is received from the customer. Means, storage means for storing an acceptable service level agreement, means for acquiring state information of network resources, based on the service level agreement stored in the storage means and the state information of the network resources, Means for determining whether to accept the service level agreement including the received management operation code, extracting the management operation code from the service level agreement determined to be acceptable, and converting the management operation code based on a network event Means to store it for execution. Network service order processing apparatus, characterized in that was e. 4. A network service order processing device for processing a service order according to a service level agreement received from a customer, wherein the service level agreement including a management operation code describing a network / service management operation is received from the customer. Means for storing an acceptable service level agreement; means for acquiring network resource state information; means for storing a service provision rule; service level agreement stored in the storage means; Means for determining whether to accept the service level agreement including the received management operation code based on the status information of the network resources and the rule for providing the service, and performing the management based on the service level agreement determined to be acceptable. Extracting the operation code, and Means for storing the information so that it can be executed based on a network event. 5. A network / service management system including a network / service order processing device for processing a service order based on a service level agreement from a customer, and a network / service management device for executing a network management operation and monitoring the network. In the system, the network / service order processing device includes: a service level agreement receiving unit including a management operation code describing a network / service management operation from the customer; an acceptance determination unit for the service level agreement; Conversion means for converting the management operation code included in the available service level agreement into a management code that can be interpreted by the network / service management apparatus; and storage means for storing the management code converted by the conversion means. The network / A service management device, a database holding the management code, a network monitoring unit, a database holding network management information, and a network based on a service level agreement determined to be acceptable by the network service order processing device. A network / service management system comprising: an execution unit that executes the management operation of (1) and executes the management operation of the network by referring to the management code and the management information based on the event by the monitoring unit. 6. The network / service order processing device includes a storage unit for storing an accepted service level agreement, a storage unit for storing an acceptance rule, and acquiring network management information from the network / service management device. Means for determining whether or not to accept the received service level agreement based on the accepted service level agreement, the acceptance rule and network management information. 5
A network / service management system as described.