JP2007226582A - Method for managing composition of rack-mounted type device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten time needed to confirm the composition, exclude the inconsistency in the composition information, and realize quick and accurate management of the composition by automatically confirming composition and update composition information. <P>SOLUTION: This is a method for managing the composition of rack-mounted devices which are mounted on a rack housing comprising a plurality of racks. In this case, noncontact type IC tags 301 and 401, each storing information on the rack-mounted devices, are each pasted on the rack-mounted devices, respectively, which are mounted on the rack housing 10. Reader devices 1001-1038 which read the noncontact IC tags of the respective rack-mounted devices are provided in the respective racks of the rack housing. The reader devices in the respective racks read the noncontact IC tags of the respective rack-mounted devices and acquire information on the respective rack-mounted devices mounted on the rack housing and their mounting positions. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a configuration management method for a rack-mounted device that automatically detects and manages a mounting position of a device mounted in a rack chassis.

  As long as rack-mount equipment conforms to the standards, servers and various types of equipment can be freely combined and mounted in the rack chassis. Mountable equipment may have restrictions when mounted in a rack.

  For example, in some rack-mounted equipment, there is a need for an empty space for ventilation in the lower stage of the installed equipment for smooth exhaust heat, or heavy rack-mounted equipment (large rack mount equipment) Server, uninterruptible power supply, etc.) must be mounted at the lowest possible level from the viewpoint of preventing the rack casing from toppling over. Considering these restrictions, the mounting position of each rack-mounted device is determined as a system specification, and based on this, the mounting work of the rack-mounted device on the rack chassis at the factory or at the customer site is performed. Done. For this reason, whether or not each rack-mounted device is mounted at the correct position in the rack chassis is very important for the normal operation of the system and from the aspects of system operation maintenance and management. Yes.

  Also, when the scale of the system increases and the number of rack cases and rack mount equipment increases, whether or not the mounting position of the rack mount equipment is correctly grasped depends on the length of recovery time in the event of a system failure. Also affects.

  When a failure occurs in a rack-mounted device, the failure is dealt with based on the configuration information on which rack chassis each rack-mounted device is mounted. If there is a change in the system configuration, such as adding equipment or moving the position of the rack-mounted equipment mounted in each rack case, respond quickly if the system configuration information cannot be updated each time. The system cannot be recovered. There is a possibility that operations such as operation stop, parts replacement, etc. may be mistakenly performed on another device instead of the device in which the failure has occurred.

  As described above, it is very important to grasp whether or not the rack-mounted device mounted in the rack casing is actually mounted at the correct position. At present, the mounting status of rack-mounted devices can be confirmed and grasped partially by software using system management software, etc., but the physical mounting status is ultimately determined manually by which position in each rack case. It is necessary to check whether the rack mount equipment is installed.

  As a conventional technique, a technique for confirming version information of a hardware module and a software module of a computer device using a nonvolatile memory is disclosed in Patent Document 1, and a method for managing a version of a computer module using an IC tag is disclosed in Patent Document 2. However, there is no literature relating to the configuration management method of rack mount equipment mounted in a rack case.

JP 2002-14850 A Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-283023

  Ascertaining the mounting status of rack mountable devices that can take various configurations, from the standpoint of maintenance and management, whether each device is correctly installed at the location as specified at the time of shipment from the factory, or configuration management when the configuration is changed The configuration confirmation is very important. If the configuration is not properly managed, it is not possible to quickly respond and recover when a failure (problem) occurs. In addition, it is very important to understand what devices are installed in the sense of effectively using resources.

  In the current manual confirmation work, as the number of rack cases and rack-mounted devices increases, the time required for confirmation increases, and the possibility of inconsistencies in configuration information when the system configuration changes is increased. There is a problem.

  The present invention automatically shortens the time required for configuration confirmation by automatically performing this configuration confirmation and configuration information update, eliminates inconsistencies in configuration information, and realizes quick and accurate configuration management. It is aimed.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention attaches a non-contact type IC tag having information related to a device to a rack mount type device mounted on the rack case, and mounts each rack mount on the rack case side. By mounting a reader device that reads non-contact type IC tags affixed to type equipment, information on the rack mount type equipment (product name, model name, etc.) mounted on the rack chassis and the mounting position are automatically set. Acquiring and automatically checking the configuration and updating the configuration information.

