JP2002024120A - Distributed application server system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that processing loads are frequently concentrated to one Web application server since the utilization of the Internet/Intranet is increased and services to be provided are varied as well concerning a conventional Web application server device. SOLUTION: Concerning this distributed application server system, plural Web application server devices 2 are provided, a presentation server device 3 is located between each of plural Web application server devices 2 and a browser 1 to be operated by a user and contents requested by the browser 1 are acquired from the Web application server device 2 through this presentation server device 3 so that the loads are partially charged among the plural Web application server devices 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a distributed application server system having a plurality of Web application server devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An application server includes (1) a "presentation layer" for realizing a user interface, (2) a "service (logic) layer" for executing data processing, and (3) a "data layer" encapsulating a database routine. A "service layer", which is an intermediate layer of a three-layer architecture consisting of a (storage) layer, provides various services centering on a Web server. In a conventional client-server type system, a client that mainly implements a user interface and related processing and a server that mainly performs a standardized process such as a data acquisition process are arranged on separate computers on a network. This made it possible to reduce the load on individual computers. But,
As the scale of the system increases, the program on the client side becomes more complicated, and there is a problem that the processing load on the client side increases. In recent years, in order to deal with the complexity of client programs and to solve the problems that arise from maintaining them, a routine processing part called business logic that does not depend on the client has been separated from the client user interface. A system configuration in which a Web application server is installed on another computer in a form in which the server function of the above is combined with a Web server is often used.

[0003]

However, the use of the Internet / intranet has continued to expand, and the services provided have been diversified.
b. Business logic executed by the application server increases, and the processing load is often concentrated on the Web application server computer. Therefore, there is a need to introduce a plurality of web application servers and execute each business logic on the plurality of web application servers. However, JP
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 334058 discloses an online system and a load distribution method, and a load distribution method for a client-server type architecture has been proposed.
It did not apply to the application server.

[0004] The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has as its first object to obtain a distributed application server system capable of distributing a load to a plurality of Web application server devices. ing. It is a second object of the present invention to obtain a distributed application server system capable of increasing or decreasing the number of Web application server devices constituting a system and enabling a dynamic system configuration change.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A distributed application server system according to the present invention has a plurality of Web application server devices having a processing function of generating contents and providing contents in response to requests, and a Web application server. A browser device having a browser for making a content request to the device and displaying the content provided from the web application server device, and the browser device and the web device
It is provided with a presentation server device connected to the application server device and configured to select a Web application server device that provides content according to a browser request and to mediate the provision of the content. Also, the presentation server device
It has a content database in which contents provided by the Web application server device are registered.

[0006] The presentation server device includes:
It is configured to cope with an increase or decrease in the number of Web application server devices. Further, the presentation server device provides a browser with a top page including content information corresponding to the increase / decrease in the number of Web application server devices, and the browser refers to the top page to request a content. In addition, the browser registers in advance the attribute information of the content to be provided as user information in the presentation server device, and the presentation server device
It is configured to create a top page according to user information.

[0007] The presentation server device includes:
When a plurality of Web application server devices provide the same content, the Web application server device is selected so that the load is distributed to the plurality of Web application server devices. Furthermore, the browser makes a request for the content by adding the attribute information, and the presentation server device mediates the content corresponding to the attribute information added to the request.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Embodiment 1
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a distributed application server system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is HTML
A browser having a role of performing display such as, for example, mounted on a browser device. Reference numeral 2 denotes a Web application server device that has a role of implementing application logic, and reference numerals 2A to 2C denote Web application server devices. Reference numeral 3 denotes a presentation server device arranged between the browser 1 and the Web application server device 2 and mediating a user request. 11 is a top page provided and displayed on the browser 1, and 21 is a Web page.
Servlet held by the application server device 2
The content 22 which is a processing product of an application function such as t, a registration request mechanism 22 in the Web application server 2
Is newly added, or when new content is added to the web application server device 2 or when the content is updated, information defined by the person who added the content is used as content registration information, and presentation is performed. It is transmitted to the server device 3.

Next, the configuration of the presentation server device 3 will be described. Reference numeral 31 denotes a content mediation mechanism for mediating a request from the browser 1 to the web application server device 2, and internally has a mediation module 32 corresponding to each web application server device 2. 32A and 32B are mediation modules. 33
Is a content registration mechanism that receives the content registration information transmitted by the registration request mechanism 22 of the Web application server device 2 and registers the content registration information in the content database 34. Reference numeral 35 denotes a top page generating / providing mechanism for generating a top page to be provided to the browser 1, which dynamically generates a top page based on the content database 34 and user information and provides the top page to the browser 1. Reference numeral 36 denotes a user customizing mechanism, which interprets information of content to be referred to, which is input by the user through the browser 1, and stores the information in the user information database 37.

