JP3645388B2 - Maintenance control method for information processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  The present invention provides a maintenance control technique for an information processing apparatus.In the artIn particular, the present invention relates to a technique that is effective when applied to a maintenance operation or the like of a control device including a plurality of processors and memories that are operated by programs.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, with the spread of computer systems, the demand for non-stop operation of the system has also increased, and in response to this, a magnetic disk subsystem such as a disk array subsystem capable of non-stop maintenance as an external storage of the host system. Has been used.
[0003]
Such a magnetic disk subsystem generally adopts a so-called multiprocessor configuration in order to improve fault tolerance and data processing speed. In other words, it is composed of a control device consisting of a plurality of processors and shared memory that operate with microprograms, and a group of magnetic disk devices constituting the subordinate disk array, and maintenance such as microprogram updates and processor replacements. Work is performed without stopping the entire system. The maintenance work can be performed from an application program installed in a maintenance dedicated machine (hereinafter referred to as a service processor) such as a personal computer connected to the system.
[0004]
As described above, when the magnetic disk subsystem operates in a non-stop state in conjunction with the host system, the maintenance work must be performed under the use state, and a mistake in the maintenance operation is not allowed. Even if you make a mistake, you must ensure that you perform a recovery operation to minimize the error. If this recovery operation is mistaken, especially in the case of a magnetic disk subsystem, data stored by the customer may be erased, or the data may be converted into another data, causing a situation in which the user is immeasurable. Therefore, the necessary requirements for the maintenance work are to perform a maintenance operation without mistakes, and to reliably perform a recovery operation for minimizing the errors even if a mistake occurs.
[0005]
Conventionally, for example, there is a method of automatically executing a computer application as means for reliably executing a maintenance operation and an error recovery operation, which has already been sold as a product. For example, as such software products, products such as “Microsoft Test” of Microsoft Corporation in the United States operating on an operating system such as Windows are known (Windows and Microsoft Test are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States).
[0006]
That is, all the contents to be operated by the user are described by a source program called a script for all applications running on the personal computer, and this is executed. These functions do not require any human intervention, and even if the application is interrupted by an error, automatic error recovery is possible if the script contents are defined in detail. These functions are already effective in the steady operation where the user operation and the operation of the corresponding application are already constant. These functions include a record function for recording the contents operated by the user as a script, which is effective in describing the script.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional technology as described above, for example, when performing maintenance using a personal computer when maintaining the magnetic disk subsystem, it may not be possible to automate all maintenance operations. This is because the operation conditions and configuration status of the magnetic disk subsystem vary widely depending on the situation of the user of the device, and the maintenance content changes according to the usage status and conditions of each device, so the maintenance operation cannot be made steady. .
[0008]
Also, in order to prevent error recovery mistakes, the automatic execution function in the prior art cannot be handled because there is no function to change the script according to the error status. Although it is possible to predict the error situation in advance and create a script, since it further changes depending on the use state, there is a practical limit to covering all of them. Especially in the case of a magnetic disk subsystem, a group of processors other than the service processor, which is a dedicated maintenance machine, controls the system, but obtains the details of processing running on another processor other than these service processors. And you can't create a script. This is because the script assumes only control in the service processor.
[0009]
From the above, the problems to be solved by the present invention are summarized as follows. In order to reliably execute maintenance operations and error recovery operations, automatic execution based on scripts as in the prior art is effective in that maintenance operations can be reduced and mistakes can be prevented. Therefore, there is a problem of a technique for preventing a determination error so that a correct maintenance operation sequence is selected, that is, a correspondence between a maintenance purpose and a maintenance operation sequence.
[0010]
Another problem is how to determine whether or not the contents and procedures operated by the maintenance staff are correct and to inform the maintenance staff.
[0011]
Another problem is how to record whether the maintenance operation performed in the past was a correct procedure or an incorrect procedure and to make it useful at the maintenance operation at the next opportunity.
[0012]
Another problem is how to determine the correct procedure from the execution state of the processor that controls the information processing apparatus.
[0013]
  An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of reliably preventing erroneous maintenance operations by maintenance personnel by accurately associating a maintenance purpose with a maintenance operation sequence.Maintenance control technologyIs to provide.
[0014]
  Another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of accurately notifying maintenance personnel of erroneous maintenance operations and reliably preventing erroneous maintenance operations.Maintenance control technologyIs to provide.
