JP2012074841A - Network management device and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent generation of erroneous exchange of a network cable or, in inserting or removing a network cable, another network cable from being removed by being caught in.SOLUTION: A network management device 1 includes means for detecting presence/absence of the connection of a network cable in each port of a network device; means for locking or unlocking the network cable; means for determining presence/absence of failure in each port; and a network device state management function for performing control, of the plurality of ports, for locking each port with the presence of connection detected and the absence of failure determined, and for unlocking each port with the presence of failure determined.

Description

  The present invention relates to a network management apparatus suitable for connecting and managing a plurality of network cables and a control method for the network management apparatus.

  Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose techniques for detecting a network cable failure. Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for locking or unlocking (unlocking) the connection of a signal cable.

JP 2008-147845 A JP 2007-199812 A JP2003-61942A

  By the way, the following methods can be considered when a failure occurs in a network cable connected to a network device such as a hub or router. When a failure occurs in the network cable, the failure location is first displayed to the administrator by displaying the failure location on a separate management terminal or collecting and diagnosing the failure log on the management terminal. To be notified. Next, the administrator identifies the network device for the notified failure location, depending on the storage result of the failure location display result, the memo, and the printout result. After that, the administrator identified the failed port by checking the display of the network device, etc., and replaced the network cable. In this method, since the network device and the port are specified manually based on the failure diagnosis result, there is a possibility that the wrong network cable is replaced.

  In addition, network cables are often connected densely due to the structure of the network device, and network cables that have broken network cable locking mechanisms (ie, claw portions of modular plugs (or modular jacks)) If used, there is a possibility that the fitting may be loosened or the network cable may be disconnected when the adjacent network cable is inserted or removed.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a network management apparatus and a method for controlling the network management apparatus that can solve the above-described problems.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention is a network management device that manages a network device to which a plurality of network cables are connected, and detects a connection state that detects whether a network cable is connected at each port of the network device. A port lock / unlock unit that locks or unlocks a network cable at each port of the network device, a failure determination unit that determines whether there is a failure at each port of the network device, and the plurality of ports In addition, for each port that is detected as being connected by the connection state detecting unit and determined as having no failure by the failure determining unit, it is locked by the port lock / unlock unit, and a failure is determined by the failure determining unit. For each determined port Information, a network management device, characterized in that it comprises a control means for unlocking by the port locking and unlocking means.

  According to the above configuration, all network cables that are connected and have no failure among the plurality of ports are locked by the port lock / unlock means, and it is determined that there is a failure among the plurality of network cables. Only those that have been unlocked are unlocked. Therefore, it is possible to prevent accidental replacement of another network cable that has not failed, and other network cables that are caught and unplugged when the network cable is inserted or removed.

It is the figure which showed typically the structure of one Embodiment of the network management apparatus by this invention. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a processing flow in the network management device 1 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a network device 20 incorporated in the network management device 1 of FIG. 1 ((a) is a schematic perspective view showing an internal structure, and (b) is a front view showing an external appearance). 3A is a detailed view of the port lock / unlock mechanism 800 ((a) is in a locked state (solenoid switch 810 is in an ON state) and (b) is in an unlocked state (the solenoid switch 810 is in an OFF state)). is there. 3A is a detailed view of the port connection state detection mechanism 900 (a) is a network cable connection state (push switch 910 is on), and (b) is a network cable unconnected state (push switch 910 is off). )). It is a figure which shows the example of the network device state table 201 in the network device state database 200 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the failure detection database 301 in the database 300 for failure detection of FIG.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a network management apparatus 1 as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the network management device 1 of FIG. 3A is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the network device 20 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3B is a front view showing the appearance. 4A is a perspective view showing the locked state (solenoid switch 810 is ON) of the port lock / unlock mechanism 800 of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 4B is the unlocked state (solenoid switch 810 is OFF). FIG. 5A is a side view showing the network cable connection state (push switch 910 is ON) of the port connection state detection mechanism 900 of FIG. 3A, and FIG. 5B is the network cable non-connection state (push switch). 910 is a side view showing an OFF state). FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the network device state table 201 in the network device state database 200 of FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the failure detection database 301 in the failure detection database 300 of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the network management device 1 as an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of network devices 20 and a management mechanism 10 that manages them. Each network device 20 includes a plurality (eight in this example) of LAN (local area network) ports 400 and a plurality of port lighting units 600 provided so as to correspond to the respective LAN ports 400. Hereinafter, the LAN port 400 may be simply referred to as a port.

