JP2003069568A - System for provision and use of information service - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for the provision and use of information services that controls, upon the change of resource environment associated with the execution of applications and protocols, the resource assignment to the applications based on a communication service quality required for users to optimize the service quality so that the users can use most effectively the resources and configuration of the system. SOLUTION: A computer 101 and a connection device 103 in the information service side is provided with a means 202 for acquiring the required quality of communication service, a monitoring means 203 for monitoring the current use of the resources in information systems and the quality of communication service, a means 204 for supporting the resource assignment that determines information having a high priority for resource assignment according to the quality of communication service to decide the specification of resources of applications 201 serviced for user based on the high priority information, a resource assignment controlling means 209 for assigning resources to the applications 201 according to the resource specification determined by the resource assignment supporting means 204.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information service providing / using system for providing an information service to a plurality of users using a network such as the Internet.
In particular, the present invention relates to a means for optimizing resource allocation between at least one computer that constitutes an information system on the side of providing information services and a connection device to a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The development of processing and services using the Internet has been remarkable in recent years, and WWW (World Wide Web)
As a result, various information services have come to be provided.

[0003] Information contents are being replaced by conventional character information, but mainly by multimedia information such as voice and video. In addition, not only is the application transmitting information such as news, but it is also possible to realize electronic commerce targeting companies and individuals by utilizing the interactivity, and services utilizing the Internet will be closely related to the daily life of individuals. It is expected that there will be an increasing demand for involvement and use in corporate businesses. The network system used in such businesses requires high quality and reliability.

However, on the Internet, the quality and reliability required for business are not guaranteed.

The first reason is that the communication protocol predominantly used on the Internet is the best effort type TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Inte
rnetProtocol) and does not guarantee the communication quality of service (QoS) on the protocol. A specific meaning of "communication quality of service" as used herein is described in the description of the embodiments with reference to FIG.

The second reason is that on the Internet,
The point is that the number of users who receive system services is not limited from the viewpoint of hardware configuration. On the Internet, network bandwidth or computer CP
User requests are accepted regardless of resources and capabilities such as U, memory, and disk capacity. Therefore, if a user request exceeds system resources or capabilities, the system resources and capabilities are insufficient and unspecified. The user's communication service quality is degraded.

Therefore, in such a conventional information service providing / using system, an upper limit threshold is set for the number of users and load, and for users who have exceeded the upper limit threshold, request rejection, IP address and port Techniques such as filtering and classifying by user contract have been used to set conditions for restricting the number of people for service processing, such as limiting access to specific users and not guaranteeing communication service quality.

However, since it is expected that service needs for various applications will increase in the future, there is a concern that a problem may occur under the semi-fixed number-of-people limitation condition as described above.

[0009] For example, there is an increasing need for service applications that require a great deal of resources at the time of execution, such as moving picture applications. If several applications occupy limited system resources, those applications will be required. For resource allocation of
Even if the fixed number-of-people restriction condition is added, the resource allocation must be controlled on a first-come-first-served basis, so that the communication service quality desired by the user cannot be guaranteed.

[0010] An SLA (Service Level Agreement) is becoming widespread between a business operator such as an information provider and a system provider and a user, in which the business operator quantitatively defines specifications of communication service quality provided to the user and makes a contract. . The demand for a processing method capable of maintaining the communication service quality to each user is expected to increase more and more in the future, and an information service providing / using system having means for solving these problems is required.

[0011]

The direct cause of the problem of communication service quality is a bottleneck caused by a process or protocol that is fixedly dependent on resources such as system hardware and network. Is. Another factor is that this bottleneck changes depending on the operating status of the application.

Conventionally, for example, RSVP (Resource Reservation) has been used as a standard protocol for securing resources such as memory and bandwidth of computers and networks and guaranteeing communication service quality.
servation Protocol) has been used.

However, in RSVP, the resource reservation is made in the order of first-come-first-served request, and the communication service quality requested by the user is not taken into consideration. Therefore, an application having a low communication service quality requirement specification level uses a huge amount of resources. If reserved and secured, there is a problem that the resources of the application requested later with a high required specification level cannot be secured and the communication service quality required by the user cannot be guaranteed.