  According to the present invention, the time required for checking the configuration is shortened by automatically checking the device mounting state of the rack case and updating the configuration information, and also eliminates inconsistencies in the configuration information. Management can be realized.

  FIG. 1 shows the entire system for realizing the present invention, and shows an embodiment in a rack case having a mounting space of 38 stages (38 U) as an example.

  The rack case 10 includes non-contact type IC tag reading devices 1001 to 1038 and a control device 101 provided in each stage. Each IC tag reading device is a non-contact type IC tag reading device for retrieving information from a non-contact type IC tag attached to a rack-mounted device mounted on the rack casing 10. Each IC tag reading device is a proximity type reading device, and can read only the IC tag attached to the rack-mounted device mounted on the stage to which each IC tag is attached. Each IC tag reading device is connected to the control device 101. The control device 101 is provided with a network I / F for connecting to the management terminal 20 outside the rack case. The control device 101 receives an instruction to read each IC tag from the management terminal 20 and reads from each IC tag reading device. Information can be transmitted to the management terminal 20 via the network.

  The management terminal 20 is a terminal that manages a rack chassis and rack-mounted devices mounted in the rack chassis. The management terminal 20 can store a master configuration table and a configuration confirmation table in a built-in memory or hard disk. The management terminal 20 is connected to the control device 101 of the rack chassis 10 via a network, and the IC tag information of the rack mounted device mounted on the rack chassis 10 with respect to the control device 101 via this network And the IC tag information read by each IC tag reading device can be received from the control device 101. In the example of FIG. 1, the rack case connected to the management terminal 20 is only the rack case 10, but it is also possible to connect and manage a plurality of rack cases.

  The rack-mounted device A30 is 1U rack-mount type hardware. An IC tag 301 on which information related to the rack mounted device A30 is recorded is attached to the rack mounted device A30. The IC tag 301 is arranged so that when the rack-mounted device A30 is mounted on the rack chassis 10, it can be read by an IC tag reader on each shelf of the rack chassis 10. The IC tag 301 records information (eg, product name, model name, manufacturing number, rack mounting size, etc.) related to the rack mounted device A30. In this example, since the rack mounted device A30 is 1U size, “1” is recorded in the rack mounted size item of the IC tag 301.

  The rack-mounted equipment B40 is 3U rack-mountable hardware. An IC tag 401 on which information related to the rack mounted device B40 is recorded is attached to the rack mounted device B40. The IC tag 401 is arranged so that it can be read by an IC tag reader on each shelf of the rack chassis 10 when the rack-mounted device B401 is mounted on the rack chassis 10. In the case of a rack-mounted device that uses a plurality of stages of shelves, such as the rack-mounted device B40, the IC tag is arranged so that it can be read by the IC tag reader at the lowest level of the stage used by the rack-mounted device. The IC tag 401 records information related to the rack mounted device B40 (eg, product name, model name, serial number, rack mounted size, etc.). Since the rack mounted device B40 has a 3U size, “3” is recorded in the rack mounted size item of the IC tag 401. Here, a 1U-size rack-mounted device A30 and a 3U-size rack-mounted device B40 are illustrated, but these are examples, and there are actually various sizes of rack-mounted devices.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of information recorded in the memory of the control device of the rack casing. The rack case information 102 shows an example of the content of information related to the rack case 10 recorded in the memory built in the control device 101 of the rack case 10.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of information recorded on an IC tag attached to a rack-mounted device. The rack mounted device information 302 is an example of the content of information recorded in the IC tag 301 of the rack mounted device A30. The rack mounted device information 402 is an example of the content of information recorded in the IC tag 401 of the rack mounted device B40.

  FIG. 4 is an example of configuration information stored in the management terminal 20. The master configuration table 201 indicates which level of the rack chassis is based on the specifications that indicate the configuration of the hardware (each rack chassis and each rack-mounted device) that constitutes the system components. This shows an example of the configuration information as a master indicating whether the rack-mounted equipment should be mounted. The configuration confirmation table 202 shows an example of a configuration list that records the actual device mounting state of the rack chassis. The configuration confirmation table is automatically created at the time of configuration confirmation. Information about the rack chassis is recorded at the 0th position. From the first level onwards, information about rack-mounted equipment is recorded.