  The management mechanism 10 includes a network device state management function 100, a network device state DB (database) 200, and a failure detection DB 300. The management mechanism 10 is configured by a combination of one or more computers and peripheral devices such as a storage device, a display device, an input device, a communication device, and the like, and executes a predetermined program so that a network device state management function 100, an information management function based on the network device status DB 200, and an information management function based on the failure detection DB 300 are realized.

  As shown in FIG. 3A or 3B, each network device 20 includes a plurality of LAN ports 400, a plurality of port numbers 410 that are code displays corresponding to the LAN ports 400, and a plurality of port lighting units. 600. Each network device 20 further includes a port lighting mechanism 500, a port control mechanism 700, a port lock / unlock mechanism 800, and a port connection state detection mechanism 900.

  The LAN port 400 is a network cable connector (also referred to as an outlet or a connection port) to which a network cable 830 (that is, a modular plug 831 of the network cable 830) is connected (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Each LAN port 400 is assigned a port number 410.

  The port lighting mechanism 500 includes a plurality of port lighting units 600, and has a function of causing each port lighting unit 600 to turn on / off and a function of notifying the port control mechanism 700 of a “port lighting state”.

  Each port lighting unit 600 is located below each LAN port 400, has an LED (light emitting diode), and turns on / off the LED according to an instruction from the port lighting mechanism 500. The “port lighting state”, which is the above information (or signal) notified from the port lighting mechanism 500 to the port control mechanism 700, is information corresponding to lighting (ON) / extinguishing (OFF) of this LED.

  The port control mechanism 700 has a network communication function (hub or switch function). When receiving a port lock / unlock instruction from the network device state management function 100, the port control mechanism 700 is instructed to the port lock / unlock mechanism 800. Instruct the lock / unlock of the specified port. Similarly, when an instruction to turn on / off a port is received from the network device state management function 100, an instruction to turn on / off the designated port lighting unit 600 is issued to the port lighting mechanism 500. Further, the port control mechanism 700 sets the “network device name”, “port number”, “port connection status”, “port status”, “port lock status”, and “port lighting status” of each network device 20 that is controlling each network device 20. The network device state management function 100 notifies the network device state management function 100 of the operation state in response to an operation state report instruction from the network device state management function 100. Each network device 20 has a unique name “network device name”. In the present embodiment, for example, “SWM001”, “SWM002”... (FIG. 1). The port control mechanism 700 is configured by, for example, a combination of one or a plurality of computers and peripheral devices such as a storage device, an input / output circuit, and a communication device, and is realized by executing a predetermined program. Can do.

  The “port state” can be detected by a network communication function. For example, when the network cable 830 is connected, it is necessary to match the transmission speed and communication mode (for example, half duplex or full duplex duplex mode) with the other party by auto-negotiation before data communication. There is. At this time, if a communicable destination is found, the “port state” becomes “link up” (link up). Thereafter, the transmission speed and communication mode are determined, and communication becomes possible. If the network cable 830 is disconnected and communication is not possible, the “port state” becomes “link down” (link down). The “port state” when the network cable 830 is not connected (that is, the modular plug 831 is not inserted / connected) is “No Module” (no module).

  The port lock / unlock mechanism 800 has a function of executing lock / unlock of each LAN port 400 and a function of notifying the port control mechanism 700 of a “port lock state”.

