JP2003122609A - Computer, computer program and readable/writable non- volatile storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a computer system for dealing a large amount of data by reducing the labor for reinstallation when a failure occurs, a program for automatically performing the reinstallation work, and a readable/writable non- volatile storage medium where the program is recorded. SOLUTION: The presence or absence of the replacement of an HDD 15 is automatically detected by a readable/writable non-volatile storage medium connected to a computer 10, a setting parameter recorded on the readable/ writable non-volatile storage medium in the HDD 15, and a program utilizing this, and when the presence of the replacement of the HDD 15 is detected, the setting of partitions and formats and the copy work of data or applications from a backup system linked to the computer are automatically or interactively executed by a manual operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer that shortens the time required for recovery from the occurrence of a failure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, a personal computer (PC)
And in computers used for applications such as servers,
The mainstream is a hard disk drive (HDD) in which an operating system (OS), application software, and data used by them are stored.

In such a computer, the HDD
When a failure such as a failure occurs in, the conventional recovery method is as follows.

First, the computer is turned off and the defective HDD is replaced with a new HDD. Next new HDD
In order to have the same configuration as the failed HDD, a partition that is a logical partition of the HDD is set. After that, format it and reinstall the OS and application software. The data backed up at the end is copied to complete the restoration.

However, when reinstallation is performed, initial values are set for various setting parameters of the OS. Therefore, it is necessary to manually reset the parameters at the time of installation, but there are many setting items and it is very troublesome. Further, since it is done manually, a setting error may occur.

[0006] Therefore, there is a computer in which the reinstallation of the OS is made unnecessary as much as possible when a failure occurs by using a technique such as mirroring. However, when the OS is rewritten by a computer virus or the like, the OS needs to be reinstalled. Also, the controller itself that performs mirroring fails, or multiple HDDs that make up mirroring fail at the same time, and the OS
Data may be lost, and in that case, the OS needs to be reinstalled.

[0007] In addition, a computer for server use has an H
There are some that do not use DD at all. This is the OS,
Application software and the like are stored in a read-only non-volatile storage medium such as a ROM. When this computer is started, the OS is expanded from the ROM to the main memory, and at the same time, a virtual disk system (RAM disk) is created on the main memory. This RAM disk is used to store temporary files necessary for operating the OS. After that, the application software and data are loaded into the main memory and function as a server. At this time, the ROM operates as a non-writable disk system.

Since the OS, application software, various setting parameters, etc. are stored in the non-writable ROM, they are not rewritten by computer viruses or the like. When the RAM disk is infected with a computer virus, the computer virus is completely removed by restarting the computer. ROM and RA
Since M has no drive part, it has an advantage that it is more reliable than an HDD and less likely to cause a failure.

[0009]

However, in the case of a computer that does not use the HDD, the ROM and the RAM are the HDD.
Since it is more expensive than, it is difficult to increase the capacity. Therefore, it cannot be used for a large amount of data such as a database server, and is limited to a router that relays data on a network and a firewall that prevents unauthorized access.

Further, since the OS and application software are written in the ROM, there is a problem that the version cannot be upgraded.

Therefore, the present invention reduces the time and effort required for re-installation when a failure occurs, a computer system capable of handling a large amount of data, a program for automatically performing the re-installation work, and a readable / writable non-volatile memory storing the program. The purpose is to provide a medium.

[0012]

To achieve the above object, a computer of the present invention comprises a CPU, a storage area for a program being executed, a main memory used as a virtual disk system, an OS, and an OS in advance. A non-volatile readable / writable storage medium that stores setting parameters whose values are determined is used.

Further, the computer may be configured to have an HDD for storing application software and data used by the application software, or the computer may have a network interface and be connected to a backup server via a network line. Alternatively, the readable / writable nonvolatile storage medium may be a flash memory.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the computer program of the present invention is a computer program for creating a RAM disk, and a R-readable / writable storage medium.
A procedure of copying a program including at least an OS to an AM disk, a procedure of disconnecting a readable / writable storage medium, a procedure of determining whether a hard disk has been replaced, and a procedure of formatting the hard disk when the hard disk is replaced. , Is configured to be executed.

