JP3431796B2 - Computer communication monitoring local area network (LAN) card - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a LAN in network management of a computer network system.
The present invention relates to a surveillance system using a card .

[0002]

[Prior art]

Conventional example 1. FIG. 7 shows a conventional LAN (Local Area).
a Network) shows a connection form between a server and a client.

In FIG. 7, a server 1 and a client 3
Is connected to LAN2, and client 3 is L
It communicates with the server 1 via the AN card. In the figure, the dotted line shows the server response request, and the broken line shows the client response. As a method for the server 1 shown in FIG. 7 to monitor the client 3, conventionally, a polling method has been used. The polling method means that the server 1 tells the client 3
This is a method in which a response request is transmitted at a predetermined timing, and the client 3 receiving the response request returns a response to the server 1. In the polling method, if there is no response from the client 3 within a fixed time, the server 1 determines that the client 3 is stopped or the network connection is broken due to a network failure, and detects an abnormality.

As described above, in the prior art, it is determined whether the client 3 responds within a fixed time, and if there is no response, it is determined that the client 3 is stopped. Therefore, a certain period of time is required from when the client 3 is actually stopped until the server 1 is notified of the stopped state of the client 3, which causes a problem that rapid monitoring cannot be performed.

Further, when there is no response from the client 3 within a certain time, it is impossible to determine whether the cause is the client 3 being stopped or hung up.

[0006]

As described above, conventionally, it took time to judge a network failure. In addition, in order to solve these problems that the cause of no response from the client 3 cannot be confirmed, the present invention provides
The client 3 provides the server 1 with a function of quickly reporting the status of the client 3 and a function of reporting a specific status of the client 3.

[0007]

A computer communication monitoring LA having a communication unit for connecting a first computer to a network and controlling communication between the first computer and a second computer connected to the network.
In N card monitors the state of the first computer, and a monitoring unit that notifies a result of the monitoring, reporting section that receives the notification of the monitoring result from the monitor unit to report the monitoring result to the second computer When receives the operation instruction information specifying to operate one of the communication unit and the reporting unit than the second computer through the network, and the communication unit based on the operation instruction information A control unit for controlling one of the reporting units to operate, and the computer communication monitoring LAN card
And a plurality of connection lines connecting the first computer and the first computer.
And a connection part having a connection part,
For a given connection line of multiple connection lines of
Check that power is being supplied.
Sending a built-in signal and confirming the current status of the first computer.
At least one of sending the current status confirmation signal
By doing one, the state of the first computer
It is characterized by determining.

[0008]

Further, the computer communication monitoring L of the present invention
In the AN card , the reporting unit and the communication unit each have a unique address, the operation instruction information includes at least the unique address, and the control unit is based on the address included in the operation instruction information. One of the reporting unit and the communication unit is operated.

Further, the computer communication monitoring L of the present invention
The AN card operates the reporting unit when the control unit receives the report of the monitoring result from the monitoring unit and the received monitoring result indicates a stop state in which the operation of the first computer is stopped. The report unit reports the stop state of the first computer to the second computer.

Further, the computer communication monitor L of the present invention is also provided.
The AN card further includes a power supply unit that supplies power to the monitoring unit, the control unit, and the reporting unit, and supplies power to a system different from the power supply of the first computer. .

Furthermore, the computer communication monitoring L of the present invention
The AN card is a LAN (Local)
characterized in that it is a l Area Network).

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1. In the first embodiment, the first computer serves as a client and the second computer serves as a server. Also,
The network is LAN, and computer communication monitoring LA
The N card is a LAN card.

FIG. 1 is a computer communication monitor of the present invention.
It is a block diagram which shows one Embodiment of a LAN card . Figure 1
In computer communication monitoring LAN card is LAN
The LAN card 5 is a card 5, and includes a connection line 14 that is a connection unit, and connects the connection line 14 to the motherboard 13 of the client 3. Motherboard 13 is LA
A LAN card driver 20 that mediates a signal sent from the N card 5 is provided. The LAN card 5 communicates with the client 3 via the connection line 14. The LAN card 5 includes a control unit 6, a reporting unit 7, a monitoring unit 8 and an ordinary LA.
It has a communication unit 9 that performs an N card operation as a component. Also,
The power supply unit 12 that is a power supply for the monitoring function is provided.
Constantly supplies power to the control unit 6, the reporting unit 7, and the monitoring unit 8. Further, the memory 21 is provided, and the result monitored by the client 3 is stored in the memory 21. The reporting unit 7 is assigned the physical address B11, and the communication unit 9 is assigned the physical address A10.

