JP2001345848A - Computer system and control method for communication traffic - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To preferentially control communication traffic, when a client utilizes the service of a server. SOLUTION: A service information server 11, which receives the request of the service information of a certain service from a client 30, provides service information, in which the service item and priority level of the relevant service are described to the client 30. The client 30 transmits the request for providing the service of service item contained in the received service information to a service providing server 12. At this time, a priority level set by the service information is set to the transmission traffic. A router 20 performs priority processing of each packet, so that the packet can be transferred according to the priority level set to the received packet as tag.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a priority control technique for communication traffic generated when a client uses a server service in a client-server model computer system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) in which a plurality of communication sessions are simultaneously performed,
The execution of a high-priority communication session may be interrupted by a low-priority communication session. To prevent that,
It is necessary to have a function of controlling the flow rate of low-priority traffic and arbitrating to prioritize high-priority traffic.

[0003] As such a traffic arbitration technique, conventionally, for example, at an edge node arranged at the entrance of a network, a tag indicating a priority is attached to a packet in accordance with a band allocated to the traffic, and a node in the network is assigned. Has proposed a technique of performing priority control according to a tag attached to a packet.

For example, in the IETF (Interner Engineering Task Force) under the ISOC (Internet society), a differentiated service (D. Clark, "
An Approach to Service Allocation in the Internet ",
Internet draft draft-clark-diff-svc-alloc-
A technique called (00) has been proposed.

[0005] In this technique, in response to a request for securing a bandwidth of 100 [Kbps] for traffic A from an access source relating to traffic A, an edge router arranged at the entrance of the network accepts traffic A if it permits this. And writes a value indicating high priority to packets up to 100 [Kbps]. Unless the core router in the network has to discard or delay the packet when performing the packet transfer process, the core router preferentially discards or delays the packet in which the low priority tag is written. As a result, packets belonging to traffic A are transferred with high priority within a range of 100 [Kbps].

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
In a server model computer system, when considering access to server services by clients, how priority should be given to the traffic of each access depends on the equality of service provision opportunities to each client and the provision of services. It is preferable to be determined from the viewpoint of dispersion of the load to be provided, priority provision of important services, and the like.

However, in the above-described differentiated service technology that performs priority control in response to a request from an access source related to traffic, each client secures a bandwidth for traffic related to access performed by each client. Make a request. Therefore, it is difficult to realize traffic priority control in consideration of the above-described viewpoint.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to perform priority control of access traffic to a server, which is more suitable for a client-server model. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to control the priority of traffic related to access to a server by each client in accordance with services, server status, and the like.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object,
According to the present invention, in a computer system having a service providing server for providing a service, and a client connected to the service providing server via a network and accessing a service provided by the service providing server, the service providing server provides A service information providing server for notifying the client of a priority level given to access to a service to be provided, and communication traffic control for controlling communication traffic on the network by the client for accessing a service provided by the service providing server Equipment.

[0010] When accessing the service provided by the service providing server to the client,
The communication data relating to the access is given a priority level previously notified from the service information providing server for the access of the service. Further, the communication traffic control device, communication data transmitted from the client via the network, related to access to the service provided by the service providing server,
Priority control is performed based on the priority level given to the communication data.

Alternatively, in the computer system, a service information providing server for notifying the client of a priority level given to access to a service provided by the service providing server is provided.

The client is provided with priority control means for accessing a service provided by the service providing server in a priority order according to a priority level notified from the service information providing server for the service.

According to the present invention, each client
The priority level of the communication traffic related to the access to the service provided by the service providing server
In the service information providing server, management and control can be performed in an integrated manner. Further, in this way, in the service information providing server, by integrally managing the priority level of access to each service by each client, fairness of service providing opportunity to each client,
This makes it possible to determine the priority level from the viewpoint of distributing the service provision load, giving priority to important services, and flexibly change the priority level. Therefore, more clients
It is possible to perform priority control of access traffic to the server, which is suitable for the server model.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a computer system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the computer system constitutes a client-server model, and has a service information server 11, a service providing server 12, a router 20, and a client 30. The service information server 11 and the client 30 are connected by a network 51. The service providing server 12 and the router 20 are connected by a network 52, and the router 20 and the client 30 are connected by a network 51. In FIG. 1, one service providing server 12 and one client 30 are shown, but a plurality of service providing servers 12 and clients 30 may be provided.

