JP2011082910A - Relay device, and method of controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and rapidly find a port to be maintained at a site. <P>SOLUTION: A relay device 100 for relaying communications over a network includes: a plurality of ports 10; a state monitoring portion 30 for monitoring the state of a plurality of the ports 10; a plurality of state displaying portions 12 each of which is disposed at each port; and a control portion 40 that detects a port 10a for displaying the communication state different from a predetermined communication state out of the ports where the state of the ports 10 is linked up based on the monitored results of the state monitoring portion 30 so as to control the display of the state displaying portion 12a in response to the detected port. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a relay device and a control method thereof. In particular, the present invention relates to a relay device that can easily and quickly find a port to be maintained on site, and a control method thereof.

  In a relay device that relays communication on a network such as a switching hub or a router, an LED may be provided at a position that is visible from the outside in order to display the operation state of the device itself. Conventionally, as such LEDs, there are many that display the link state of the port, and according to this, it is visible whether the port is link-up or link-down, but communication at the time of link-up The link down factor at the time of failure or link down can be grasped only by connecting the PC directly to the device or via the network, and it is difficult to know the information at the site where the relay device is installed. . Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-32308, there is known a technique for actively displaying a state in which a port link is not established to a user with an LED. The communication failure cannot be visually recognized.

JP 2004-32308 A

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the relay apparatus which can solve said subject, and its control method. This object is achieved by a combination of features described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous specific examples of the present invention.

  A relay device according to one aspect of the present invention is a relay device that relays communication on a network, and includes a plurality of ports, a state monitoring unit that monitors the states of the plurality of ports, and each port. Based on the monitoring results of the plurality of status display units and the status monitoring unit, a port indicating a communication status different from a preset communication status is detected from among the ports whose port status is link-up. A control unit that controls display of the state display unit corresponding to the detected port.

  According to this configuration, for example, the display of the status display unit corresponding to the port in the communication state that should not be permitted or preferably not permitted is controlled. Therefore, such a port can be easily and quickly installed at the installation location of the relay device. Can be found in.

  In the relay device, the communication state includes a connection state of a port, and the control unit detects a port indicating a connection state different from a preset connection state, and the state display corresponding to the detected port The display of the part may be controlled.

  In the relay device, the communication state includes a communication rate, and the control unit detects a port having a communication rate larger than a preset communication rate, and the state display unit corresponding to the detected port The display may be controlled.

  A relay device according to one aspect of the present invention is a relay device that relays communication on a network, and includes a plurality of ports, a state monitoring unit that monitors the states of the plurality of ports, and each port. Based on the monitoring result of the plurality of status display units and the status monitoring unit, the port status is not linkable among the ports whose status is link-down, or the link is not possible in other relay devices. A control unit that detects a port directly or indirectly connected to a certain port and controls display of the state display unit corresponding to the detected port.

  According to this configuration, since the display of the status display unit corresponding to the port that is based on a predetermined factor is controlled in the link down port, such a port can be easily and quickly installed at the installation location of the relay device. Can be found.

  In the relay device, the relay device may include communication between a network device and a monitoring server, and the control unit may detect that the port cannot be linked based on the setting of the monitoring server.

  In the relay device, the control unit may detect the link failure of the port based on a communication loop.

  The relay device may further include a plurality of second state display units that are provided for each of the ports and that at least display that the state of the port is link up or link down.

  The relay device control method according to an aspect of the present invention includes a relay device control that relays communication on a network and includes a plurality of ports and a plurality of status display units provided for each of the ports. A method of monitoring a state of the plurality of ports, and a port state that is different from a predetermined communication state among the ports that are linked up based on a monitoring result of the monitoring step. A step of detecting a port indicating a communication state; and a step of controlling display of the state display unit corresponding to the port detected in the detecting step.

  According to this configuration, for example, the display of the status display unit corresponding to the port in the communication state that should not be permitted or preferably not permitted is controlled. Therefore, such a port can be easily and quickly installed at the installation location of the relay device. Can be found in.