Even if network resources such as communication memory and bandwidth are reserved by RSVP and the like, resource allocation such as CPU and memory for execution of applications on a computer is the same as above when the execution levels are the same. Basically, the first-come-first-served order is executed, so that the communication service quality requested by the user cannot be guaranteed in the end.

Furthermore, in order to make full use of system resources, configurations, performances, etc., from the viewpoint of cost performance, the system business operator must use the system resources within the range that satisfies the communication service quality required by the user. There is an increasing need for a processing method that can be freely combined with other configurations.

An object of the present invention is to appropriately control resource allocation to an application based on a communication service quality required by a user in response to a change in a resource environment associated with execution of an application or various protocol processes.
An object of the present invention is to provide an information service providing / utilizing system including resource allocation means for optimally controlling communication service quality to users and maximally effectively utilizing system resources and configurations.

[0017]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has at least one computer and a connection device to a network as an information system, and utilizes a network to provide information services to a plurality of users. In a system for providing / using information service, a computer and / or a connection device of the information system obtains a communication service quality required by a user, a communication service quality obtaining means, a resource usage state in the information system, and a communication service. An observing means for observing the quality, a resource allocating priority means for deciding resource allocation priority information according to the communication service quality, and a resource specification of an application serving a user based on the decided priority information, and a resource allocation Resources are allocated according to the resource specifications determined by the auxiliary means. We propose an information service providing / utilizing system including a resource allocation control means for assigning to the application.

The resource allocation assisting means is a means for associating the communication service quality with the priority order information for associating the relationship between the communication service quality and the priority order information for resource allocation of the application, and assigning to the application according to the priority order information. A means for associating priority information indicating a possible resource selection candidate with a resource selection candidate, a priority information calculation policy that covers a policy that considers various requirements regarding services in determining priority information, and various resource allocation It includes various priority order calculation processing libraries for calculating priority orders.

The resource allocation control means determines a resource allocation policy for allocating resources to an application, a resource allocation control program, and resources in order to maintain communication service quality to users when resources are not allocated to applications. A communication service quality adjustment policy for determining an application to be restricted and a restriction process, a communication service quality adjustment program,
Includes various resource reservation and release libraries.

The communication service quality acquisition means acquires the communication service quality of the user and presents it to the observation means, determines resource allocation priority order information for the application serving the user, and based on the determined priority order information. To obtain the resource selection candidates that can be assigned to the application by referring to the means for associating the priority information with the resource selection candidates, and present the acquired various information and the determined priority information to the resource allocation control means It is a means.

The observing means identifies the user to be observed, the communication service quality specification, and the resource, observes the situation of the communication service quality, observes the situation of the resource by the standard statistical information of various resources, and observes. It is an observation means for notifying the resource allocation control means when the situation does not comply with the required communication service quality or when the resource is in an overflow state.

The means for associating the communication service quality with the priority order information is a calculating means for calculating the priority order information by weighting calculation using the components of the communication service quality as parameters.

The means for associating the priority information with the resource selection candidates includes priority information, information about default values of shared resources that can be assigned to applications according to the priority information, a computer constituting the system,
9 is a table that defines information about backup devices that can be used according to priority information when a relay device or network has a heavy load or a failure, and backup device attribute information.

The priority information calculation policy includes specifications relating to service hours, specifications relating to costs such as service charges, specifications relating to user-specific departments, positions and positions,
This is a policy for adding various quality specification requirements regarding communication services.

The resource allocation policy reflects the cost of operating the system while guaranteeing the communication service quality required by the user, and varies depending on the time zone in accordance with the billing system such as the line where the information service provider pays the fee. It is a policy to select devices and routes.

The resource allocation control program acquires a resource selection candidate and priority information, acquires a policy for deciding a resource to be allocated to an application by referring to the resource allocation policy, and based on the policy, each resource status. And the communication service quality observation status to the user are acquired, it is determined whether or not those resources are available, and if they are not available, the communication service quality adjustment program is started, and if available, the application Is a program that creates a hooking manager of an application that allocates the above-mentioned resources as a default value at the time of starting the application and executes dynamic resource allocation control so as not to deviate from the above-mentioned policy during execution of the application, and takes over the processing to the application.

The communication service quality adjustment policy is a policy that defines an adjustment process when a resource allocation policy is deviated and a selection criterion of an application that executes the adjustment process.

