JP2006079350A - Physical position management system for pc - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network constitution management system capable of displaying the physical position of a PC on a layout drawing and timely grasping the position of the PC even if the position of the PC is moved, by automatically detecting the physical position of the PC and tracing the movement of the PC. <P>SOLUTION: Correspondence between a MAC addresses and a PC body is stored in a database, which position is a port destination of a HUB in a layout drawing is stored in the database and the position of the PC is displayed on the layout drawing and stored as a history to trace the movement of the PC. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to the field of network configuration management systems for managing network configurations.

  Conventionally, in a TCP / IP network environment, there is a method of detecting a logical relative positional relationship between devices using SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and diagrammatically. There are also network management systems using these methods. In addition, there is a system in which a diagrammatic network configuration diagram is divided and generated on a floor drawing for each range, such as an IP address, and schematized in a form close to the physical configuration of the network. In such a system, the connection relationship between devices can be automatically updated in accordance with a change in communication history.

  Patent Literature 1 discloses a network management system and a failure location display method for displaying a location where a failure has occurred on a network on a network configuration diagram. This is because a physical network configuration diagram is prepared in the physical layout file for managing the connection position of each device connected to the network, and the fault location is displayed on the physical network configuration diagram. is there.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-6571

  However, in the method of analyzing the logical connection configuration of the network by SNMP, the logical positional relationship between the network device and the information device such as the PC can be understood, but the physical location of the PC (which building, what floor, which desk) Cannot be detected. For this reason, it is possible to grasp the change in the logical positional relationship by taking a history of analysis results, but it is not possible to grasp the movement of the physical position of the PC. In addition, in the conventional system, the connection configuration on the layout drawing can be automatically changed according to the change in the connection relationship between the devices. Need to get in the way and set manually. Even in the technology of Patent Document 1, a physical network configuration diagram is prepared in advance, and when the physical position of each device is changed, the physical network configuration diagram must be rewritten artificially. I must.

  An object of the present invention is to automatically detect the physical position of an information device and track the movement of the information device by replacing a change in the logical position of the information device with a change in the physical position of the information device. Therefore, it is to provide a network configuration management system capable of automatically reflecting changes in the physical position of the information device on the layout drawing even when the position of the information device is moved, and grasping the position of the information device in a timely manner. .

  The present invention is premised on a network usage mode in which an information outlet serving as a connection port for connecting an information device (for example, a PC) to a network is prepared by preceding wiring, and the information device is connected to the information outlet by a LAN cable. . It is possible to detect information devices connected to the LAN with existing technology, and it is possible to know a unique MAC address for each LAN card of the information devices. In addition, according to existing technology, it is also possible to know the MAC address of an information device connected to a certain hub port.

  Therefore, in the network management system of the present invention, the correspondence between the MAC address and the information device body is stored in a database, and the hub port destination (LAN cable destination) is located at which position (which desk) in the layout drawing or the like. Make a database of whether it is being used. As a result, the information device main body can be identified from the detected MAC address for the information device connected to the LAN, and the used position can be detected from the connected HUB port. Furthermore, even when the information device is moved, the movement can be traced by keeping a history of the connection destination of the information device.

  According to the present invention, even when the position of the information device moves, the physical position of the information device can be automatically detected and displayed on the layout drawing. For this reason, the position of the information device can be grasped in a timely manner, and the location management of the information device moved by personnel change or seat change becomes easy. As a result, the time and effort required to manage information equipment, which is a corporate asset, is reduced.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in the case where the present invention is implemented will be specifically described taking a network environment as shown in FIG. 2 as an example. Here, a PC will be described as an example of an information device connected to a network. However, the information device is not limited to a PC. For example, all devices used by being connected to a network, such as a printer and a scanner, are the information devices referred to in the present invention. It is.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a layout diagram (physical network configuration diagram) of the network management system according to the present invention, and shows a PC placed in the office 7 of the sales department of a certain company. A PC 9 is placed on the desk 8, and each PC is connected to an information outlet 10 which is a connection port for connecting to a network by a LAN cable 11. Hereinafter, the update of the configuration diagram when the PC-0006 placed on the desk 12 of the sales section 1 moves onto the desk 13 of the sales section 2 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the PC physical location management system 1 includes a connection configuration search function unit 2, a network configuration information database unit 3, a PC location specification function unit 4, a network configuration diagram drawing processing unit 5, and a display device 6. is doing.