  The relay device control method according to an aspect of the present invention includes a relay device control that relays communication on a network and includes a plurality of ports and a plurality of status display units provided for each of the ports. A method of monitoring a state of the plurality of ports, and a port that is not linkable among ports that are in a link-down state based on a monitoring result of the monitoring step, or A step of detecting a port directly or indirectly connected to a non-linkable port in another relay device, and a step of controlling display of the status display unit corresponding to the port detected in the detecting step; including.

  According to this configuration, since the display of the status display unit corresponding to the port that is based on a predetermined factor is controlled in the link down port, such a port can be easily and quickly installed at the installation location of the relay device. Can be found.

It is an example of the internal structure of the relay apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the external appearance structure of the relay apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the block diagram of the network system containing the relay apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control method of the relay apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and are described in the embodiments. Not all combinations of features are essential to the solution of the invention.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of the internal configuration of the relay device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows an example of the external configuration of the relay device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an example of a block diagram of a network system including the relay device according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the relay device 100 includes a plurality of ports 10 for communication on a network, a switch / PHY circuit 20 to which the plurality of ports 10 are connected, and a plurality of ports provided for each port. The first LED 12, the plurality of second LEDs 14 provided for each port, the state monitoring unit 30 that monitors the state of the port 10 (for example, the Switch / PHY circuit 20), and the monitoring result of the state monitoring unit 30 And an LED control unit 40 that controls display of one LED 12.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the relay device relays communication on the network including communication between the network device (for example, computer terminal, switching hub, etc.) 300 and the monitoring server 200 that monitors communication on the network. It is. Examples of relay devices include switching hubs and routers.

  The LEDs 12 and 14 perform display based on different information. As shown in FIG. 2, the LEDs 12 and 14 are provided in pairs for each port. That is, one LED display area 50a in the LED display area 50 corresponds to one port 10a in the plurality of ports 10, and this LED display area 50a includes one first LED 12a and one first LED 10a. 2 LEDs 14a. The LEDs 12a and 14a are preferably displayed in different modes so that they can be easily distinguished from each other. For example, the LEDs 12a and 14a may be displayed in different lighting colors (for example, the first LED 12a is lit red and the second LED 14a is lit green) or are different. You may display by the lighting form (For example, the presence or absence of blinking). The LED display area 50 including the plurality of LEDs 12 and 14 is provided at a position that is visible from the outside of the relay device 100.

  The second LED 14 is connected to the Switch / PHY circuit 20, and the display may be controlled by, for example, an LED control unit (not shown) that is a part of the Switch / PHY circuit 20. The second LED 14 indicates that at least the state of the port 10 is link up or link down. For example, the second LED 14 may indicate a link up when it is lit, and may indicate a link down when it is off. Alternatively, the second LED 14 indicates, in addition to the link state, the communication speed and communication direction (bidirectional communication / one-way communication) of the corresponding port 10 and whether or not a packet is being transmitted / received by turning on / off or blinking. May be.

  The state monitoring unit 30 monitors the Switch / PHY circuit 20, thereby monitoring the communication of each of the plurality of ports 10 and confirming the link state. Specifically, the state monitoring unit 30 includes a link state detection unit 32 that detects the link state of the port 10, a connection detection unit 34 that detects connection of the port 10, and a traffic detection unit that detects traffic applied to the port 10. 36 and a link failure detection unit 38 that detects whether or not link is possible when the port 10 is link-down. Each functional block of the state monitoring unit 30 detects the link state, port connection, traffic, and the presence / absence of link failure for each port based on various data acquired from the Switch / PHY circuit 20. In addition, the state monitoring unit 30 includes a storage unit 31 that stores monitoring results detected by the functional blocks.

  The LED control unit 40 acquires the monitoring result of the state monitoring unit 30 from the storage unit 31, and controls the display of the first LED 12 corresponding to the port to be maintained based on the monitoring result. Hereinafter, as an example, a case will be described in which the display of the first LED 12a corresponding to the port 10a to be maintained among the plurality of ports 10 is controlled.