The communication service quality adjustment program is
If the policy for resource allocation at the time of starting or executing the application deviates from the policy, or if an abnormality notification from the observing means occurs, select a low-rank application based on the priority information above to reduce resources. Or a program that executes adjustment processing for switching to another resource.

[0029]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of an information service providing / using system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows the provision of information service according to the present invention.
It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration of embodiment of a utilization system. The information service providing / using system according to the present embodiment includes an information system 102 that provides an information service, the Internet 104, and at least one user, that is, a computer 105 that uses the information service. An information system 102 that provides an information service includes at least one computer 101 such as a server and a database connected to an internal network, and a connection device 103 such as a router and a gateway.

In this information service providing / using system, a plurality of users use the WWW or the like from a computer 105 such as a personal computer or various information terminals to access the information system 102 via the Internet 104.
Connected to the server computer 101, share application and information with multiple users by groupware, collaborate, and sell image information such as products stored in the database computer 101 and online updates Each user refers to information, updates, and uses it.

In such a business information service providing / using system, generally, in order to ensure security, a router or a gateway which is a connection device 103 with an external system is used as a firewall to perform IP address filtering and various authentications. Access control is performed according to the method, and various computers 10 in the system are controlled.
In 1 or the like, access is controlled by matching the access authority and the user authority according to the department, position, post, etc. of the user.

Conventionally, as described above, in order to prevent the system from going down, it is assumed that the system is under heavy load, and only users who have a certain access authority are permitted to connect, operate, service, etc. The service process was executed by using the control and adding a condition that restricts the number of people.

The connection device 103 has a processing function such as a subsystem similar to the computer 101, a connection function including the above filtering function, and a resource reservation protocol function such as RSVP including the resource allocation control function of the present invention. Is also equipped.

In the present embodiment, in order to simplify the explanation, the user has already been authenticated by the system, and the computer 1
Assume that 01 can request a service.

FIG. 2 shows the computer 101 and the connection device 10.
3 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of No. 3; FIG. Calculator 1
01 or the connection device 103 employs the same functional configuration, and includes an application 201, a means 202 for acquiring the communication service quality requested by the user, and an observing means 2.
03, resource allocation assisting means 204, resource allocation control means 209, and communication means 215.

The resource allocation assisting means 204 has a correspondence table 205 as a means for associating the communication service quality with the priority order information, a correspondence table 206 as a means for associating the priority order information with the resource selection candidate, and the priority order. Information calculation policy 207 and various priority calculation processing library 20
8 and.

The correspondence table 205 of communication service quality and priority information is a table for associating the relationship between communication service quality and priority for resource allocation of applications. Correspondence table 206 of priority information and resource selection candidates
[Fig. 6] is a table showing candidates for selecting resources that can be allocated to applications according to priority information. The priority order information calculation policy 207 is a file that covers policies for adding various requirements regarding services in determining the priority order information. The various priority order calculation processing library 208 is a library of processing procedures for calculating the priority order of various resource allocations.

The resource allocation control means 209 comprises a resource allocation policy 210, a resource allocation control program 211, a communication service quality adjustment policy 212, its adjustment program 213, and various resource reservation / release libraries 214. Resource allocation policy 21
0 is a policy for determining the resources to be allocated to the application. Resource allocation control program 2
Reference numeral 11 is a control program therefor. The communication service quality adjustment policy 212 is a policy for determining an application that restricts resources and a restriction process in order to maintain the communication service quality to the user when resources are not allocated to the application. The various resource reservation / release library 214 is a library for operating standard resources such as an operating system of a computer, a network, and TCP / IP.

Although the detailed functional configuration of the user's computer 105 is not shown, it is composed of a personal computer, various information terminals, etc., and an application capable of man-machine operation by at least WWW and the like, and mutual communication with the information system 102. It is equipped with standard communication means such as possible TCP / IP.

When a service request issued by the user from the computer 105 arrives at the computer 101, the communication means 2
15 activates the means 202 for acquiring the communication service quality requested by the user.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure of the means 202 for acquiring the communication service quality requested by the user.

In step 301, when the means 202 for acquiring the communication service quality requested by the user is activated, the service request waiting state is released.

