JP5037644B2 - Computer system and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a system that performs communication using a plurality of communication paths, and more particularly to a communication technique that allocates necessary communication paths to a plurality of applications.

  In order to reduce management costs such as calculation resources such as CPU and memory, power cost, land cost, and the like, a plurality of applications are aggregated in several data centers. Some of these data centers are connected by a plurality of networks having different characteristics such as the Internet, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) provided by a communication carrier, or a dedicated line.

  Multiple applications have different network characteristics such as required bandwidth, delay, price, security level, etc., but have low latency, low price, high security level that satisfies all applications simultaneously, and communicate all applications It is difficult to prepare a single network having a sufficient bandwidth for the transmission. As a result, since applications communicate with each other while securing a network, costs cannot be reduced by network aggregation.

  Therefore, for example, in communication between data centers on a wide area network, there is a conventional technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 as a technique for centrally managing communication of a plurality of applications and controlling the order for the purpose of data synchronization.

JP 2006-59260 A

  However, the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is designed on the assumption that synchronization is performed using a single route, and that the state of the route and the nature of the application that performs communication do not change. Therefore, it is not assumed that communication is performed via a plurality of routes. Further, the system of Patent Document 1 cannot cope with a case where a path state or an application request changes with time.

A typical example of the present invention is as follows. That is, a computer system comprising: a first computer connected to one or more networks; and a management unit that manages communication paths set in the one or more networks, wherein the first computer includes the first computer One or more first interfaces connected to one or more networks, a first processor connected to the one or more first interfaces, and a first storage device connected to the first processor. Connected to a second computer via a plurality of communication paths on the one or more networks, and the management unit uses information indicating characteristics of the plurality of communication paths and the plurality of communication paths. Holds information indicating the characteristics of communication paths requested by multiple applications, and satisfies the characteristics of communication paths requested by the multiple applications. , Each of the plurality of applications is associated with one of the plurality of communication paths, and information indicating the association of each application with the communication path is created, and the first computer holds information indicating the correspondence to the path, transmits the data requested to transmit by each application, to the second computer via said communication path the application that requested the transmission is associated, said The computer system further includes a first application computer connected to the first computer, and the first application computer is connected to the second interface connected to the first computer and a second interface connected to the second interface. A processor and a second storage device connected to the second processor. The application is realized by the second processor executing the program stored in the second storage device, and the first application computer indicates the characteristics of the communication path requested by the application using the communication path. Information is transmitted to the management unit, the management unit as information indicating the association of each application to the communication path, the identifier of each application given by the management unit, the identifier of the communication path, Is created, the identifier of each application is transmitted to the first application computer, the information indicating the correspondence of the created application to the communication path is transmitted to the first computer, and the first computer 1 Application computer sends by the application The requested data and the identifier of the application that requested the transmission of the data are transmitted to the first computer, the first computer via the communication path corresponding to the received identifier of the application Data received from the first application computer is transmitted to the second computer, and the management unit needs to select one of the communication paths and associate the communication path with the application that needs to be associated with the communication path. Assuming that the application is associated with the selected communication path, the communication path requested by the application that needs to be associated with the communication path and all the applications that are already associated with the communication path Whether or not the characteristics of the plurality of communication paths are satisfied. It is determined based on information indicating characteristics and information indicating characteristics of communication paths requested by a plurality of applications using the plurality of communication paths, and determined that the characteristics of the requested communication paths are not satisfied. If the communication path selection is changed and it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are satisfied, the application that needs to be associated with the communication path is associated with the selected communication path, The application that needs to be associated with a communication path is the information when the management unit receives new information indicating the characteristics of the communication path requested by the application using the communication path from the first application computer. Information indicating the characteristics of the application and the plurality of communication paths is added, changed, or deleted. And each of the applications in the case where the computer system further includes the second computer, and the second computer includes one or more third interfaces connected to the one or more networks; A third processor connected to one or more third interfaces; and a third storage device connected to the third processor, wherein the first computer receives the data received from the first application computer The data is stored in a first storage device, and the second computer stores data received from the first computer in the second storage device.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to effectively manage network resources by managing both path characteristics required by a plurality of applications and communication characteristics of the plurality of paths, and assigning paths to the applications based on them. Furthermore, it is possible to satisfy the route characteristics required by a plurality of applications.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the communication system of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the management server of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the application request information of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the path | route characteristic information of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the application-route corresponding | compatible information master of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the new allocation information of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the transmission source application server of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the transmission destination application server of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure in the wide area network of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the communication control origin server of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the communication control destination server of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the application-route corresponding | compatible information of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure and message which register an application in the application server of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram explaining the procedure and message which update the state of the communication path of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure in which the application-path corresponding | compatible determination mechanism of the 1st Embodiment of this invention updates an application-path corresponding | compatible information master. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which determines whether the application-path | route correspondence determination mechanism of the 1st Embodiment of this invention can allocate an application to the selected path | route. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure and message of communication from the transmission source application server of 1st Embodiment of this invention to the transmission destination application server. It is explanatory drawing which shows the detail of the content of the message communicated between the servers of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the synchronous system of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the synchronous origin server of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the synchronous server of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram explaining the process which stores the data transmitted from the transmission source application of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention in a synchronous origin server and a synchronous destination server. It is explanatory drawing which shows the detail of the content of the message communicated between the servers of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the synchronous system of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the management server of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the application request information of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the path | route characteristic information of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the application-route corresponding | compatible information master of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the new allocation information of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the synchronous origin server of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of each synchronization destination server of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the application-route corresponding | compatible information of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure and message which register the application in the application server of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram explaining the procedure and message which update the state of the communication path of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure in which the application-path corresponding | compatible determination mechanism of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention updates an application-path corresponding | compatible information master. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which determines whether the application-path | route correspondence determination mechanism of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention can allocate an application to the selected path | route. It is a sequence diagram explaining the process which stores the data transmitted from the transmission source application of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention in a synchronous origin server and several synchronous destination server. It is explanatory drawing which shows the detail of the content of the message communicated between the servers of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the synchronous system of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the management server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the synchronization origin server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of another synchronization origin server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the application-route corresponding | compatible information stored in the synchronous origin server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the application-route corresponding | compatible information stored in another synchronization origin server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the transmission source application server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of another transmission origin application server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the procedure and message which register the application in the application server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram explaining the procedure and message which update the state of the communication path of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure in which the application-path corresponding | compatible determination mechanism of the 4th Embodiment of this invention produces an application-path corresponding | compatible information master. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which determines whether the application-path | route correspondence determination mechanism of the 4th Embodiment of this invention can allocate an application to the selected path | route. It is a sequence diagram explaining the process which stores the data transmitted from the transmission origin application server of the 4th Embodiment of this invention in two synchronization origin servers. It is explanatory drawing which shows the detail of the content of the message communicated between the servers of the 4th Embodiment of this invention.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

  The communication system according to the present embodiment is, for example, a computer system including a management server 110, a transmission source application server 140, a communication control source server 120, a transmission destination application server 150, a communication control destination server 130, and one or more wide area networks 160. Realized. The communication control source server 120 and the communication control destination server 130 each include a plurality of communication interfaces (IF) 121 and communication IFs 131 connected to the wide area network 160. The communication IFs 121 and 131 are connected to each other via a communication path 161 on the wide area network 160.

  The communication system of this embodiment may include a plurality of wide area networks 160. The plurality of wide area networks 160 may include a plurality of types of wide area networks 160 having different characteristics. For example, one wide area network 160 may be a private line network owned by a company or the like, and another wide area network 160 may be a so-called Internet.

  The object of the present embodiment is to allow a plurality of applications existing in the transmission source application server 140 to communicate with applications existing in the transmission destination application server 150 using the wide area network 160. Hereinafter, each server and a wide area network for realizing this function will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the management server 110 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The management server 110 is a computer including a CPU 116, a storage device 117, and a communication interface (IF) 118 that are connected to each other.

  The communication IF 118 is connected to other servers and the wide area network 160 and is used for communication with them. For example, the management server 110 may include a plurality of communication IFs 118, and each may be connected to each server or the like, or one communication IF 118 may be connected to each server via the wide area network 160.

  The CPU 116 is a processor that executes a program stored in the storage device 117. The processing of the management server 110 described below is realized by the CPU 116 executing a program.

  The storage device 117 stores a program executed by the CPU 116 and data referred to by the CPU 116. The storage device 117 may be a semiconductor memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), a large-capacity nonvolatile storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or a combination thereof. Typically, the management server 110 includes a DRAM and an HDD as the storage device 117, and a part or all of a program or the like stored in the HDD is copied to the DRAM as necessary, and is referred to by the CPU 116.

  The storage device 117 includes application request information 111, path characteristic information 112, an application-path correspondence information master 113, an application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114, and new allocation information 115. Details of the application request information 111, the path characteristic information 112, the application-path correspondence information master 113, and the new allocation information 115 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3D.

  The application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 is a program executed by the CPU 116 and realizes a function of creating the application-path correspondence information master 113 using the application request information 111, the path characteristic information 112, and the new allocation information 115. . Details of the creation of the application-route correspondence information master 113 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.

  Next, information held by the management server 110 according to the first embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3D. In these figures, tabular data is shown as an example, but tabular data need not actually be implemented.

  FIG. 3A is an explanatory diagram of the application request information 111 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The application request information 111 stores information such as an application ID 111c1, a band 111c2, a delay 111c3, a price 111c4, a security level 111c5, and an average data length 111c6.

  The application ID 111c1 must be unique within the application request information 111, and a plurality of information sets of the band 111c2 to the average data length 111c6 must not be stored corresponding to one application ID 111c1. As will be described later, upon receiving an application request from the transmission source application server 140, the management server 110 creates a new application ID (identifier) and stores it as the application ID 111c1 of the application request information 111. A value indicating the characteristics of the communication path included in the application request is stored as the band 111c2 to the average data length 111c6.

  A value indicating the characteristics of the communication path requested by the application is stored as the average data length 111c6 from the band 111c2 corresponding to the application ID 111c1.

