JP2009038554A - Network communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network communication apparatus for reliably recording information about a fault with sufficient amount of information using an apparatus provided at the external side of a router by detecting not only a fault occurring within the own apparatus but also a fault occurring in the network as a whole. <P>SOLUTION: The router 1 is connected to a USBHDD2 with a USB cable 21. A CPU 10 starts, when the router 1 is activated, automatic diagnostic process to continuously execute communication fault detecting process, illegal packet monitoring process, and internal fault detecting process. When the CPU 10 detects a fault or an irregular operation by each detecting process, it analyzes contents of the fault for every detection and generates fault information by acquiring information such as execution log for the relevant fault. The CPU 10 records the fault information to the USBHDD2 in unit of the fault. In this case, the CPU 10 records the fault information in the text data format. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network communication device such as a router, and more particularly to a network communication device that detects its own failure.

Conventionally, various routers having a self-diagnosis function have been devised, and when these routers detect a failure by self-diagnosis, they notify the contents of the failure to the outside. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a router having an e-mail transmission function. When the router detects a failure in its own device, the router connects another e-mail describing the content of the failure to an external network. Transmit to a communication device (for example, a network administrator's PC).
JP-A-11-243424

  However, the above-described conventional router detects a failure in its own device and notifies the outside via a network, and cannot send an e-mail when a communication system, that is, a network failure occurs. In this way, failure to send an e-mail may cause the failure information at that time to be cleared or overwritten with new failure information. The function cannot be fully utilized. In addition, since the failure information is notified by electronic mail, the amount of information is limited, and it is difficult to notify not only a failure in the device itself but also a failure related to the network. Furthermore, when there is a large amount of information, it is impossible to quickly and reliably notify and record necessary information regarding the failure.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to detect not only a failure in the own device but also a failure that occurs in the network, and record the information relating to the failure with a necessary and sufficient amount of information in a device that exists reliably outside the router. An object of the present invention is to provide a network communication device that can perform communication.

  The present invention relates to a network communication device including a network communication device and an external recording device connected to an external interface of the network communication device. Here, the network communication device includes a communication interface connected to an external network and a network terminal, an external interface connected to an external device, a control unit that controls the communication interface and the external interface, and an execution log of the control unit. And a storage unit for sequentially storing. In the present invention, the control unit detects a fault related to the network communication device, and when detecting the fault, the control unit extracts an execution log corresponding to the type of detected fault from the execution log group stored in the storage unit. The recording is performed by an external recording device.

  In this configuration, the network communication device includes a network communication device (for example, a router) having an external interface function (for example, USB) and an external recording device (for example, a USB hard disk drive (hereinafter, USB HDD) having an external interface function). And))). The control unit of the network communication device diagnoses a failure related to the device itself, that is, a failure in the device itself and a failure of the external network to which the device is connected. When detecting a failure related to the own device, the control unit determines the content of the failure and extracts an execution log related to the failure. The control unit associates the failure contents with the execution log and records them in the external recording device connected via the external interface. At this time, the external recording apparatus can employ a relatively large capacity device such as the above-described USB HDD, so that the amount of information to be recorded can be increased. Therefore, necessary and sufficient information regarding the failure can be recorded in the recording device outside the network communication device.

Further, the network communication device control unit of the present invention is characterized in that, of the extracted execution logs, only an execution log within a predetermined time including a failure detection timing is recorded in an external recording device.
With this configuration, it is possible not only to record redundant information but also to record failure information with an appropriate amount of information.

The network communication device of the present invention is characterized in that the information to be recorded in the external recording device is formed in a text data format.
In this configuration, since the failure information recorded in the external recording device is in the text data format, the failure information can be read from the external recording device by various general-purpose information processing devices.

The external recording device for a network communication device according to the present invention is characterized by recording restoration reproduction information corresponding to the type of failure. The control unit is characterized in that when the failure is detected, the restoration reproduction information corresponding to the type of the detected failure is read from the external recording device, and the restoration process is performed based on the read restoration reproduction information.
In this configuration, not only the failure information is simply recorded by an external recording device outside the network communication device, but also restoration reproduction information relating to recovery is gradually updated and recorded by the external recording device. As a result, the network communication device can automatically perform the restoration work based on the read restoration reproduction information if the restoration reproduction information corresponding to the failure exists. At this time, if the recovery operation is not performed, the information of these processes is recorded in the external recording device.