[0015]
  Another object of the present invention is to efficiently prevent erroneous maintenance operations by maintenance personnel by reusing the model maintenance operation history by skilled maintenance personnel and engineers and the past maintenance operation history. Of information processing devices that canMaintenance control technologyIs to provide.
[0016]
  Another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of causing maintenance personnel to perform accurate maintenance operations corresponding to various execution states of the information processing apparatus to be maintained.Maintenance control technologyIs to provide.
[0017]
  Another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of realizing an accurate maintenance operation by a maintenance staff regardless of the skill level of the maintenance staff.Maintenance control technologyIs to provide.
[0018]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  A maintenance control method for an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is a maintenance control method in a second information processing apparatus that is connected to a first information processing apparatus and issues a maintenance command for the first information processing apparatus, Reading a maintenance item stored in a menu storage area in the second information processing apparatus by the second information processing apparatus and displaying the maintenance item on a display unit connected to the second information processing apparatus; A step of reading out a maintenance operation sequence corresponding to the maintenance item selected based on information input from the operator from a sequence storage unit and displaying it on the display unit, and an operator via the first information processing device The second information processing apparatus detects the maintenance process input by the second information processing apparatus, the maintenance process detected by the sequence determination unit in the detection step, and the read maintenance operation If the result of the determination by the sequence determination unit is the same as the result of determination by the sequence determination unit, the next sequence is read from the sequence storage unit and displayed on the display unit. Displaying a message on the display unit connected to the second information processing apparatus for guiding the user to perform a correct operation when not.is there.
  The present inventionThen, a navigation means is provided as a means for allowing maintenance personnel to perform maintenance operations with certainty and monitoring / determining whether an erroneous operation has been performed by the maintenance personnel. The navigation means stores the maintenance purpose / maintenance content as a menu and stores an operation sequence corresponding to each menu. When a menu is selected, the corresponding operation sequence is loaded and automatically executed every step or from the sequence. A sequencer for controlling a sequence for outputting contents to be operated as a guide is provided. In addition, application operation monitoring means for knowing the contents operated by maintenance personnel from each maintenance application, and sequence judgment means for comparing whether the operation was performed correctly with the previously loaded sequence are provided. In such a case, a means for outputting guidance is provided so as to guide maintenance personnel to the correct operation procedure.
[0019]
Further, when storing the previous operation sequence, identification information as to whether the operation is correct or incorrect is stored, so that it is possible to determine in which procedure the operation of the maintenance staff was performed. The recorded operation sequence is appropriately edited and reused by the navigation means.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0021]
(Embodiment 1)
In the first embodiment, a case where maintenance of an information processing apparatus such as a disk array subsystem such as a disk array subsystem is performed using a personal computer is taken as an example. explain. In particular, in the case of a disk array subsystem, it is often used without interruption in conjunction with a host machine. Maintenance work under such usage conditions may be performed while the disk array subsystem is operating. In this case, maintenance work must be carried out with certainty, and if the disk array subsystem is a device that performs sophisticated and complicated control, maintenance personnel are required to have advanced maintenance technology. There are various kinds of maintenance work, such as exchanging some disk devices or exchanging microprograms for controlling the devices, and the level of difficulty varies depending on the contents. However, the skill of the maintenance staff is not always high and constant, and there are cases where the maintenance work does not proceed depending on a minor operation error or depending on the operation status. Therefore, the maintenance staff needs a skill that can immediately cope with the situation that occurs during the maintenance work. This is related to whether such a situation has been experienced once. In other words, past experience, so-called know-how, is a necessary requirement for maintenance technology. It is important how to utilize this experience for other maintenance personnel.
[0022]
In the first embodiment, when performing maintenance of the disk array subsystem in particular, it is possible to accumulate and reuse exemplary maintenance operations by experienced maintenance personnel and past maintenance operation experiences. An example of a technique for accurately guiding maintenance operations by maintenance personnel will be described.
[0023]
  FIG. 1 shows an information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.Maintenance control methodFIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration for realizing the above. FIG. 2 illustrates the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.Maintenance control method1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a configuration of a magnetic disk subsystem to which is applied.
[0024]
First, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the magnetic disk subsystem according to the first embodiment is connected to a disk controller 101 connected to an upper central processing unit 104 and its subordinates, for example, a disk array. Are composed of a plurality of disk devices 108 (Disk devices).