  The procedure for carrying out the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 5 shows a procedure for confirming the configuration using the present invention.

  A master configuration table 201 is stored in advance in the management terminal 20 based on the specifications indicating the configuration of each rack case and each rack-mounted device.

  Based on the specifications, after mounting each rack-mounted device in the rack chassis, the control device 101 of the rack chassis 10 and the management terminal 20 are connected via a network. Thereafter, the administrator instructs the management terminal 20 to check the rack-mounted equipment in the rack chassis 10.

  The management terminal 20 first acquires the rack case information 102 recorded in the control device 101 (501). The acquired information 102 of the rack chassis 10 is compared with the information of the rack chassis recorded in the 0th level of the master configuration table 201 stored in the management terminal 20 (502). When the rack chassis information held in the master configuration information table 201 is the same as the rack chassis 10 information acquired from the control device 101, the configuration confirmation table 202 for recording the device mounting status of the rack chassis 10 Is created in the memory or hard disk built in the management terminal, and the rack chassis information 102 is recorded in the item at the 0th stage of the mounting position of the configuration confirmation table 202, and then the process proceeds to confirmation of the next rack-mounted equipment. If the acquired rack chassis 10 information is different, the error and the correct rack chassis information recorded in the master configuration table 201 are displayed on the screen of the management terminal 20, and the administrator is about to confirm them. Notify that there is an error in the rack case (504).

  After confirming the rack case information, the management terminal 20 instructs the control device 101 to confirm the devices mounted in the rack case 10. Receiving the instruction, the control device 101 uses the IC tag reading device 1001 to the IC tag reading device 1038 to start reading the IC tags of the rack mounted devices one by one from the first level of the rack housing shelves (503). ). When a device is mounted, the information on the rack-mounted device can be read from an IC tag attached to the rack-mounted device, so that it can be seen that the rack-mounted device is mounted on that stage.

  In the example of FIG. 1, since nothing is mounted on the first level of the rack chassis 10, the control device 101 transmits to the management terminal 20 that there is no first level mounted device (506). The management terminal 20 records “no device” in the section of the mounting position “1” in the configuration confirmation table 202 (507). Since the rack mounted device A30 is mounted on the next second level, the information of the IC tag 301 read from the IC tag reading device 1002 and the mounting position information thereof are transmitted to the management terminal 20 (508). The management terminal 20 records the received information in the corresponding mounting position section of the configuration confirmation table 202 (509). Since nothing is installed in the third to sixth stages, similar to the first stage, the management terminal 20 transmits that there is no installed device (506). The management terminal 20 records “no device” in the corresponding mounting position section of the configuration confirmation table 202 (507). Since the rack-mounted device B40 is mounted on the seventh level, the information of the IC tag 401 read from the IC tag reading device 1007 and the mounting position information thereof are transmitted to the management terminal 20 (508). The management terminal 20 records the received information in the section of the mounting position “7” in the configuration confirmation table 202 (509). At this time, since the rack mounting size occupied by the rack mounting device B40 included in the information of the IC tag 401 is “3”, the IC tag 401 received also in the items of mounting positions “8” and “9” of the configuration confirmation table 202 Record the information. However, nothing is recorded in the mounted size section at this time. The mounting size of the rack-mounted device B40 is recorded only in the seventh row where the IC tag 401 is present. The rack-mounted equipment B40 is mounted on the 8th to 9th stages, but since there is no IC tag, information cannot be read from the IC tag reading device 1008 and the IC tag reading device 1009. For this reason, the control device 101 transmits to the management terminal 20 that there is no installed device, as in the first stage. However, since the management terminal 20 has already recorded in the configuration confirmation table 202 that the rack mounted bbb device B40 is mounted on the eighth and ninth stages from the information of the IC tag 401, the configuration confirmation table 202 Do not record anything. Since nothing is installed from the 10th to the 38th level, it is transmitted to the management terminal 20 that there is no installed device as in the 1st level (506). The management terminal 20 records “no device” in the corresponding mounting position section of the configuration confirmation table 202 (507).

