JP2008242865A - Kvm switching unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a KVM switching unit capable of freely setting the combination of a server unit and a console unit which can be connected. <P>SOLUTION: This KVM switching unit is provided with: a plurality of connection ports 50 which can be connected to a server unit 2 or a console unit 4; a microcomputer 32 for server unit communication installed in each of the plurality of connection ports 50 and for communicating with the server unit 2; a microcomputer 33 for console unit communication installed in each of the plurality of connection ports 50 and for communicating with the console unit 4; and a line switching control microcomputer 31 for detecting whether or not the unit connected to the connection port 50 is the server unit 2 or the console unit 4, and for connecting the connection port 50 to the microcomputer 32 for server unit communication or the microcomputer 33 for console unit communication according to the detection result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a KVM (Keyboard / Video / Mouse) system disposed between a server device and a console device when a plurality of server devices are operated by a console device having a keyboard, a mouse, and a display.

  The KVM system is connected between the console device and the plurality of server devices, and activates the connection between the console device and any one of the plurality of server devices. The user selects and uses a server device to be connected to the console device from the plurality of server devices using the KVM system.

  FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a conventional KVM system. The KVM system includes server units 1a, 2b,... 1n (hereinafter referred to as “1” as a representative number when referring to an arbitrary computer device). Hereinafter, when referring to an arbitrary server unit, it is expressed as “2” as a representative number, and keyboards 6a, 6b... 6n (hereinafter, when indicating an arbitrary keyboard, as “6” as a representative number) Mouse 7a, 7b... 7n (hereinafter referred to as "7" as a representative number when referring to an arbitrary mouse), monitors 5a, 5b... 5n (hereinafter referred to as arbitrary monitor) Console units 4a, 4b,... 4n (hereinafter referred to as arbitrary console units) provided on the console device side such as “5” as a representative number. And denoted as "4" as the number) of, provided between these units, and a main unit 3 having a switch for switching a server apparatus 1 and the console device to be connected. Hereinafter, the main unit 3 is also referred to as a KVM switch.

  In Patent Document 1, the KVM switching unit selectively selects a plurality of slots configured so that a module having a plurality of ports for connecting to a computer device can be mounted, a port to which the computer device is connected, and a console device. And operating means for connection.

  In Patent Document 2, a plurality of local computers and a control device that controls the local computers are wirelessly connected. The control device transmits a local control signal received from the local computer to the target computer via the KVM switch.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-18135 JP 2006-72962 A

  However, the number of console units and server units that can be connected to the KVM switcher is fixed, and when rebuilding the system, if the number of console units and server units that you want to use are not suitable for the main unit, A new KVM switch had to be prepared.

  The invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a configuration in which one console device and a plurality of computer devices are connected via a KVM switch, and the number of console devices connected to the KVM switch and the number of server devices can be freely set. It is not a technology that enables setting to

  Also, in Patent Document 2, it is not a plurality of local computers that are connected to the KVM switch, but a control device, and the number of console devices connected to the KVM switch and the number of server devices can be freely set. It is not a technology to make.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a KVM switching device capable of freely setting a combination of a connectable server unit and a console unit.

In order to achieve such an object, the KVM switching device of the present invention includes a plurality of server units respectively connected to a plurality of server devices, and a plurality of console units respectively connected to a plurality of console devices that operate the server devices. A KVM switching device for connecting and switching the connection between the server device and the console device, the plurality of connection ports connectable to the server unit or the console unit, and provided for each of the plurality of connection ports, A first communication means for communicating with the server unit; a second communication means provided for each of the plurality of connection ports; for communicating with the console unit; and for connecting the connection port to the server unit or the Setting means for setting for connection with the console unit, and connection port according to the setting of the setting means. It is a first communication means or control means for connecting said second communication means bets, configured to have.
Therefore, a combination of a connectable server unit and console unit can be freely set.

The KVM switching device of the present invention connects a plurality of server units respectively connected to a plurality of server devices and a plurality of console units respectively connected to a plurality of console devices for operating the server devices. A KVM switching device that switches connection with a console device, the server unit or a plurality of connection ports connectable to the console unit, and a plurality of connection ports provided for each of the plurality of connection ports to communicate with the server unit One communication means, a second communication means provided for each of the plurality of connection ports and communicating with the console unit, and whether the unit connected to the connection port is the server unit or the console unit. Detecting means for detecting whether or not there is a connection port according to the detection result of the detecting means; It has a configuration and a control means for connecting the first communication means or the second communication means.
Therefore, a combination of a connectable server unit and console unit can be freely set.

The KVM switch may include display means for displaying whether the unit connected to the connection port is the server unit or the console unit.
Therefore, it can be displayed whether the unit connected to the connection port is a server unit or a user unit.