  For example, the band 111c2 is a band requested by the application (for example, the number of transfer bits per second).

  The delay 111c3 is a delay time requested by the application. More specifically, this delay time is received by the communication control destination server 130 after the communication control source server 120 starts transmission of data having a length specified by an average data length 111c6 described later. It takes time to complete. Usually, when the length of data to be transmitted is longer than a predetermined length, the data is divided into a plurality of pieces and transmitted. In this case, the delay 111c3 is the time from when the leading data is transmitted to when the trailing data is received among the divided data.

  The price 111c4 is a price requested by the application (for example, a communication path usage fee per time / band).

  The security level 111c5 indicates the degree of security requested by the application. Specifically, the security level 111c5 may be a numerical value indicating a security level, or an index such as “high”, “medium”, and “low”, or information that specifically specifies the type of communication path. There may be.

  For example, in general, a private line network owned by a company is independent of other networks, and therefore there is a low possibility of information leaking from there to other networks. That is, the security level of the communication path on the leased line network is high. On the other hand, for example, the security level of a communication path on a normal Internet is low. Information specifying the types of these communication paths may be stored as the security level 111c5.

  The average data length 111c6 is the average length of data transmitted by the application.

  The application request information 111 does not need to include all of the band 111c2, the delay 111c3, the price 111c4, the security level 111c5, and the like, and may include at least one of them. Further, the application request information 111 may include information other than the above that indicates the characteristics of the communication requested by the application.

  FIG. 3B is an explanatory diagram of the path characteristic information 112 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The path characteristic information 112 stores information indicating the characteristics of each communication path 161.

  Specifically, the route characteristic information 112 stores information such as a route name 112c1, a communication IF name 112c2, a bandwidth 112c3, a delay 112c4, a price 112c5, and a security level 112c6.

  The route name 112c1 is information for uniquely identifying each communication route 161 in the route characteristic information 112. A plurality of sets of communication IF names 112c2 to security levels 112c6 should not be stored for one path name 112c1.

  The communication IF name 112c2 means a communication IF name in the communication control source server 120, and uniquely identifies a network interface (that is, the communication IF 121). As the communication IF name 112c2, either information identifying a physical network interface or information identifying a virtual network interface may be stored.

  The band 112c3 is a band (for example, the number of transfer bits per second) of each communication path 161.

  The delay 112c4 is a delay time of each communication path 161. Specifically, this delay time is the time from when the communication control source server 120 transmits data via the communication path 161 until the communication control destination server 130 receives the data.

  The price 112c5 is a price of each communication path 161 (for example, a communication path usage fee per time / band).

  The security level 112c6 indicates the degree of security of each communication path 161. This is a value based on the same standard as the security level 111c5, for example.

  The path characteristic information 112 does not have to include all of the band 112c3, the delay 112c4, the price 112c5, and the security level 112c6, but may include at least one of them. In addition, the route characteristic information 112 may include information other than the above indicating the route characteristics.

  FIG. 3C is an explanatory diagram of the application-path correspondence information master 113 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The application-path correspondence information master 113 indicates a correspondence relationship between an application that is actually applied to the communication system and a communication path 161 assigned to communication by the application. Data requested to be transmitted by the application is transmitted via the communication path 161 associated with the application-path correspondence information master 113.

  In the application-route correspondence information master 113, for example, an application ID 113c1 and a route name 113c2 are stored.

  In the application-route correspondence information master 113, a plurality of route names 113c2 must not be associated with one application ID 113c1, but a plurality of application IDs 113c1 may be associated with one route name 113c2. For example, in FIG. 3C, two application IDs “2” and “5” are associated with one route name “route 2”. In this case, the data transmitted by each of these two applications are both transmitted from the communication control source server 120 to the communication control destination server 130 via one communication path identified by “path 2”. The As will be described later, even when a plurality of applications are associated with one path 161, such association is permitted when the requirements of all the applications are satisfied.

  In the example of FIG. 3C, the value “path 2” of one path name 113c2 is associated with two values “2” and “5” of the application ID 113c1. This is because both the data requested to be transmitted by the application having the application ID “2” and the data requested to be transmitted by the application having the application ID “5” are transmitted via the communication path 161 having “path 2”. Means that

  FIG. 3D is an explanatory diagram of the new allocation information 115 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  As will be described later, when the application-route correspondence information master 113 is changed, new allocation information 115 is created as a candidate for the changed application-route correspondence information master 113.

  The new allocation information 115 includes, for example, an area for storing the application ID 115c1 and an area for storing the path name 115c2. In these areas, the same information as that of the application-route correspondence information master 113 is stored. However, unlike the route information 113c2, the route information 115c2 is not stored at the time of initialization.

  Specific implementation methods for the application request information 111, the path characteristic information 112, the application-path correspondence information master 113, and the new allocation information 115 may include information storage by a relational database or file, or storage as a memory in the server. . Further, for example, the application request information 111, the path characteristic information 112, and the application-path correspondence information master 113 may be implemented in different ways, and the application request information 111, the path characteristic information 112, and the application-path correspondence information master 113 are different from each other. A plurality of mounting methods may be used in combination.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the transmission source application server 140 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The transmission source application server 140 is a computer including a CPU 145, a storage device 146, and a communication IF 147 that are connected to each other.

  The communication IF 147 is connected to the management server 110 and the communication control source server 120, and is used for communication with them. For example, the transmission source application server 140 may include two communication IFs 147, and each may be connected to each server, or one communication IF 147 may be connected to each server via the wide area network 160.

  The CPU 145 is a processor that executes a program stored in the storage device 146. The processing of the transmission source application server 140 described below is realized by the CPU 145 executing a program.

  The storage device 146 stores a program executed by the CPU 145 and data referred to by the CPU 145. The storage device 146 may be hardware similar to the storage device 117 of the management server 110.

  The storage device 146 stores a plurality of applications and an application ID acquisition mechanism 144. FIG. 4 shows an example in which three transmission applications 1_141 to 3_143 are stored as a plurality of applications in the storage device 146, but two or four or more applications may be stored in the storage device 146. Further, the transmission source application server 140 does not necessarily need to be physically configured by one server device. For example, another server device may be used for each application. In that case, a plurality of transmission source application servers 140 may be connected to the communication control source server 120, and one or more applications may be stored in the storage device 146 of each transmission source application server 140.

  Furthermore, the plurality of applications do not necessarily have to be separate processes or separate threads in the server. The application ID acquisition mechanism 144 may be on a different server device from the one or more transmission applications.

  The transmission source application server 140 may be of any type as long as it executes one or more applications as described above, but a typical example is that a user uses the application. It is a personal computer (PC) used for. Although FIG. 1 shows only one source application server 140, typically, a plurality of source application servers 140 are connected to one communication control source server 120, and each source application server 140 is used by each user. To do.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the transmission destination application server 150 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The transmission destination application server 150 is a computer including a CPU 154, a storage device 155, and a communication IF 156 that are connected to each other.

  The communication IF 156 is connected to the management server 110 and the communication control destination server 130 and is used for communication with them. For example, the destination application server 150 may include two communication IFs 156, each of which may be connected to each server, or one communication IF 156 may be connected to each server via the wide area network 160.

  The CPU 154 is a processor that executes a program stored in the storage device 155. The processing of the destination application server 150 described below is realized by the CPU 154 executing a program.

  The storage device 155 stores programs executed by the CPU 154 and data referred to by the CPU 154. The storage device 155 may be hardware similar to the storage device 117 of the management server 110.

  The storage device 155 stores a plurality of applications (reception application 1_151 to reception application 3_153 in the example of FIG. 5). However, as in the case of the transmission application, the reception application 1_151 to the reception application 3_153 do not necessarily need to be separate processes or separate threads in the server. Two or four or more applications may be stored in the storage device 155. Alternatively, a plurality of destination application servers 150 may be connected to the communication control destination server 130, and one or more applications may be stored in each of them. However, even in that case, it is necessary to be able to communicate from the communication control destination server 130 with the same IP address.

  The reception application 1_151 shown in FIG. 5 receives data from the transmission application 1_141 shown in FIG. 4, the reception application 2_152 receives data from the transmission application 2_142, and the reception application 3_153 receives data from the transmission application 3_143. However, it is only necessary that each receiving application knows from which sending application each data is received, and the sending application and the receiving application are not necessarily associated one-to-one or one-to-many. . That is, one transmission application may transmit data to a plurality of reception applications, or one reception application may receive data from a plurality of transmission applications. The method for the transmission applications 141 to 143 to communicate with the reception applications 151 to 153 will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the communication control source server 120 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The communication control source server 120 is a computer including a CPU 124, a storage device 125, and a plurality of communication IFs 121 connected to each other.

  The CPU 124 is a processor that executes a program stored in the storage device 125. The processing of the communication control source server 120 described below is realized by the CPU 124 executing a program.

  The storage device 125 stores a program executed by the CPU 124 and data referred to by the CPU 124. The storage device 125 may be the same hardware as the storage device 117 of the management server 110.

  The storage device 125 stores the communication path control mechanism 1_122 and the application-path correspondence information 123. An example of the configuration of the application-route correspondence information 123 will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the application-route correspondence information 123 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The application-path correspondence information 123 includes an application ID 123c1 and a communication IF name 123c2. The application ID 123c1 needs to be unique in the application-path correspondence information 123, and is equivalent to the application ID 111c1 in FIG. 3A and the application ID 113c1 in FIG. 3C. On the other hand, the communication IF name 123c2 is equivalent to the communication IF name 112c2 in FIG. 3B.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the communication control destination server 130 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  The communication control destination server 130 is a computer including a CPU 133, a storage device 134, and a plurality of communication IFs 131 that are connected to each other.

  The CPU 133 is a processor that executes a program stored in the storage device 134. The processing of the communication control destination server 130 described below is realized by the CPU 133 executing a program.

  The storage device 134 stores programs executed by the CPU 133 and data referred to by the CPU 133. The storage device 134 may be hardware similar to the storage device 117 of the management server 110.

  The storage device 134 stores the communication path control mechanism 2_132.