At step 302, the communication service quality of the user is acquired by inquiring of the user or acquiring it from a database or the like.

At step 303, the observation means 203
To present. The observing means 203 observes the communication service quality to the user based on the service specification, in addition to the observation using the standard statistical information of the resource.

In step 304, the means 202 for acquiring the communication service quality requested by the user determines the resource allocation priority information for the application serving the user by the priority information calculation policy 207.

In step 305, the means 202 for obtaining the communication service quality requested by the user refers to the correspondence table 206 of the priority order information and the resource selection candidates based on the determined priority order information, and the like. Get the selection candidates of resources that can be assigned to the application.

In step 306, step 305
Presenting the various information acquired in step S1 and the priority order information determined in step S304 to the resource allocation control means 209,
The process returns to step 301 and waits for a user service request.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure of the observation means 203.

In step 401, the observation means 203
Then, the observation target user, the communication service quality specification, and the resource are specified.

In step 402, the status of communication service quality such as response time is observed.

In step 403, the status of the resource is observed by standard statistical information of various resources.

In step 404, the resource allocation control means 209 is notified if the observation status does not comply with the communication quality of service requested by the user or if the resource is in an overflow state.

In step 405, Sleep for a fixed time
Then, the process is repeated from step 402.

The priority information calculation policy 207 has various quality specification requirements relating to communication services, such as specifications regarding service time, specifications regarding costs such as service charges, specifications regarding departments, positions and positions unique to the user, and specifications regarding contract conditions. It is a policy to add.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a correspondence table 205 as a means for associating the communication service quality with the priority order information. For example, in order to add priority information such as the above requirement in addition to the fixed priority determined from the conventional access right, the correspondence table 205 of communication service quality and priority information shown in FIG. It may be defined in advance such that one of 501 is selected. When combining a plurality of them, a weighting process or the like for determining the priority order information may be defined.

In this embodiment, in order to simplify the explanation,
It is assumed that the policy in this case is a policy of calculating from the processing described in the correspondence table 501 of the service time and the priority information shown in FIG. 5 in the correspondence table 205 of the communication service quality and the priority information. .

The communication service quality requested by the user includes stability and the like in a broad sense. Here, more specifically, considering the communication service quality related to the “service time”, the user qualitatively The quality of the service time is judged by using the response time, the variation, the non-execution frequency of the request, etc. as factors of the communication service quality.

Therefore, in the present invention, the quality of the service time is quantitatively expressed by parameters such as P1 = response time, P2 = variation, P3 = request non-execution frequency.

The means 202 for acquiring the communication service quality requested by the user refers to the correspondence table 501 of the service time and the priority order information in accordance with the above policy, and executes the calculation process A described therein, The priority calculation library 2 using the response time acquired in step 302, its variation, and the request non-execution frequency as parameters.
The calculation process A of 08 is executed to determine the priority order information.

In the correspondence table 205 of the communication service quality and the priority information, the calculation processing may be defined in this way, or the correspondence table 502 of the department to which the user belongs, the post of the user and the class. It may be decided in the form of a format definition table.

Further, the department to which the user belongs 503 and the post 50
It may be priority order information indicating a predetermined range such as determining a class in 4, or a unique numerical value.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a correspondence table 206 as a means for associating the priority order information with the resource selection candidates. Correspondence table 206 of priority information and resource selection candidates
Is the priority information 601, the execution level of the CPU as a shared resource of the system that can be assigned to the application according to the priority information 601, the information storage medium and its usage amount, the communication band for the network and the relay device, and the buffer. Information 602 regarding default values for capacity, etc., computers, relay devices, and
Priority information 6 in case of heavy network load or failure
10 is a table that defines information 603 about backup devices such as CPUs, information storage media, network paths and relay devices that can be used according to 01, and backup device attribute information 604 such as their identifiers, addresses, and protocols.

Next, the processing of the resource allocation control means 209 will be described. According to the above step 306, the resource selection candidate and the priority order information are assigned to the resource allocation control means 2
09, the resource allocation control program 2
11 is activated.

FIG. 7 shows the resource allocation control program 2
It is a flow chart which shows a processing procedure of 11.

When the resource allocation control program 211 is activated in step 701, first, a resource selection candidate and priority order information are acquired.