  In this system, first, the logical configuration information of the network is collected by the connection configuration search function unit 2. The connection configuration search function unit 2 is an existing network configuration analysis function, collects MIB information of network devices using SNMP, and detects devices existing in the network.

  Further, the connection configuration search function unit 2 uses the data history information 3A sent from the communication port of the network relay device to another device and the data transfer setting information of the network relay device as shown in FIG. Analyze connection relationships. In FIG. 3, the node name and IFNO indicate the name of the communication source HUB and the port number of the HUB, respectively, and the communication destination MAC address indicates the MAC address of the communication destination from the port of the HUB.

  Next, the connection configuration search function unit 2 registers the detected device information as device data 3C (FIG. 5) of the network configuration information database 3. The registered device data 3C includes data indicating the correspondence between the name of the PC itself (node name) and a MAC address having a unique value for each NIC (network interface card) of the PC, as shown in FIG. included. However, since the latest information of the connection destination coordinates is not yet known at this time, the information at the time when the device data 3C was stored last time remains as it is.

  The connection configuration search function unit 2 analyzes the connection relationship between devices based on the above connection relationship analysis result, and registers the result in the device connection data 3D (FIG. 6). FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data example of the inter-device connection data 3D, where the node name and IFNO indicate the name of the device (HUB, etc.) and the port number of the device, respectively, and the connection destination node name and connection destination IFNO are respectively Indicates the name of the device (PC etc.) connected to the port and the port number of that device. With this method, the network configuration information database 3 stores the presence information of the network devices and the connection information between the devices.

  When looking at the case where the PC-0006 in FIG. 2 has moved from the desk 12 to the desk 13, first, regarding the history information of the data sent from the communication port to other devices, the information about the PC-0006 is the same as before the movement. It changes from 19 to 20 after movement. Accordingly, the information about the PC-0006 in the inter-device connection data 3D of the network configuration information database is changed from the information 25 before movement to the information 26 after movement and stored.

  Next, a method for specifying the position of the PC on the layout diagram will be described with reference to FIG. The PC position specifying process is performed by the PC position specifying function unit 4.

  When specifying the position of the PC, first, the HUB port connection destination position data 3B (FIG. 4) and the inter-device connection data 3D (FIG. 6) are read from the network configuration information database 3 (S11). FIG. 6 shows details of the HUB port connection destination position data 3B. The HUB port connection destination position data 3B includes the HUB name, the HUB port number, and the coordinate position where the PC connected to the HUB port is arranged. This coordinate position is registered in advance from the relationship between the position of the LAN cable 11 and the information outlet 10 corresponding to each port of each HUB when creating the layout diagram. The origin of the coordinate system is appropriately set at an arbitrary position in the office room 7.

  Next, data about the PC is searched from the inter-device connection data 3D, and the HUB name connected to the PC and the port number of the HUB are acquired (S12). Subsequently, the HUB port connection destination position data 3B is searched with the acquired HUB name to which the PC is connected and the port number of the HUB (S13), and the position (arrangement coordinates) of the PC on the drawing is acquired (S14). ). The acquired arrangement coordinates are stored in the device data 3C of the network configuration information database 3 as PC device data (S15). At this time, if there is a change in the arrangement coordinate position before and after the movement, information such as the coordinates before the movement, the coordinates after the movement, the node name, and the movement time is output to the device movement history data 3F as shown in FIG. (S16).

  Here, when the case where the PC-0006 in FIG. 2 is moved from the desk 12 to the desk 13 is seen, the data on the PC-0006 in the inter-device connection data 3D is changed from the information 25 before movement to the information 26 after movement. It has changed. Therefore, when the HUB port connection destination position data 3B is searched, it becomes information (information 26) after movement. The position of the PC-0006 on the drawing that can be acquired as a result of the search changes from the information 31 before movement to the information 32 after movement. Further, the coordinates of the PC-0006 in the device data 3C are also changed as shown by the thick frame in FIG.