  First, the first aspect will be described. As such a first aspect, the LED control unit 40 indicates a port 10a indicating a communication state (for example, a communication state that is not permitted in advance) that is different from a preset communication state among ports whose port state is link-up. And the display of the first LED 12a corresponding to the detected port 10a is controlled. In this case, for example, the first LED 12a corresponding to the port 10a may be turned on and the other first LEDs 12 may be turned off. According to the first aspect, for example, the port 10a in a communication state that should not be permitted or not preferably permitted can be easily and quickly found at the installation location of the relay device.

  Here, the communication state can include a port connection state. That is, the LED control unit 40 detects a port 10a indicating a connection state different from a preset connection state from the ports whose link-up is detected by the link state detection unit 32, and sets the detected port 10a to the detected port 10a. The display of the corresponding first LED 12a may be controlled. Whether or not the connection of the port 10 is in a preset connection state can be detected by the connection detection unit 34 of the state monitoring unit 30. Further, the information related to the port connection may be based on the setting of the monitoring server, for example.

  According to this configuration, for example, it is very easy to determine which port of which relay device is used for unauthorized access or port connection mistake (for example, connection to another VLAN ID) at the installation location of the relay device. It can be discovered quickly. In addition, since it is possible to immediately and visually confirm port connection mistakes, it is possible to efficiently construct an appropriate network not only during the construction of a network but also during network construction. There are also advantages.

  As another example, the communication state can include a communication rate. That is, the LED control unit 40 detects the port 10a having the communication rate from the ports whose link-up is detected by the link state detection unit 32, and controls the display of the first LED 12a corresponding to the detected port 10a. May be. Whether the communication rate of the port is larger than a preset communication rate can be detected by the traffic detection unit 36 of the state monitoring unit 30. Further, the predetermined threshold value of the communication rate may be based on the setting of the monitoring server, for example.

  According to this configuration, for example, in the network configuration, it is extremely easy to determine at which location of the relay device the amount of information that should not be added during normal operation is due to which port of which relay device. It can be discovered quickly. Moreover, since the corresponding 1st LED will light up about all the ports whose communication rate is larger than a predetermined threshold value, by tracking the lighting location of 1st LED over several relay equipment, finally, it is very much A data source (for example, a terminal computer terminal), that is, a failure occurrence point can be found on site.

  In the first mode, the state of the port 10a to be maintained is link-up, so that the second LED 14a is lit and the first LED 12a is lit. That is, it can be seen from the combination of the indications of the LEDs 12a and 14a that the port 10a should be maintained at the time of link-up.

  Next, a 2nd aspect is demonstrated. As such a second mode, the LED control unit 40 detects the port 10a that cannot be linked from the ports whose port status is link-down, and displays the display of the first LED 12a corresponding to the detected port 10a. Control. Alternatively, the LED control unit 40 detects a port 10a that is directly or indirectly connected to a non-linkable port in another relay device from among the ports whose link state is link-down. The display of the first LED 12a corresponding to the port 10a may be controlled. In these cases, for example, the first LED 12a corresponding to the port 10a may be turned on and the other first LEDs 12 may be turned off. According to the second aspect, it is possible to easily and quickly find the port 10a in which the link is down among the ports in the link down due to the link failure.

  Here, link impossible refers to a state in which link up is not possible, and may be based on the setting of the monitoring server, or based on the result of activation of a predetermined function of the relay device itself, specifically It may be based on the fact that the communication of the port has looped to its own device.

  In the second mode, the state of the port 10a to be maintained is link-down, so that the second LED 14a is turned off and the first LED 12a is turned on. That is, it can be seen from the combination of the indications of the LEDs 12a and 14a that the port 10a should be maintained when the link is down.

  The second aspect will be described more specifically with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, a plurality of relay devices 110 are connected to the monitoring server 200 (for example, the port 116 of the relay device 112 is connected to the monitoring server 200, and other relay devices are connected to the monitoring server 200 via the relay device 112. The lower relay device 120 is connected to each relay device 110, and the computer terminal 300 is further connected to each relay device 120. The plurality of relay devices 110 are installed at the installation location 60, and the plurality of relay devices 120 are installed at the installation location 62.