  The port connection state detection mechanism 900 has a function of detecting the insertion / removal state of the network cable 830 and a function of notifying the port control mechanism 700 of the “port connection state”.

  FIG. 4 shows details of the locking mechanism of the network cable 830. The port lock / unlock mechanism 800 has a solenoid switch 810 inside. The solenoid switch 810 allows the network cable 830 to be locked / unlocked by moving the lock pin 820 up and down according to an instruction from the port control mechanism 700. When the solenoid switch 810 is in an ON state, the lock pin 820 is lowered, enters the recess 833 of the modular plug 831 of the network cable 830, and is locked (FIG. 4A). Further, in the OFF state, the lock pin 820 rises to enter the unlocked state (FIG. 4B). The modular plug 831 is provided with a claw portion 832 for preventing removal. The “port lock state” is information corresponding to the ON / OFF state of the solenoid switch 810.

  FIG. 5 shows details of a mechanism for detecting the insertion / removal state of the network cable 830. The port connection state detection mechanism 900 has a push switch 910 inside. The push switch 910 can detect the insertion / removal state of the network cable 830 according to the state of the push pin 920. When the network cable 830 is connected, the push pin 920 is pushed in, so that the push switch is turned on, and it can be detected that the network cable 830 is connected (FIG. 5A). When the network cable 830 is not connected, the push pin 920 returns, the push switch 910 is turned off, and it can be detected that the network cable 830 is not connected (FIG. 5B). The “port connection state” is information corresponding to the ON / OFF state of the push switch 910. For example, if a network cable 830 is connected to a certain LAN port 400, the port connection state detection mechanism 900 (FIG. 5) is configured so that the push switch 910 is turned on when the push pin 920 of the push switch 910 is pushed. It detects that the cable 830 is connected. The detection result by the port connection state detection mechanism 900 is notified to the port control mechanism 700 (FIG. 3).

  The network device state management function 100 in FIG. 1 communicates with the port control mechanism 700 (FIG. 3) of each network device 20 to manage the operation state, detect a failure, and give an instruction. Here, the order in which the network device state management function 100 communicates with each network device 20 is, for example, from the smaller numerical value of “network device name”. In the example of FIG. 1, “SWM001” having the lowest number at the end of the network device name is the first.

  Management of the operation state by the network device state management function 100 is performed as follows. When the network management device 1 is powered on, the network device status management function 100 instructs the port control mechanism 700 of the first network device 20 (network device name = “SWM001”) (FIG. 1) to report the operating status. Put out. In response to this, the port control mechanism 700 of the network device 20 (“SWM001”) reports the operation status to the network device status management function 100. Upon receiving the report, the network device state management function 100 issues an operation state report instruction to the port control mechanism 700 of the next network device 20 (network device name = “SWM002”) (FIG. 1). In response to this, the port control mechanism 700 of the network device 20 (“SWM002”) reports the operation status to the network device state management function 100. After one round, “network device name” returns to the youngest network device 20 (network device name = “SWM001” network device 20), and the above operation is repeated. As a result, the operation state of each network device 20 is continuously updated.

  Further, the network device state management function 100 reflects the operation state received from each port control mechanism 700 in the network device state table 201 (FIG. 6) in the network device state DB 200. At the same time, the reception information from each port control mechanism 700 and the failure detection DB 300 are used to detect a failure. This operation is repeated to manage the operation state of each network device 20 and detect a failure. Further, the network device state management function 100 has a function of instructing the port control mechanism 700 of the network device 20 in which the failure has occurred to unlock the LAN port 400 and turn on the port lighting unit 600 when a failure is detected. . The network device state management function 100 has a function of instructing the LAN port 400 to be locked and the port lighting unit 600 to be turned off when the faulty network cable 830 is replaced and becomes normal.

  The network device status DB 200 in the management mechanism 10 includes the network device status, “network device name”, “port number”, “port connection status”, “port status”, and “port lock status” provided from the network device status management mechanism 100. A network connection state table 201 (FIG. 6) that lists “port lighting states” is stored.