[0025]
The disk controller 101 includes a plurality of host I / F controllers 105 for directly connecting and controlling the central processing unit 104 and a disk I / F controller 106 (Disk I / F) for controlling the disk device 108. A common bus 103 for connecting these I / F control units and a shared memory 107 (shared memory) for sharing control information are configured.
[0026]
In the case of the first embodiment, for the purpose of maintenance of the disk control apparatus 101, a service processor 102 (Service Processor: hereinafter referred to as SVP) connected to the common bus 103 is provided. This SVP 102 is a hardware dedicated to maintenance, a central processing unit equipped with a microprocessor, main memory, common bus, etc., an external input / output device such as a CRT display, a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and a program and data for storing it. A personal computer comprising an external storage device is used.
[0027]
That is, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the SVP 102 according to the first embodiment displays a CRT display 131 that displays desired information on the common bus 130 and presents it to the maintenance staff. A keyboard 133 and a mouse 132 for inputting information, a microprocessor (not shown) that performs overall control, a main memory (not shown) that stores execution programs and data of the microprocessor, and an external storage device such as a hard disk device (not shown) It is a connected configuration. Furthermore, in the first embodiment, a medium for recording / reproducing information to / from the portable recording medium 135 loaded with a portable recording medium 135 such as a floppy disk, CD-ROM, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, etc. A drive 134 is connected to the common bus 130.
[0028]
In the case of the first embodiment, the main memory (not shown) is loaded with control programs such as a navigator 110 and an application 120 for causing a maintenance person to perform an accurate maintenance operation as will be described later. This is executed by a microprocessor (not shown). The navigator 110 and the application 120 that are recorded on the portable recording medium 135 are mounted on the external storage device of the SVP 102 via the medium drive 134 as necessary, and at any occasion such as when the power is turned on. It is loaded into the main memory and executed by the microprocessor. Alternatively, the data is loaded from the portable recording medium 135 via the medium drive 134 to the main memory at an arbitrary timing such as power-on, and is executed by the microprocessor.
[0029]
In the first embodiment, an example of a method for storing past know-how as an operation sequence and guiding the operation to the maintenance staff based on this sequence will be described.
[0030]
The application 120 is a program for maintaining the disk control apparatus 101. The application 120 includes a main process 122 for performing maintenance, a user interface 121 that inputs and outputs maintenance personnel, and an I / F unit 123 that performs communication with other control units in the disk control apparatus 101. The maintenance staff directly inputs from the mouse 132 or the keyboard 133 according to the contents of maintenance to execute the application 120, confirms the output from the application 120 on the CRT display 131, and proceeds with the operation. There are not only one type of application 120, but a plurality of applications 120 depending on the contents of maintenance. In FIG. 1, only one type is illustrated as an example.
[0031]
On the other hand, the navigator 110 that is provided in the SVP 102 together with the application 120 and guides the operation of maintenance personnel includes a sequence storage 114 for storing operation procedures as past know-how. The maintenance staff activates the navigator 110 first when performing the maintenance operation. The navigator 110 first activates the sequence selection 111 and outputs a desired menu from the menu 112 storing the maintenance items to the CRT display 131.
[0032]
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the storage structure of the menu 112 in the first embodiment. The menu has a hierarchical structure and expands from the top menu to detailed menus.
[0033]
FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the storage format of the menu contents in the first embodiment. The menu storage format can be defined for each menu item. Each menu has a Menu Pointer for identifying itself so that a link relationship with each menu can be attached. In Menu Name, a name for clearly indicating to the maintenance staff when outputting to the CRT display 131 is defined. Next Menu Pointer defines a Menu Pointer for other menus at the same level. For example, in the case of the definition of the “Install” menu in FIG. 3, the “Point” of “Change” is indicated as another menu at the same level. In the case of “Error Recovery”, which is the same level as “Install”, since there is no menu item at the same level, the value 0xFFFF is defined, and it is defined that there is no subsequent menu item. For example, in the case of the “Error Recovery” menu, the Detail Pointer defines a Menu Pointer of a menu called “Recover Communication Error” at the detail level. If there is no detail level menu, the value 0xFFFF is defined as described above. With such a data format, the hierarchical structure can be defined flexibly.