Next, the operation of the distributed application server system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. Upon receiving the request from the browser 1, the content mediation mechanism 31
The relay module 32 corresponding to the request is taken out, and the request is delivered to the relay module 32. Mediation module 3
2 is a content 2 which is a processing product of the Web application server device 2 according to a request from the browser 1
1 and sends the contents to the browser 1. This makes it possible to access the distributed plurality of Web application server devices 2 by mediating the request from the browser 1 by the presentation server device 3.

When the Web application server device 2 is newly added, or when a new content 21 is added or updated in the Web application server device 2, the information defined by the person who added or updated the content 21 Is transmitted to the presentation server device 3 as content registration information. This content registration information is received by the content registration mechanism 33 arranged in the presentation server device 3. Upon receiving the content information, the content registration mechanism 33 registers the information in the content database 34, and requests the content mediation mechanism 31 to generate a new mediation module 32. The content mediation mechanism 31 newly generates the mediation module 32 according to the request. Thereby, We
b It becomes possible to dynamically register content in the presentation server device 3 in response to a request from the application server device 2.

The presentation server device 3
Has a top page generation / providing mechanism 35, and generates a dynamically generated top page in response to a request from the browser 1.
It has a function to be provided to the browser 1. The top page generation / providing mechanism 35 uses the information obtained from the content database 34 and the user information database 37 registered by the user using the browser 1 to
Generate a top page dynamically. Thereby, the top page sent to the browser 1 at the request of the user can always reflect the contents of the dynamically added and changed contents, and without maintaining the presentation server device 3, The latest content can be provided to the user. Further, by referring to the user information when generating the top page, it becomes possible for the user to generate the top page including only the information specified in advance.

The mediation module 32 for mediating contents
Can store the contents of multiple mediation destinations as internal information, select the mediation destination according to the content of the request,
It has a function to return the contents to the request destination. This makes it possible to distribute the load when the same content is arranged in a plurality of Web application server devices 2, and to meet the needs of the user without the user being aware of the location of the content. It is also possible to provide content that has been updated.

Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the distributed application server system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 1, 11, 31,
32 and 35 are the same as those in FIG. The top page generation / providing mechanism 35 receives the top page transmission request from the browser 1 (P1), and as a result, transmits the top page 11 to the browser (P2).
The browser 1 displays a top page 11, and the user selects desired information from the top page. The request for the selected information is transmitted to the content mediation mechanism 31 (P
3). The content mediation mechanism 31 specifies the mediation module 32 from the transmitted request content (P4). The mediation module 32 has the position of the content corresponding thereto as information, and acquires the content based on the request information (P5). The mediation module 32 transmits the acquired content to the browser 1 (P6). In other words, the mediation module 32 mediates the processing request from the browser 1 to the content 21 on the Web application server device 2 which is another computer, and obtains the result. At this time, there may be a plurality of contents corresponding to the mediation module 32. In this case, the mediation module 32
Can hold information of a plurality of contents inside. Further, the mediation module 32 can distribute processing to a plurality of corresponding contents.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the processing can be distributed to the distributed Web application server devices 2 via the mediation module 32, and the individual Web application server devices can be distributed. 2 can be prevented from being concentrated.

Embodiment 2 Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, and 4. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of a registration request of the distributed application server system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the content registration mechanism of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Embodiment 2 relates to the operation of the content registration request mechanism 22 and the content registration mechanism 33 in FIG. When the content is newly registered or updated, the content registration request mechanism 22
For example, a data structure shown in FIG. 3 is generated and transmitted to the content registration mechanism 33. The data structure shown in FIG. 3 includes content identification information for uniquely identifying the content to be registered, and content attribute information describing characteristics of the content.

Upon receiving the registration request, the content registration mechanism 33 executes the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 to newly register the content mediation module 32 in the content mediation mechanism 31. In step S1, the content registration mechanism 33 receives a registration request. Step S2
Then, the content registration mechanism 33 refers to the content identification information included in the registration request, and if the content mediation module 32 having the same identification information has already been registered, in step S5, the already registered module is temporarily Then, in step S6, a new mediation module 32 is generated based on the transmitted registration request. Next, after updating the information in the content database 34 in step S7, the information is registered in the content mediation mechanism 31 in step S8. If the mediation module 32 having the same identification information is not registered in step S2, a mediation module 32 is newly generated in step S3, and information is added to the content database 34 in step S4. Then, this is registered in the content mediation mechanism 31.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the content registration module 33 manages the content mediation module 32 using the content identification information and the content attribute information.
In addition, the Web application server device 2 can be dynamically added / registered / deleted.