In step 702, the resource allocation policy 210 is referred to obtain a policy for determining the resource to be allocated to the application.

A plurality of devices, such as a plurality of information storage media indicated by the information about the default value of the resource selection candidate, a plurality of networks and relay devices, a computer or database of the same function, a cooperative process when a database or an application has a cluster configuration, etc. When it is possible to select, for example, in the past, the selection was made in a semi-fixed manner based on the load and the condition that the number of people is limited.

On the other hand, in the resource allocation policy 210 of the present invention, in order to reflect the cost of operating the system while guaranteeing the communication service quality required by the user as the intention of the business operator, the business The person selects a different device or route depending on the time of day according to the billing system such as the line for which the person pays.

Further, the cluster type computer, the database, the application, etc. adopting the configuration adapted to the peak load of the information service providing / using system are not used in the case of a low load to reduce the system maintenance cost. You can also select a policy that reflects the cost specifications of the business operator as much as possible.

In the present embodiment, for example, if the communication service quality to the user is within the range that does not deviate from the specifications, the information 60 regarding the default value of the resource selection candidate is set.
Among the plurality of candidates indicated by 2, the candidate with the lowest cost is used among the candidates in which the warning that the resource upper limit value has been exceeded has not occurred.

In step 703, the resource allocation control program 211 makes an inquiry to the observing means 203 to determine the resource status determined based on the policy using a cost table or the like and the communication service quality observation status to the user. It is acquired and it is determined whether those resources are in a usable state.

In step 704, step 703
If the communication service quality adjustment program 213 is not available, the communication service quality adjustment program 213 described later is activated.

In step 705, the program is awaited and the process is repeated from step 703.

In step 706, if it is available, when the application is started, resources such as the execution level, the information storage medium, the information storage amount, the network route, the communication band, and the buffer capacity determined above are first set as default values. The allocation library 214 specific to each resource is specified so that

At step 707, various allocation processes are executed.

In step 708, after resource allocation at the time of starting the application, a resource securing request for the application is made in the flowchart showing the processing procedure of FIG. 8 described later so that the above policy is not deviated even while the application is being executed. Create a hooking manager for the application that executes dynamic resource allocation control by monitoring by hooking, and take over the processing for the application.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the hooking manager of the application. An application hooking manager is created for each application, and the resource allocation control program 2
It is realized as a child process or thread that can inherit the 11 execution environments.

When the hooking manager of the application is started in step 801, the application is first started and various resource securing requests are hooked and monitored.

At step 802, when the request is issued, the request is sent to the operating system or TCP / I.
Pre-empt the request before going to P.

In step 803, the observation means 203
And the observation status of the communication service quality to the user are acquired, and it is determined whether or not the status does not deviate from the policy. In this embodiment,
More specifically, it is determined whether or not a warning that the observation status exceeds the upper limit value of the resource has been issued to the user within the specification of the communication service quality.

At step 804, if the policy is deviated at step 803, the communication service quality adjusting program 213, which will be described later, is started.

In step 805, the program is awaited and the process is repeated from step 803.

Communication service quality adjustment program 213
Selects a low-ranked application based on the priority information when resources deviate from the policy with respect to resource allocation at the time of starting or executing the application, or when an abnormality notification from the observing means 203 occurs, It is a program that executes adjustment processing such as reducing or switching to other resources.

In step 806, if the policy is met, the resource-specific reservation library 214 is specified so as to allocate the resource.

In step 807, allocation is executed, allocation processing such as delivering the obtained resource to the application is executed, and again from step 802,
Repeat the process.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an example of the processing procedure of the communication service quality adjustment program 213.

When the communication service quality adjustment program 213 is started in step 901, first of all,
A resource to be adjusted and priority information are acquired.

In step 902, the communication service quality adjustment policy 212 is referred to, and a policy is acquired so as to execute processing such as resource reduction from among other applications.

The communication service quality adjustment policy 212 includes
The adjustment process when the resource allocation policy 210 is deviated and the selection criterion of the application that executes the adjustment process are defined.