  Here, when the port 124 of the relay device 122 among the lower relay devices 120 is set to be non-linkable by the monitoring server 200, for example, the port 114 of the relay device 112 directly connected to the port 124 is Link down. In this case, since the ports 114 and 124 are both linked down, the second LEDs corresponding to the ports 114 and 124 are both turned off. Therefore, when there is a port that is link-down in the other relay devices 110 and 120, the second LED is also turned off in the same way, and the cause of the link-down is unknown only by this. However, in the second mode, since the port 124 corresponds to a port that cannot link itself, the first LED corresponding to the port 124 is lit, and the port 114 cannot link in other relay devices. Since it corresponds to the port directly connected to the port, the first LED corresponding to the port 114 is also lit. Therefore, unlike the port that is simply a link-down in the other relay devices 110 and 120, the first LED corresponding to the ports 114 and 124 is lit. 124 can be easily and quickly found from the installation locations 60 and 62, respectively.

  Note that when a predetermined port becomes unlinkable, the range of ports directly or indirectly connected to the port can be appropriately set by the monitoring server 200, for example.

  Returning to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, another configuration of the relay device 100 will be described. The relay device 100 may further include a mode display LED 16 and a mode change switch 18. Here, the mode changeover switch 18 is turned on, for example, when the relay device is powered on. The connection detection mode or the communication rate detection mode according to the first aspect, or the link failure detection according to the second aspect. Switch between each of the modes. Further, the mode changeover switch 18 may be switchable to an off state in which none of the above modes is effective. Based on the mode switching of the mode switch 18, the LED control unit 40 performs control in a predetermined mode. Such mode switching may be performed by the LED control unit 40 itself, or may be performed by a monitoring server. Further, the mode display LED 16 displays a mode set by the mode changeover switch 18, and may be turned on when set, for example, and may be turned off otherwise.

  Next, a relay device control method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control method of the relay device according to the present embodiment. Note that this method can be performed by the relay device whose configuration has been described above. In addition, each step described below (including a step denoted by a reference numeral in the drawing and a partial step of the step) is executed in an arbitrary order or in parallel within a range that does not contradict the processing contents. be able to. Hereinafter, as an example, a case will be described in which the display of the first LED 12a corresponding to the port 10a to be maintained among the plurality of ports 10 of the relay device 100 is controlled.

  First, the mode changeover switch 18, the LED control unit 40, or the monitoring server sets which mode (for example, the connection detection mode, the communication rate detection mode, or the link failure detection mode) the first LED 12 is to display (S102). ). Thereafter, the state monitoring unit 30 monitors the Switch / PHY circuit 20, and thereby monitors the state of each of the plurality of ports 10 (S104). The state monitoring unit 30 stores the monitoring result in the storage unit 31 so that necessary data can be supplied to the LED control unit 40. And the LED control part 40 detects the port which should be maintained based on the mode preset by step S102.

  First, when the connection detection mode is set, the LED control unit 40 detects a port that is linked up for all the ports 10 of the relay device 100 based on the monitoring result data stored in the storage unit 31 (S106). ). In this case, if all the ports 10 are not linked up (S106 NO), all the first LEDs 12 are turned off (S120). On the other hand, when at least one port 10 is link-up, it is determined whether or not there is a port showing a connection state different from the preset connection state in the port 10 that is link-up (S107). As a result, when the port 10a indicating a connection state different from the preset connection state is detected (S114), the first LED 12a corresponding to the detected port 10a is turned on (S116). Alternatively, when no port showing a connection state different from the preset connection state is detected from the ports 10 that are linked up (NO in S107), all the first LEDs 12 are turned off (S120).

  Further, when the communication rate detection mode is set, the LED control unit 40 detects ports that are linked up for all the ports 10 of the relay device 100 based on the monitoring result data stored in the storage unit 31 ( S106). In this case, if all the ports 10 are not linked up (S106 NO), all the first LEDs 12 are turned off (S120). On the other hand, if at least one port 10 is link-up, it is determined whether or not there is a port having a communication rate larger than a preset communication rate in the port 10 that is link-up (S108). . As a result, when a port 10a having a communication rate larger than a preset communication rate is detected (S114), the first LED 12a corresponding to the detected port 10a is turned on (S116). Alternatively, when no port having a communication rate higher than a preset communication rate is detected from the ports 10 that are linked up (NO in S108), all the first LEDs 12 are turned off (S120).

