JP4812611B2 - Server device that manages processor licenses - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a license monitoring control of a processor in a server device, and in particular, is effective when applied to a server system that permits addition or deletion of a processor license in a server device, and further allows a processor license to be transferred between a plurality of servers. Technology.

  In order to reduce IT costs, a method for effectively utilizing surplus resources of a server is required. As an example of effective use of surplus resources, a method has been proposed in which licenses of software to be managed on multiple servers are managed together by a license management program so that the number of concurrent use on each server is less than or equal to the number of licenses. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

According to such effective use of surplus resources, if the peak processor load of each server is different, the total load is leveled, so the number of processors required for the total load of multiple servers is the peak for each server. It becomes lower than the value obtained by adding the number of processors at the time, and the number of licenses per processor can be reduced.
JP 2005-18632 A

  As described above, the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1 uses a license management program in a management server that manages a plurality of servers in order to monitor and control license delivery between the plurality of servers. However, when the license management program is used, there is a possibility that the license is illegally used by using a vulnerability due to a bug or a specification defect of the license management program.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a server device capable of preventing unauthorized use of a processor license without using a management program in a management server for managing a processor license.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention mainly adopts the following configuration.
A plurality of processors, an OS that operates on a main memory, an application that operates on the OS, a failure detection unit that detects a failure of a server including the OS and the processor, and a service processor that manages the plurality of processors (Hereinafter referred to as SVP) and a bus that connects each component, and a server device that manages the number of operating processors among the plurality of processors by a license ,
The SVP is
Interface means accessible only from the OS;
License number of processors of the server device, and a memory area for storing the processor state information, the containing off state information of the processing operation of the presence without state information and each processor failures of each processor,
First SVP dedicated interface means for the SVP to receive addition or deletion of the processor license;
The processor is configured to control on / off of the processing operation of each processor in accordance with the number of licenses of the processor held in the memory area .

Further, in the server device, the first SVP dedicated interface means is a USB port for connecting a protected USB memory .

Further, a server device system in which a plurality of the server devices are connected,
The SVP of each server device holds the number of licenses of processors of other server devices in the memory area of its own server device,
It is configured to include second SVP dedicated interface means for exchanging the license of the processor between the own server device and the other server device with the SVP of the other server device .

In the server system, the second SVP dedicated interface means is a LAN port .

  According to the present invention, when a processor license in a server is added or deleted, and when a processor license is moved according to the processor load status of each server, the management server management program is not used. This can be realized by preventing unauthorized use of the processor license.

  A server device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a server device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure related to the transfer of the license of the processor in the server apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, a server 100 as a server device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of processors 101, a main memory 102, a down detection mechanism 103 that detects a server down (server failure), and hardware that manages the processors. Hardware SVP 104, and SVP 104, OS 105, processor 101, and down detection mechanism 103 are connected to each other to enable communication with each other. In addition, when adding a processor license, the server 100 includes a dedicated interface (USB port 110) for connecting the USB memory and the SVP 104, and the SVP 104 and the SVP of another server in order to allow the processor license to be transferred between multiple servers. Dedicated interface (LAN port 111).

  Here, the SVP 104 includes a memory area that holds the number of processor licenses (usage rights) and the state of the processor (whether a failure has occurred in the processor itself and whether the processor is operating). The hardware is provided with a function of controlling on / off of processing of each processor, and includes interface means (communication means) with the OS 105. The memory area 107 that manages the processor 01 holds a processor management table 108. As shown in FIG. 1, for each processor in the target server 100, Dead or Alive (DorA) due to a failure of the processor itself, The processing operation of the processor is controlled and held and managed as ON / OFF (ON / OFF) indicating whether the processing state is ON or OFF. In addition to the target server 1 (100), other servers 2 other than the server 1 have the DorA of the server itself, the number of processor licenses for each server, and the processing priority of each server. to manage. Further, the OS 105 operates on the main memory 102, and the application 106 operates on the OS 105.