[0034]
From the menu output in the sequence selection 111 in FIG. 2, the maintenance person determines the maintenance content from the mouse 132 or the keyboard 133. When the menu is determined, the sequence selection 111 informs the sequencer 113 which menu has been selected. The sequencer 113 refers to a correspondence table as illustrated in FIG. 5 in order to determine an operation sequence corresponding to the determined menu.
[0035]
The correspondence table illustrated in FIG. 5 includes a Menu ID column that defines the Menu Pointer described in FIG. 4 and a sequence ID column for identifying an operation sequence corresponding to each Menu ID. The sequencer refers to the Menu ID column of the correspondence table in FIG. 5 and determines the ID of the corresponding sequence.
[0036]
The sequencer 113 loads a sequence having the determined sequence ID from the sequence storage 114.
[0037]
6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams illustrating a sequence example stored in the sequence storage 114 in the first embodiment. As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the sequence is a source program described in a text format. The sequence is mainly composed of two types of description blocks: Property and Script. Property defines sequence attributes. Here, the date defining the sequence, the name of the defined operator, and the Result attribute indicating whether an operation error is caused when the sequence is executed are defined. This is defined based on the results of the person defining the sequence himself. The Script part describes the actual operation procedure. In the first embodiment, the description grammar is not particularly referred to. However, the description supports a hierarchical structure, and a control structure for sequentially processing one process in at least one line, a control structure by conditional branching, And support the control structure to execute the process repeatedly. The sequencer 113 interprets this script.
[0038]
A value following the first keyword “Sequence” (“Ox2012” in the case of FIG. 6) is an identifier of the sequence, and is the same as the sequence ID described in the correspondence table of FIG.
[0039]
The sequencer 113 reads the corresponding sequence from the correspondence table shown in FIG. 5, and analyzes the syntax line by line to grasp the contents to be executed. At this time, the contents to be operated by the maintenance staff are analyzed from the contents of the script for one line to be processed and requested to be output to the guide output 115. The guide output 115 is output as a message to the CRT display 131 and guides maintenance personnel.
[0040]
The maintenance staff operates the corresponding application 120 according to the guidance output by the guide output 115. The application 120 executes the main process 122 corresponding to the user interface 121 interpreting the contents operated by the maintenance personnel. If necessary, the I / F unit 123 in the application 120 performs processing in order to communicate with another control unit of the disk control apparatus 101. At this time, in order to grasp the operation content of the maintenance staff and the processing content in the main processing, it is output to the AP operation history 124 and recorded.
[0041]
The AP operation monitoring 117 of the navigator 110 continuously monitors the AP operation history 124, and refers to the contents operated by the maintenance staff on the application 120, the main process 122 of the application 120, and the process contents of the I / F unit 123. . The AP operation monitor 117 interprets the referred content, and notifies the sequence determination 116 of what operation has been performed. The sequence determination 116 determines whether or not the maintenance staff has correctly operated based on the content guided by the guide output 115. If it can be confirmed that the process is correctly performed, the sequencer 113 is instructed to execute the next sequence. If it is determined that the operation has not been performed correctly, the sequencer 113 is instructed that the operation is incorrect. The sequencer 113 outputs a message for guiding maintenance personnel to perform a correct operation through the guide output 115.
[0042]
For example, in FIG. 6, the application “DIAG” is started, “Communication Check” is selected from the menu and automatically executed, and the manual page to be referred to by the maintenance staff is determined according to the Message ID returned from the application 120. A sequence for performing the guidance operation is defined.
[0043]
Depending on the sequence, it is necessary to know the state of the disk controller 101 and to guide the operation of maintenance personnel. In this case, an instruction for referring to the state of the disk control apparatus 101 is entered on the script of the sequence, and the process is defined to branch depending on the state. When the sequencer 113 needs to grasp the status of the disk control device 101, the device status monitor 118 directly communicates with other control units via the common bus 103 of the disk control device 101, and refers to the shared memory 107, for example. To collect information. The result and the operation of the operator are combined, and it is determined in sequence determination 116 whether the correct operation has been performed.
[0044]
For example, in FIG. 7, an application “INFORMATION” is started, “Communication Status” is selected from the menu “Status” and automatically executed, the configuration information of the disk controller 101 is checked, and then the application returns. Depending on the type of the received Message ID and the operation statuses of the plurality of host I / F control units 105 to 105 and the disk I / F control unit 106, etc. An example of performing an operation of presenting and guiding is shown.