  Each communication IF 121 shown in FIG. 7 and each communication IF 131 shown in FIG. 8 are connected to the communication path 161 on the wide area network 160 in a ratio of 1: 1. However, it is not always necessary to assign each communication path 161 to each of the physical communication IFs 121 and 131, and a technique such as VLAN that virtually divides a single communication IF 121 or the like may be used. In that case, the communication control source server 120 and the communication control destination server 130 may include only one physical communication IF 121 and 131, respectively. Further, a redundant system may be secured by using a plurality of physical communication IFs 121 as a single virtual communication IF. When the virtual communication IF as described above is used, information for identifying the virtual communication IF is stored as the communication IF name 123c2 of the application-path correspondence information 123 illustrated in FIG.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration in the wide area network 160 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  In the wide area network 160, one or a plurality of communication paths 161 and a path information collection mechanism 162 are provided. The route information collection mechanism 162 acquires information related to the communication route 161 on the wide area network 160 and transmits the information to the management server 110. The path information collection mechanism 162 may be able to create a new communication path 161, delete a communication path 161, or change the status of an existing communication path 161. In this case, the management server stores the status after creation, deletion, or change. 110. Information collected by the route information collection mechanism 162 and use cases when the collected information is transmitted to the management server 110 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Note that the route information collection mechanism 162 may be a known information collection mechanism implemented in a network device (for example, a router or the like, not shown) that constitutes the wide area network 160, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of wide area networks 160 may exist. For example, a wide area network 160 of a plurality of communication carriers may be used in combination, or a plurality of paths of a single communication carrier may be used. In that case, each communication carrier has a route information collection mechanism 162 for each wide area network 160. However, for example, when each communication carrier guarantees the delay or bandwidth of a route, the route information collection mechanism 162 does not necessarily need to collect dynamic information. Details of the use case when the system of this embodiment uses the path information collected by the path information collection mechanism 162 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication procedure and message from the transmission source application server 140 to the transmission destination application server 150 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram illustrating details of the contents of messages communicated between servers according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  Specifically, FIG. 15 shows a transmission source 190c1, a transmission destination 190c2, a message name 190c3, and a component 190c4 of the message. With reference to this figure, an example of messages transmitted and received corresponding to each sequence of FIGS. 10, 11 and 14 will be described.

  The application communication method that is the object of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 14, a reference code starting with “A” is assigned to a message transmitted / received between servers, and a reference code starting with “B” is assigned to a procedure executed by each server. The same applies to the subsequent sequence diagrams and flowcharts.

  One of the transmission applications (for example, transmission application 1_141) in the transmission source application server 140 makes a communication request with the reception application (for example, reception application 1_151) in the application server 150, generates communication data 1_A131, and performs communication control. The data is transmitted to the original server 120 (B131).

  As shown in FIG. 15, communication data 1_A 131 transmitted from the transmission source application server 140 to the communication control source server 120 includes, for example, communication data, the application ID of the transmission application that requested communication, and the transmission destination application server 150. Consists of a port number. However, the communication data 1_A 131 may include other control data. The port number in the destination application server 150 may be information that can identify a plurality of applications in the destination application server 150, and may be information such as an IP address or VLAN ID instead of the port number. Good.

  Next, the communication control source server 120 refers to the application-path correspondence information 123 and determines the communication IF 121 to be used based on the communication IF name 123c2 corresponding to the application ID 123c1 that matches the application ID included in the received message A131. decide. Then, the communication control source server 120 transmits the communication data 2_A 132 to the communication control destination server 130 using the determined communication IF 121 (B132).

  For example, when the application ID “1” is included in the message A131, the value “route 1” of the route name 113c2 corresponding to the value “1” of the application ID 113c1 is referred to. In this case, the communication data 2_A 132 is transmitted via the communication path 161 identified by “path 1”. The communication IF 121 connected to each communication path 161 is specified based on the path characteristic information 112.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the communication data 2_A 132 includes, for example, communication data and a port number in the transmission destination application server. The transmission data and the port number in the transmission destination application server are the same data as those transmitted in the communication data 1_A 131.

  Upon receiving the communication data 2_A 132, the communication control destination server 130 transmits the communication data 3_A 133 to the port number in the transmission destination application server included in the communication data 2_A 132 (B133).

  The communication data 3_A133 is the same as the communication data in the communication data 2_A132. When an IP address or VLAN ID is sent instead of the port number in the destination application server in the communication data 2_A 132, the communication control destination server 130 sends the destination application server having the corresponding IP address or VLAN ID. The communication data 3_A 133 is transmitted to 150.

  Upon receiving the communication data 3_A 133, the transmission destination application server 150 passes it to an internal reception application (for example, reception application 1_151), and the reception application processes the received data.

  FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure and a message for registering an application in the application server according to the first embodiment of this invention. Each message in FIG. 10 is described in FIG.

  When the source application server 140 starts to use a new application, each application is responsible for transmitting data by that application so that the characteristics required by each of the new application and the already used application are met. It is necessary to correspond to the communication path 161 used. A use case for new registration of an application will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 15. By performing this new registration, the above association is performed.

  When the transmission application 1_141 to the transmission application 3_143 in the transmission source application server 140 make a connection request and a path characteristic request to the application ID acquisition mechanism 144, the application ID acquisition mechanism 144 transmits an application request A111 to the management server 110. (B111).

  The application request A111 includes path characteristic information requested by the application as shown in FIG. The path characteristic information is, for example, a bandwidth, delay, price, security level, average data length, and the like, and is stored as application request information 111.

  The management server 110 that has received the application request stores the path characteristic information included in the application request in the application request information 111, assigns a unique ID to the path characteristic information, and sets the unique ID as the application ID 111c1. (B112).

  In procedure B112, the bandwidth, delay, price, security level, and average data length in the application request A111 are stored in 111c2 to 111c6, respectively. As a method of allocating IDs in the procedure B112, for example, there can be a method of automatically allocating unique IDs when a relational database is used. Further, a method of generating an ID using a random number until a unique value is obtained, a method of adopting time as an ID, or the like can be considered.

  Next, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 114 in the management server 110 updates the application-path correspondence information master 113 using the information stored in the application request information 111 and the path characteristic information 112 (B150). Details of the flow of B150 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The management server 110 notifies the communication control source server 120 of the application-path correspondence change A112, and further transmits the application use permission A113 to the transmission source application server 140. As shown in FIG. 15, for example, an application ID and a communication IF name used for communication by an application identified by the ID are transmitted as the application-path correspondence change A112, and the application ID and Whether or not the application identified by the ID can be used is notified. The application-path correspondence change A112 is information of the application-path correspondence information master 113 updated in the procedure B150.

  The communication control source server 120 that has received the application-path correspondence change A112 updates the application-path correspondence information 123 (B113). That is, if the received application ID is already stored in the application-path correspondence information 123, the associated communication IF is changed to the received communication IF, and if the received application ID is not in the application-path correspondence information, The received application ID is newly stored as an application ID 123c1, and the application ID is associated with the received communication IF.

  When the use permission is notified, the transmission source application server 140 that has received the application use permission A113 sets the received application ID as information for identifying the application that has made the connection request and the path characteristic request (B114).

  FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure and a message for updating the communication path state according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  When the state of the communication path 161 is changed, such as when a communication path 161 is newly added, an existing communication path 161 is deleted, or the characteristics of the communication path 161 are changed, the communication path 161 after the change It is necessary to newly assign each application to the communication path 161 so as to conform to the characteristics of Therefore, in the present embodiment, information indicating the state of each communication path 161 is collected from the path information collection mechanism 162. A use case for collecting route information will be described with reference to FIG.

  The route information collection mechanism 162 on the wide area network 160 monitors creation of a new route and information change of the existing route, and notifies the management server 110 of the information as route information A121 (B121).

  The route information A121 includes a route characteristic including at least one of delay, bandwidth, price, and security, and a route name. The path name may be any name such as VLAN-ID that the communication control source server 120 can use to associate the communication path with the communication IF. A set of an IP address and a subnet mask may be used instead of the VLAN-ID. Alternatively, when there is no branch on the route and the communication IF is connected on a one-to-one basis, the VLAN-ID is also unnecessary.

  The creation of a new route may be performed automatically by the wide area network 160 or may be performed based on a request from the management server 110 or the communication control source server 120. As a case where the wide area network 160 automatically performs, for example, a case where an operator sets automatically or manually when contracting with a communication carrier is conceivable. As for the case where the management server 110 or the communication control source server 120 requests, there may be a case where a route is created using a technique for changing the state to a network device such as MPLS-TP or OpenFlow.

  The information change of the existing route can occur, for example, in the case of failure information such as disconnection, or a change in bandwidth limitation in QoS (Quality of Service) technology.

  The management server 110 updates the route information (that is, the bandwidth 112c3 to the security 112c6) of the route characteristic information 112 using the received route information (B122). Specifically, when a new communication path is created, the management server 110 stores the received path information in the path characteristic information 112. When the information of the existing communication route is changed, the management server 110 replaces the route information in the route characteristic information 112 with the received route information. When an existing communication route is deleted, route information corresponding to the deleted route is deleted from the route characteristic information 112.

  Here, when a new route is created, the management server 110 notifies the communication control source server 120 of new route information A122. As illustrated in FIG. 15, the new route information A122 includes a route name that identifies a newly created communication route.

  The communication control source server 120 associates the unused communication IF 121 with the newly created communication path 161 and transmits the name of the assigned communication IF 121 to the management server 110 as the communication IF_A 123 of the new path (B123). As illustrated in FIG. 15, the communication IF_A 123 for a new path includes a path name that identifies a newly created communication path, and a communication IF name that identifies the communication IF 121 associated with the communication path. When there is no unused communication IF 121, the management server 110 may virtually create a new communication IF by a method such as creating a VLAN.

  The management server 110 stores the received communication IF_A 123 of the new route in the route characteristic information 112 as the communication IF name 112c2 (B124). If necessary, the communication control destination server 130 is requested to create a correspondence between the communication path 161 and the communication IF 131 as a communication IF securing request A124.