  The failure detection DB 300 in the management mechanism 10 stores a failure detection database 301 (FIG. 7) in which the port state and the failure determination are associated with each other, and collates the state of the network device provided from the network device state management mechanism 100. Used when doing. In the present embodiment, in the failure detection DB 300, when the “port status” is “link up”, the failure determination is “OK” (no failure), and when “No Module”, the failure determination is “OK”, “ In the case of “link down”, a failure detection database 301 including information indicating that the failure determination is “NG” (failure present) is stored.

  Next, the operation of the network management device 1 of FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Note that a series of steps in the flowchart of FIG. 2 represents a processing flow corresponding to one network device 20. That is, the processing for a plurality of network devices 20 is executed by repeatedly executing a series of steps in the flowchart of FIG. 2 a plurality of times.

  It is assumed that the network management device 1 is powered on and a plurality of network cables 830 (FIG. 4) are connected to a desired plurality of LAN ports 400 of each network device 20.

  Upon receiving the power-on, the network device state management function 100 (FIG. 1) issues an operation state report instruction to the port control mechanism 700 of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM001) (FIG. 1) (step S1). ). In response to this, the port control mechanism 700 of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM001) reports the operation status regarding all the LAN ports 400 to the network device state management function 100 (step S2). That is, in step S2, information about each LAN port 400 of the network device 20 controlled by the port control mechanism 700 is collected, and the collected information in the network device 20 is notified to the network device state management function 100. The information to be collected is the same item as the network connection state table 201 (FIG. 6) in the network device state DB 200 (FIG. 1).

  Here, the operation status report by the port control mechanism 700 in step S2 will be described with a specific example. Now, assume that the network cable 830 is inserted into the port 1 (= the LAN port 400 of port number 1) whose network device name is SWM001, and the link-up is performed. In this case, the information about the LAN port 400 is “network device name” “SWM001”, “port number” “1”, “port connection status” “ON”, “port status” “link up”. However, since the port lock / unlock control and the port on / off control are performed in step S6, S8 or S10 according to the instruction of the network device state management function 100, at this time, the “port lock state” “OFF”, “ The port lighting state is “OFF”.

  The network device state management function 100 reflects the received information on the network connection state table 201 (FIG. 6) in the network device state DB 200 (FIG. 1) (step S3).

  Next, for each LAN port 400 of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM001), the network device state management function 100 “port state” of the information in the network connection state table 201 in the network device state DB 200 (FIG. 1). Is applied to the failure detection database 301 (FIG. 7) on the failure detection DB 300 (FIG. 1) to determine the failure of the network cable 830 (step S4). For example, when the “port status” in the network device status table 201 is “link up”, the “failure determination” corresponding to the “port status” “link up” in the failure detection DB 300 is “OK”, so the network cable 830 is Determined to be normal. On the other hand, when the “port state” is “link down”, the “failure determination” is “NG”, and it is determined that the network cable 830 has a failure. Further, when the “port state” is “No Module”, the “failure determination” is “OK”, but information indicating that the network cable 830 is “not connected” is added to the determination result. The

  Next, the network device status management function 100 determines that the network device 20 (network device name: SWM001) is normal (= “failure determination” is “OK” and the network cable 830 is “not connected”). “Not in state”) Instructing locking and extinguishing of each LAN port 400 (step S5).