The control unit 6 manages two physical addresses, a physical address A10 and a physical address B11, and uses a normal L address.
Control is performed to switch between connecting the LAN 2 to the communication unit 9 that performs the AN operation and connecting the LAN 2 to the reporting unit 7. Connect LAN2 to communication unit 9 or LA to reporting unit 7.
Whether to connect N2 is designated by the operation instruction information from the server 1. The operation instruction information includes at least one of the physical address A10 and the physical address B11.

First, the operation of the controller 6 will be described. Figure 2
[Fig. 6] is an operation flowchart of the control unit 6. In FIG. 2, the control unit 6 constantly waits for operation instruction information from the server 1 (S30), and when the operation instruction information is received, analyzes the address included in the operation instruction information. As a result of the analysis, if the address is the physical address B11 (S3
1), the control unit 6 controls the reporting unit 7 to connect to the LAN 2 (S35). The reporting unit 7 reports the status of the client 3 to the server 1 after being connected to the LAN 2. The reporting operation of the reporting unit 7 will be described in detail later. If the address is the physical address A10 (S32),
The control unit 6 confirms that the client 3 is in operation, and if it is in operation, controls the communication unit 9 to connect to the LAN 2 (S34). The communication unit 9 performs a normal LAN card operation after being connected to the LAN 2. When the operation of the client 3 is stopped (S33), the reporting unit 7 is controlled to be connected to the LAN 2 (S35). When the operation of the client 3 is stopped, the monitoring unit 8 notifies the control unit 6 that the operation of the client 3 has stopped. Further, the monitoring unit 8 stores the result of monitoring the operating state of the client 3 in the memory 21 included in the LAN card 5 illustrated in FIG. Or instead of memory,
It can be a register. Therefore, the control unit 6 controls the LAN
The operating state of the client 3 can be known by referring to the memory 21 of the card 5. Therefore, the control unit 6 can grasp the operating status of the client 3. Control unit 6
The reporting unit 7 connected to the LAN 2 reports to the server 1 that the operation of the client 3 has stopped.

Next, the operation of the reporting unit 7 will be described. The reporting unit 7 reports the current status in response to the client status report request from the server 1. The client status report request is operation instruction information output from the server 1,
A case where the operation instruction information includes the physical address B11 indicating the reporting unit 7 is considered as a client status report request.
The status report of the client 3 reported from the reporting unit 7 to the server 1 includes, for example, “normal mode in operation” indicating that the client 3 is operating normally, and the client 3 is in save mode (described later). ) Indicates that the client 3 is operating in a save mode, and that the client 3 is not operating, indicating that the client 3 is powered off. The client 3 is powered on, but the CPU hangs up. There are four types of "hang-up" that indicate the state of being. The save mode is to stop the rotation of the built-in DISK when there is no key input for a certain period of time on a laptop computer,
This is a state in which the liquid crystal display is turned off.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the reporting unit 7. In FIG. 3, when the server 1 outputs a client status report request (S41), the reporting unit 7 refers to the memory 21 that stores the monitoring result and refers to the server 1
The status of the client 3 is reported to (S44).
Further, the reporting unit 7 also reports the status of the client 3 to the server 1 (S44) even when the status reporting request for the client 3 is issued from the control unit 6 (S42). The control unit 6 requests the reporting unit 7 to report the status of the client 3 because the operation of the client 3 is stopped when the server 1 tries to connect to the client 3, It is when the client 3 cannot be connected. When the server 1 requests the client 3 to connect, the control unit 6 refers to the memory 21 that stores the monitoring result. Then, when the operation of the client 3 is stopped, the reporting unit 7 is immediately controlled to be connected to the LAN 2. Then, the reporting unit 7 reports the status of the client 3 to the server 1.

When the client 3 stops or hangs up (S43), the monitoring unit 8 informs the control unit 6 to that effect. Then, the control unit 6 controls the reporting unit 7 to the LAN 2
The reporting unit 7 reports to the server 1 that the client 3 is stopped or hung up (S44).