  The communication control destination server 130 transmits a communication start message A 125 to the communication control source server 120. This is because, for example, when a VLAN is used as the communication IF, the communication control destination server 130 must have the communication IF 131 in which the same VLAN ID as the communication IF 121 of the communication control source server 120 is set. However, if the communication is already possible, communication of the messages A124 to A125 is not necessary. Further, the communication start message A125 may pass through the management server 110.

  Next, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 114 in the management server 110 updates the application-path correspondence information master 113 using the information stored in the application request information 111 and the path characteristic information 112 (B150). This method is the same as the method of B150 in FIG. 10, and will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  Furthermore, the management server 110 notifies the communication control source server 120 of the application-route correspondence change A 126, and based on this, the communication control source server 120 updates the application-route correspondence information 123 (B125). Application-path correspondence change A 126 and procedure B 125 are the same as application-path correspondence change A 112 and procedure B 113 in FIG.

  When the path information A121 includes information indicating that any one of the communication paths 161 has become unusable, the management server 110 transmits the communication IF_A127 of the stop path to the communication control source server 120. As illustrated in FIG. 15, the stop path communication IF_A 127 includes a communication IF name that identifies the communication IF 121 corresponding to the communication path 161 that has become unusable.

  The communication control source server 120 deletes information indicating the correspondence between the communication path 161 and the communication IF 121 that has become unusable from the application-path correspondence information 123 (B125). The transmission of the stop path communication IF_A 127 and the procedure B125 are unnecessary when there is no unusable path. The transmission of the stop path communication IF_A 127 and the procedure B125 may be performed when the application ID assigned to the path does not exist even when the path is not usable.

  A method for creating the application-route correspondence information master 113 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. This procedure corresponds to the procedure B150 whose outline has been described in the description of FIGS. FIG. 12 is an explanation of the procedure B150, and details of the procedure B160 (portion surrounded by a dotted line) are shown in FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for updating the application-path correspondence information master 113 by the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 114 according to the first embodiment of this invention.

  First, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 reads the application request information 111 and the path characteristic information 112, and initializes new allocation information 115 (B151). At the stage of initialization, the application and the communication path are not associated with each other in the new assignment information 115.

  Next, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 uses one of applications that have not yet been assigned a communication path on the new assignment information 115 (that is, need to be assigned to a communication path from now on, for example, a transmission application). One of 1_141 to the transmission application 3_143 is selected (B152). For example, the application IDs may be selected in ascending order, descending order, or random order.

  Thereafter, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 selects one communication path 161 that has not yet been assigned to the application selected in the procedure B152 (B153). Applications other than those already selected in the procedure B152 may be assigned to the communication path 161.

  Next, when it is assumed that the application selected in the procedure B152 is assigned to the communication path selected in the procedure B153, it is determined whether or not the path characteristics required by each application are satisfied (B154). A detailed example of this procedure will be described later with reference to FIG.

  If it is determined in the procedure B154 that the path characteristics requested by the application are satisfied, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 assigns the application selected in the procedure B152 to the communication path selected in B153 (B155).

  Next, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 determines whether or not all applications have been assigned to any communication path by the assignment of the procedure B155 (that is, whether assignment has been completed) (B156).

  If it is determined in the procedure B156 that the assignment has not yet been completed, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 114 returns to the procedure B152 and selects one application that has not been assigned yet.

  When it is determined in the procedure B156 that the assignment has been completed, a visual check by the operator is performed (B157). For example, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 114 may display the created new allocation information 115 on a display device (not shown) of the management server 110 and accept an input of a confirmation result by the operator. When the operator visually checks the displayed information and determines that the displayed assignment is not desirable, the operator inputs information indicating that the assignment is not permitted to an input device (not shown) of the management server 110. Can do. In that case, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 determines that the assignment is not permitted. When the operator inputs information indicating that the assignment according to the new assignment information 115 is permitted, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 determines that the assignment is permitted.

  As a result of the visual confirmation of the procedure B157, when the assignment is recognized, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 114 determines the new assignment information 115 as the application-path correspondence information master 113 (B159). That is, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 updates the contents of the application-path correspondence information master 113 to the same contents as the new allocation information 115.

  The operator's visual confirmation in the procedure B157 may be omitted. In this case, if it is determined in the procedure B156 that the assignment is completed, the new assignment information 115 is determined as the application-path correspondence information master 113.

  In the procedure B154, when the application selected in the procedure B152 cannot be assigned to the communication path selected in the procedure B153, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 applies the application selected in the procedure B152 to the application selected in the procedure B152. Then, it is determined whether or not there is a communication path that has not been selected in the procedure B153 (B158). This means that, for example, in the procedure of B153, when the communication path is selected in ascending order with respect to the path name, the last communication path is selected.

  If it is determined in procedure B158 that there is a route that has not yet been selected, the application-route correspondence determination mechanism 114 returns to procedure B153 to select a communication route again.

  In the procedure B158, if it is determined that all communication paths have been selected in the B153 for the application selected in the procedure B152, and if the assignment is not recognized in the visual confirmation of the operator in the B157, the application -The route correspondence information master 113 is used without being changed (B1510).

  FIG. 13 is a procedure for determining whether or not the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 according to the first embodiment of this invention can assign an application to the selected communication path (that is, details of determination in the procedure B154). It is a flowchart which shows.

  First, the application-route correspondence determination mechanism 114 acquires a list of applications assigned to the communication route selected in the procedure B153 in the new assignment information 115 (B161).

  Next, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 114 acquires the request bandwidth of each application included in the list acquired in the procedure B161 from the application request information 111, and calculates the sum of the acquired request bandwidths of all applications (B162). ).

  Next, the application-route correspondence determination mechanism 114 acquires the bandwidth of the communication route selected in the procedure B133 from the route characteristic information 112, and compares it with the sum of the requested bandwidths obtained in the procedure B162 (B163). .

  In the procedure B163, when the sum of the required bandwidths is smaller than the bandwidth of the communication path itself selected in the procedure B153, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 uses the M / M / 1 queue model to delay each application. Is calculated (B164).

Here, the calculation method of the expected value of the delay of the application using the M / M / 1 queue model will be described. The bandwidth 112c3 of the communication path selected in the procedure B153 is a, the transmission delay 112c4 is e, and the bandwidth 111c2 and the average data length 111c6 of the application selected in the procedure B152 are b ₀ and w ₀ , respectively. Also, procedures band of n applications that are in the list of the resulting application in B161 111c2, respectively a mean data length 111c6 b ₁ ... b _n, and w ₁ ... w _n. At this time, the expected value d ₀ of the delay of the application selected in B152 is

And the expected value d _i of the delay of the i-th application in the list of applications obtained in the procedure B161 is

It is expressed.

Next, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 114 compares the delay of each application obtained in the procedure B164 with the request delay (that is, the value of the delay 111c3 related to those applications) (B165). That the request delay of the selected application in B152 and q _0, when the request delay of the application that is in the list of the obtained application in B161 and q ₁ ... q _n, in q ₀ ... q _n,

Whether or not is satisfied is determined. If this is true for all i, each application is considered to have satisfied the requested delay. In actual operation, the allocation is allowed even if the requested delay cannot be satisfied to some extent, that is, instead of the above formula (3).

There is also a case where is used. Or conversely, a case where allocation is not allowed unless the request delay is sufficiently satisfied, that is, instead of the above formula (3)

There is also a case where is used. In the above formulas (4) and (5), ε is a positive value larger than 0, and can be arbitrarily determined by the user based on an allowable excess of delay or a required delay margin. .

  When the request delay is satisfied in all the applications in the procedure B165, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 needs to use the product of the requested bandwidth of the application selected in the procedure B152 and the cost per bandwidth of the communication path. Calculated as an amount of money (B166).

  Next, the application / route correspondence determining mechanism 114 determines whether or not the required amount of route use calculated in the procedure B166 is smaller than the amount required by the application selected in the procedure B152 (that is, the value of the price 111c4 related to the application). Is determined (B167).

  If it is determined in procedure B167 that the required amount of route use is smaller than the amount requested by the application selected in procedure B152, the application-route correspondence determination mechanism 114 determines the security level required by the application selected in procedure B152 ( That is, it is determined whether or not the security level indicated by the security 111c5 related to the application is equal to or lower than the security level of the communication path selected in the procedure B153 (that is, the security level indicated by the security 112c6 related to the communication path) (B168). .

  If it is determined in procedure B168 that the security level required by the application selected in procedure B152 is equal to or lower than the security level of the communication path selected in procedure B153, the security level of the communication path selected in procedure B153 is determined in procedure B152. Meet the security level required by the selected application. In this case, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114 determines in the procedure B154 that the communication path selected in the procedure B153 satisfies the request of the application selected in the procedure B152.

  If it is determined in the procedure B163 that the sum of the requested bandwidths is smaller than the bandwidth of the communication path itself selected in the procedure B153, if the requested delay of any application is not satisfied in the procedure B165, the procedure B167 is performed. In step B168, it is determined that the required amount of route use is larger than the amount requested by the application selected in the procedure B152, and in step B168, the security level of the route selected in the procedure B153 is that of the application selected in the procedure B152. When the requested security level is not satisfied, in the procedure B154, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 114 determines that the communication path selected in the procedure B153 does not satisfy the request of the application selected in the procedure B152.

  The order of the determination procedures B163, B165, B167, and B168 in FIG. 13 does not necessarily have to be as illustrated, or any determination is omitted depending on the data held by the management server 110. May be. For example, when the management server 110 does not have information on the amount, after determining that the request delay is satisfied in all the applications in the procedure B165, the procedure B166 and B167 may be omitted and the procedure may proceed to the procedure B168.

  Each message in the sequence diagrams of FIGS. 10, 11 and 14 may be transmitted using any transmission method and protocol. For example, the response may be substantially confirmed by using a protocol with high communication stability such as TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). Alternatively, when the stability of the communication path is ensured, or when the stability is secured by a higher-order protocol, a protocol that does not guarantee communication such as UDP (User Datagram Protocol) may be used. .