  The port control mechanism 700 locks and extinguishes all normal LAN ports 400 based on the instruction in step S5 (however, the state of the already locked and extinguished ports is continued) (step S6). ). In step S6, the port control mechanism 700 causes the port lock / unlock mechanism 800 (FIG. 3) to lock the port determined to be normal. The port lock / unlock mechanism 800 lowers the lock pin 820 (FIG. 4) by turning on the solenoid switch 810 (FIG. 4) and inserts it into the recess 833 of the modular plug 831 of the network cable 830. The cable 830 is locked. For example, when the network cable 830 of port 1 with the network device name SWM001 is locked, the port control mechanism 700 grasps the port lock state, and the “port lock state” is set to “ON”. In step S <b> 6, the port control mechanism 700 turns off each port lighting unit 600 corresponding to each port determined to be normal by the port lighting mechanism 500. Here, the “port lighting state” of each normal port is “OFF”. As a result of the processing in step S6, the information about the LAN port 400 exemplified above includes “network device name” “SWM001”, “port number” “1”, “port connection status” “ON”, “port status”. “Link up”, “port lock state” “ON”, “port lighting state” “OFF”.

  Next, the network device status management function 100 detects each LAN port in which a failure is detected (= “failure determination” is “NG”) for the port control mechanism 700 of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM001). An instruction to unlock and turn on 400 is given (step S7).

  Based on the instruction in step S7, the port control mechanism 700 unlocks and lights all the LAN ports 400 in which a failure has been detected (however, the ports that have already been unlocked or already lighted are kept in that state). (Step S8). In step S8, the port control mechanism 700 causes the port lock / unlock mechanism 800 (FIG. 3) to unlock the port determined to have a failure. The port lock / unlock mechanism 800 raises the lock pin 820 (FIG. 4) by turning off the solenoid switch 810 (FIG. 4), and exits from the recess 833 of the modular plug 831 of the network cable 830. The cable 830 is unlocked. For example, if the network cable 830 of the port X (X is one of 1 to 8) with the network device name SWM001 is unlocked, the port control mechanism 700 grasps the port unlock state, and the “port lock state” is set. “OFF”. In step S8, the port control mechanism 700 lights each port lighting unit 600 corresponding to each port determined to have a failure in the port lighting mechanism 500. Here, the “port lighting state” of each port determined to be faulty is “ON”. As a result of the processing in step S8, the information about the LAN port 400 exemplified here is “network device name” “SWM001”, “port number” “X”, “port connection status” “ON”, “port status”. “Link down”, “port lock state” “OFF”, “port lighting state” “ON”.

  Next, the network device state management function 100 indicates that the network cable 830 is “not connected” (= “failure determination” is “OK”) to the port control mechanism 700 of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM001). An instruction is given to unlock each LAN port 400 when the network cable 830 is “not connected” (step S9).

  The port control mechanism 700 unlocks all the LAN ports 400 to which the network cable 830 is not connected based on the instruction in step S7 (however, the state of the already unlocked ports is continued) ( Step S10). In step S10, the port control mechanism 700 causes the port lock / unlock mechanism 800 (FIG. 3) to unlock the port for which it is determined that the network cable 830 is not connected. The port lock / unlock mechanism 800 raises the lock pin 820 (FIG. 4) by turning off the solenoid switch 810 (FIG. 4), and causes the lock pin 820 (FIG. 4) to rise from the recess 833 of the modular plug 831 of the network cable 830. The network cable 830 is unlocked. Here, when the network cable 830 of the port X having the network device name SWM001 is unlocked, the port control mechanism 700 grasps the port unlock state, and the “port lock state” is set to “OFF”. As a result of the processing in step S8, the information about the LAN port 400 exemplified here is “network device name” “SWM001”, “port number” “X”, “port connection status” “OFF”, “port status”. “No Module”, “Port lock state”, “OFF”, and “Port lighting state” are maintained as before. That is, before it is determined that the network cable 830 is not connected, the port that has been determined to be normal and has been turned off remains in the “port off state” and “OFF”, while the port is determined to be faulty and is lit. The ports that have been left remain “ON”.

  Through the processing in steps S1 to S10 described above, for all ports of the network device 20 (for example, the network device name: SWM001), the port lock / unlock and on / off control are performed based on the determination result in step S4. Is called. Then, by repeatedly executing the processing of steps S1 to S10, lock / unlock and lighting / extinguishing control are performed for each port of another network device 20 (for example, network device names: SWM002, SWM003,...). When the processing is completed for all the network devices 20, the same processing is executed again from the first network device 20 (in this example, the network device name: SWM001), thereby updating the information about each network device 20 and making a determination based thereon. Control based on the result continues.