  The addition or deletion of processor licenses (usage rights) means, for example, that when three processor licenses are obtained in the server 1, one is added to form four processor licenses. Also, the movement of the processor license means that when the server 1 obtains three processor licenses and the server 2 obtains two processor licenses, the server 2 takes into account the load state of the servers 1 and 2. One of the two processor licenses (usage rights) is transferred to the server 1. At that time, the total number of licenses in the server 2 (see the processor management table in FIG. 1) is changed from 2 to 1, and the total number of licenses in the server 1 is changed from 3 to 4.

  When adding or deleting a license in the server 1, for example, in order to acquire a processor license to be added (a right to use the processor), a handling method for obtaining a license for an excess processor in the server 1, an acquirer This is implemented by connecting a USB memory in which an ID, a password, and the like are encrypted to the USB port 110. In this way, the license is added by connecting to the SVP (hardware called the processor management mechanism unit) with the hardware such as the USB memory without being configured so that the license can be added through the application. At this time, in order to prevent unauthorized use of the processor license due to the abuse of the interface, a dedicated interface means (USB port) is configured in hardware such as SVP.

  In addition, when transferring a processor license between a plurality of servers, a configuration in which interface means (LAN port) dedicated to this hardware (SVP, etc.) is provided is transferred by communication between SVPs, and a license is obtained through software called an application. Is not allowed to move.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a series of processing for transferring a processor license in the SVP 104 of the target server 100 of FIG. The SVP 104 receives a BIOS call from the OS 105 at regular intervals (step 200). This BIOS call is an interface unit that can be accessed only from the OS 105. By providing this interface unit, access to the application can be prevented.

  In step 201, it is determined whether the content received in step 200 is a request for adding a processor license. If it is a request for adding a processor, in step 202, it is determined from the processor management table 108 held in the memory area 107 of the SVP 104 whether or not there is a surplus of processor licenses (whether there are processors exceeding the number of licenses). If there is a remainder, in step 203, one of the processors in the stopped state (off) is set in the start state (on), the processor management table 108 is updated, and the process is terminated.

  If there is no remainder in step 202, it is determined in step 204 whether another server is connected to the LAN 111. If another server is connected, in step 205, the other server is requested to provide a processor license (ie, transfer of the license). The result is determined in step 206, and if it is permitted, in step 203, one of the stopped (off) processors is set to the start state (on), and the processor license of the other server is normally turned off. The processor management table 108 is updated and the process is terminated. If it is not permitted in step 206, the process returns to step 204 to determine whether another server is connected. As a result, if there is no remaining processor license in all the connected servers, an error message indicating that the processor cannot be used is transmitted to the OS 105 in step 207, and the process is terminated.

  If the result of determination in step 201 is that the BIOS call is not a processor license addition request, it is determined in step 208 whether or not it is confirmed that the BIOS call is a processor deletion request. If it is a deletion request, it is determined whether the processor can be deleted from the processor management table 108. If possible, in step 210, one of the processors is deactivated (off), the processor management table is updated, and the process is terminated. If not permitted in step 209, an error message is transmitted to the OS in step 211.

  Next, in step 212, a signal from another server is confirmed. In step 213, it is determined whether it is a request (migration) request for a processor license. If it is a processor request, in step 214, it is determined from the processor management table 108 whether there is a surplus of processor licenses. If there is a remainder, in step 215, one of the processor licenses is provided (moved) to another server, the processor management table is updated, and the process is terminated. If there is no remainder, in step 216, an error message is transmitted to another server, and the process is terminated.

  If the signal in step 213 is not a request for a processor license, it is determined in step 217 whether it is a down notification (failure notification such as failure of power supply, application or OS) of another server. If it is a down notification, it is determined in step 218 which server will take over from the processor management table 108, and if its own server takes over, in step 220, the processor is set to the use start state “ON”, and the other server The server down flag is set (DorA is set to D), the management table is updated, and the process is terminated. If there is no takeover, the process is terminated.

  If the determination in step 217 is not a down notification, in step 221, the own server is detected to be down. In step 222, it is determined whether or not there is a down state. If a down state is detected, in step 223, the other server is notified of the down state and the process is terminated. If no down is detected, the process ends.