  The example in which the application in the transmission source application server 140 communicates with the application in the transmission destination application server 150 has been described in detail as the communication system according to the first embodiment of this invention. Thus, each application is assigned to a plurality of communication paths so that characteristics required by the plurality of applications are satisfied. For this reason, even when there is an increase / decrease in applications or a change in characteristics of communication paths, a plurality of communication paths can be used efficiently. Since the assignment as described above is automatically performed based on the characteristics of the route acquired in advance and the characteristics requested by the application, an increase in work cost by the operator can be suppressed.

  The above-described first embodiment of the present invention is a communication system including five servers as shown in FIG. 1, but such a configuration is only an example, and various modifications are actually allowed. Is done.

  For example, the transmission application 1_141 to the transmission application 3_143 and the application ID acquisition mechanism 144 may be further stored in the storage device 125 of the communication control source server 120. In that case, the communication control source server 120 also serves as the transmission source application server 140.

  Similarly, the reception application 1_151 to the reception application 3_153 may be further stored in the storage device 134 of the communication control destination server 130. In that case, the communication control destination server 130 also serves as the transmission destination application server 150.

  Alternatively, the application request information 111, the path characteristic information 112, the application-path correspondence information master 113, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 114, and the new allocation are stored in the storage device 125 of the communication control source server 120 or the storage device 134 of the communication control destination server 130. Information 115 may be further stored. In that case, the communication control source server 120 or the communication control destination server 130 also serves as the management server 110.

<Second Embodiment>
As the second embodiment, an example in which an application aims to perform data synchronization will be described.

  FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a synchronization system according to the second embodiment of this invention.

  The synchronization system of this embodiment is realized by a computer system including the management server 110, the synchronization source server 220, the synchronization destination server 230, the transmission source application server 140, and one or more wide area networks 160. The plurality of communication IFs 221 of the synchronization source server 220 are connected to the communication IF 231 of the synchronization destination server 230 through the wide area network 160.

  The present embodiment provides a system in which data is stored in the synchronization source server 220 and the synchronization destination server 230 when the transmission source application server 140 transmits data to the synchronization source server 220. Such a system can be used, for example, for disaster recovery or application data sharing at multiple locations.

  The management server 110, the transmission source application server 140, the wide area network 160, and the communication path 161 in this embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment. Further, the process in which the management server 110 assigns applications to the plurality of communication IFs 221 is the same as that in the first embodiment. Hereinafter, a part of the second embodiment different from the first embodiment will be described, and a description of the same part as the first embodiment will be omitted.

  First, the difference as a configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18.

  FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the synchronization source server 220 according to the second embodiment of this invention.

  The synchronization source server 220 is a computer including a CPU 225, a storage device 226, and a plurality of communication IFs 221 that are connected to each other. The CPU 225, the storage device 226, and the communication IF 221 may be the same as the CPU 124, the storage device 125, and the communication IF 121 of FIG. 7, respectively, except for differences described below. For this reason, the detailed description about these is abbreviate | omitted.

  The storage device 226 stores a communication path control mechanism 1_222, application-path correspondence information 223, and synchronization information 1_224. The communication path control mechanism 1_222 and the application-path correspondence information 223 are the same as the communication path control mechanism 1_122 and the application-path correspondence information 123 held by the communication control source server 120 of the first embodiment.

  FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the synchronization destination server 230 according to the second embodiment of this invention.

  The synchronization destination server 230 is a computer including a CPU 235, a storage device 236, and a plurality of communication IFs 231 that are connected to each other. The CPU 235, the storage device 236, and the communication IF 231 may be the same as the CPU 133, the storage device 134, and the communication IF 131 shown in FIG. 8, respectively, except for differences described below. For this reason, the detailed description about these is abbreviate | omitted.

  The storage device 226 stores synchronization information 2_234.

  Next, the procedure executed in this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram illustrating details of the content of a message communicated between servers according to the second embodiment of this invention.

  Specifically, in FIG. 20, a transmission source 270c1, a transmission destination 270c2, a message name 270c3, and a component 270c4 of the message are displayed. Based on this figure, an example of messages transmitted and received corresponding to the sequence of FIG. 19 will be described.

  FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing for storing the data transmitted from the transmission source application server 140 in the synchronization source server 220 and the synchronization destination server 230 according to the second embodiment of this invention.

  According to the processing shown in FIG. 19, when an application in the transmission source application server 140 transmits data to the synchronization source server 220, the data is stored in both the synchronization information 1_224 of the synchronization source server 220 and the synchronization information 2_234 of the synchronization destination server 230. The The detailed procedure will be described below.

  The application in the transmission source application server 140 (for example, any one of the transmission application 1_141 to the transmission application 3_143) stores data to be synchronized (that is, data to be stored in both the synchronization source server 220 and the synchronization destination server 230). The communication data 1_A 231 generated as data and including the stored data is transmitted to the synchronization source server 220 (B231).

  As shown in FIG. 20, the communication data 1_A 231 includes an application ID for identifying the application that generated the stored data, and the generated stored data.

  Next, the synchronization source server 220 stores the storage data included in the communication data 1_A 231 in the synchronization information 1_224 (B232).

  Subsequently, the synchronization source server 220 determines the communication IF 221 based on the application-path correspondence information 223 and the application ID included in the communication data 1_A 231, and stores it in the synchronization destination server 230 using the determined communication IF 221. Data A232 is transmitted (B233). As illustrated in FIG. 20, the storage data A232 includes the same storage data as that included in the communication data 1_A231. Note that the application-route correspondence information 223 is created in the same manner as the application-route correspondence information 123 of the first embodiment.

  Receiving the storage data A232, the synchronization destination server 230 stores the storage data in the synchronization information 2_234 and returns a storage completion response A233 (B234). As illustrated in FIG. 20, the storage completion response A233 includes information indicating that the storage of the stored data in the synchronization information 2_234 is completed.

  In this sequence, storage of stored data in synchronization information 1 224 (B232), transmission of stored data (B233), and storage in synchronization information 2_234 (B234) are opposite to those shown in FIG. May be executed in the following order.

  The storage completion response A233 has a sufficiently reliable communication path, and a storage area exists in the synchronization destination server 230 (for example, an area for storing the synchronization information 2_234 exists in the storage device 236 of the synchronization destination server 230). ) Is not necessary if it is known. Possible cases where the communication path is sufficiently reliable include, for example, a case where the communication path is made redundant, and a case where a highly reliable communication method such as TCP is used. As a case where it is known that a storage area exists in the synchronization destination server 230, a case where the storage area of the synchronization destination server 230 is equal to or larger than the storage area of the synchronization source server 220 may be considered. Alternatively, when old data is deleted using an algorithm such as LRU before the storage area reserved in the synchronization destination server 230 overflows, it may be determined that the storage area exists.

  In the system of the present embodiment, the assignment of communication paths when a new application makes a synchronization request can be realized by replacing the communication control source server 120 in FIG. 10 with the synchronization source server 220.

  In the system of this embodiment, when a new route is constructed, an existing route is changed, or a communication route assignment is changed, the communication control source server 120 in FIG. This can be realized by replacing the server 130 with the synchronization destination server 230.

  In the present embodiment, a specific configuration when the present invention is implemented for the purpose of synchronizing data has been described in detail. Even when a relatively large amount of data is transmitted from the synchronization source server 220 to the synchronization destination server 230 for disaster recovery or application data sharing at multiple locations, according to the present embodiment, the operation cost of the operator It is possible to efficiently assign applications to a plurality of communication paths so as to satisfy the characteristics required by each application while suppressing the above.

<Third Embodiment>
As a third embodiment of the present invention, a configuration and method when there are a plurality of synchronization destination servers in the same synchronization system as in the second embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the synchronization system according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  In the present embodiment, the management server 310, the synchronization source server 320, the synchronization destination server 330, the transmission source application server 140, and the wide area network 360 are included. One or more synchronization destination servers 330 exist.

  The wide area network 360 may be the same as the wide area network 160 shown in FIGS. Although omitted in FIG. 21, a plurality of types of wide area networks 160 may exist as in FIG. The plurality of communication paths 361 on the wide area network 360 may be the same as the plurality of communication paths 161 shown in FIG.

  The synchronization source server 320 includes a plurality of communication IFs 321, and each synchronization destination server 330 includes a plurality of communication IFs 331. Each communication IF 321 is connected to each communication IF 331 via each communication path 361. As shown in FIG. 21, the communication IFs 321 and 331 are not necessarily connected one-to-one. Hereinafter, each component will be described sequentially.

  FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the management server 310 according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  The management server 310 is a computer including a CPU 316, a storage device 317, and a communication IF 318 that are connected to each other. The CPU 316, the storage device 317, and the communication IF 318 may be the same as the CPU 116, the storage device 117, and the communication IF 118 shown in FIG. 2 except for the differences described below. For this reason, the detailed description about these is abbreviate | omitted.

  The storage device 317 stores application request information 311, path characteristic information 312, an application-path correspondence information master 313, an application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314, and new allocation information 315. Details of the application request information 311, the path characteristic information 312, the application-path correspondence information master 313, and the new allocation information 315 are shown in FIGS. 23A to 23D.

  FIG. 23A is an explanatory diagram of the application request information 311 according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  Although FIGS. 23A to 23D are all expressed in a table format, the storage device 317 does not necessarily store information in a table format, and can store information of an arbitrary data structure.

  The application request information 311 stores information indicating characteristics required by the application for communication for synchronization from any synchronization source server 320 to any synchronization destination server 330.

  Specifically, the application request information 311 includes an application ID 311c1, a transmission source name 311c2, a transmission destination name 311c3, a band 311c4, a delay 311c5, a price 311c6, and a security 311c7.

  Note that the application ID 311c1, the band 311c4, the delay 311c5, the price 311c6, and the security 311c7 illustrated in FIG. 23A are the same as the application ID 111c1, the band 111c2, the delay 111c3, the price 111c4, and the security 111c5 illustrated in FIG. Detailed description thereof will be omitted. Although not described in FIG. 23A, information similar to the average data length 111c6 in FIG. 3A may be included in the application request information 311.