  Next, as a specific example of the above process, a flow of a process when a failure is detected and maintenance work is performed on the failure will be described. Among the eight LAN ports 400 of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM002), the LAN ports 400 having the port numbers 1 to 6 are normal (port state: “link up”), and the LAN ports 400 having the port numbers 7 to 8 are included. An example will be described in which a failure occurs in port number 6 when the network cable 830 is not connected (port state: “No Module”).

  When the LAN port 400 of port numbers 1 to 6 is normal and the LAN port 400 of port numbers 7 to 8 is not connected, the “port connection status” of the port numbers 1 to 6 is “ON” and the “port status” is “ “link up”, “port lock state” is “ON”, “port lighting state” is “OFF”, “port connection state” of port numbers 7 to 8 is “OFF”, and “port state” is “No Module”. “Port lock state” is “OFF”, and “Port lighting state” is “OFF”. In this state, if a failure occurs in the network cable 830 connected to the port of port number 6, then the port control mechanism 700 notifies the port status in accordance with an instruction from the network device status management function 100 (step S1). When (step S2) is performed, the “port state” of port number 6 becomes “link down”. When the network device state management function 100 reflects the information in the network device state table 201 (step S3), the “port connection state” of the port number 6 is “ON”, the “port state” is “link down”, “ “Port lock state” is “ON”, and “Port lighting state” is “OFF”. The state of other ports does not change.

  Next, when the network device state management function 100 makes a failure determination (step S4), referring to the failure detection database 301 (FIG. 7) in the failure detection DB 300, the “port state” becomes “link down”. Port number 6 is “failure determination” = “NG”. The other ports have “failure determination” = “OK”.

  Next, based on the determination result in step S4, the network device state management function 100 determines whether the port control mechanism 700 is normal and the port numbers 1 to 5 whose “port connection state” is “ON”. An instruction is issued to lock and turn off the port (step S5). Next, the port control mechanism 700 continues to lock and turn off each normal port (port numbers 1 to 5) in this example (step S6).

  Next, the network device state management function 100 instructs the port control mechanism 700 to unlock and turn on the port of port number 6 determined to have a failure (step S7). In response to this, the port control mechanism 700 unlocks and lights up the faulty port number 6 (step S8).

  Next, the network device state management function 100 instructs the port control mechanism 700 to unlock the port numbers 7 to 8 to which the network cable 830 is not connected (step S9). In response to this, the port control mechanism 700 continues to unlock the port ports of the port numbers 7 to 8 to which the network cable 830 is not connected in this example (step S10).

  With the above processing, the port of port number 6 where the failure has occurred is unlocked and turned on in step S8. On the other hand, the other ports are in a state where the port to which the network cable 830 is connected is locked and turned off, and the port to which the network cable 830 is not connected is unlocked and turned off. .

  Next, when the network device state management function 100 instructs the port control mechanism 700 to report the operation state to the network device 20 (network device name: SWM002) in step S1, the port control mechanism 700 sends the following in step S2. Status is reported. That is, for port number 6, “port connection state” is “ON”, “port state” is “link down”, “port lock state” is “OFF”, and “port lighting state” is “ON”. Note that the status of other ports has not changed. Next, when the network device state management function 100 reflects the information notified in step S2 in the network device state table 201, the result is as shown in FIG. 6 for the network device 20 (network device name: SWM002). Thereafter, the state of the port number 6 does not change until the replacement work of the network cable 830 (work for eliminating the failure state) is performed. That is, port number 6 is unlocked and lit. In addition, each normal port to which the other network cable 830 is connected is locked and turned off. Further, each port to which the network cable 830 is not connected is unlocked and turned off.