[0045]
In this way, by defining a sequence for guiding a correct operation in advance and guiding the operation by the navigator 110, it is possible to cause maintenance personnel to correctly handle an erroneous operation or error recovery.
[0046]
Next, an example of processing of the navigator 110 in the maintenance staff guidance processing as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0047]
In step 701, first, a menu item is read from the menu 112 and output to the CRT display 131. In step 702, menu items for maintenance personnel are accepted. In step 703, it is determined whether a more detailed menu is defined for the selected menu. If there is, the detailed menu is read again in step 701. When the item selected by the maintenance staff is determined from the above, the sequence for the menu selected in step 702 is specified from the sequence storage 114 in step 704. In step 705, the script is read. Of the scripts read in step 706, the script to be processed next is analyzed. In step 707, it is determined whether all the scripts have been completed. In step 708, it is determined whether the previously analyzed script should refer to the state of the disk control apparatus 101. If necessary, apparatus status information is acquired in step 720, and as a result, it is determined in step 721 whether the sequence needs to be changed. If not necessary, the process returns to step 705. If it is determined that there is a need to change, the sequence to be changed is specified in step 723, and the process returns to step 705.
[0048]
In step 709, the contents analyzed in step 706 are presented to the maintenance staff via the CRT display 131 for guidance. In step 710, it is monitored whether the maintenance staff has operated according to the guide. If it is necessary to change the sequence of the interpreted sequence, the determination is made in step 711, the changed sequence is specified in step 714, and the process returns to step 705. In step 712, the operation of the maintenance staff is checked to determine whether or not the operation matches the guided content. If they match, the process returns to step 705, but if they do not match, a recommendation message is output in step 713 so as to perform the correct operation.
[0049]
In addition, the sequencer 113 adds a function that can automatically execute the operation of the application 120 from the read sequence. If maintenance personnel need to be judged or if maintenance personnel need to operate, the fact can be clearly indicated in the script, and whether the sequencer 113 guides the CRT display 131 to guide or automatically executes it. Judge and process. If the function is added in this manner, not only the items for determining whether or not the operation of the maintenance engineer is correct are reduced, but also the opportunity for the maintenance engineer to perform an erroneous operation can be reduced.
[0050]
As described above, in the first embodiment, a message is appropriately output or necessary while judging whether there is an error in the maintenance operation by taking into account the status of the disk controller 101 in the actual operation of the maintenance staff. By executing a process such as automatically executing a script, maintenance of the disk controller 101 having a relatively complicated multiprocessor configuration can be accurately performed without causing a fatal erroneous operation.
[0051]
(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment described above, the method of guiding maintenance personnel based on the already defined script has been described. Next, a second embodiment in which a sequence is defined as a script based on the contents operated by maintenance personnel will be described. This second embodiment is a method of analyzing contents operated by, for example, a maintenance staff having a high level of maintenance skill, a designer of the manufacturer of the disk control apparatus 101, and the like, and defining the contents as a script in the sequence storage 114. . This method makes it possible to easily and accurately transfer the know-how of maintenance personnel with advanced skills to other maintenance personnel.
[0052]
  FIG. 9 shows the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment.Maintenance control methodIt is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of a structure of SVP102 for implement | achieving. The difference from the configuration of FIG. 1 of the first embodiment described above is that a navigation analysis 800 for analyzing and scripting the maintenance operation, and a device state 805 for storing the results monitored by the device state monitor 118. It is a point equipped with.
[0053]
The navigation analysis 800 includes an AP operation history analysis 802. The AP operation history analysis 802 stores the contents of the AP operation history 124 for storing the contents already operated by the maintenance staff, and the disk referred to by the apparatus status monitor 118. Scripting (script generation) is executed based on the contents of the device state 805 that stores the device state information of the control device 101. Based on this result, whether or not the same script is already defined in the sequence storage 114 is searched by the sequence search 804. In this search, not only whether or not they are exactly the same, but also if the sequence is identical, that sequence is also targeted. Since the same procedure is already stored, it is not necessary to define the sequence in the sequence storage 114. However, in other cases, the sequence analyzed by the AP operation history analysis 802 is transferred to the sequence editing 803 so that the maintenance staff can directly edit the sequence. Since the sequence defined in the sequence storage 114 is in the text format as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, it can be easily edited. Further, it is directly defined in the sequence property whether the operation already recorded in the AP operation history 124 is a correct procedure or an incorrect procedure as a result. In this way, even if another maintenance person operates in the wrong procedure, it is possible to guide correctly.