  Further, when the link impossibility detection mode is set, the LED control unit 40 detects a port that is link-down for all the ports 10 of the relay device 100 based on the monitoring result data stored in the storage unit 31 ( S110). In this case, when all the ports 10 are not linked down (S110 NO), all the first LEDs 12 are turned off (S120). On the other hand, when at least one port 10 is link-down, in the port 10 that is link-down, it is impossible to link, or directly or indirectly to a port that is not linkable in another relay device. It is determined whether the port is a connected port (S112). As a result, when such a port 10a that cannot be linked is detected (S114), the first LED 12a corresponding to the detected port 10a is turned on (S116). Alternatively, when a port that is not linkable is not detected from the ports 10 that are linked down (NO in S112), all the first LEDs 12 are turned off (S120).

  Returning to step S116, when the first LED 12a corresponding to the port 10a to be maintained is turned on, it is possible to visually recognize which port of which relay device is to be maintained at the installation location of the relay device. Thereafter, the maintenance staff performs necessary maintenance on the port 10a at the installation location of the relay device regardless of the information by the monitoring server or in addition to the information by the monitoring server. Further, by repeating a series of steps from START to END in the flowchart of FIG. 4 at regular intervals, it is possible to always detect the link failure or the like.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the ports to be maintained are displayed so as to be visible at the site by the first LEDs provided for each port. Therefore, the port to be maintained can be easily and quickly found on site.

  The examples and application examples described through the embodiments of the present invention can be used in combination as appropriate according to the application, or can be used with modifications or improvements, and the present invention is limited to the description of the above-described embodiments. It is not a thing. It is apparent from the description of the scope of claims that the embodiments added with such combinations or changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

10 ... Port 12 ... First LED
14 ... Second LED
16 ... Mode display LED
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 ... Mode change switch 20 ... Switch / PHY circuit 30 ... Status monitoring part 40 ... LED control part 100 ... Relay apparatus 200 ... Monitoring server

Claims (9)

A relay device that relays communications on a network,
Multiple ports,
A status monitoring unit for monitoring the status of the plurality of ports;
A plurality of status display sections each provided for each port;
Based on the monitoring result of the state monitoring unit, a port indicating a communication state different from a preset communication state is detected from the ports whose link state is link-up, and the detected port corresponds to the detected port. A relay device comprising: a control unit that controls display of the state display unit. The communication state includes a port connection state,
The relay device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit detects a port indicating a connection state different from a preset connection state, and controls display of the state display unit corresponding to the detected port. The communication state includes a communication rate,
The relay device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit detects a port having a communication rate higher than a preset communication rate, and controls display of the status display unit corresponding to the detected port. A relay device that relays communications on a network,
Multiple ports,
A status monitoring unit for monitoring the status of the plurality of ports;
A plurality of status display sections each provided for each port;
Based on the monitoring result of the state monitoring unit, the port state is directly or indirectly from a port whose link state is link-down to a port that is not linkable or a port that is not linkable in other relay devices. A relay device comprising: a control unit that detects a connected port and controls display of the state display unit corresponding to the detected port. The relay device includes communication between a network device and a monitoring server,
The relay device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit detects that the port cannot be linked based on the setting of the monitoring server.   The relay device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit detects that the port cannot be linked based on a communication loop.   7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of second state display units that are provided for each of the ports and that at least display that the state of the port is link up or link down. Relay equipment. A relay device control method that relays communication on a network and includes a plurality of ports and a plurality of status display units provided for each of the ports,
Monitoring the status of the plurality of ports;
Detecting a port showing a communication state different from a predetermined communication state from among the ports whose link state is link-up based on the monitoring result of the monitoring step;
Controlling the display of the status display unit corresponding to the port detected in the detecting step. A relay device control method that relays communication on a network and includes a plurality of ports and a plurality of status display units provided for each of the ports,
Monitoring the status of the plurality of ports;
Based on the monitoring result of the monitoring step, the port status is directly or indirectly from a port whose link state is link-down to a port that is not linkable or a port that is not linkable in another relay device. Detecting a connected port;
Controlling the display of the status display unit corresponding to the port detected in the detecting step.

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