  As an application example of the server apparatus according to the present embodiment, it is conceivable to move a processor license between servers of a hot standby system or a cold standby system. In the normal hot standby system, for example, if four processor licenses are given to one server, basically four processor licenses are also given to the other server, requiring a total of eight license costs. In addition, the management of the state of each other's servers and the number of licenses has been conventionally executed by another management server.

  When the SVP according to this embodiment is applied, it is sufficient to hold four licenses on one server, one license for monitoring one server on the other server, and a total of five licenses. By providing the SVP (managing the number of processor licenses and the processor state and controlling the on / off processing operation of the processor), the management server which has been conventionally required becomes unnecessary. The cold standby method is the same as the hot standby method in that the management server that has been conventionally required is not necessary. Since the servers can confirm each other's DorA (survival state) (see the contents held in the memory area of FIG. 1), when a failure occurs in the active server, the standby server (at least one server) The processor license can be moved to another server monitoring process) so that the standby server can operate as the active server at that time.

  As described above, the feature of the embodiment of the present invention is that, without using a license management program, for example, a service processor (SVP) for monitoring hardware has interface means with an OS, and A server device that manages the number of active processors by adopting hardware (processor management mechanism) that can control processing on / off of individual processors. Specifically, when a license is added or deleted Then, use a protected (eg, encrypted) USB memory or the like to connect to the target server and perform addition or deletion. Further, in order to make it impossible to illegally use the processor license due to the abuse of the interface, dedicated interface means is used for hardware such as SVP. Further, when transferring a processor license between a plurality of servers, an interface means (LAN port) dedicated to the hardware (SVP or the like) is provided.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure in the server apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence regarding the transfer of the license of the processor in the server apparatus which concerns on this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Server apparatus 101 Processor 102 Main memory 103 Down detection mechanism 104 Service Processor (SVP)
105 OS
106 Application 107 Memory area 108 Processor management table 109 Bus 110 USB port 111 LAN port 200 Confirm BIOS call 201 Judgment of presence / absence of processor addition request 202 Judgment of presence / absence of remaining processor license 203 One of the processors is used, and processor management table 204 Determination of presence / absence of other target server 205 Request to provide license to other server 206 Determination of permission 207 Send error message to OS 208 Confirm processor deletion request 209 Determination of permission 210 One of the processors is disabled The processor management table is updated 211 An error message is transmitted to the OS 212 A signal from another server is checked Determining whether or not there is a license remaining 215 Providing one of the processor licenses to another server and updating the processor management table 216 Sending an error message to another server 217 Determining whether or not another server has a down notification 218 Which server takes over priority Confirmation 219 Takeover decision 220 Set processor to start use, set server down flag and update processor management table 221 Down detection 222 Detection judgment 223 Notify other server

Claims (5)

A plurality of processors, an OS that operates on a main memory, an application that operates on the OS, a failure detection unit that detects a failure of a server including the OS and the processor, and a service processor that manages the plurality of processors (Hereinafter referred to as SVP) and a bus that connects each component, and a server device that manages the number of operating processors among the plurality of processors by a license ,
The SVP is
Interface means accessible only from the OS;
License number of processors of the server device, and a memory area for storing the processor state information, the containing off state information of the processing operation of the presence without state information and each processor failures of each processor,
First SVP dedicated interface means for the SVP to receive addition or deletion of the processor license;
A server apparatus , wherein on / off of processing operation of each processor is controlled according to the number of licenses of the processor held in the memory area . In claim 1 ,
The server device, wherein the first SVP dedicated interface means is a USB port for connecting a protected USB memory. A server device system in which a plurality of server devices according to claim 1 are connected,
The SVP of each server device holds the number of licenses of processors of other server devices in the memory area of its own server device,
Server system, characterized in that it comprises a second SVP dedicated interface means for transferring the SVP of the other server devices the movement of the license processor between its own server and another server device. In claim 3 ,
The server device system, wherein the second SVP dedicated interface means is a LAN port. In claim 3 ,
The failure detection unit detects the presence / absence of a failure in each server device, and the memory area holds the failure / non-existence state of the plurality of server devices, so that there is a failure between the server devices. It is possible to check the absence state,
When a failure occurs in one of the server device, the server system characterized by moving all the processors licenses to the other server apparatus.

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