  When the information of all stages is received and recorded in the configuration confirmation table 202 (511), the master configuration table 201 stored in advance is compared with the configuration confirmation table 202, and the rack-mounted equipment is compared with the master configuration table 201. Check if the is installed correctly (512).

  When the master configuration table 201 based on the specifications and the configuration confirmation table 202 showing the actual device mounting state of the rack chassis are the same, the management terminal 20 determines whether the rack mounted devices mounted in the rack chassis 10 Display on the screen that everything is installed in the correct position and notify the administrator (513). If there is a difference between the master configuration table 201 and the configuration confirmation table 202, an error, a different mounting position, and information on the correct rack-mounted device recorded in the master configuration table 201 are displayed on the screen of the management terminal 20. And notifies the administrator that there is an error in the equipment mounted in the rack chassis 10 (514).

  If there is a rack case whose configuration is to be confirmed in addition to the rack case 10, the management terminal 20 also checks other rack cases in the same procedure as the rack case 10.

  Even after the confirmation of the equipment mounted in the rack chassis is completed, the configuration confirmation table 202 stored in the management terminal 20 is saved as system configuration data used for maintenance at the time of failure.

  Configuration that is saved as the actual device mounting status and system configuration management data in the rack chassis when the equipment mounted in the rack chassis is added, deleted, or moved in the operating system after system construction Although inconsistency occurs between the management tables 202, this is also automatically updated in the same procedure as in FIG. 5, and the correct device mounting state can always be grasped. The procedure is shown below.

  A master configuration table 201 after the configuration change based on the specifications after the system configuration change is stored in the management terminal 20 in advance. Thereafter, the administrator instructs the management terminal 20 to reconfirm the rack-mounted equipment in the rack chassis 10.

  Thereafter, the control device 101 confirms the rack mounting status mounted in the rack chassis 10 and transmits the information to the management terminal 20 in the same procedure as in FIG. The management terminal 20 updates the contents of the configuration confirmation table 202 based on the information received from the control device 101.

  After receiving all the information of the stages and recording it in the configuration confirmation table 202, the master configuration table 201 stored in advance and the configuration confirmation table 202 are compared, and the rack-mounted equipment is correctly installed according to the master configuration table 201. To see if it is.

  If the master configuration table 201 based on the specifications after the change and the configuration confirmation table 202 showing the actual device mounting state of the rack chassis are the same, the management terminal 20 displays the rack mounted in the rack chassis 10. Display on the screen that all additions, deletions, and movements of installed devices have been performed correctly, and notify the administrator. If there is a difference between the master configuration table 201 and the configuration confirmation table 202, the display of the management terminal 20 shows the error, the mounting position where there is a difference, and the correct rack-mounted equipment information recorded in the master configuration table 201. And notifies the administrator that the addition / deletion / movement of the mounted device in the rack chassis 10 has not been performed correctly.

  If there is a rack case whose configuration change is confirmed other than the rack case 10, the management terminal 20 also checks other rack cases in the same procedure as the rack case 10.

  After the addition / deletion / movement of the equipment mounted in the rack case is performed correctly, the configuration confirmation table 202 stored in the management terminal 20 is saved as new system configuration data after the configuration change.

It is the figure which showed the whole apparatus which this invention implement | achieves. It is the figure which showed the example of the information regarding the rack housing | casing which a control apparatus has. It is the figure which showed the example of the information regarding the rack mounting apparatus which an IC tag has. It is the figure which showed the example of the structure information which a management terminal has. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure which confirms the apparatus mounting state of a rack housing | casing.

Explanation of symbols

10 Rack housing 20 Management terminal 30 Rack-mounted equipment A
40 Rack-mounted equipment B
101 control device 301, 401 IC tag 1001-1038 IC tag reader

Claims (1)

A configuration management method for rack-mounted equipment mounted in a rack housing composed of a plurality of shelves, and a non-contact type IC tag storing information about the equipment in each rack-mounted device mounted in the rack housing A reader device for reading the non-contact type IC tag of each rack mount type device is provided on each shelf of the rack housing, and the non-contact type of the rack mount type device on which the reader device of each shelf is mounted on the shelf is provided. A configuration management method for a rack-mounted device, which reads a type IC tag and acquires information and a mounting position of each rack-mounted device mounted in the rack chassis.

Images