  In the KVM switch, the display means may include at least one of an LCD display device and an LED display device.

In the KVM switching unit, the KVM switching unit includes setting means for setting limiting information for limiting the number of the server units and the console units that can be connected to the KVM switching unit, and storage means for storing the limiting information, The control means may limit the connection between the server unit and the console unit that exceeds the limit information.
Therefore, it is possible to limit the number of server units and console units connected to the KVM switch.

  In the KVM switch, the setting means may be a keyboard of the console device connected to the KVM switch. The setting means may be an operation panel provided in the KVM switch.

  The best embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the KVM system of this embodiment also includes server units 2a, 2b,..., 2n provided on the server devices 1a, 1b,. .. 6n, console units 4a, 4b,... 4m provided on the console device side such as mice 7a, 7b,..., 7m, monitors 5a, 5b,. .., 1n and a main unit (corresponding to the KVM switching device of the present invention) 3 having a switch for switching between the console devices and the server devices 1a, 1b,.

  FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the main unit 3. As shown in FIG. 2, a display device 51, a keyboard 54, a mouse 55, and the like are connected to the main unit 3. The display device 51 displays the setting information of the main unit 3, and the keyboard 54 and the mouse can operate the setting of the main unit 3. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the display device 51 includes information indicating whether each connection port 50 is set for connection to the server unit 2 or connection to the console unit 4, and the connection port 50. The information indicating whether the communication unit connected to is automatically switched or switched according to the user setting, and restriction information for limiting the number of console units 4 and server units 2 connectable to the connection port are shown. Such information will be described later.

  The main unit 3 is provided with a display unit 52 of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and an operation panel 53 having operation buttons. The display unit 52 of the LCD can display information while scrolling, and the display is scrolled by operation buttons on the operation panel 53 or operation of the mouse 55. The display on the display device 51 and the display on the display unit 52 of the LCD can be switched by operating the operation panel 53.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the main unit 3 has a plurality of connection ports 50 on the front surface portion. The server unit 2 and the console unit 4 can be connected to the connection port 50.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the main unit 3. For each of the plurality of connection ports 50, the main unit 3 includes a server unit communication microcomputer 32 that is a microcomputer for communication with the server unit 2, and a console unit communication microcomputer 33 that is a microcomputer for communication with the console unit 4. have. 3 shows three connection ports 50, a server unit communication microcomputer 32, and a console unit communication microcomputer 33 provided corresponding to the three connection ports 50 for the sake of simplicity.

The main unit 3 has a line switching control microcomputer 31 and a main control microcomputer 34.
The line switching control microcomputer 31 connects the server unit communication microcomputer 32 to the connection port 50 when the server unit 2 is connected to the connection port 50 according to the control of the main control microcomputer 34. When the console unit 4 is connected to the connection port 50, the console unit communication microcomputer 33 is connected to the connection port 50.

The function of the main control microcomputer 34 will be described with reference to FIG.
The main control microcomputer 34 controls display information displayed on the display device 51 as shown in FIG. 4 and controls lighting of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) 71 and 72 (see FIG. 8) included in the main unit 3. The key input of the keypad 6 is monitored via the console unit 4, and the display control of the monitor 5 of the console device is performed. The line switching control microcomputer 31 is controlled by monitoring the panel operation of the operation panel 53 provided in the main unit 3 or communicating with the line switching control microcomputer 31. The control information notified to the line switching control microcomputer 31 includes a switching command for the connection port 50 and designation information for the auto connection mode and the manual connection mode.

FIG. 4 shows control information notified from the line switching control microcomputer 31 to the main control microcomputer 34.
From the line switching control microcomputer 31 to the main control microcomputer 34, connection information between the server unit communication microcomputer 32 or the console unit communication microcomputer 33 and the connection port 50, determination information for determining the unit connected to the connection port 50, connection This includes monitoring information for monitoring the connection status of the port 50, monitoring information for the connection limit number between the console unit 4 and the server unit 2, and the like.

  As described above, the main unit 3 of the present embodiment is provided with the server unit communication microcomputer 32 and the console unit communication microcomputer 33 in each of the plurality of connection ports 50. The main unit 3 automatically switches the communication unit connected to the connection port 50 according to a user setting or a unit connected to the connection port 50.

First, the processing procedure of the main control microcomputer 34 for switching the communication unit connected to the connection port 50 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
The main control microcomputer 34 is set to the manual connection mode by an operation input from the user (step S1 / YES), and receives the input of the port setting information from the user (step S2 / YES), and analyzes the set port setting. To do. In addition to the keyboard 54, mouse 55, and operation panel 53 of the main unit 3, the keyboard 6 and mouse 7 of the console unit 4 connected to the main unit 3 can be operated as operation means for receiving user operation input. .
The main control microcomputer 34 outputs an instruction to connect the connection port 50 and the communication microcomputer to the line switching control microcomputer 31 according to the analysis result. The line switching control microcomputer 31 is connected to the console unit communication microcomputer 33 to the connection port 50 set to be connected to the console unit 4 by a user setting, and is connected to the server unit 2. The server unit communication microcomputer 32 is connected to 50.