In order to achieve the above object, the storage medium of the present invention is a readable and writable non-volatile storage medium including at least the above computer program.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a computer system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer of the present invention. The computer 10 has a CPU 11,
Main memory 12, hard disk interface 1
3, a network interface 14, an HDD 15, and a flash memory 16. Although not shown, the computer 10 is also connected with a keyboard, a mouse, a display, and the like.

The flash memory 16 is a readable / writable non-volatile storage medium. Other readable and writable non-volatile storage media include CD-RW and DVD-RAM, and the present invention can be implemented with these. In that case,
A CD-RW drive, a DVD-RAM drive, or the like is connected instead of the flash memory 16.

In FIG. 1, as the flash memory 16,
What is connectable to the hard disk interface 13 is used. This enables the flash memory 16
Looks like a small-capacity HDD to the CPU 11 and does not require special hardware and software.

The flash memory 16 stores an OS, application software, a file in which their setting parameters are recorded, and the like. These files are copied to the RAM disk and the flash memory 16
Is separated from the OS by software. for that reason,
The contents of the flash memory 16 cannot be accessed unless the system administrator reconnects to the OS.

The HDD 15 stores large-scale application software that cannot be stored in the flash memory 16 such as a database management system (DBMS) and data used by these application software. Although there is only one HDD 15 in FIG. 1, this does not mean that it is limited to one. It is also possible to connect multiple units. In addition, a technique such as mirroring can be used to increase the reliability of the HDD 15.

The computer 10 is connected via a network interface 14 to a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network) such as the Internet. The network interface 14 is not limited to one. For example, computer 10
If is used as a router, two network interfaces, one connected to the LAN side and one connected to the WAN side, are required. Further, the present invention can be implemented even with a stand-alone type computer that is not connected to a network, in which case the network interface 14 is not necessary.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a usage state of the flash memory 16. The flash memory 16 is roughly divided into
It is composed of a system file area 17, a user extension area 18, and a work area 19 for upgrading.

In FIG. 2, the capacity of the flash memory 16 is 64 megabytes, the system area 17 is 10 megabytes, the user extension area 18 is 35 megabytes, and the work area 19 is 15 megabytes, but the capacity is limited to these. Not a thing. The flash memory 16 having an optimum capacity can be used depending on the OS and application software to be stored.

In the system file area 17, the OS and
It stores application software and files recording their setting parameters. Since the capacity of the flash memory 16 is limited, these must be configured with the minimum required. In other words, the OS is the kernel, which is the OS itself, and the commands used during maintenance and application software.
The application software includes Web server software, mail server software, and DNS (Domain Name Syst).
em) There is server software, etc. Further, as the file in which the setting parameters are recorded, a computer-specific IP address, setting parameters used by application software, an IP address of a backup server, which will be described later, etc. are recorded in one or a plurality of files, and an HDD partition. For example, some records information about the configuration.

In the user extension area 18, if there are necessary application software and data in addition to the application software stored in the system file area 17,
They are stored.

If the OS used has a file compression function, the files stored in the system file area 17 and the user extension area 18 can be compressed and saved. The compressed program and data are expanded to the original size when they are read into the main memory 12. By using such a function, it becomes possible to store more software and data in the same capacity.

Nothing is normally stored in the work area 19. This area is mainly used when upgrading the version of OS and application software. The necessary files are temporarily stored in the work area 19, compressed, and then copied to the system file area 17 or the user extension area 18.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network using the computer of the present invention. The network of FIG. 3 includes firewalls 31, 32, mail servers 33, 34,
It is composed of Web servers 35 and 36 and a backup server 37. These servers are connected by LANs 39a and 39b, and are also connected to WAN38 such as the Internet.