Next, the operation of the monitor 8 will be described. The monitoring unit 8 constantly monitors the status of the client 3 at regular intervals. The server 1 can set the interval at which the status of the client 3 is monitored. Alternatively, a predetermined interval may be preset as a set value of the LAN card 5 by software, or a jumper may be set. The state of the client 3 monitored by the monitoring unit 8 is, for example, four types of “stopped”, “hangup”, “save mode”, and “normal mode”. 4 above
The status of each type is set to a value indicating each status, and the monitoring unit 8
Stored in the memory 21. For example, "Stopping" is "0", "Hangup" is "1", "Save mode"
Is "2" and "normal mode" is "3". The “stopped” is a state where the operation of the client 3 is stopped. “Hang up” is a state in which the client 3 is operating but does not respond to an input operation from the outside. The "save mode" is a state in which the rotation of the built-in disk is stopped and the liquid crystal display is turned off when there is no key input for a certain period of time on a laptop computer or the like. The “normal mode” is a state in which the client 3 is operating normally.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the monitoring section. FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the LAN card driver of the client. As shown in FIG. 1, the client 3 includes a LAN card driver 20 that mediates a signal sent from the LAN card 5 to the client 3. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of the connection line between the LAN card and the motherboard and the monitoring function register. In FIG. 6, the LAN card 5 includes a monitoring function register 15. The monitoring function register 15 stores a signal indicating "in normal mode operation" and "in save mode operation". LA
As a result of monitoring the operation status of the client 3, the N card driver 20 indicates that the client 3 is “in normal mode operation”.
When it is, the monitoring function register 15 is set to "0", and when it is "in the save mode operation", the monitoring function register 15 is set to "1". The LAN card 5 connects the mother board 13 with a connection line 14. The connection line 14 is composed of a plurality of lines, and includes a power supply line 16, an interrupt signal line 17 (the interrupt signal line 17 is also used for confirming the current status),
Other line 18 (other line 18 is used for LAN card control). The monitoring unit 8
A predetermined operation is performed on the connection line 14 to determine the state of the client 3.

When the monitoring unit 8 performs a predetermined operation on the power supply line 16 of the connection line 14 of FIG. 6 and confirms that the power supply line 16 is OFF (S52), the operation of the client 3 is stopped. Judge that it is in the middle (S
53). The power supply line 16 in this case is not a line for actually supplying power from the client 3 to the LAN card 5, but a line for determining whether the operation of the client 3 is stopped or in operation.

Further, when the power supply line 16 is ON (S52), that is, when the client 3 seems to be operating, the monitoring unit 8 interrupts the interrupt signal line 17 of FIG.
An interrupt signal is sent to the CPU on the motherboard 13 via (S54). The interrupt signal is relayed to the LAN card driver and passed to the client 3. When the client 3 does not clear the interrupt signal, that is, when the client 3 does not return a response to the interrupt signal (S55), it is determined that the client 3 is hung up (S56).

Further, the monitoring unit 8 is
When the CPU clears the interrupt signal, a current status confirmation signal is sent to the client 3 via the interrupt signal line 17 (S57). The client 3 includes the LAN card driver 20, and the LAN card driver 20 receives the current status confirmation signal transmitted from the LAN card 5. The LAN card driver 20 that has received the current status confirmation signal operates as in the flowchart of FIG. Figure 5
When the LAN card driver receives the current status confirmation signal from the LAN card 5 (S71), it confirms whether the client 3 is in the save mode or the normal mode (S7).
2). Then, based on the result confirmed through the interrupt signal line 17, the value of the monitoring function register 15 of the LAN card 5 is set. When the client 3 is in "normal mode operation", "0" is set (S74).
When the client 3 is in'save mode operation ',
Set "1" (S73). After that, the monitoring unit 8
When the information set in the monitoring function register 15 is "1" (S58), it is determined that the client 3 is in the save mode (S60). When the information set in the monitoring function register 15 is "0" (S58), the client 3
Is in the normal mode (S59). The result monitored by the above procedure is stored in the memory 21 included in the LAN card 5.

As described above, the monitoring unit 8 stores the result of monitoring the operation status of the client 3 in the memory 21.
Therefore, the control unit 6 and the reporting unit 7 can know the operation status of the client 3 by referring to the memory 21. Further, since the value set in the memory 21 is updated at regular intervals, the control unit 6 and the reporting unit 7 can acquire the real-time monitoring result.

In the above description, the monitoring unit 8 is the memory 2
1 stores the result of monitoring the operating state of the client 3, and the LAN card driver 21 uses the monitoring function register 1
The result of monitoring the operation state of the client 3 is stored in 5. In this, the memory 21 and the monitoring function register 15 are separated in order to distinguish between the case where the monitoring unit 8 stores and the case where the LAN card driver 21 stores. But,
The memory 21 and the monitoring function register 15 may be one storage unit. In this case, the monitoring unit 8 and the LAN card driver 21 store the result of monitoring the operating state of the client 3 in the storage unit.