  According to the present invention, failure information relating to a network communication device including a failure in a network system can be recorded in a recording device external to the network communication device with a necessary and sufficient amount of information. As a result, necessary and sufficient information can be obtained when the administrator performs the recovery operation, and the recovery operation of the administrator can be effectively assisted.

  Further, according to the present invention, since the execution log including the result of the automatic recovery work is recorded, the administrator's recovery work can be assisted more effectively.

A network communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the network communication device of this embodiment.
The network communication device of the present embodiment includes a router 1 that is a network communication device of the present invention and a USB hard disk 2 (hereinafter simply referred to as “USB HDD 2”) that is a USB recording device of the present invention.

The router 1 has a configuration in which a CPU 10, a WAN I / F 11, a LAN I / F 12, a USB I / F 13, and a memory 14 are connected by a bus line 15.
The CPU 10 controls the entire router 1 and executes a routing function by executing a so-called routing program stored in the memory 14. Similarly, the CPU 10 executes a self-diagnosis program stored in the memory 14 to diagnose a failure in the device itself and a failure diagnosis of the wide area network 31 and the local area network 32 connected via the WAN I / F 11 and the LAN I / F 12. And illegal packet reception diagnosis. Further, the CPU 10 stores an execution log in the memory 14 when executing various controls. Further, when the CPU 10 detects a failure by the self-diagnosis program, the CPU 10 analyzes the failure content and reads an execution log corresponding to the failure content from the memory 14. The CPU 10 forms failure information including the failure content and an execution log corresponding to the failure content, and outputs the failure information to the USB HDD 2 via the USB I / F 13. The CPU 10 outputs the acquired failure information in a text data format. At this time, the CPU 10 sets and stores the failure information in an individual file for each detected failure. The CPU 10 also has a so-called HTTP server function. That is, when acquisition of failure information is requested using an information terminal (such as a personal computer) connected via the local area network 32 or the like using a Web browser or the like, the CPU 10 receives the failure information acquisition request, The failure information requested by the information acquisition request is read from the USB HDD 2 and transmitted to the information terminal.

  The WAN I / F 11 is an interface function unit of the router 1 with respect to the wide area network 31 and performs communication control with other routers, servers, and communication devices connected with the wide area network 31. The LAN I / F 12 is an interface function unit of the router 1 with respect to the local area network 32, and performs communication control with communication devices such as other PCs connected with the local area network 32.

  The USB I / F 13 is a communication interface function unit with a USB device externally connected to the router 1, and performs communication control with the USB device connected with the USB cable 21.

  The memory 14 stores various programs of the router 1 including a self-diagnosis program and stores an execution log from the CPU 10. The memory 14 is also used as a work area and a primary storage area when the CPU 10 performs failure analysis and transmission to the USB HDD 2.

  The USB HDD 2 is a so-called general-purpose USB connection HDD, and has a recording capacity of several tens of giga levels or several hundreds of giga levels.

Next, a self-diagnosis process and failure information acquisition flow will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the network communication apparatus of this embodiment.

  When a startup operation such as power-on is performed, the router 1 reads the startup program from the memory 14 and executes the startup process by the CPU 10 (S101). An execution command for the self-diagnosis program is incorporated in the activation program, and when the activation process is performed, the CPU 10 reads the self-diagnosis program from the memory 14. The CPU 10 executes (A) communication failure detection processing, (B) illegal packet monitoring processing, and (C) internal abnormality detection processing based on the self-diagnosis program. These processes are performed by simultaneous multitask processing. That is, if the CPU 10 is a multi-task computing element, the monitoring process other than the transmission processing to the USB HDD 2 is performed at the same time. If the CPU 10 is a single-task computing element, each process is switched at high speed within a very short time. While doing.