The adjustment policy of the present embodiment is that "(a) the application selects sequentially from the one having the lowest priority order information, and the range within which the specification of the communication service quality is not deviated and the user is satisfied with the service. Adjust and reduce resources to the extent that they are not damaged. (b) For all
If adjustment is not possible even after executing (a), select the users with the lowest priority information in order, and adjust the resources so that the communication service quality of each user does not deviate from the specifications. Reduce. ].

The item that defines the relationship between the application and the communication service quality includes, for example, the number of video frames per unit time for a moving image application, and the transaction for an application that processes a transaction such as electronic commerce. There may be abandonment, rejection frequencies, or simply response time, etc., and generally there are application-specific or most important items. If the communication service quality for these corresponding items is constant, the user can expect a certain operability and satisfaction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the communication service quality of the above items is measured before and after the processing according to the above policy. Then, the ratio is defined as service satisfaction.

The relationship between the type of application for evaluating the satisfaction of the service and the item of communication service quality to be measured includes, in addition to the above, for example, an information distribution application such as news and the frequency of data loss, Search service application and response time.

Here, in order to simplify the explanation, an example in which the satisfaction of the service is evaluated using the average value of the response times as a parameter will be shown. The communication service quality adjustment program 213 of the present invention uses a fixed standard as in the conventional
Instead of restricting users, functions, resources, etc., the same response time as before is obtained based on the response time for the user's operation and processing request so that the same degree of satisfaction as the service up to that point can be obtained. If the resource amount is adjusted within a certain range, and the adjustment is impossible, control is performed to adjust the resource so that the response time to the user becomes the minimum limit of the specification regarding the response time.

In step 903, the communication service quality adjustment program 213, after acquiring the communication service quality adjustment policy 212, inquires of the observing means 203 about the situation regarding the resources to be restricted and the observation situation of the communication service quality to the user. To get.

In this case, the observing means 203 may calculate the average response time based on the statistical information of the computer 101 of the system or the connection device 103, the time stamp of the log, or the like, or inquire of the computer 105 of the user. The average response time may be calculated by

In step 904, after the acquisition, the communication service quality adjustment program 213 identifies the application targeted for adjustment according to the policy.

In step 905, the resource adjustment process is specified.

At step 906, according to the above (a), the application having the lowest priority information is selected, and the average response time is kept within the range of not deviating from the specification of the communication service quality to the user. Perform resource reduction adjustments so that time is not lost.

In the resource reduction adjustment processing, first, step 901 is executed for the application of the above-mentioned adjustment candidate.
Execute the reduction of resources acquired in.

In Step 907, Step 903
Similarly to, the observation status for the application after the adjustment process is acquired.

In step 908, the observation result acquired before the adjustment is compared with the processing result, and the processing result is evaluated.

When the communication service quality does not deviate from the specification and the satisfaction level does not decrease, that is, the average response time does not deviate from the specification of the communication service quality to the user, and the average so far. If it is not lower than the response time, it is determined that resource reduction adjustment can be further performed for the application.

In step 909, step 9 is performed to further reduce the resource of the application.
Returning to 06, the above processing is repeated, and the average response time does not deviate from the specification of the communication service quality to the user,
Within the range of not lower than the average response time until then,
Perform reduction adjustments to minimize application resources.

If step 906 to step 908
If the average response time deviates from the specifications of communication quality of service to the user or becomes lower than the average response time until then, even if the resource of the application is reduced even once, the application is evaluated. Without reduction adjustment, the process proceeds to step 910.

At step 910, the presence / absence of another application to be adjusted is determined based on the priority information. If there is another application to be adjusted, the application is changed to the application to be adjusted, and the processing from step 904 to step 909 is repeated.

In step 909, even if the changed application alone does not satisfy the resource reduction amount, the determination in step 910 is executed, and if there is another application to be adjusted, The application is changed to the adjustment target application, and the processing from step 904 to step 909 is repeated.

In step 910, it is determined whether or not there is another application to be adjusted, based on the priority information. If there is no other application to be adjusted, adjustment cannot be made even if the above resource adjustment is executed, so communication service quality
According to (b), the users having the lowest priority information are sequentially selected, and the process returns to step 904 to adjust and reduce the resources so that the communication service quality of each user becomes the minimum specification.

In step 908, the above resource adjustment is repeated, and when the resource reduction amount is satisfied,
The observation status acquired before the adjustment is compared with the processing result, the processing result is evaluated, and when it is determined that the adjustment is completed, the process proceeds to step 912.