  The application ID 311c1 does not necessarily need to be a number, and may be any application ID that can uniquely identify the application.

  The transmission source name 311c2 is information for identifying the synchronization source server 320 that is the transmission source of the data requested to be transmitted by the application. When there is one synchronization source server 320 as in this embodiment, the transmission source name 311c2 may be omitted.

  The transmission destination name 311c3 is information for identifying the synchronization destination server 330 that is the transmission destination of the data requested to be transmitted by the application.

  The information on the band 311c4, the delay 311c5, the price 311c6, and the security 311c7 are path characteristics required by the application, and are not necessarily all required.

  When one application requests data transmission from one synchronization source server 320 to a plurality of synchronization destination servers 330, a plurality of records (that is, the table of FIG. 23A) storing sets of the same application ID 311c1 and transmission source name 311c2. And the information for identifying a plurality of synchronization destination servers 330 as transmission destinations is stored in the transmission destination name 311c3 of each record. When one application requests data transmission from a plurality of synchronization source servers 320, a plurality of records corresponding to each synchronization source server 320 are created in the same manner. However, a plurality of sets of path characteristics such as the band 311c4 to the security 311c7 should not be stored corresponding to one set including the application ID 311c1, the transmission source name 311c2, and the transmission destination name 311c3.

  FIG. 23B is an explanatory diagram of the path characteristic information 312 according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  The path characteristic information 312 stores information indicating the characteristics of each communication path 361. Specifically, the path characteristic information 312 includes a transmission source 312c1, a transmission destination 312c2, a path name 312c3, a communication IF name 312c4, a band 312c5, a delay 312c6, a price 312c7, a security level 312c8, and the like.

  The transmission source 312c1 and the transmission destination 312c2 are equivalent to the transmission source 311c2 and the transmission destination 311c3, respectively. The transmission source 312c1 is not necessarily required when there is a single synchronization source server 320 as in the present embodiment. A plurality of records including the same combination of the transmission source 312c1, the transmission destination 312c2, and the path name 312c3 must not exist in the path characteristic information 312.

  The communication IF name 312c4 holds a communication IF name that identifies the communication IF 321 in the synchronization source server 320. What information is stored in the communication IF name 312c4 depends on how the synchronization source server 320 manages the communication IF. For example, a physical network interface name, a virtual network interface name, an IP address area, or a VLAN ID and the like are stored.

  The path name 312c3, the communication IF name 312c4, the band 312c5, the delay 312c6, the price 312c7, and the security level 312c8 are respectively the path name 112c1, the communication IF name 112c2, the band 112c3, the delay 112c4, the price 112c5, and the security level 112c6 shown in FIG. Therefore, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 23C is an explanatory diagram of the application-path correspondence information master 313 according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  The application-path correspondence information master 313 indicates a communication path 361 assigned to communication by each application.

  The application-path correspondence information master 313 includes, for example, an application ID 313c1, a transmission source 313c2, a transmission destination 313c3, and a path name 313c4. The application ID 313c1, the transmission source 313c2, and the transmission destination 313c3 are respectively equivalent to the application ID 311c1, the transmission source 311c2, and the transmission destination 311c3 in the application request information 311. The route name 313c4 is equivalent to the route name 312c3 in the route characteristic information 312. In the application-path correspondence information master 313, one combination of the application ID 313c1, the transmission source 313c2, and the transmission destination 313c3 must not be associated with a plurality of path names 313c4.

  FIG. 23D is an explanatory diagram of the new allocation information 315 according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  The new allocation information 315 is used when the application-path correspondence information master 313 is updated, similarly to the new allocation information 115 of the first embodiment.

  The new allocation information 315 includes, for example, an application ID 315c1, a transmission source 315c2, a transmission destination 315c3, and a path name 315c4. The application ID 315c1, the transmission source 315c2, the transmission destination 315c3, and the path name 315c4 correspond to the application ID 313c1, the transmission source 313c2, the transmission destination 313c3, and the path name 313c4 in the application-path correspondence information master 313, respectively, but the path name 315c4 Unlike the path name 313c4, no value is entered when the new allocation information 315 is initialized.

  FIG. 24 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of the synchronization source server 320 according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  The synchronization source server 320 is a computer including a CPU 325, a storage device 326, and a plurality of communication IFs 321 that are connected to each other. The CPU 325, the storage device 326, and the communication IF 321 may be the same as the CPU 225, the storage device 226, and the communication IF 221 of FIG. 17, respectively, except for differences described below. For this reason, the detailed description about these is abbreviate | omitted.

  The storage device 326 stores a communication path control mechanism 322, application-path correspondence information 323, and synchronization information 1_324. The algorithms of the application-path correspondence information 323 and the communication path control mechanism 322 are different from those stored in the synchronization source server 220 of the second embodiment.

  Details of the application-route correspondence information 323 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  When the communication path control mechanism 322 receives storage data as a synchronization request from the applications 141 to 143 in the application server 140, the communication path control mechanism 322 stores the storage data in the synchronization information 1_324, and uses the application-path correspondence information 323 to perform a plurality of communications. One of the IFs 321 is selected, and the communication IF 321 is used to communicate with the synchronization destination server 330. This sequence will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram of the application-path correspondence information 323 according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  The application-path correspondence information 323 includes an application ID 323c1, a transmission destination 323c2, and a communication IF name 323c3. The application ID 323c1 and the communication IF name 323c3 are the same as the application ID 123c1 and the communication IF name 123c2 shown in FIG. 9, respectively. The transmission destination 323c2 specifies the synchronization destination server 330 of the transmission destination of the data requested to be transmitted by each application.

  When one application requests data transmission to a plurality of synchronization destination servers 330, each combination of one application ID 323c1 that identifies the application and a transmission destination 323c2 that identifies the plurality of synchronization destination servers 330, A communication IF name 323c2 that identifies the communication path 361 used for each communication is associated. A plurality of communication IF names 323c3 must not be associated with each combination of the application ID 323c1 and the transmission destination 323c2.

  FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of each synchronization destination server 330 according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  The synchronization destination server 230 is a computer including a CPU 335, a storage device 336, and a plurality of communication IFs 331 that are connected to each other. The CPU 335, the storage device 336, and the communication IF 331 may be the same as the CPU 235, the storage device 236, and the communication IF 231 illustrated in FIG. For this reason, the detailed description about these is abbreviate | omitted.

  A method for achieving the object using the system of the third embodiment will be described below.

  FIG. 32 is an explanatory diagram illustrating details of a message content communicated between servers according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  Specifically, in FIG. 32, a transmission source 390c1, a transmission destination 390c2, a message name 390c3, and a component 390c4 of the message are displayed. Based on this figure, an example of a message transmitted and received corresponding to each sequence of FIGS. 27, 28 and 31 will be described.

  First, a mechanism for synchronizing data to a plurality of synchronization destination servers 330, which is an object of the present embodiment, will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 31 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing for storing data transmitted from the transmission source application server 140 according to the third embodiment of this invention in the synchronization source server 320 and the plurality of synchronization destination servers 330.

  The procedure B231, procedure B232, and communication data 1_A231 in FIG. 31 are exactly the same as the procedure B231, procedure B232, and communication data 1_A231 in FIG.

  After the procedure B232 is completed, the synchronization source server 320 refers to the application-path correspondence information 323, and sets the destination 323c2 corresponding to the application ID 323c1 that matches the application ID included in the received communication data 1_A 231 and the communication IF name 323c3. A plurality of combinations are acquired (B333).

  The synchronization source server 320 stores the storage data included in the communication data 1_A 231 using the communication IF 321 identified by the corresponding communication IF name 323c3 for each synchronization destination server 330 identified by the transmission destination 323c2. It transmits as data A332 for use.

  Each synchronization destination server 330 that has acquired the storage data A332 stores the storage data included in the storage data A332 in the synchronization information 2_334.

  FIG. 27 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure and a message for registering an application in the application server according to the third embodiment of this invention.

  Within the transmission source application server 140, an application (for example, transmission applications 1_141 to 3_143) presents the synchronization destination and requested route characteristics to the application ID acquisition mechanism 144, and the application ID acquisition mechanism 144 sends the application request A 311 to the management server 310. Transmit (B311). As shown in FIG. 32, the contents of the application request A 311 include information for identifying a plurality of synchronization destinations (that is, a plurality of servers 330) and information indicating request path characteristics for each synchronization destination. Different path characteristics may be required for destination 2.

  The management server 310 that has received the application request A331 first stores the request A331 in the transmission sources 311c2 to 311c7 in the application request information 311 and assigns an application ID 311c1 (B312). In procedure B312, one application ID 311c1 is assigned to the application request A331. That is, when a plurality of synchronization destinations are set in the application request A331, the same application ID 311c1 is assigned to each synchronization destination 311c2 and path characteristics 311c3 to 311c7. Also, an application ID that already exists in the application request information 311 must not be assigned.

  Next, the management server 310 assigns an application to the communication path 361 for each synchronization destination, and updates the application-path correspondence information master 313 (B350). Details of this procedure will be described later with reference to FIGS. 29 and 30. The management server 310 updates the application-path correspondence information master 313 in the procedure B330, and then transmits an application-path correspondence change message A312 to the synchronization source server 320. Specifically, this message A 312 includes an application ID, a transmission destination, and a communication IF name as described in FIG.

  When the synchronization source server 320 receives the message A 312, the synchronization source server 320 searches the application-path correspondence information 323 for a combination of the application ID 323c1 and the transmission destination 323c2 that is the same as the combination of the application ID and the transmission destination in the message A 312, and the communication IF corresponding to the combination. The name 323c3 is replaced with the communication IF name in the communication message A312 (B313). If there is no combination of the application ID 323c1 and the transmission destination 323c2 that is the same as the message A312 in the procedure B313, the synchronization source server 320 newly sets the combination of the application ID 323c1 and the transmission destination 323c2 in the application-path correspondence information 323. The communication IF name in the communication message A 312 is written as the communication IF name 323c3 corresponding to the set.