  When the startup process is completed, the CPU 10 executes a process for connecting to the network. For example, in the case of WAN side processing, connection processing to an IP network or the like is performed by a known method via an ISP (Internet provider) or the like (S102). At this time, if the connection to the network is not established (S103: N), the failure information of the network connection error is generated (S105) and transmitted to the USB HDD 2 (S106). When the network connection is established (S103: Y), the CPU 10 reads the network diagnostic program from the memory 14 and starts the network diagnostic process (S104). The network diagnosis process includes a network communication failure detection process and an illegal packet monitoring process, which are processed in parallel.

(A) Communication failure detection process CPU10 monitors the communication state of the already connected network (S201). Specifically, for example, the CPU 10 transmits a monitoring packet to a predetermined destination set in advance. The CPU 10 counts the timer using this timing as a response waiting start timing. Then, if the response from the predetermined destination can be confirmed by the time the count value reaches the predetermined threshold, the CPU 10 determines that no communication failure has occurred (S202: N). The process of S202 is repeated. On the other hand, if the response from the predetermined destination cannot be confirmed until the count value reaches the predetermined threshold (S202: Y), the CPU 10 analyzes the content of the detected communication failure (S203). That is, the CPU 10 determines the content of the communication failure (for example, VPN tunnel down, provider authentication error, IP protocol mismatch, etc.).

The CPU 10 reads an execution log corresponding to the detected communication failure content from the memory 14 (S204). The CPU 10 reads out an execution log in a range that goes back a predetermined time from the timing at which a communication failure is detected.
The CPU 10 generates failure information composed of the detected communication failure content and the corresponding execution log in text data format (S105), and transmits it to the USB HDD 2 (S106).

(B) Illegal packet monitoring process When receiving a packet from the outside, the CPU 10 detects whether or not the received packet matches the specification of a normal packet set in advance (S301). If the CPU 10 determines that the received packet is not a normal packet, that is, determines that it is an unauthorized access (S302: Y), it analyzes the content of the unauthorized access failure and acquires the content of the unauthorized packet, the source address, and the like ( S303).

  The CPU 10 generates failure information including the content of the detected unauthorized access failure, access time, and the like in a text data format (S105) and transmits it to the USB HDD 2 (S106).

(C) Internal Abnormality Detection Processing The CPU 10 reads out the internal abnormality diagnosis program from the memory 14 together with the above-described failure detection processing related to network communication, and starts the internal abnormality diagnosis processing (S112). The CPU 10 acquires the internal diagnosis monitoring parameters set in advance, and monitors the internal state by determining whether each parameter is equal to or greater than a preset threshold (S401). At this time, the CPU 10 sequentially stores the acquisition execution log of each internal diagnosis monitoring parameter in the memory 14.

  When the CPU 10 detects that each internal diagnosis monitoring parameter is equal to or greater than the respective threshold value, it determines that an abnormality relating to the parameter has occurred (S402: Y). The CPU 10 analyzes the internal diagnosis monitoring parameter in which the abnormality is detected, and acquires internal abnormality information corresponding to the internal diagnosis monitoring parameter in which the abnormality is detected (S403).

  The CPU 10 obtains an execution log of internal diagnostic monitoring parameters that have detected an abnormality within a range that goes back to a predetermined time in the same manner as the execution log acquisition at the time of communication failure described above. Internal abnormality information, corresponding parameters, logs, etc. The failure information consisting of is generated in a text data format (S405) and transmitted to the USB HDD 2 (S406).

  By performing such processing, the router 1 of the present embodiment automatically detects a communication failure or unauthorized access of the network to which the device is connected and an abnormality inside the device, and analyzes the failure or abnormality. And information necessary for recovery can be automatically recorded.

  Further, by recording the execution log retroactively, it is possible to record failure information effective for later analysis.

  In addition, by recording on a USB recording medium (HDD or the like) that can have a large recording capacity, necessary information related to the failure can be reliably stored. Furthermore, by making failure information recorded on a highly versatile USB recording medium into a highly versatile text data format, it is possible to ensure the ease of processing of failure information such as referencing later on another PC, etc. can do.

Next, a system that refers to recorded failure information will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a failure information reference system, (A) is a system configuration diagram, and (B), (C) show display examples.