[0054]
The device status 805 not only stores the latest status information of the disk control device 101 but also stores it in time series corresponding to the referenced time, which is useful for future failure analysis.
[0055]
In addition, considering the navigator 110 as one application and performing guide guidance and operation monitoring of maintenance personnel operations, a user interface 831 is provided in the navigator 110 in FIG.
[0056]
As described above, according to the second embodiment, past maintenance operation history information by skilled maintenance personnel, and exemplary maintenance operations by a manufacturer designer or engineer familiar with the disk control device 101 are performed. Recorded and stored as a script, and reused as a maintenance operation guide when any maintenance staff performs maintenance operations, for example, maintenance staff with less experience can perform accurate maintenance operations. There is an effect that can be done.
[0057]
    (Embodiment 3)
  FIG. 10 shows an information processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the invention.Maintenance control methodIt is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of a structure of SVP102 for implement | achieving.
[0058]
In the third embodiment, a case will be described in which a center test apparatus 901 is installed at a remote location different from the disk control apparatus 101, and the disk control apparatus 101 and the center test apparatus 901 are connected via a network.
[0059]
The center test apparatus 901 includes the SVP 102 and has almost the same configuration as that of the disk control apparatus 101 installed on the user side. Etc. can be performed within the manufacturer.
[0060]
When maintenance work is performed on the disk controller 101, an unexpected failure may occur. To investigate the cause and perform recovery, all maintenance personnel who directly operate the disk controller 101 can perform it. Not necessarily. In this case, dump information and log information of the disk control apparatus 101 are collected and distributed to another maintenance staff called a maintenance center or an engineer of the manufacturer that manufactured the disk control apparatus 101 to investigate the cause. At this time, it is important to find out what kind of maintenance operation the maintenance person has performed in order to investigate the cause. Therefore, in the configuration example of FIG. 10, the center communication 905 is provided in the SVP 102, and means for transferring the AP operation history 124 operated by the maintenance staff to the maintenance center or manufacturer is provided. The communication method is performed via the general public network 904 using a communication medium called a communication modem in FIG. A communication modem 903 is also provided on the center side, and a site communication 902 is provided in the center test apparatus 901 to transfer information with the center communication 905 of the disk control apparatus 101. As a communication method, the method illustrated in FIG. 10 is generally used, but various means such as a network means called a computer network such as Ethernet or a digital communication network can be adopted. The center communication 905 and the site communication 902 can be set so as to cope with various changes in the network means.
[0061]
The AP operation history 124 and the device status 805 are obtained from the disk control device 101 in which the failure has occurred, and it is determined by the navigation analysis 800 and the navigator 110 provided in the center test device 901 whether the maintenance engineer operation was correct. The analysis is performed by a maintenance engineer who requires another advanced maintenance technology waiting at the maintenance center, or by the designer of the manufacturer, and pursues the correct recovery procedure. As a result of the analysis, the correct recovery procedure is stored in the sequence storage 114, and when the sequence is new, a new menu is registered in the menu 112, and the maintenance person can select the menu to guide the correct recovery procedure. Like that. In this way, the sequence storage 114 and menu 112 defined by the maintenance center or manufacturer are transferred to the failed disk controller 101 by means of the site communication 902 means. As a result, maintenance personnel who directly maintain the disk control apparatus 101 can recover from the failure by a correct recovery procedure.
[0062]
In addition, if the AP operation history 124 operated at the maintenance center or the manufacturer's evaluation center is defined as needed using the navigation analysis 800 and transferred to the navigator 110 of each disk controller by the network means, any kind of information can be obtained. Even if a failure occurs, if the failure has already been experienced at the maintenance center or manufacturer's evaluation center, the sequence is automatically changed and the correct recovery procedure is communicated to the maintenance staff on the spot for guidance. Is possible.
[0063]
As described above according to each embodiment of the present invention, when performing complex control, for example, when maintaining a magnetic disk subsystem such as a disk array subsystem, by guiding correct maintenance operations to maintenance personnel, Not only can it prevent failures due to operational mistakes, but also convey the operating procedures and experience of system engineers familiar with the system and skilled maintenance personnel to general maintenance personnel to accurately guide maintenance operations. It becomes possible to do. Further, by storing and reusing the know-how of skilled maintenance personnel as a maintenance operation in this way, more advanced maintenance can be performed.