  The management server 310 that has completed the procedure B350 transmits application use permission A113 to the application server 140. Upon receiving the message A113, the application server 140 sets an application ID for the application (B114). Since the message A113 and the procedure B114 are the same as the message A113 and the procedure B114 in FIG. 10 of the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 28 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure and a message for updating the state of the communication path 361 according to the third embodiment of this invention. This procedure is a sequence in which the synchronization source server 320 changes the path for synchronization when the wide area network 360 notifies the management server 310 of a change in the state of the communication path 361.

  First, the wide area network 360 newly creates a communication path 361. Alternatively, the wide area network 360 monitors the state of the existing communication path 361 and, when the state is changed, notifies the management server 310 of information regarding the changed portion as the path information A321. Specifically, the message A 321 includes information indicating a path name, a transmission source, a transmission destination, a path characteristic, and communication availability as described in FIG.

  The management server 310 that has received the message A321 stores the information included in the message A321 in the path characteristic information 312 (B322). In the procedure B322, the path name, the transmission source, and the transmission destination in the message A321 are stored in the path name 312c3, the transmission source 312c1, and the transmission destination 312c2, respectively. The route information A321 is stored as a band 312c5, a delay 312c6, a price 312c7, and a security 312c8. If the route name 312c3, the source 312c1, and the destination 312c2 of the route name in the message A321 are already stored in the route characteristic information 312, the information on the route characteristics 312c5 to 312c8 is stored. Will be overwritten. Also, if the communication permission value in the message A321 is “No”, the information in the route characteristic information 312 corresponding to the route name, the transmission source, and the transmission destination of the message A321 is deleted.

  Next, in the procedure B322, when the route name in the message A321, the same route name 312c3 as the transmission source and transmission destination, the combination of the transmission source 312c1 and the transmission destination 312c2 are not stored in the path characteristic information 312, the management server 310 Transmits the new route information A322 to the synchronization source server 320. The new route information A322 includes information indicating a transmission destination and a route name as shown in FIG.

  The synchronization source server 320 that has received the new route information A322 associates the unused communication IF 321 with the communication route 361 identified by the route name included in the new route information A322, and assigns the name of the assigned communication IF 321 to the new route. The communication IF_A 323 is transmitted to the management server 310 (B323). If there is no unused communication IF 321, a new communication IF 321 may be virtually created by a method such as creating a VLAN. Note that a plurality of communication paths 361 can be assigned to one communication IF 321 as long as each communication IF 321 is connected to a different synchronization destination server 330. That is, even if a communication path 361 leading to any one of the synchronization destination servers 330 is already assigned to the communication IF 321, if the communication path 361 leading to the synchronization destination server 330 is different from that, the communication IF 321 further includes the communication IF. Can be assigned.

  Details of the procedure B350 in FIGS. 27 and 28 will be described with reference to FIGS. 29 and 30. FIG.

  FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 according to the third embodiment of the present invention updates the application-path correspondence information master 313.

  First, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 314 reads the application request information 311 and the path characteristic information 312 to create or initialize new allocation information 315 (B351). Specifically, in the procedure B351, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 sets all the application IDs 311c1, the transmission source 311c2, and the transmission destination 311c3 in the application request information 311 as the application ID 315c1, the transmission source 315c2, and the transmission. Insert into the pair of the tip 315c3. At this time, the path name 311c4 is blank.

  Next, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 records a record in which the path name 315c4 is not yet set on the new allocation information 315 (in the example of FIG. 23D, a line for which a value has not yet been written in the path name 315c4). One is taken out and the value of the transmission destination 315c3 of the record is acquired (B352). For example, when no path name 315c4 is set as in the example of FIG. 23D, the value “synchronization destination 1” of the transmission destination 315c3 of the first record may be acquired.

  Next, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 selects one application ID 315c1 of the record in which the path name 315c4 is not set among the records of the new allocation information 315 corresponding to the transmission destination acquired in the procedure B352. (B353). For example, when “synchronization destination 1” is acquired in the procedure B352, the value “1” of the application ID 315c1 of two records whose transmission destination 315c3 value is “synchronization destination 1” from the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 in FIG. ”And“ 4 ”are selected. When no path name 315c4 is set as in the example of FIG. 23D, the value “1” of the application ID 315c1 of the first record may be selected.

  Next, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 selects the application ID selected in the procedure B353 from the records in the path characteristic information 312 where the transmission destination 312c2 is the same as the transmission destination acquired in the procedure B352. One unselected path name 312c3 is selected (B354). For example, when “synchronization destination 1” is acquired in procedure B352 and “1” is selected in procedure B353, two values “path 1” of the path name 312c3 corresponding to the value “synchronization destination 1” of the transmission destination 312c2 And “Route 2” is selected. If no communication path has been selected for the application ID “1” yet, for example, “path 1” may be selected.

  Next, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 can use the path selected in the procedure B334 when the application selected in the procedure B353 transmits data to the transmission destination acquired in the procedure B352. Whether or not (B355). Specifically, the application-route correspondence determination mechanism 314 assumes that the combination of the application selected in the procedure B353 and the transmission destination acquired in the procedure B352 is assigned to the route selected in the procedure B334. Determine whether the requested characteristics are met. Details of the procedure B355 will be described with reference to FIG.

  If the assignment is possible in the procedure B355, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 314 determines that the application ID 315c1 in the new assignment information 315 is the same as the application ID selected in the procedure B353 and the transmission destination 315c3 is the procedure. The route selected in the procedure B354 is written in the field of the route name 315c4 of the record equal to the transmission destination acquired in B352 (B356).

  Thereafter, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 determines whether or not there is an application ID 315c1 in which the path name 315c4 is not set in the new allocation information 315 for the transmission destination acquired in the procedure B352 (B357). ).

  If it is determined in the procedure B357 that there is an application ID 315c1 for which the path name 315c4 is not set for the transmission destination acquired in the procedure B352, the process returns to the procedure B353, and the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 One application ID 315c1 is selected.

  If it is determined in the procedure B357 that there is no application ID of 315c1 that has not been set, it is determined whether or not all path names 315c4 have been set in the new allocation information 315 (B358).

  If there is a path name 315c4 that has not been set in the procedure B358, the process returns to procedure B352, and the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 acquires a transmission destination corresponding to the path name 315c4 that has not been set yet.

  If it is determined in procedure B358 that all route names 315c4 have been set, assignment of communication routes is completed for all combinations of applications, transmission sources, and transmission destinations that need to be assigned communication routes. In this case, the operator then performs visual confirmation (B359). This is the same as the procedure B157 in FIG. In this confirmation, when the operator recognizes the assignment, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 determines the new assignment information 315 as the application-path correspondence information master 313 (B3511).

  As a result of the procedure B355, if it is determined that the application selected in the procedure B353 cannot transmit to the transmission destination acquired in the procedure B352 via the communication path selected in the procedure B354, the application- The route correspondence determination mechanism 314 checks whether there is another route to be selected in the procedure B354 (B3510).

  As a result of the procedure B3510, when it is determined that there is a route that has not yet been selected in the procedure B354, the application-route correspondence determination mechanism 314 returns to the procedure B354 and selects the route.

  As a result of B3510, when it is determined that there is no other route to be selected in the procedure B354 (that is, all routes have already been selected in the procedure B354), and as a result of the visual confirmation by the operator of B359, the assignment Is determined not to be accepted, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 terminates the procedure without changing the application-path correspondence information master 313 (B3512).

  FIG. 30 shows a procedure for determining whether or not the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 314 according to the third embodiment of this invention can assign an application to the selected path (that is, details of the determination in the procedure B355). It is a flowchart to show. A procedure B360 shown in FIG. 30 shows details of the procedure B355 of FIG.

  The application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 selects all the records included in the new allocation information 315 that have the same transmission destination acquired in the procedure B352 and the transmission destination of the 315c3 and the path selected in the procedure B354 equal to the path of the 315c4. A list of application IDs 315c1 in them is created (B361). Then, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 314 performs the procedures B162 to B168 using the list created in the procedure B361, which are the same as the procedures B162 to B168 of FIG. 11 in the first embodiment. Is omitted.

  The configuration and control method of the synchronization system in the third embodiment have been described above. According to the third embodiment, even when there are a plurality of synchronization destination servers 330, applications can be efficiently applied to a plurality of communication paths so as to satisfy the characteristics required by each application while suppressing the operator's work cost. Can be assigned.

<Fourth Embodiment>
In the second embodiment of the present invention, the synchronization source server 220 and the synchronization destination server 230 exist, and only one-way synchronization is performed. As a fourth embodiment, a case of performing synchronization in both directions will be described. That is, each communication path is used for bidirectional communication.

  FIG. 33 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the synchronization system according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

  The synchronization system of the present embodiment includes a management server 410, two synchronization source servers (that is, synchronization source server 1_420 and synchronization source server 2_430), two application servers (that is, transmission source application server 1_440 and transmission source application server 2_450), and one. This is realized by a computer system composed of two or more wide area networks 460.

  The synchronization source server 1_420 and the synchronization source server 2_430 are connected to each other via the communication path 461 of the wide area network 460. The transmission source application server 1_440 is connected to the synchronization source server 1_420, and the transmission source application server 2_450 is connected to the synchronization source server 2_430. The management server 410 is connected to the synchronization source server 1_420, the synchronization source server 2_430, the transmission source application server 1_440, the transmission source application server 2_450, and the wide area network 460, respectively.

  In this embodiment, the synchronization source server 1_420 and the synchronization source server 2_430, and the transmission source application server 1_440 and the transmission source application server 2_450 have symmetrical structures. In this embodiment, in order to facilitate the distinction in the sequence. The names are distinguished for convenience.

  More specifically, since two-way synchronization is assumed in the present embodiment, two synchronization source servers are connected via the communication path 461. In practice, however, for example, an application in the transmission source application server 1_440 When requesting data synchronization, the synchronization source server 1_420 serves as the synchronization source (that is, the storage data transmission source), and the synchronization source server 2_430 serves as the synchronization destination (that is, the storage data transmission destination). On the other hand, when an application in the transmission source application server 2_450 requests data synchronization, the synchronization source server 2_430 functions as a synchronization source and the synchronization source server 1_420 functions as a synchronization destination.

