JP3498422B2 - Computer system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer system having information necessary for operation as memory development information on a memory, and more particularly to maintenance of memory development information of a computer system operating for 24 hours.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a computer system has information (operation information) necessary for operation in a storage device and performs processing according to this operation information. Reference to the operation information or update operation information is performed. In order to perform the operation at high speed, it is necessary to store operation information as memory development information in a semiconductor memory (hereinafter simply referred to as memory).

Thus, in a computer system,
The operation information that is frequently referred to or updated is stored in the memory and is used as the memory development information to increase the processing speed.

[0006] Such memory expansion information includes the equipment configuration required for the operation of the computer system and the computer system business conditions, but it is necessary to add, correct, or delete the information. At that time, maintenance processing such as updating is performed.

First, in the case of adding information, operating information including the information after the addition is created before the start of use, the contents are verified, and then expanded as memory expansion information on the memory. At this time, these operations are performed without stopping the operation of the computer system.

Next, a case where the existing memory expansion information needs to be modified or changed such as deleted will be described.

If the operation of the computer system can be stopped, maintenance work such as changing the memory expansion information and verifying the contents is performed during the stop. On the other hand, if the operation of the computer system is not stopped, the operation for the memory expansion information to be changed is temporarily suppressed, and in the meantime,
Perform maintenance work such as changing memory expansion information and verifying the contents.

Since the memory expansion information is information in which the reference or update operation frequently occurs, the suppression of the operation to the memory expansion information is substantially effective even when the operation of the computer system is not stopped. It is synonymous with the stoppage of a typical computer system. The time for suppressing the operation to the memory development information is the time required for the maintenance work of the memory development information, and is proportional to the number of the memory development information that needs to be changed.

Further, when changing a plurality of pieces of memory expansion information that require information synchronization, even if the maintenance work for one piece of memory expansion information is completed, the suppression of the operation for that memory expansion information should be released. However, it is necessary to wait until the maintenance work of all the memory expansion information that needs to be synchronized is completed. In this way, the time for suppressing the operation to the memory expansion information also increases depending on the contents of the change.

Further, when the maintenance work of the memory expansion information is performed without stopping the operation of the computer system, an artificial work error and a design error occur. Then, the destruction of other memory expansion information may cause a malfunction of the computer system and an unexpected system stop.

As described above, even if the maintenance work of the memory expansion information can be performed without stopping the operation of the computer system, the computer system is substantially put into the operation stop state, and as a result, the operation of the computer system is reduced. Reliability is reduced. Furthermore, if the maintenance method is changed depending on the expected length of maintenance work time, the work of the computer system maintainer becomes complicated, and the possibility of human error increases. Therefore, when it is necessary to add, modify, or delete the memory expansion information, the computer system operation is stopped during a business outage that has little effect on the users of the computer system business, and maintenance work is performed during that time. The scheme is taken.

[0012]

By the way, in a computer system, the facility configuration necessary for its operation and the conditions of the computer system operation are often changed, which necessitates maintenance of the memory expansion information. Occur.

However, in the above maintenance system, it is necessary to stop the operation of the computer system, especially when changing the existing memory expansion information. For this reason, various problems occur in the work that requires the computer system to operate for 24 hours, and in any case,
There is a problem that the computer system cannot be operated for 24 hours.

An object of the present invention is to provide a computer system that does not need to be stopped even when changing memory expansion information.

[0015]

According to the present invention, in a computer system having a memory and a computer for expanding information necessary for operation in the memory as memory development information, maintenance information relating to the memory development information is managed. Maintenance information management means, and memory operation management means for managing expansion of the memory expansion information in the memory,
A computer system having a maintenance means for maintaining the memory expansion information is obtained.

[0016]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below with reference to examples.

Referring to FIG. 1, the illustrated computer system includes a main computer 1 and a sub computer 2, and the sub computer 2 is connected to the main computer 1 online. Maintenance of the memory expansion information is performed by the sub computer 2 as described later.

The main computer 1 comprises a maintenance information management unit 3, a memory 4, a memory expansion information file group 6, and a memory operation management unit 7. On the other hand, the sub computer 2 includes an information maintenance unit 8, a maintenance target file 9, and a change information file 10.