The service information server 11 includes a service / priority information creating unit 111 and a service information providing unit 112. The service information server 11 relates to service items provided by the service providing server 12 to the client 30 and priority levels of the services. And informs the client 30 of the information.

The service providing server 12 has a service providing unit 122 and provides various services to the client 30. The various services are services provided by the server in a general client-server model, and include, for example, database information inquiry processing and business transaction processing.

The service information server 11 and the service providing server 12 may coexist on the same computer, or may be configured as one server.

Next, the router 20 is connected to the service providing server 12
Transfer of traffic between the client and the client 30. Further, the router 20 has a traffic priority control unit 21 therein, and performs a transfer priority process according to a priority level included in the transfer traffic.

The client 30 is a client in a client-server model in a general sense, and issues a request to the service providing server 12. Here, the client 30 is used as a window for the user to use the service provided by the service providing server 12. Client 30 is the front end
31, a service information acquisition unit 321, and a service request unit 322
And a service information server having a priority level setting unit 33.
Requests service information to 11 and receives the service information, and accesses the service provided by the service providing server 12 via the router 20 based on the received service information.

The hardware configuration of the service information server 11, the service providing server 12, and the client 30 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
2, keyboard 63, display 64, hard disk
Network connected to drive 65, network 5
A computer having a general configuration including an interface 66 and the like can be used. In this case, each unit shown in FIG. 1 is embodied on the computer by the CPU 61 executing a program loaded in the memory 62. Is realized as a process.

These programs are stored in the hard disk drive 65 in advance, and may be stored in the memory as needed.
The program is loaded into 62 and executed by the CPU 61. Alternatively, the data is stored in a portable storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM, and is directly loaded from the storage medium to the memory 62 as necessary via a reading device (not shown).
It is executed by the CPU 61. Alternatively, after being temporarily stored on the hard disk drive 65 from the storage medium, the data is loaded into the memory 62 as necessary and executed by the CPU 61. Alternatively, after being appropriately received via a communication medium and stored on the hard disk drive 65, it is loaded into the memory 62 as necessary and executed by the CPU 61.

Hereinafter, the operation of such a computer system will be described.

FIG. 3 shows a processing procedure performed by the client 30, and FIG. 4 shows a processing procedure performed by the service information server 11.

(1) STEP 1 First, as shown in FIG. 3, the service information acquisition unit 321 of the client 30 requests service information from the service information server 11 in accordance with the user's instruction received via the front end 31 ( Step 821, 4101 in FIG. 1). At this time, the service information to be obtained is also specified.

(2) STEP 2 Upon receiving the service information request from the client 30, the service information providing unit 112 of the service information server 11 provides the service information to the client 30. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when a request from the client 30 is received (step 811), the service items requested from the client 30 are listed (step 81).
2) For each listed service item,
The service information including the service name of the service, the location (location) where the service is provided, and the priority level of the access traffic for the service is created (step 813). Here, the process in step 813 is
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the service priority information creation unit 111 stores a service name 911 and a service location 9 in advance.
Service information D that has registered the correspondence between 12 and priority level 913
B91 is provided, and for each item of the requested service, the location 912 and the priority level 913 corresponding to the item are extracted from the service information DB 91.

Subsequently, in step 813, the service information server 11 sends the service information created for each of the requested service items to the client 30 (step 814, 42 in FIG. 1). Its transmission format 92
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, if service information 921 including service name 9211, location 9212, and priority level 9213 created for each item of requested service is arranged in order, Good.

(3) STEP 3 Returning to FIG. 3, the service information acquisition unit 321 of the client 30
When the service information 921 is received from the service information server 11 (step 822), the service information 921 is displayed on the display screen via the front end 31, and the service request unit
The selection of the required service item is received from the user via 322 (step 823). Then, it requests the service providing server 12 to provide the service specified by the location 9212 included in the service information 921 for the service item selected by the user. At this time, the priority level setting unit 33 sets the priority level 9123 included in the service information 921 for the service item selected by the user in the transmission traffic according to the request so that the router 20 can perform priority control ( Step 82
Four). Specifically, a priority level 9123 is set as a tag for each packet transmitted in the transmission traffic according to the request and transmitted.

Next, the router 20 that has received the packet from the client 30 checks the priority level 9213 set as a tag for the packet in the traffic priority control unit 21, and checks the packet with a priority according to the priority level 9123. Priority processing such as packet delay processing and discard processing is performed so that the packet is transferred. That is, it operates as a core node in the above differentiated service.