[0064]
Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.
[0065]
【The invention's effect】
  Information processing apparatus of the present inventionMaintenance control methodAccording to the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent erroneous maintenance operations by maintenance personnel by accurately associating the maintenance purpose with the maintenance operation sequence.
[0066]
  The information processing apparatus of the present inventionMaintenance control methodAccordingly, it is possible to accurately notify the maintenance staff of the erroneous maintenance operation and to reliably prevent the erroneous maintenance operation.
[0067]
  Further, the information processing apparatus of the present inventionMaintenance control methodAccording to the above, it is possible to efficiently prevent erroneous maintenance operations by maintenance personnel by reusing model maintenance operation histories by skilled maintenance personnel and engineers and past maintenance operation histories. The effect of is obtained.
[0068]
  Further, the information processing apparatus of the present inventionMaintenance control methodAccording to this, it is possible to obtain an effect that the maintenance staff can execute an accurate maintenance operation corresponding to various execution states of the information processing apparatus to be maintained.
[0069]
  Further, the information processing apparatus of the present inventionMaintenance control methodAccording to the above, there is an effect that an accurate maintenance operation by the maintenance staff can be realized regardless of the skill level of the maintenance staff.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 shows an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention.Maintenance control methodIt is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the system configuration | structure for implement | achieving.
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a configuration of a magnetic disk subsystem to which a maintenance operation guidance method for an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of this invention is applied.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a menu storage structure according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a storage format for menu contents according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a correspondence table referred to by the sequencer in the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a sequence stored in a sequence storage according to the first embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of another sequence according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of a navigator according to the first embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 9 shows an information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention.Maintenance control methodIt is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of a structure of SVP for implement | achieving.
FIG. 10 shows an information processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of the invention.Maintenance control methodIt is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of a structure of SVP for implement | achieving.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Disk control apparatus, 102 ... Service processor (computer apparatus), 103 ... Common bus, 104 ... Central processing unit, 105 ... Host I / F control part, 106 ... Disk I / F control part, 107 ... Shared memory, 108 ... Disk device, 110 ... Navigator, 111 ... Sequence selection, 112 ... Menu, 113 ... Sequencer, 114 ... Sequence storage, 115 ... Guide output, 116 ... Sequence judgment, 117 ... AP operation monitoring, 118 ... Device status monitoring, 120 ... Application 121, user interface 122, main processing 123, I / F section 124, history of AP operation 124, history of AP operation 130, common bus 131, CRT display 132, mouse 133, keyboard 134 ... Media drive, 135 ... Portability Recording medium (information recording medium), 800 ... navigation analysis, 802 ... AP operation history analysis, 803 ... sequence edit, 804 ... sequence search, 805 ... device status, 831 ... user interface, 901 ... center test device, 902 ... site Communication, 903: Communication modem, 904: General public network, 905: Center communication.

Claims (3)

A maintenance control method in a second information processing apparatus that is connected to a first information processing apparatus and issues a maintenance command for the first information processing apparatus,
Reading the maintenance items stored in the menu storage area in the second information processing apparatus by the second information processing apparatus and displaying the maintenance items on a display unit connected to the second information processing apparatus; A step of reading out a maintenance operation sequence corresponding to the maintenance item selected based on information input from an operator from a sequence storage unit and displaying the sequence on the display unit, and an operation via the first information processing device A step in which the second information processing apparatus detects the maintenance process input by the user, and a sequence determination unit determines whether the maintenance process detected in the detection step matches the read maintenance operation sequence. If the result of determination by the sequence determination unit is the same, the next sequence is read from the sequence storage unit and the previous sequence is read. It displayed on the display unit, and displaying a message for guiding to perform a correct operation when they do not coincide on the display unit, consisting of the maintenance method of controlling an information processing apparatus.   The maintenance control method for an information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the maintenance process is branched depending on a state of the first information processing apparatus, the first information is executed before the maintenance operation is executed. A maintenance control method for an information processing apparatus, comprising a step of collecting information related to a processing apparatus.   3. The maintenance control method for an information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: recording the maintenance process and the result of the determination in the maintenance operation sequence, and editing the maintenance operation sequence when necessary. A maintenance control method for an information processing apparatus.

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