In the main computer 1, the maintenance information management unit 3 manages maintenance information relating to the memory development information developed in the memory 4, and has an information list 5 therefor, and is concerned with maintenance as described later. Take control.
The memory development information file group 6 is a file group for storing memory development information, and is the A file 6-1 and the B file 6
-2 and 3 files of C file 6-3,
It is managed based on the information list 5. Information for two files is expanded in the memory 4. The memory operation management unit 7
It manages the reference or update operation of the memory 4.

In the sub-computer 2, the information maintenance unit 8 controls the memory development information maintenance and the memory development information maintenance. The memory development information to be maintained is stored in the maintenance target file 9. The change information file 10 stores difference information indicating a difference between before and after maintenance of the memory expansion information.

Referring to FIG. 2, the information list 5 stores information indicating the date 12 of use start and the state of use 13 for each file of the memory development information file group 6. The information indicated by the use start date 12 is the date on which the reference and update operations for the memory development information stored in the file become possible. The information indicated by the usage state 13 is information indicating whether or not the memory expansion information stored in the file is expanded in the memory 4 and whether it is invalid.

The operation of the computer system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the illustrated example, the operational unit of computer system work is the Christian era.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the pre-maintenance state 5-1, the use start date 12 of each of the memory expansion information file group 6 is "1 January 1995" in the A file 6-1.
Day ", and in B file 6-2," April 1, 1995 ",
In the C file 6-3, it is “October 1, 1994”, and it is assumed that the information expanded in the memory 4 is the A file 6-1 and the B file 6-2. That is, the memory development information of the C file 6-3 is not used.

When it becomes necessary to maintain the memory expansion information,
The maintenance person 11 uses the information maintenance unit 8 of the sub computer 2 to notify the main computer 1 of the maintenance request and the use start date of the memory expansion information after the maintenance as the notification information. In this embodiment, the start date of use is "1995".
June 1st of the year ".

Maintenance information management unit 3 of the main computer 1
When the notification information is received, referring to the usage start date 12 of the information list 5, the usage start date closest to the usage start date of the memory expansion information after maintenance from the memory expansion information file group 6 is closest to that date. File with day 12, ie,
"April 1, 1995" by referring to the pre-maintenance state 5-1.
Transfers the content of the B file 6-2, which is the use start date, to the sub computer 2. At this time, if the date of use start 12, which is a future date from the date of use start of the memory development information after maintenance, is present in the information list 5, the fact is also notified and the maintenance person 11 is cautioned. Urge.

The information maintenance unit 8 transfers the transferred B file 6-
The contents of No. 2 are stored in the maintenance target file 9. Maintainer 11
Performs maintenance on the content of the maintenance target file 9 using the information maintenance unit 8. At this time, the information maintenance unit 8 does not update the content of the maintenance target file 9, but stores the updated portion in the change information file 10.

When the maintenance is completed, the maintenance person 11 uses the information maintenance section 8 to notify the main computer 1 of the completion of the maintenance.

The maintenance information management section 3 of the main computer 1 which has received the notification of the end of maintenance notifies the sub computer 2 of the contents of the information list 5. The maintenance person 11 refers to the contents of the information list 5 and determines a file for storing the memory development information after the maintenance based on the usage state 13 and the date of starting use 12.

According to the instruction of the maintenance person 11, the information maintenance unit 8 causes the main computer 1 to display the contents of the change information file 10 and the use start date of the memory development information after maintenance, that is,
Notify "June 1, 1995". At this time, if a file for storing the memory development information after maintenance is specified, the specified information is also notified. In this embodiment, if no designation is made, it is assumed that the file whose use start date 12 in the information list 5 is the earliest date is designated.

The maintenance information management section 3 which has received the contents of the change information file 10 and the use start date of the memory development information after maintenance refers to the information list 5 and refers to the use start date which is the closest to that date before the use start date. File with day 12,
In other words, referring to the pre-maintenance state 5-1, "1995 4
The contents of the B file 6-2 whose usage start date is "Month 1st" are updated with the contents of the change information file 10, and the result is a file designated by the maintenance person 11, or memory expansion if not designated. The information file group 6 is stored in a file having the earliest use start date 12 in the information file group 6. In this embodiment, if there is no designation, it is the C file 6-3 according to the pre-maintenance state 5-1.