The first embodiment of the present invention has been described.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The second embodiment of the present invention is an application of the first embodiment described above to a client-server model for a WWW (World Wide Web) service.

WWW is a standardization organization W3C (World Wide
Web Consortium) is a service whose specifications are being formulated, and is mainly used for information exchange through an interactive user interface. WWW is also a type of client-server model, in which the server side is a Web server, and the client side is a Web client or Web.
It is called a b browser.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration of a computer system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the priority information creating unit 111 and the service information providing unit 112 in the service information server 11 of the first embodiment (see FIG. Group) 111 and Web server 11
Is achieved by two. Further, the front end 31 in the client 30 of the first embodiment (see FIG. 1),
The service information acquisition unit 321 and the service request unit 322
This is realized by the web browser 31, a web server access unit 321 and a reference unit 322 such as a hyperlink.

In the WWW, HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is used as a communication protocol for access from a Web client to a Web server. A resource identifier called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is used to indicate a request for which resource on which Web server. For example,
If "http: // server / service1 /" is specified, "serve
Access to a resource (information) named “service1” on a Web server named “r”. client
This URL is used for access 4101 from 30 to the Web server 112 on the service information server 11. Also, W
In the WW, the format of information returned from the Web server 112 to the client 30 is HTML (Hyper Text Markup).
Language) is used.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, service information is created in the HTML format, and is provided from the service information server 11 to the client 30. HTML files (group)
Reference numeral 111 denotes a set of service information in the HTML format.

FIG. 8 shows an example of service information in HTML format.

In the figure, reference numeral 9213 denotes a service name, reference numeral 9211 denotes a location (URL) where the service is provided, and reference numeral 9212 denotes a priority level. They are,
It is expressed using an <a> tag indicating an HTML hyperlink (a reference to another resource). Note that the setting of the priority level information may be applied to HTML tags such as buttons and forms.

It should be noted that a description relating to file upload can be written in HTML, but when a priority level is set for the file, the client 30 uploads the file at that priority level.

Now, in the client 30, the Web browser 31 has a function of displaying HTML data on a screen. FIG. 9 shows the service information in HTML format shown in FIG. 8 on the screen, and the service name 9123 described by the code 9213 appears on the screen. When an arbitrary service name on the screen is selected with a mouse or the like, the Web browser 31 accesses the corresponding URL (the reference numeral 9111 in FIG. 8), that is, the service providing server 12.

At this time, the priority level setting unit 33 of the client 30 sets the priority level in the HTML data (see FIG. 8).
Referring to the PriorityLevel attribute 9122), the traffic is set to the priority level as described above, and the server is accessed. The content of the priority level set by the priority level setting unit 33 may be the same as the content defined by the priority level 9122 shown in FIG. It may be processed independently in the client 30 according to the contents of the request.

In the present embodiment, the service providing server 12 may be a Web server. in this case,
Since both the service information server 11 and the service providing server 12 provide services using WWW,
The client 30 does not need to distinguish between the two. Further, the Web server 112 and the service providing unit 122 may be the same server.

FIG. 10 shows a configuration in which the service information server 11 and the service providing server 12 are unified. As shown in the figure, in this case, the configuration of the client 30 also corresponds to the function part (Web) provided separately for each of the service information server 11 and the service providing server 12.
Access part 321 to server, reference part 3 such as hyperlink
22) is a functional unit (Web) for access to the server 10.
Access section to server / reference section such as hyperlink 320)
Will be unified.

In the present embodiment, the service information server 11 may be modified to a server that provides information other than a Web server, for example, a directory server.

When a directory server is used as the service information server 11, as a communication protocol between the client 30 and the service information server 11, instead of HTTP, LDAP (Light-weight Directory Access) is used.
Protocol) may be used. LDAP is an Internet standardization organization IETF (Internet Engineering).
Task Force) is an access protocol to a directory server for which specifications are being formulated. LDAP and H
TTP stands for Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
The above protocol is common, both protocols can be used at the same time.
Resources on the P side can be referenced and vice versa.

FIG. 11 shows a case where a directory server is used as the service information server 11 and a Web server is used as the service providing server 12.
1 shows an example of the configuration of a computer system when a server is used. Here, the Web of the client 30
The browser 31 has a function of accessing a directory server.