  Further, the user requests collection of logical configuration information of the network as necessary. Every time there is a request, the logical configuration information of the network is collected again, and the device data 3C and the inter-device connection information data 3D in the network configuration information database 3 are updated. For this reason, the position of the PC on the drawing is also updated at the requested timing.

  Next, a network configuration diagram drawing method will be described. The user requests the system to display a network configuration diagram as necessary. FIG. 8 shows a procedure in which the network configuration diagram drawing processing unit 5 draws a layout diagram on the display 6.

  Upon receiving the user's request, the network configuration diagram drawing processing unit 5 first reads the floor layout data 3E (S21). The floor layout data 3E stores background data set in advance in the layout drawing, such as a building wall, pillar, desk, router, HUB, information outlet 10, LAN cable 11, or department display. The network configuration diagram drawing processing unit 5 draws the background of the layout diagram as shown in FIG. 11 based on the read floor layout data 3E (S22). Next, the network configuration diagram drawing processing unit 5 reads the device data 3C (S23), and draws the image of the device on the background (S24) based on the arrangement coordinates of the device data 3C (see FIG. 2). The physical location of the latest equipment can be displayed.

The figure which shows the structural example of PC physical location management system. The figure which shows the example of a network block diagram. The figure which shows the detail of the historical information of the data sent to the other apparatus from the communication port of the network relay apparatus. The figure which shows the detail of HUB port connection destination position data. The figure which shows the structural example of apparatus data (before a connecting point coordinate update). The figure which shows the detail of the connection data between apparatuses. The flowchart which shows the process sequence which pinpoints the arrangement | positioning coordinate on drawing of PC. The flowchart which showed the procedure of the process in which a network configuration diagram drawing process part displays a layout figure on a display. The figure which shows the structural example of apparatus data (after connecting point coordinate update). The figure which shows the example of apparatus movement log | history data. The figure which shows the example of a layout figure.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... PC physical location management system, 2 ... Connection configuration search part, 3 ... Network configuration information database, 3A ... Data history information, 3B ... HUB port connection destination location data, 3C ... Device data, 3D ... Inter-device connection data, 3E ... Floor layout data, 3F ... Device movement history data, 4 ... PC position specifying function unit, 5 ... Network configuration drawing processing unit, 6 ... Display device, 7 ... Office, 8 ... Desk, 9 ... PC, 10 ... Information outlet, 11 ... LAN cable

Claims (2)

In a network management system that manages network configuration,
A device data storage unit that stores the correspondence between the identification information and the MAC address for each of a plurality of information devices,
A layout storage unit storing layout information of a space in which the plurality of information devices are arranged;
A connection destination data storage unit that stores identification information of a connection port to a network disposed in the space and position information in the space corresponding to the connection port;
A connection configuration search unit that acquires the MAC address of the information device connected to the network and the identification information of the connection port to which the information device is connected;
Correspondence relationship between the MAC address acquired by the connection configuration search unit and the identification information of the connection port, correspondence relationship between the identification information of the information device stored in the device data storage unit and the MAC address, and the connection destination data The identification information of the connection port stored in the storage unit is compared with the relationship between the position information in the space, and the correspondence between the identification information of the information device connected to the network and the position in the space is acquired. An information device location specifying unit;
The information device identification information acquired by the information device position specifying unit, the correspondence relationship between the positions in the space, and the layout information stored in the layout storage unit are used to place the information in the space on the layout diagram. A network management system comprising: a drawing processing unit that draws a graphic representing identification information of an arranged information device. In the network management system according to claim 1, when the correspondence between the MAC address and connection port identification information is changed,
The information device position specifying unit is a correspondence relationship between the MAC address and the connection port identification information after the change, a correspondence relationship between the identification information of the information device stored in the device data storage unit and the MAC address, and the After identifying the connection port identification information stored in the connection destination data storage unit and the relationship between the location information in the space, and after changing the identification information of the information device connected to the network and the location in the space A network management system characterized in that the correspondence relationship is acquired.

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