At this time, the maintenance information management section 3 also updates the use start date 12 and the use state 13 of the information list 5.
As a result, as shown in the post-maintenance state 5-2, the state of the C file in the information list 5 indicates that the use start date 12 is "199".
It is “June 1, 5th”, and the usage state 13 becomes “waiting for memory expansion”.

The maintenance information management section 3 is "1 June 1995
Starting from "day", the maintenance person 11 is notified using the information maintenance unit 8 of the computer 2 that the creation of the memory development information to be used is completed, and a determination is made as to whether or not memory development is possible.

Next, the operation of expanding the memory expansion information stored in the memory expansion information file group 6 into the memory 4 will be described.

When the maintainer 11 wants to confirm the state of the memory development information of the main computer 1, the information maintenance unit 8 of the sub computer 2 is used to inquire the contents of the information list 5 of the main computer 1.

The maintenance person 11 is the above-mentioned "June 1, 1995".
If it is determined that the memory expansion information to be used can be expanded to the memory 4 from "day", the maintenance information management unit 3 of the main computer 1 is notified using the information maintenance unit 8 of the sub computer 2. The maintenance information management unit 3 refers to the usage status 13 and the usage start date 12 of the information list 5 to determine the older date of the usage start date 12 based on the information “memory being developed”. In other words, from the post-maintenance state 5-2, "1
January 1, 995 ".

The maintenance information management unit 3 includes a memory operation management unit 7
In addition, the operation to the memory expansion information whose use start date is "January 1, 1995" is suppressed and the C file 6-3
An instruction is issued to expand the contents of the above into the memory 4.

The maintenance information management unit 3 includes a memory operation management unit 7
It waits for a notification of completion of expansion of the contents of the C file 6-3 from the file to the memory 4, and updates the usage state 13 of the information list 5.
That is, the used state 13 of the post-maintenance state 5-2 is changed to "unused" for the A file and "in memory development" for the C file.

As a result, the information expanded in the memory 4 becomes the one whose use start date is "April 1, 1995" and "June 1, 1995", and the information list The state of No. 5 is as shown by the post-working state 5-3.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the memory expansion information can be maintained without stopping the operation of the computer system. As a result, the computer
There is an effect that the system can be operated for 24 hours .

Further, as described above, since the information that has been maintained is created in advance, it is necessary to suppress the operation of the memory.
Only during the time when the information is stored in the memory, the influence on the user of the computer system work is negligible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a computer system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents of an information list in the computer system shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining state transition of the information list shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 main computer 2 sub computer 3 Maintenance information management department 4 memory 5 Information list 6 Memory expansion information file group 7 Memory operation management unit 8 Information Maintenance Department 9 Files to be maintained 10 Change information file 11 maintainer 12 Date of start of use 13 Usage condition

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A 5-81010 (JP, A) JP-A 5-119997 (JP, A) JP-A 63-98057 (JP, A) JP-A 62- 179027 (JP, A) JP 5-241848 (JP, A) JP 1-255912 (JP, A) JP 1-112333 (JP, A) Toru Hayashi, Method for changing system configuration information, IPSJ 41st National Convention Proceedings, Japan, IPSJ, August 16, 1990, Volume 4, p. 4-111 --- 4-112 (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 12/00 G06F 11/30 G06F 9/06

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A computer system comprising a main computer and a sub computer, wherein the equipment configuration necessary for the operation of the main computer expanded as memory expansion information in the memory of the main computer and the operation of the main computer. Regarding maintenance of information indicating the above conditions, the sub-computer is a maintenance program that stores the memory expansion information to be maintained.
Differences between the elephant file and the memory expansion information before and after maintenance
A change information file in which information is stored, and information maintenance means for notifying the main computer of a changed portion of the memory expansion information, the main computer temporarily stores the changed memory expansion information in a file. And a memory operation management unit for expanding the changed memory expansion information read from the file in accordance with an instruction from the information maintenance unit into the memory. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance information management means is provided with an information list indicating a date of start of use and a usage state for each of the files, and the maintenance information management means. Is a computer system for managing the memory expansion information according to the information list. 3. The computer system according to claim 2.
In the system, the maintenance information management means stores in the memory.
Of the file in which the memory expansion information instructing the expansion of the file is stored.
Update the usage status of the information list corresponding to the file
A computer system characterized by the above.