As described above, as the servers of the service information server 11 and the service providing server 12, a Web server, a directory server, and the like can be freely combined and used.

As described above, the second embodiment of the present invention has been described.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

According to a third embodiment of the present invention, in the computer system according to the first embodiment, the service information server 11 notifies the client 30 of the service information in accordance with the service load of the service providing server 12 in the service information server. The priority level is corrected.

FIG. 12 shows a modification of the configuration of the computer system according to the third embodiment of the present invention from the configuration of the computer system according to the first embodiment (see FIG. 1).

As shown in the figure, the present embodiment is obtained by modifying the configuration of the service information server 11 and the service providing server 12 in the first embodiment, and the other parts are the same as those of the first embodiment. This is the same as that of the embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the service providing unit 122 of the service providing server 12 measures the load of each service provided by the service providing server and notifies the service information server 11 (reference numeral 43 in FIG. 12). ). The load of each service is obtained from the load factor of the CPU that processes each service, the number of simultaneous executions of each service, and the like.

On the other hand, the service information server 11 includes a service information / priority level deriving section 1111, a service load monitor 1112, and priority level information 1113 including load correction in the service / priority information creating section 111.

As shown in FIG. 13, the priority level information 1113 including the load correction is obtained by adding the load information 914 to the service information DB 91 shown in FIG. The service information / priority level deriving unit 1111 includes the priority level information 11 including the load correction.
By correcting the content of 13 based on the service load information 43 obtained through the service load monitor 1112, the priority level of the service to be included in the service information notified to the client 30 is determined. For example, the definition content of the priority level information 1113 including the load correction is as shown in FIG.
When the load of “A” is 40%, the service information / priority level deriving unit 1111 determines the priority level of “ServiceA” to be “2” and transmits the service information about “ServiceA” to the client 30. , “Service”
“2” is set as the priority level of “A”.

The third embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

In this embodiment, not only the first embodiment but also the second embodiment described above, the priority level in the service information in the HTML format is similarly corrected according to the service load. Applicable.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

In each of the above embodiments, the service information server 11 notifies the client 30 of the service information including the priority level to determine the priority of the traffic when the client 30 uses the service. Alternatively, the service information may be notified to the client 30 including the band, and the client 30 may control the traffic at the time of using the service so that the band becomes the upper limit. Further, the control on the client 30 side may be such that the client 30 requests the network side for this band in the differentiated service. As described above, instead of using the priority control in the network layer, the client 30 may control the band at the application layer level.

In the above embodiment, the priority processing of the traffic is performed in the router 20. However, the priority processing is performed in the client 30 without performing the priority processing in the router 20 or together with the priority processing in the router 20. May be modified. In this case, in the priority level setting unit 33 of the client 30, in step 824 shown in FIG. 3, each packet belonging to the transmission traffic is transmitted with a priority according to the priority level set for the transmission traffic. Priority processing such as delay processing of packets belonging to traffic is performed. When the priority processing is also performed in the router 20, as in the previous case, the client 30 sets, as a tag, the priority level set for the traffic to which the packet belongs in the packet to be transmitted in each transmission traffic, and transmits the packet. .

In the third embodiment, an example has been described in which the priority level of the service to be notified to the client 30 is corrected in accordance with the load of the service in the service providing unit 122. For example, the client 30 holds the priority level. Coo
The priority level of each service to be notified to the client 30 may be corrected according to the content of the kie.
Here, the cookie is an environment variable stored on the WWW so that the Web server can refer to the client and the Web server can refer to.

As described above, according to each of the above-described embodiments, the priority level of the access traffic of each client to the server service is integrated and managed by the service information server 11 for each service. can do. Also, as described above, the service information server 11
, By managing priority levels in an integrated manner,
Determining priority levels from the perspective of equalizing the opportunity to provide services to each client, distributing the load of providing services, giving priority to important services, and flexibly determining the priority levels of access traffic to server services by each client. Changes can be made. In particular, according to the third embodiment, by changing the priority level of the service according to the service load, the priority level of the access traffic related to the service is dynamically reduced in response to the increase in the service load. By giving priority to the access having the higher priority, the bandwidth of the network can be used more effectively. Also, by lowering the priority of access traffic for specific services,
It is possible to reduce the amount of access to the service (reduce the traffic density of service requests to the server) and reduce the load on the server.