  Next, it is assumed that the maintenance staff (or administrator) confirms the lighting state of the port, identifies the location where the failure has occurred, and replaces the network cable 830 with the port number 6. When the network cable 830 is disconnected at the time of replacement, the port connection state detection mechanism 900 returns to the push switch OFF state because the push pin 920 of the push switch 910 returns. Since the port connection state detection mechanism 900 detects that the network cable 830 has been removed, the port connection state detection mechanism 900 notifies the port control mechanism 700 accordingly. When the port control mechanism 700 receives a next operation status report instruction from the network device status management function 100 (step S1), the port number “port connection status” is set to “OFF” for the network device status management function 100. Is notified (step S2). Next, when the information received by the network device state management function 100 is reflected in the network device state table 201 in the network device state DB 200 (step S3), the port number 6 of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM002) is “ “Port connection state” is “OFF”, “Port state” is “link down”, “Port lock state” is “OFF”, and “Port lighting state” is “ON”. Since the failure determination result in the subsequent step S4 in this state is that there is a failure, the port number 6 is again controlled to be unlocked and lit in step S8.

  Next, when the replacement network cable 830 is connected, the port connection state detection mechanism 900 detects the push switch ON state by pushing the push pin 920 of the push switch 910. Since the port connection state detection mechanism 900 detects that the network cable 830 is connected, the port connection state detection mechanism 900 notifies the port control mechanism 700 accordingly. When the port control mechanism 700 receives a next operation status report instruction from the network device status management function 100 (step S1), the port number “port connection status” is set to “ON” for the network device status management function 100. Is notified (step S2). Next, when the information received by the network device state management function 100 is reflected in the network device state table 201 in the network device state DB 200 (step S3), the port number 6 of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM002) is “ “Port connection state” is “ON”, “Port state” is “link down”, “Port lock state” is “OFF”, and “Port lighting state” is “ON”. Since the failure determination result in the subsequent step S4 in this state is that there is a failure, the port number 6 is again controlled to be unlocked and lit in step S8.

  Next, when the network cable 830 is connected, the port number 6 of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM002) is matched with the other party in terms of transmission speed and communication mode by auto-negotiation. If found, the “port state” becomes “link up”. In this state, when the state of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM002) is reflected in the network device state table 201 in the network device state DB 200 in the processing of steps S1 to S3, “Port connection state” is “ON”, “Port state” is “link up”, “Port lock state” is “OFF”, and “Port lighting state” is “ON”. In this case, the failure determination result of step S4 is “OK” for “failure determination”, and it is determined that there is no failure (and “port connection state”). Therefore, for port number 6, the following steps S5 and S6 are performed. The port is locked and turned off.

  In the subsequent steps S1 to S3, for the port number 6 of the network device 20 (network device name: SWM002) in the network device status table 201, the “port connection status” is “ON”, “port status” "Link up", "port lock state" is "ON", and "port lighting state" is "OFF".

  As described above, the network management device 1 according to the present embodiment indicates the connection status of the network device connected to the network device status management function, the network device status DB, the failure detection DB, and the network device (hub, switch). It is a network device that has a function to detect, a mechanism to lock / unlock a cable, and a function to turn on / off a specified port. If the network cable fails, the network cable must be replaced. In that case, the faulty network port is identified by the network device state management function, and the specified port lighting function enables the replacement target cable to be identified. At the same time, since only the designated port is unlocked, other network cables can be prevented from being disconnected, and the network cable can be prevented from being mistakenly inserted or removed, thereby preventing other troubles. Even when the network cable locking mechanism is damaged and a cable that is easily disconnected is used, the locking mechanism makes it difficult to disconnect and stable operation is possible.

  That is, according to the present embodiment, when a failure occurs, the failure port is turned on, so that the location of the failure can be easily identified and the time for identifying the failure location can be shortened. In addition, since the network cable is unlocked only at the port where the failure has occurred, it is possible to prevent erroneous insertion and removal of the cable and to improve maintainability.