Embodiment 3 Embodiment 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 5, and 6. FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure realized in the content database of the distributed application server system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the top page generating / providing mechanism of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. Embodiment 3 relates to the operation of the top page generating / providing mechanism 35 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, in the content database 34, an ID number for specifying a registered content, a content name,
Attribute information such as RL and update date and time, and a relay module ID for specifying the relay module 32 corresponding to the content are included. These pieces of content information are registered by the content registration mechanism 33.

Upon receiving a top page acquisition request from the browser 1, the top page generating / providing mechanism 35 executes, for example, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S11, the top page generating / providing mechanism 3
5 receives a request from the browser. Next, in step S12, the top page generating / providing mechanism 35 searches the content database 34 for data having the contents shown in FIG. 5, and based on the result, executes step S1.
In step S3, a top page is generated. In step S14, the generated top page is transmitted to the browser 1.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, by dynamically generating the top page, even if the Web application server device 2 is registered or deleted during operation, the top page is correctly reflected, and the Can be provided.

Embodiment 4 Embodiment 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 7, and 8. FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the internal data structure held by the mediation module of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mediation module of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. Embodiment 4 describes the operation of the mediation module 32 in FIG. FIG. 7 is an example of a data structure held when the mediation module 32 is generated by the content registration mechanism 33. In the case of the example of FIG. 7, the internal data structure holds three different URLs. This means that there are three contents of the same contents to which the mediation module 32 mediates upon receiving a user request. Also, numbers 1 to 3 are assigned to each mediation destination content.

Next, the processing of the mediation module will be described with reference to FIG. The mediation module 32, in step S21,
Each time a request from the browser 1 is received, step S2
2, the internal data structure shown in FIG. 7 is searched to obtain a URL corresponding to the value of the internal variable n of the mediation module 32. In step S23, according to the number of contents in the internal table, steps S24 and S25 are performed. Changes the value of the variable n. Next, in step S26, a request is transmitted to the content corresponding to the obtained URL, and the result is obtained.
This is transmitted to the browser 1 in step S27.

Thus, according to the fourth embodiment, for each request from the browser 1, the mediation module 32 distributes processing to a plurality of Web application server devices 2 having contents corresponding to the request, and distributes the load. Can be done.

Embodiment 5 FIG. Embodiment 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 9, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure realized in the user information database of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the top page generating / providing mechanism of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. In the fifth embodiment, the user customizing mechanism 36 in FIG.
The operation of the user information database 37 and the top page generation / providing mechanism 35 will be described. In the distributed application server system according to the fifth embodiment, a user can input attribute information of a content he / she wants to refer to from browser 1 to presentation server device 3 from browser 1 in advance. The input attribute information is interpreted by the user customizing mechanism 36 and stored in the user information database 37. The user information database 37 is a database that is referred to by the top page generation / providing mechanism 35 and stores information that needs to be displayed on the top page for each user. For example, the data structure shown in FIG. 9 is stored in the user information database 37. In FIG.
The user table stores, for each user, information on the upper limit of the data size that can be downloaded by the user and the category desired to be displayed on the top page. In addition, the user attribute table stores attribute information of content that needs to be displayed on the top page, such as the update date and time, the degree of detail, and the degree of importance for each category specified by each user.

The top page generating / providing mechanism 35 executes, for example, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10, and displays a top page including information necessary for each user on the browser 1. First, in step S31, the top page generation / providing mechanism 35 receives a login request including information such as a user ID and a password necessary for identifying a user from the browser 1. Next, step S32
Then, using this information as a search key, the user information database 37 is searched to obtain user information necessary for displaying the top page. Next, in step S33, the content database 34 is searched using the acquired user information as a key to obtain an item to be displayed on the top page. Then, in step S34, a top page is generated based on the item. In step S35, the data is transmitted to the browser 1.

According to the fifth embodiment, by registering user information (category, degree of detail, etc.), it is possible to provide a top page according to the user's preference.

Embodiment 6 FIG. Embodiment 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mediation module of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention. Embodiment 6 shows an example of the operation of the intermediation module 32 in FIG. 1 for providing different contents to different users in response to the same request based on information from the users.
1 will be described.