At step 912, the completed adjustment processing result is acquired and stored as statistical information so that it can be used as a default value when the next adjustment processing occurs.

At step 913, the request source program is notified of the end of the adjustment processing, and the processing is ended.

In the above embodiment, as an example of the satisfaction evaluation, an example is described in which the resource is adjusted while being reduced by a fixed amount based on the response time. The present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

For example, the satisfaction may be evaluated in combination with the above items other than the response time, or the user's D
It may be evaluated in combination with the case where a specific operation such as pressing the EL key occurs.

Further, resource adjustment can be performed by changing to an alternative resource instead of limiting the resource amount, and it is naturally possible to make an adjustment that imposes restrictions on functions, processes, requests, time and the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, in order to simplify the explanation, regarding the system configuration, the user computer 105
The server computer 101 and the server computer 101 are already connected to each other. The present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

For example, the present invention can be applied to selection criteria by a user when there are a plurality of computers 101 that execute server processing such as a cluster configuration. In this case, in the connection device 103, the communication service quality and priority information requested by the user are calculated by the means 202 for acquiring the communication service quality requested by the user and the resource allocation assisting means 204, and further, each server computer. Observation means 2
03, the observation status and the like are acquired, and the request is transferred to the server computer 101 with low resource usage status according to the priority order information or the request is sent to the server computer 101 having the configuration and specifications according to the communication service quality. The selection process and the transfer process such as transfer or request transfer to the server computer 101 whose processing is statistically completed in the shortest time are executed.

In this processing procedure, the computer that executes the processing can be selected at the level of the relay device, and a flexible information service providing / using system that can cope with a change in the system configuration such as a combination of computers. Can be built.

[0118]

According to the present invention, within the range of the communication service quality required by the user, it is possible to limit the resources required for the service and perform the combination operation in accordance with the policy regarding the system operation and cost of the system operator. Next to
System construction and operation costs can be reduced.

Further, in adjusting the resource reduction,
Since the adjustment is performed so as to obtain a response time equivalent to that of the service up to that point, the user can expect the same degree of satisfaction as the service up to that point.

Further, it is possible to flexibly control the communication service quality even when the configuration and environment of the system and the computer are dynamically changed, and construct a flexible information service providing / using system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of an information service providing / using system according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing an example of functional configurations of a computer 101 and a connection device 103. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of means 202 for acquiring a communication service quality requested by a user.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of observation means 203.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a correspondence table 205 as a means for associating communication service quality with priority information.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a correspondence table 206 as a means for associating priority order information with resource selection candidates.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a resource allocation control program 211.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an application hooking manager.

9 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of a communication service quality adjustment program 213. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 calculator 102 Information system 103 Connection device 104 Internet 105 user computer 201 application 202 Communication service quality acquisition means 203 Observation means 204 Resource allocation aid 205 Correspondence table of communication service quality and priority information 206 Correspondence table of priority information and resource selection candidates 207 Priority information calculation policy 208 Various priority calculation processing library 209 Resource allocation control means 210 Resource allocation policy 211 Resource allocation control program 212 Communication Service Quality Adjustment Policy 213 Communication Service Quality Adjustment Program 214 Library for securing and releasing various resources 501 Correspondence table of communication service quality and priority information 502 Correspondence table between department, post and class 503 User's department 504 User title 601 priority information 602 Information about default values 603 Information about backup device 604 Backup device attribute information

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kunihiro Suzuki             5-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture             Information Control Systems Division, Hitachi, Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Megumi Nagasu             5-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture             Information Control Systems Division, Hitachi, Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Adachi             5-2-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture             Information Control Systems Division, Hitachi, Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Kinji Mori             2-11-1, Tsukushino, Machida-shi, Tokyo F term (reference) 5K033 BA04 CB06 CB17 DA06 DB18