  The reference system includes a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) 3 together with the above-described router 1 and USB HDD 2, and the PC 3 is connected to the router 1 through a local area network or the like. The PC 3 incorporates a Web browser. When the Web browser is activated, failure information is acquired from the router 1 and displayed. More specifically, when a user inputs an operation for acquiring failure information to the PC 3 and executes it on a Web browser, a failure information acquisition command is transmitted to the router 1. Upon receiving the failure information acquisition command, the router 1 acquires failure information recorded in the USB HDD 2, extracts only information necessary for displaying the failure information list, and outputs the information to the PC 3. The PC 3 displays a list of failure contents as shown in FIG. 3B based only on this necessary information. The failure content list describes “detected date” and “failure content” for each failure information, and a “detail” display function is set for each failure information. When the detailed display function is selected by a user operation input or the like, the router 1 outputs further detailed information to the PC 3 including an execution log or the like of the selected failure content. As shown in FIG. 3C, the PC 3 displays the detailed contents of the failure information.

  By using such a configuration and processing, it is possible to display the details of the failure on the display screen of a personal computer or the like more easily for the user. Thereby, the user can examine and set the failure information analysis and the restoration and reproduction method of the failure by referring to the failure content in more detail. The restoration / reproduction method set in this way can be recorded on the USB HDD 2 via the router 1 as restoration / reproduction information.

Next, a case where an automatic restoration function is provided in addition to the above function will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of automatic restoration processing using restoration reproduction information including a restoration reproduction log.
When the CPU 10 detects a failure as described above (S501), the CPU 10 searches whether the restored reproduction information for the failure information is recorded in the USB HDD 2 (S502). If there is no restoration reproduction information (S502: N), the CPU 10 generates the failure information as described above (S505), transmits the failure information to the USB HDD 2 (S506), and the USB HDD 2 records the received failure information. .

  When the CPU 10 obtains the restoration reproduction information corresponding to the detected failure information (S502: Y), the CPU 10 reads the restoration reproduction information from the USB HDD 2 and executes it (S503). When the CPU 10 executes the restoration reproduction process, the CPU 10 performs failure detection for the same failure again. If the failure is resolved by the restoration / reproduction processing, the CPU 10 proceeds to failure detection, which is a normal routine (S504: Y → S501). On the other hand, if the failure is not resolved by this restoration processing (S504: N), the CPU 10 generates failure information including the contents of the restoration reproduction processing (S505), and transmits the failure information to the USB HDD 2 (S506). The USB HDD 2 records the received failure information.

  By adopting such a configuration and processing, it is possible not only to automatically detect a failure but also to automatically restore it. Furthermore, since the failure information including the restoration reproduction process can be recorded, the information to be referred to at the time of the above-described user analysis increases, and the failure information can be analyzed more effectively.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which USB is used as an interface for connecting to an external recording apparatus has been described. However, the interface is not limited to USB. For example, the same configuration can be obtained by using a general-purpose interface such as IEEE1394. The recording device is not limited to the HDD, and may be a non-volatile memory card or the like.

It is a block diagram which shows the main structures of the network communication apparatus of this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the processing flow of the network communication apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the reference system of failure information. It is a flowchart of an automatic restoration process using restoration reproduction information including a restoration reproduction log.

Explanation of symbols

1-router, 10-CPU, 11-WAN I / F, 12-LAN I / F, 13-USB I / F, 14-memory, 15-bus line, 2-USB HDD, 21-USB cable, 31-wide area Network, 32-local area network, 3-PC

Claims (4)

A communication interface connected to an external network and a network terminal; an external interface connected to an external device; a control unit that controls the communication interface and the external interface; and a storage unit that sequentially stores an execution log of the control unit; A network communication device comprising:
An external recording device connected to the external interface, and a network communication device comprising:
The control unit performs failure detection related to the network communication device, and when a failure is detected, extracts an execution log corresponding to a type of detected failure from an execution log group stored in the storage unit, and A network communication device that records on an attached recording device.   The network communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit records only an execution log within a predetermined time including a failure detection timing among the extracted execution logs.   The network communication device according to claim 1, wherein the information to be recorded in the external recording device is formed in a text data format. The external recording device records restoration reproduction information according to the type of failure,
The control unit, when detecting the failure, reads the restoration / reproduction information corresponding to the type of the detected failure from an external recording device, and performs restoration processing based on the read restoration / reproduction information. The network communication device according to claim 3.

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