Next, the power supply section 12 will be described. The power supply unit 12 is a power supply of a system different from the mother board 13 of the client 3, and always supplies power to the control unit 6, the monitoring unit 8 and the reporting unit 7 of the LAN card 5. Therefore, even if the power supply to the client 3 is stopped, L
The control unit 6, the monitoring unit 8, and the reporting unit 7 of the AN card 5 are operable, and can report the operational status of the client 3 in response to a report request from the server 1. The power supply unit 12 is assumed to be a battery or a rechargeable battery. Alternatively, an AC power source may be directly connected.

[0028]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

The computer communication monitoring LAN card of the present invention
According to over de, since the monitoring unit monitors the state of the first computer, when requested to notify the state of the second computer from the first computer, the first computer in real time The state can be notified to the second computer. Therefore, even when an abnormality occurs in the first computer and a response cannot be returned from the first computer to the second computer, the computer communication monitoring system returns a response in place of the first computer. There is an effect that can be.

The monitoring section has a connection section for connecting the computer communication monitoring system and the first computer.
To the specified connection line of the
Source and interrupt signal
Issue a confirmation and confirm the current status of the first computer.
Send at least one of the current status confirmation signals
Determine the state of the first computer by doing
To do. Therefore, when an abnormality is found in the first computer, it is possible to monitor the detailed state of what kind of abnormality has occurred.

Further, since the report section and the communication section each have a unique address, the second computer can operate either the report section or the communication section by designating the address. Therefore, the second computer can effectively request the first computer to report the state of the first computer at an arbitrary timing.

When the operation of the first computer is stopped, the control unit activates the report unit and reports to the second computer that the operation of the first computer is stopped. be able to. For this reason, the second computer can timely know that the operation of the first computer is stopped, and there is an effect that it is possible to quickly respond to this.

Further, since the computer communication monitoring system is provided with the power supply unit, the computer communication monitoring system can operate even if an abnormality occurs in the first computer and the power is not supplied to the first computer. There is.

Furthermore, if example embodiment, the first computer is a plurality of clients, the second computer is a server, and a first and second computers L
If the LAN card of the present invention is used in the conventional network system connected by AN, the effects described above can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of a control unit.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of a reporting unit.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of a monitoring unit.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of a LAN card driver.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a connection line between a LAN card and a motherboard and a monitoring function register.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing connection of a conventional server, LAN, and client.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 server, 2 LAN, 3 client, 4 LA
N card, 5 LAN card, 6 control unit, 7 reporting unit, 8 monitoring unit, 9 communication unit, 10 physical address A,
11 physical address B, 12 power supply section, 13 motherboard, 14 connection line, 15 monitoring function register, 1
6 power supply line, 17 interrupt signal line, 18
Other line, 20 LAN card driver, 21
memory.

Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 29/14 H04L 12/24 H04L 12/26

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A computer communication monitoring local area network comprising a communication unit for connecting a first computer to a network and controlling communication between the first computer and a second computer connected to the network.
In network (LAN) card, the states of the first computer monitor, reporting and monitoring unit for notifying the result of monitoring, the monitoring result notified of monitoring results from the monitoring unit to said second computer a reporting unit which receives the operation instruction information specifying to operate one of the communication unit and the reporting unit than the second computer through the network, the based on the operation instruction information A control unit for controlling one of the communication unit and the reporting unit to operate , the computer communication monitoring LAN card, and the first core.
Connection with multiple connection lines for connecting to a computer
And the monitoring unit is provided with a plurality of connection lines of the connection unit.
Power is being supplied to the specified connection line.
Confirming that the above, sending an interrupt signal, and the first
Send a current status confirmation signal to check the current status of your computer.
By performing at least one of
1 is a computer characterized by judging the state of the computer.
Computer communication monitoring LAN card. 2. The reporting unit and the communication unit each have a unique address, the operation instruction information includes at least the unique address, and the control unit includes the address included in the operation instruction information. 2. The computer communication monitoring LAN card according to claim 1, wherein one of the reporting unit and the communication unit is operated based on the above. 3. The control unit receives the report of the monitoring result from the monitoring unit, and operates the reporting unit when the received monitoring result indicates a stopped state in which the operation of the first computer is stopped. 2. The computer communication monitoring LAN card according to claim 1, wherein the reporting unit reports the stop state of the first computer to the second computer. 4. The computer communication monitoring LAN card further comprises a power supply unit for supplying power to the monitoring unit, the control unit and the reporting unit, and a power supply for the first computer. 2. The computer communication monitoring LAN card according to claim 1, wherein the power is supplied by another system. 5. The network is a LAN (Local)
2. A computer communication monitoring LAN card according to claim 1, wherein the LAN card is an Area Network).