  In addition, since the fault location is automatically identified, no mistakes are made and stable maintenance work can be provided. In addition, since the network cable is locked except for the failure-occurring port, it is possible to prevent loosening of the adjacent cable during the replacement of the network cable and the disconnection of the cable, thereby enabling stable operation. Accordingly, for example, even when the lock (claw portion) of the connector portion of the network cable is used in a damaged state, it is prevented from being caught and pulled out when the adjacent cable is pulled out.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the fault location can be specified by the management function unit, so that the position can be quickly confirmed by turning on the designated port. In addition, since only the faulty port is unlocked, it is possible to prevent erroneous insertion and removal of the cable. The effect in the maintenance of network devices can be greatly expected.

  The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above, and the network management device 1 includes a plurality of management mechanisms 10, the network management device 1 is provided for each network device 20, or the port In addition to the lighting unit 600, a lighting unit is provided to display the locked / unlocked state, or the locking method is constrained to the end 831a (FIG. 5A) on the network cable 830 side of the modular plug 831. For example, the network cable 830 itself may be constrained.

  The correspondence between the embodiments of the present invention and the configurations described in the claims is as follows. “Connection state detection means” = a combination of the network device state management function 100, the port control mechanism 700, the port connection state detection mechanism 900, and the like. “Port lock / unlock means” = a combination of the network device state management function 100, the port control mechanism 700, the port lock / unlock mechanism 800, and the like. “Failure determination means” = network device state management function 100 (processing in step S4 in FIG. 2). “Control means” = a combination of the network device state management function 100 (steps S5 and S7 in FIG. 2) and the port control mechanism 700 (steps S6 and S8 in FIG. 2). “Lighting means” = a plurality of port lighting units 600.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network management apparatus 10 Management mechanism 20 Network apparatus 100 Network apparatus state management function 200 Network apparatus state database 201 Network apparatus state table 300 Fault detection database 301 Fault detection database 400 LAN port 500 Port lighting mechanism 600 Port lighting part 700 Port control mechanism 800 Port lock / unlock mechanism 810 Solenoid switch 820 Lock pin 830 Network cable 831 Modular plug 832 Claw part 833 Recessed part 900 Port connection state detection mechanism 910 Push switch 920 Push pin

Claims (4)

A network management device for managing a network device to which a plurality of network cables are connected,
Connection state detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a network cable connection at each port of the network device;
Port lock / unlock means for locking or unlocking a network cable at each port of the network device;
Failure determination means for determining the presence or absence of a failure in each port of the network device;
Among each of the plurality of ports, for each port that is detected as being connected by the connection state detecting unit and determined as having no failure by the failure determining unit, the port lock / unlock unit locks the port. A network management apparatus, comprising: a control unit that unlocks each port determined to have a failure by the determination unit by the port lock / unlock unit. A lighting unit that performs a plurality of lighting displays corresponding to each port of the network device,
The control means locks each of the plurality of ports detected by the connection state detection means as being connected and determined to be free by the failure determination means by the port lock / unlock means. And the lighting means is turned off, and the ports determined to be faulty by the fault judging means are unlocked by the port lock / unlock means and the lighting means are turned on. Item 4. The network management device according to Item 1. The network management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the failure determination unit determines that there is no failure or that there is a failure based on a detection result of link up or link down at each port. A network management device control method for managing a network device to which a plurality of network cables are connected,
Connection state detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a network cable connection state at each port of the network device;
Port lock / unlock means for locking or unlocking a network cable at each port of the network device;
Using a failure determination means for determining the presence or absence of a failure in each port of the network device,
Among each of the plurality of ports, for each port that is detected as being connected by the connection state detecting unit and determined as having no failure by the failure determining unit, the port lock / unlock unit locks the port. A control method for a network management apparatus, wherein each port determined to have a failure by the determining means is controlled to be unlocked by the port lock / unlock means.

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