The firewalls 31, 32, the mail servers 33, 34, the Web servers 35, 36 and the backup server 37 are all the computer 10 of the present invention.
A flash memory 16 is mounted on each.

Firewall 31 is WAN 38 and LA
It also plays the role of a router connecting to the N39a, and the installed flash memory 16 has application software for preventing unauthorized access from the WAN 38 to the LAN 39a in the system file area 1 shown in FIG.
Stored in 7. Further, since the network interface connected to the WAN 38 side and the network interface connected to the LAN 39a side are attached, an IP address is assigned to each. Both of these IP addresses are stored in the flash memory as setting parameters.

The firewall 32 includes LAN 39a and L
It is also a router for connecting to the AN 39b, and the installed flash memory stores an application for preventing unauthorized access to the LAN 39b in the system file area 17. Also, for LAN39a and LAN
Two network interfaces for 39b are attached, and an IP address is assigned to each. This IP address is stored in the flash memory 16 mounted on the firewall 32 as a setting parameter.

A firewall 32 is provided on the LAN 39a.
Besides, the mail server 33 and the Web server 35 are connected. The mail server 33 transmits the mail from the mail server 34 to the WAN 38 side, and the WAN 3 side.
Mail server software for transferring mails from the eight side to the mail server 34 is stored in the flash memory 16.

The Web server 35 transmits HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data in response to a request from the WAN 38 side. It can be used for company information and online shopping. If the amount of data such as company information is small, it can be stored in the user extension area 18 of the flash memory 16. Since a large amount of data is handled in online shopping, etc., H
The product data and the DBMS for managing the product data are stored in the DD 15.

The LAN 39b has a mail server 34, W
An eb server 36, a backup server 37, and clients such as a PC (not shown) are connected.

The mail server 34 and the Web server 36 are
The communication with the client device connected to the LAN 39b is performed. Therefore, the firewalls 31 and 32 are set so that the WAN 38 side cannot access them.
Is connected inside. Such a configuration is generally used when a company installs the mail server 33 and the Web server 35 in the company.

The configuration of the mail server 34 is the same as that of the mail server 3 except that the mail addresses of employees and the like are registered.
Same as 3. The mail sent to each mail address is stored in the HDD 15.

The Web server 36 is used as a server such as groupware. The groupware program is stored in the flash memory 16, and the data is stored in the HDD 15.

The backup server 37 is one of the application software and data used in each server.
It is a server that saves backups of those stored in the HDD 15. Each server in FIG. 3 periodically transfers the contents of the HDD 15 to the backup server 37. In the flash memory 16 installed in each server,
It also stores the IP address of the backup server 37, a program for performing backup work, setting parameters for activating the program at regular intervals, and the like. Further, the firewalls 31 and 32 can be configured so that the HDD 15 is not used, and in such a case, a program related to backup and setting parameters are unnecessary.

It goes without saying that the backup data stored in the backup server 37 is regularly backed up to a magnetic tape or the like.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart until the computer of the present invention is activated. When the computer 10 is turned on, the kernel is read from the flash memory 16 (S01). If the kernel is compressed, it is expanded and then arranged in the main memory 12 (S02). This step can be omitted if the kernel is not compressed. The read kernel creates a RAM disk in a part of the main memory 12 (S03). R
After the AM disk is created, the contents of the flash memory 16 are copied there (S04). When the copy is completed, the flash memory 16 is separated from the OS (S
05).

In the case of the computer 10 using the HDD 15, it is checked whether the HDD 15 has been replaced (S06). Computer 10 that does not use HDD 15
In the case of, the processing of S06 is skipped and the application software is started (S12).

Whether or not the HDD 15 has been replaced can be checked by comparing the configuration of the partition with the configuration of the partition recorded in the flash memory 16 to see if it has changed.

If the HDD 15 has not been replaced, the RAM disk and the application software stored in the HDD 15 are activated (S12) to function as a server.