  When the user is set to the auto connection mode (step S1 / NO), the main control microcomputer 34 notifies the line switching control microcomputer 31 of the notification for invalidating the port information set by the user and the auto connection mode. Notification is made (step S5).

Next, the control procedure of the line switching control microcomputer 31 when the automatic connection mode is set will be described with reference to FIG.
When receiving the setting for the auto connection mode and the port setting invalidation information from the main control microcomputer 34 (step S11 / YES), the line switching control microcomputer 31 first invalidates the setting of the connection port 50.
Next, when the line switching control microcomputer 31 detects connection to the connection port 50 (step S13), it waits for reception of a connect command (step S14). The connect command is a connection command output from the console unit 4 after connection to the main unit 3. The line switching control microcomputer 31 determines that the unit connected to the connection port 50 is the console unit 4 by receiving a connect command after detecting the connection. When the line switching control microcomputer 31 detects the connection of the console unit 4, the line switching control microcomputer 31 connects the console unit communication microcomputer 33 to the connection port 50.

  If the connection command cannot be received after a predetermined time has elapsed after detecting the connection (step S14 / NO), the main unit 3 determines that the server unit 2 is connected to the connection port 50. Then, the server unit communication microcomputer 32 is connected to the connection port 50.

  In this way, the main unit 3 can freely set a combination of the connectable server unit 2 and console unit 4.

As shown in FIG. 8, LEDs 71 and 72 indicating whether the unit connected to the connection port 50 is the server unit 2 or the console unit 4 are provided above the connection port 50 provided in the main unit 3. Is provided. For example, the connection state of the upper connection port 50 is displayed by the LED 71, and the connection state of the lower connection port 50 is displayed by the LED 72.
The LED 71 includes an LED 71a and an LED 71b. For example, when the left LED 71a is lit, the connection of the server unit 2 is shown. When the right LED 71b is lit, the connection of the console unit 4 is shown. Further, instead of displaying the unit connected at the position of the LED, the unit connected by the LED display color may be displayed. For example, when red lights up, the connection of the server unit 2 is shown, and when blue lights up, the connection of the console unit 4 is shown. The LED 72 is the same as the LED 71.

The lighting control of the LEDs 71 and 72 by the main control microcomputer 34 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
The main control microcomputer 34 acquires information on the units connected to the connection port 50 (hereinafter referred to as connection information) from the line switching control microcomputer 31 (step S21). Based on this connection information, when the unit connected to the connection port 50 is the console unit 4 (step S22 / YES), the main control microcomputer 34 turns on the LED indicating the connection of the console unit 4, or the console unit 4 A color indicating connection is turned on on the LED (step S23).

  When the unit connected to the connection port 50 is the server unit 2 (step S22 / NO), the main control microcomputer 34 turns on an LED indicating connection of the server unit 2 or indicates connection of the server unit 2. The color is lit on the LED (step S24).

  Further, in this embodiment, it is possible to limit the number of connections that can connect the console unit 4 and the server unit 2 among the plurality of connection ports 50 provided. For example, the connection port 50 of the console unit 4 that can be connected to the main unit 3 can be secured by setting a limit number for the connection of the server unit 2. Conversely, by setting a limited number of connections to the console unit 4, the connection port 50 of the server unit 2 that can be connected to the main unit 3 can be secured.

A processing procedure of the connection main control microcomputer 34 when the limit number is set will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
When the main control microcomputer 34 receives the connection information of the console unit 4 from the line switching control microcomputer 31 (step S31 / YES), the main control microcomputer 34 determines whether or not the number of connections of the console unit 4 exceeds the limit number (step S32). . Here, the connection limit number of the console units 4 is N. When the number of connections of the console unit 4 exceeds the limit number N (step S32 / YES), the main control microcomputer 34 notifies the line switching control microcomputer 31 that the console unit 4 cannot be connected (step S34). If the number of connections of the console unit 4 does not exceed the limit number N (step S32 / NO), the main control microcomputer 34 notifies the line switching control microcomputer 31 of connection permission of the console unit 4 (step S32 / NO). S33).

  When the main control microcomputer 34 receives the connection information of the server unit 2 from the line switching control microcomputer 31 (step S35 / YES), the main control microcomputer 34 determines whether or not the number of connections of the server unit 2 exceeds the limit number (step S35). S36). Here, the connection limit number of the server unit 2 is M. When the number of connections of the server unit 2 exceeds the limit number M (step S36 / YES), the main control microcomputer 34 notifies the line switching control microcomputer 31 that the server unit 2 cannot be connected (step S37). If the number of connections of the server unit 2 does not exceed the limit number M (step S36 / NO), the main control microcomputer 34 notifies the line switching control microcomputer 31 of the connection permission of the server unit 2 (step S36). S38).