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An information service providing / using system for providing an information service to a plurality of users using a network, the information service providing / using system having at least one computer and a connection device to the network as an information system. And / or the connecting device is
Communication service quality acquisition means for acquiring the communication service quality requested by the user, observation means for observing the resource usage in the information system and the communication service quality, and resource allocation priority order according to the communication service quality Resource allocation assisting means for deciding information and deciding the resource specification of the application serving the user based on the decided priority information, and resource allocation control for allocating resources to the application according to the resource specification decided by the resource allocating assistant means An information service providing / using system, characterized by comprising means. 2. The information service providing / using system according to claim 1, wherein the resource allocation assisting means associates the relationship between the communication service quality and priority information for resource allocation of an application with each other. Means for associating information, means for associating priority information and resource selection candidates indicating resource selection candidates that can be assigned to applications according to priority information, and various requirements regarding services for determining priority information. A priority information calculation policy that covers the policies to be added,
An information service providing / utilizing system, comprising: various priority calculation processing libraries for calculating various resource allocation priorities. 3. The information service providing / using system according to claim 1, wherein the resource allocation control means determines a resource allocation policy, a resource allocation policy, a resource allocation control program, and an application resource. Includes a communication service quality adjustment policy that determines an application that limits resources and a limiting process to maintain the communication service quality to the user when not allocated, a communication service quality adjustment program, and various resource reservation / release libraries An information service provision / use system characterized by the following. 4. The information service providing / using system according to claim 2, wherein the communication service quality acquisition unit acquires the communication service quality of the user, presents the communication service quality to the observation unit, and services the user. Resource allocation priority order information is determined, and a resource selection candidate that can be allocated to the application is acquired by referring to the associating means of the priority order information and the resource selection candidate based on the determined priority order information. An information service providing / using system, which is an acquisition unit that presents the acquired various information and the determined priority order information to the resource allocation control unit. 5. The information service providing / using system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the observing means identifies a user to be observed, a communication service quality specification, and a resource, and the communication service quality is specified. The resource allocation control means observes the status of the resource and observes the status of the resource based on standard statistical information of various resources, and when the observed status does not comply with the required communication service quality or the resource is in the overflow state. An information service providing / using system characterized by being an observing means for notifying to. 6. The information service providing / using system according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the associating means for associating the communication service quality with the priority information uses a component of the communication service quality as a parameter. An information service providing / utilizing system, characterized in that the system is a calculating means for calculating priority information by weighting calculation. 7. The information service providing / using system according to claim 2, wherein the associating unit of the priority order information and the resource selection candidate is the priority order information and the priority order information. Information about the default value of the shared resource that can be allocated to the application according to the above, and information about the backup device that can be used according to the priority information when the system, computer, relay device, or network is under heavy load or failure And a table defining attribute information of the backup device, the information service providing / using system. 8. The information service providing / using system according to claim 2, wherein the priority information calculation policy includes a service time specification, a service charge cost specification, and a user-specific affiliation. An information service provision / use system characterized in that it is a policy for adding specifications regarding departments, positions, positions, and various quality specification requirements regarding communication services. 9. The information service providing / using system according to any one of claims 3 to 8, wherein the resource allocation policy is a cost for operating the system while guaranteeing a communication service quality required by a user. An information service providing / using system characterized in that the policy is such that the information service providing side also selects different devices and routes according to the charging system such as a line for which the information service providing side pays a fee. 10. The information service providing / using system according to claim 3, wherein the resource allocation control program acquires a resource selection candidate and priority information, and refers to a resource allocation policy. Then, the policy for deciding the resource to be allocated to the application is acquired, and based on the policy, the status of each resource and the observation status of the communication service quality to the user are acquired, and it is determined whether or not those resources are available. If it is not available, the communication service quality adjustment program is started, and if it is available, the above resource is assigned as a default value when the application is started. Hooking of application that executes resource allocation control Information service provider / utilizing system, characterized in that to create the manager is a program that takes over the application. 11. The information service providing / using system according to claim 3, wherein an adjustment process and an adjustment process are executed when the communication service quality adjustment policy deviates from the resource allocation policy. An information service providing / using system, which is a policy defining a selection criterion of an application to be executed. 12. The information service providing / using system according to claim 3, wherein the communication service quality adjusting program deviates from a policy for resource allocation at the time of starting or executing the application. In the case of a failure, or when an abnormality notification from the observation means occurs, it is a program that selects the low-rank application based on the above priority information and executes adjustment processing to reduce resources or switch to other resources. A featured information service provision / use system.