If the HDD 15 has been replaced, HD
The contents of D15 are restored. Based on the information stored in the flash memory 16 in advance and instructing the automatic recovery or the manual recovery, it is determined whether the automatic recovery or the manual recovery is performed (S07). This may ask the system administrator whether the recovery should be done manually or automatically.

In the case of automatic execution, the recovery program is started, the partition setting parameters are read, and the partition is set. (S08). When partition setting is completed, formatting is performed for each partition (S09). After that, the application, data and the like are copied from the backup server 37 to the HDD 15 (S10). This is the end of the restoration process.
After that, as in the case where the HDD 15 has not been replaced, the application software is activated (S12) and functions as a server.

When the application software is activated, the flash memory 16 is no longer visible to the OS and the contents cannot be rewritten. The application software or the like copied to the RAM disk may be rewritten by a computer virus or the like. However, when the computer 10 is restarted, the data that has not been rewritten is copied from the flash memory 16, which means that the computer virus has been eliminated. Recovery from failure becomes much easier than before.

In the case of manual restoration, the same processing as automatic restoration is performed interactively with the system administrator (S11).
This makes it possible to finely control the partition configuration and the copy from the backup server 37. As a case of manual recovery, there is a case where the capacity of the HDD 15 is increased or a case where the partition configuration is desired to be changed.

When updating the contents of the flash memory 16 such as upgrading the OS, the flash memory 1
6 is reconnected so that it can be seen from the OS, and a new OS or application software is copied to the system file area 17. Finally, if you restart your computer,
The processing from S01 to S12 is executed, and a new version of OS or application is activated.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been applied to a server on a network, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to such an application and can be applied to a client, a stand-alone computer and the like.
In the case of a stand-alone computer, a backup server cannot be used as a backup system, but a backup system such as a CD-RW may be used to make regular backups.

[0050]

As described above, according to the computer of the present invention, the CPU, the storage area of the program being executed, the main memory used as a virtual disk system, and the OS are predetermined values. With the configuration including a readable / writable non-volatile storage medium that stores the setting parameters, it is possible to shorten the time from the occurrence of a failure in the computer to the recovery.

By configuring the computer to have an HDD for storing application software and data used by the application software, application software that handles a large amount of data can be used.

If the computer has a network interface and is connected to a backup server via a network line, periodical backup can be automatically performed.

The readable / writable non-volatile storage medium is
Since it is a flash memory, the reliability is high.

A procedure for creating a RAM disk in a computer, a procedure for copying a program and data including at least an OS from a readable / writable storage medium to a RAM disk, a procedure for disconnecting the readable / writable storage medium, and a hard disk exchanged. By executing the procedure for determining whether or not the hard disk is replaced and the procedure for formatting the hard disk when the hard disk is replaced,
Hard disk can be easily restored.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a computer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a usage state of a flash memory.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a network using the computer of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart until the computer of the present invention is activated.

[Explanation of symbols] 10 computers 11 CPU 12 main memory 14 Network interface 15 HDD 16 flash memory 37 Backup Server

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A readable / writable non-volatile memory that stores a CPU, a storage area for executing programs, a main memory used as a virtual disk system, an OS, and setting parameters whose values are predetermined. Medium and
A computer characterized by having. 2. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the computer has an HDD for storing application software and data used by the application software. 3. The computer according to claim 1, which has a network interface and is connected to the backup server through a network line.
The listed computer. 4. The read / write non-volatile storage medium is a flash memory.
The computer according to any one of 1 to 3. 5. A procedure for creating a RAM disk in a computer, a procedure for copying a program including at least an OS from a readable / writable storage medium to a RAM disk, a procedure for disconnecting the readable / writable storage medium, and a hard disk exchanged. A computer program for executing a procedure for determining whether a hard disk has been replaced and a procedure for formatting the hard disk when the hard disk is replaced. 6. A readable and writable non-volatile storage medium comprising at least the computer program according to claim 5.