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention, priority control of access traffic to a server, which is more suitable for a client-server model, can be performed. Also,
The priority of access traffic to the server by each client can be controlled in accordance with the service, the status of the server, and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of a service information server, a service providing server, and a client according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by a client according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process performed by the service information server according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing contents of a service information DB held by a service information server according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format of service information transmitted from a service information server to a client in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing service information in HTML format transmitted from a service information server to a client in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of HTML-format service information transmitted from a service information server to a client in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating another configuration example of the computer system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating another configuration example of the computer system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration of a computer system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing contents of a service information DB held by a service information server according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Service information server, 12 ... Service providing server, 20
... Router 21 ... Traffic priority control unit, 30 ... Client, 31 ... Front end 33 ... Priority level setting unit, 51 ... Network, 52 ... Network 111 ... Service / priority information creation unit, 112 ... Service information provision unit 122 ... Service provision Section, 321 ... Service information acquisition section, 322
… Service request department

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Futa Haga 1099 Ozenji Temple, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term in Hitachi, Ltd. System Development Laboratory 5B089 GA04 GA11 GA31 GB01 JA33 JB15 JB22 KA04 KC05 KC39 KC59 KC60 MA07 5K030 GA13 GA14 HA08 HB17 HC14 HD03 LA03 5K033 AA01 BA04 CB18 CC02 DB18

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A computer system comprising: a service providing server that provides a service; and a client that connects to the service providing server via a network and accesses a service provided by the service providing server. A service information providing server that notifies the client of a priority level given to access to a service provided by the server; and a communication traffic on the network related to the client accessing the service provided by the service providing server. A communication traffic control device, wherein when the client accesses a service provided by the service providing server, the client provides communication data related to the access, and the service information providing server for access to the service. The communication traffic control device transmits the communication data transmitted from the client via the network and relating to access to the service provided by the service providing server. A computer system for performing priority control based on a priority level given to communication data. 2. A computer system comprising: a service providing server for providing a service; and a client connected to the service providing server via a network and accessing a service provided by the service providing server. A service information providing server for notifying the client of a priority level given to access to a service provided by the server, wherein the client provides access to the service provided by the service providing server, and provides the service information for the service; A computer system comprising a priority control unit that performs priority control according to a priority level notified from a providing server. 3. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the service information providing server indicates an access destination for using a service provided by the service providing server together with a priority level of the service. Computer system for notifying the client of destination information, wherein the client accesses a service provided by the service providing server according to access destination information notified by the service information providing server. 4. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein said service information providing server collects a load status of a service provided by said service providing server; and said additional status. A computer system comprising: a priority level determination unit that determines a priority level of the service to be notified to the client according to a load situation collected by the collection unit. 5. A computer system comprising: a service providing server that provides a service; and a client that connects to the service providing server via a network and accesses a service provided by the service providing server. A communication traffic control method for controlling communication traffic on the network related to access to a service provided by a service providing server, wherein a priority level given to access to a service provided by the service providing server is provided to the client. A service information providing server for notifying, and a communication traffic control device for controlling communication traffic on the network relating to access to a service provided by the service providing server by the client; When the client accesses a service provided by the service providing server, the client assigns, to the communication data related to the access, a priority level notified in advance by the service information providing server to the access of the service, The traffic control device causes the communication data transmitted from the client via the network and related to access to the service provided by the service providing server to be preferentially controlled based on a priority level assigned to the communication data. A method for controlling communication traffic, characterized in that: 6. A computer system comprising: a service providing server for providing a service; and a client connected to the service providing server via a network and accessing a service provided by the service providing server. A communication traffic control method for controlling communication traffic on the network related to access to a service provided by a service providing server, wherein a priority level given to access to a service provided by the service providing server is provided to the client. A service information providing server for notifying is provided, and the client is provided with access to a service provided by the service providing server in accordance with a priority level notified from the service information providing server for the service. The method of communication traffic, characterized in that to perform. 7. A computer system comprising: a service providing server that provides a service; and a client that connects to the service providing server via a network and accesses a service provided by the service providing server. A storage medium storing a program for controlling communication traffic on the network related to access to a service provided by a service providing server, wherein the program is read and executed by a computer, Additional status collecting means for collecting the load status of the service provided by the service providing server; priority level determining means for determining a priority level of the service according to the load status collected by the additional status collecting device; Priority level determined by means And a notifying means for notifying the client of the file on the computer.