In step S41, the mediation module 32
Receives the request from the browser and returns to step S42
Then, it is determined whether or not the content of the request includes the attribute information of the content required by the user. If not included, the same operation as that shown in the flowchart of FIG.
This is performed in S49. If the request includes the attribute information in step S42, the mediation module 32 refers to, for example, an internal table having a structure illustrated in FIG. Step S
In step 43, the mediation module 32 compares the attribute information included in the request with the attribute information of each URL in the internal table in FIG. 7, and in step S44, the U having the attribute information satisfying the request.
If there is an RL, this URL is extracted from the internal table in step S45. In step S44, if there is no content that satisfies the request, the same operation as that shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 is performed in steps S46 to S49, as in the case where the attribute information of the content is not included in the request. Next, in step S50, the mediation module 32
Sends a request to acquire the content specified by the extracted URL, and transmits the acquired content to the browser 1 in step S51.

According to the sixth embodiment, when attribute information is added to a request, a content reflecting the attribute information can be generated and provided.

[0031]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. A plurality of Web application server devices having a processing function of generating content and providing content in response to a request, requesting the content to the Web application server device, and displaying the content provided from the Web application server device , A browser device having a browser, and the browser device and W
a plurality of web application servers provided with a presentation server device connected to the web application server device and configured to select a web application server device that provides content according to a browser request and to mediate the provision of the content; Processing can be distributed to devices.

Further, the presentation server device comprises:
Since there is a content database in which contents provided by the Web application server device are registered, it is possible to select a Web application server device according to the requested content. Also, the presentation server device is configured to cope with an increase or decrease in the number of Web application server devices.
Application server devices can be dynamically added and deleted.

Further, the presentation server device provides the browser with a top page including content information corresponding to the increase / decrease of the number of Web application server devices, and the browser requests the content by referring to the top page. Can request a content using a top page corresponding to dynamic addition and deletion of a Web application server device. Also, the browser registers in advance the attribute information of the content to be provided as user information in the presentation server device, and the presentation server device is configured to create a top page according to the user information. Can get a top page tailored to the user.

Further, the presentation server device comprises:
When a plurality of Web application server devices provide the same content, the Web application server device is selected so that the load is distributed to the plurality of Web application server devices. Can be dispersed. Furthermore, the browser,
A request for content is made by adding attribute information, and the presentation server device mediates content according to the attribute information added to the request.
The content reflecting the attribute information added to the request can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a distributed application server system according to Embodiments 1 to 6 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a distributed application server system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of a registration request of a distributed application server system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the content registration mechanism of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure realized in a content database of a distributed application server system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of a top page generating / providing mechanism of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an internal data structure held by a mediation module of a distributed application server system according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mediation module of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure realized in a user information database of a distributed application server system according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of a top page generation / providing mechanism of a distributed application server system according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mediation module of the distributed application server system according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 browser, 2 Web application server device, 3 presentation server system device, 11
Top page, 21 contents, 22 registration request mechanism, 31 contents mediation mechanism, 32 mediation module, 33 contents registration mechanism, 34 contents database, 35 top page generation / providing mechanism, 36
User customization mechanism, 37 user information database.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of Web application server devices having a processing function of generating content and providing the content in response to a request, making a request for content to the Web application server device, and performing a request from the Web application server device. A browser device having a browser for displaying the provided content, a web application server device connected to the browser device and the web application server device, and providing the content according to the request from the browser, and selecting the web application server device to provide the content; A distributed application server system comprising a presentation server device configured to mediate. 2. The presentation server device, comprising:
2. The distributed application server system according to claim 1, further comprising a content database in which content provided by the application server device is registered. 3. The presentation server device is a Web server.
3. The distributed application server system according to claim 1, wherein the distributed application server system is configured to correspond to an increase or decrease in the number of application server devices. 4. The presentation server device is a Web server.
4. The distributed system according to claim 3, wherein a top page including content information corresponding to the increase or decrease of the application server device is provided to the browser, and the browser requests the content by referring to the top page. Application system. 5. The browser is configured to register attribute information of content to be provided as user information in advance in the presentation server device, and the presentation server device is configured to create a top page according to the user information. 5. The distributed application system according to claim 4, wherein: 6. The presentation server device according to claim 1, wherein when the plurality of Web application server devices provide the same content, the presentation server device selects the Web application server device so as to distribute the load to the plurality of Web application server devices. The distributed application system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the browser makes a request for the content by adding the attribute information, and the presentation server device mediates the content according to the attribute information added to the request. The distributed application system according to claim 6.