Next, the display control procedure of the display device 51 and the LCD display unit 52 by the main control microcomputer 34 will be described with reference to FIG.
The main control microcomputer 34 monitors the key operation by the keyboard 54 or the keyboard 6 of the connected console unit 4 and the operation of the operation panel 53 (step S31). When the setting information display request is received by the display device 51 or the monitor 5 of the connected console unit 4 by these operation means (step S32 / YES), the main control microcomputer 34 displays the screen data to be displayed on the display device 51. Create (step S33). The created screen data is displayed on the display device 51, or the image data is added to the image signal transmitted to the console unit and transmitted to the console unit 4, and displayed on the monitor 5 (step S34).

  When a display request for setting information is received on the display unit 52 of the LCD (step S35 / YES), the main control microcomputer 34 generates screen data for the LCD (step S36) and displays it on the display unit 52 of the LCD.

  Thereafter, the main control microcomputer 34 monitors the operation input from the operation means described above (step S38). When there is a setting key input or a screen movement key input from the operation means (step S39), the screen data is reconstructed according to the input result of the operation means, and the reconstructed screen data is added to the image signal and transmitted. Or, it is displayed on the display unit 51 or the display unit 52 of the LCD (step S41). Thereafter, in accordance with an operation input from the operation means, the held port setting is updated, the held connection setting is updated, or a switching command is transmitted to the line switching control microcomputer 31 (step S42). Further, when the end key is input from the operation means (step S40 / YES), the display on the display device, the LCD display unit 52, and the monitor 5 of the console unit 4 is ended.

  The embodiment described above is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It is a block diagram which shows a system configuration. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of a main unit. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of a main unit. It is a figure which shows the control object of a main control microcomputer, and the control information transmitted to a control object. It is a figure which shows the control information transmitted to a main control microcomputer from a line switching control microcomputer. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the main control microcomputer at the time of a connection port setting. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the line switching control microcomputer at the time of a connection port setting. It is a figure which shows a connection port and LED provided in the upper part. It is a figure which shows the lighting control procedure of LED by the main control microcomputer 3. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the main control microcomputer when connection restrictions are provided in the connection port. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the main control microcomputer at the time of display control.

Explanation of symbols

1 server device 2 server unit 3 main unit 4 console unit 5 monitor 6 keyboard 7 mouse 31 line switching control microcomputer 32 server unit communication microcomputer 33 console unit communication microcomputer 34 main control microcomputer 50 connection port 51 display device 52 LCD display unit 53 Operation panel 54 Keyboard 55 Mouse

Claims (7)

A KVM that connects a plurality of server units that are respectively connected to a plurality of server devices and a plurality of console units that are respectively connected to a plurality of console devices that operate the server devices, and switches the connection between the server devices and the console devices. A switch,
A plurality of connection ports connectable to the server unit or the console unit;
A first communication means provided for each of the plurality of connection ports, for communicating with the server unit;
A second communication means provided for each of the plurality of connection ports, for communicating with the console unit;
Setting means for setting the connection port for connection with the server unit or for connection with the console unit;
Control means for connecting the first communication means or the second communication means to a connection port according to the setting of the setting means;
A KVM switching device characterized by comprising: A KVM that connects a plurality of server units that are respectively connected to a plurality of server devices and a plurality of console units that are respectively connected to a plurality of console devices that operate the server devices, and switches the connection between the server devices and the console devices. A switch,
A plurality of connection ports connectable to the server unit or the console unit;
A first communication means provided for each of the plurality of connection ports, for communicating with the server unit;
A second communication means provided for each of the plurality of connection ports, for communicating with the console unit;
Detecting means for detecting whether the unit connected to the connection port is the server unit or the console unit;
Control means for connecting the connection port and the first communication means or the second communication means according to the detection result of the detection means;
A KVM switching device characterized by comprising:   3. The KVM switching device according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying whether the unit connected to the connection port is the server unit or the console unit.   4. The KVM switching device according to claim 3, wherein the display means includes at least one of an LCD display device and an LED display device. Setting means for setting restriction information for restricting the number of the server units and the console units connectable to the KVM switch;
Storage means for storing the restriction information,
3. The KVM switch according to claim 1, wherein the control unit restricts connection between the server unit and the console unit exceeding the restriction information. 4.   6. The KVM switching device according to claim 1, wherein the setting means is a keyboard of the console device connected to the KVM switching device.   6. The KVM switching device according to claim 1, wherein the setting means is an operation panel provided in the KVM switching device.

Images