  FIG. 34 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the management server 410 according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

  The management server 410 is a computer including a CPU 416, a storage device 417, and a communication IF 418 that are connected to each other. The CPU 416, the storage device 417, and the communication IF 418 may be the same as the CPU 316, the storage device 317, and the communication IF 318 shown in FIG. 22 except for the differences described below. For this reason, the detailed description about these is abbreviate | omitted.

  The storage device 417 stores application request information 311, path characteristic information 312, an application / path correspondence information master 313, an application / path correspondence determination mechanism 414, and new allocation information 315. The application request information 311, the path characteristic information 312, the application-path correspondence information master 313, and the new allocation information 315 are the same as those described in FIG. 22 of the third embodiment, and their structures are illustrated in FIGS. 23D, description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 35A is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a synchronization source server 1_420 according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

  The synchronization source server 1_420 is a computer including a CPU 425, a storage device 426, and a plurality of communication IFs 421 connected to each other. The CPU 425, the storage device 426, and the communication IF 421 may be the same as the CPU 225, the storage device 226, and the communication IF 221 of FIG. For this reason, the detailed description about these is abbreviate | omitted.

  The storage device 426 stores a communication path control mechanism 422, synchronization information 1_424, and application-path correspondence information 423.

  FIG. 35B is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the synchronization source server 2_4320 according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

  The synchronization source server 2_430 is a computer including a CPU 435, a storage device 436, and a plurality of communication IFs 431 that are connected to each other. The CPU 435, the storage device 436, and the communication IF 431 may be the same as the CPU 425, the storage device 426, and the communication IF 421 in FIG. 35A, respectively. For this reason, the detailed description about these is abbreviate | omitted.

  The storage device 436 stores a communication path control mechanism 422, synchronization information 2_434, and application-path correspondence information 433.

  FIG. 36A is an explanatory diagram of the application-path correspondence information 423 stored in the synchronization source server 1_420 according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

  The application-path correspondence information 423 includes an application ID 423c1, a transmission destination 423c2, and a communication IF name 423c3. The application ID 423c1, the transmission destination 423c2, and the communication IF name 423c3 are the same as the application ID 323c1, the transmission destination 323c2, and the communication IF name 323c3 of the application-path correspondence information 323 according to the third embodiment. Omitted.

  FIG. 36B is an explanatory diagram of the application-path correspondence information 433 stored in the synchronization source server 2_430 according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

  The application-path correspondence information 433 includes an application ID 433c1, a transmission destination 433c2, and a communication IF name 433c3. These are the same as the application ID 423c1, the transmission destination 423c2, and the communication IF name 423c3 of the application-path correspondence information 423, respectively.

  FIG. 37A is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a transmission source application server 1_440 according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

  The transmission source application server 1_440 is a computer including a CPU 445, a storage device 446, and a communication IF 447 connected to each other. The CPU 445, the storage device 446, and the communication IF 447 may be the same as the CPU 145, the storage device 146, and the communication IF 147 shown in FIG. 4 except for differences described below. For this reason, the detailed description about these is abbreviate | omitted.

  The storage device 446 stores three applications, that is, a transmission application 1_441, a transmission application 2_442, and a transmission application 3_443, and further stores an application ID acquisition mechanism 444. A sequence for the applications 441 to 443 to acquire an ID using the application ID acquisition mechanism 444 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 37B is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a transmission source application server 2_450 according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

  The transmission source application server 2_450 is a computer including a CPU 455, a storage device 456, and a communication IF 457 connected to each other. The CPU 455, the storage device 456, and the communication IF 457 are the same as the CPU 445, the storage device 446, and the communication IF 447 illustrated in FIG. 37A.

  The storage device 456 stores three applications, that is, a transmission application 1_451, a transmission application 2_452, and a transmission application 3_453, and further stores an application ID acquisition mechanism 454. The application ID acquisition mechanism 454 has the same function as the application ID acquisition mechanism 444.

  Hereinafter, processing executed in this embodiment and messages transmitted and received will be described.

  FIG. 43 is an explanatory diagram illustrating details of a message content communicated between servers according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

  Specifically, in FIG. 43, a transmission source 490c1, a transmission destination 490c2, a message name 490c3, and a component 490c4 of the message are displayed. Based on this figure, an example of messages transmitted and received corresponding to each sequence of FIG. 38 and FIG. 39 will be described.

  FIG. 38 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure and a message for registering an application in the application server according to the fourth embodiment of this invention. Specifically, with reference to FIG. 38, a sequence until the applications 441 to 443 in the transmission source application server 440 can communicate using the system of the present embodiment will be described. However, since a part of the sequence of FIG. 38 is common to the sequence of FIG. 27 in the third embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  First, information identifying the synchronization source server 1_420 that the application in the transmission source application server 440 (that is, transmission application 1_441 to transmission application 3_443) desires as the transmission source of the storage data requested to be synchronized by each application, synchronization source Information identifying the synchronization source server 2_430 desired as the transmission destination of the storage data from the server 1_420 and the path characteristics required at the time of transmission are transmitted to the management server 410 as the application request A411 (B411).

  The route information in the application request A411 may include information for identifying a set of a plurality of transmission sources and transmission destinations. Further, different route characteristics may be required for each set of transmission source and transmission destination. For example, in the present embodiment, 100 Mbps is requested for synchronization from the synchronization source server 1_420 to the synchronization source server 2_430 (that is, transmission of storage data), while 50 Mbps is required for synchronization from the synchronization source server 2_430 to the synchronization source server 1_420. May be requested.

  Upon receiving the request A411, the management server 410 newly stores the request A411 in the application request information 311 and assigns an application ID that does not overlap with other path characteristic groups to the stored path characteristic group (B412). In procedure B412, a pair of identifiers of the transmission source and transmission destination servers in message A411 is stored in transmission source 311c2 and transmission destination 311c3, respectively, and path characteristics are stored in band 311c4, delay 311c5, price 311c6, security 311c6 and security 311c7 of 311c4 to 311c7. Is done.

  Next, the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 414 in the management server 410 updates the application-path correspondence information master 313 based on the application request information 311 and the path characteristic information 312 (B430). Details of this procedure will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Next, the management server 410 transmits an application-path correspondence change message A412 to the synchronization source server corresponding to the transmission source 311c2 among the information updated in the procedure B430. The message A412 may be transmitted to both the synchronization source server 1_420 and the synchronization source server 2_430, or may be transmitted to only one of them. When the application-path correspondence information master 313 is not updated in the procedure B430, It may not be sent to either.

  The synchronization source server 1_420 or the synchronization source server 2_430 that has received the message A412 updates the application-path correspondence information 423 or 433 (B413).

  The management server 410 also notifies the transmission source application server 1_440 of an application use permission message A413.

  The transmission source application server 1_440 that has received the application use permission message A413 sets the application ID in the application use permission message A413 in the applications 441 to 443 (B114). The procedure B114 is the same as the procedure B114 in FIG. 10 of the first embodiment.

  The transmission source application server 1_440 transmits an application ID notification message A414 to the transmission source application server 2_450.

  The source application server 2_450 that has received the message A414 sets the application ID in the message A414 for the applications 451 to 453.

  The above is the procedure for application addition.

  FIG. 42 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing for storing data transmitted from the transmission source application server 1_440 in the synchronization source server 1_420 and the synchronization source server 2_430 according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

  The sequence shown in FIG. 42 is almost the same as the sequence shown in FIG. 19 of the second embodiment, and the procedures B431 to B434 and the messages A431 to A433 are the procedures B231 to B234 and the messages A231 to A233 in the second embodiment, respectively. It corresponds to. However, of these, the storage completion response A433 is essential, unlike the storage completion response A233 shown in FIG. This is because, for example, the synchronization source server 2_430 receives data from both the synchronization source server 1_420 and the transmission source application server 2_450, and guarantees consistency therefor.

  FIG. 42 shows a procedure for communication and storage of data requested to be transmitted by the application in the transmission source application server 1_440. However, the data requested to be transmitted by the transmission source application server 2_450 is also transmitted in the same sequence. Stored. Specifically, the sequence includes “transmission source application server 1_440”, “synchronization source server 1_420”, “synchronization information 1”, “synchronization source server 2_430”, and “synchronization information 2” in FIG. It corresponds to the one replaced by “transmission source application server 2_450”, “synchronization source server 2_430”, “synchronization information 2”, “synchronization source server 1_420”, and “synchronization information 1”.

  FIG. 39 is a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure and message for updating the state of the communication path 461 according to the fourth embodiment of this invention. Thereby, information on the wide area network 460 is reflected in the route selection.

  First, the route information collection mechanism on the wide area network 460 creates or monitors a communication route, and creates route information (B321). This procedure is the same as the procedure B321 in FIG. 28 in the third embodiment. However, in the example of FIG. 39, the case where the transmission source is the synchronization source server 1_420 and the transmission destination is the synchronization source server 2_430 will be described.

  Although not shown in FIG. 33, the wide area network 460 of the present embodiment includes a path information collection mechanism 162 that collects information regarding the communication path 461, like the wide area network 160 of the first embodiment.

  Next, the wide area network 460 transmits a route information message A421 to the management server 410 as route information.

  The management server 410 that has received the route information message A421 stores, updates, or deletes the route characteristic information 312 based on the content of the message A421 (B422). Specifically, the management server 410 stores the transmission source, transmission destination, and path name included in the path information message A421 in the transmission source 312c1, transmission destination 312c2, and path name 312c3, respectively, and is included in the path information message A421. The bandwidth, delay, price, and security level, which are path characteristics, are stored in the bandwidth 312c5, the delay 312c6, the price 312c7, and the security level 312c8. Further, the management server 410 also stores the information obtained by switching the transmission source and the transmission destination in the route characteristic information 312. Specifically, the management server 410 changes the transmission source, transmission destination, route name, and route characteristics included in the route information message A421 to the transmission destination 312c2, the transmission source 312c1, the route name 312c3, the band 312c5, and the security level 312c8, respectively. Store.

  When a new route is added, the management server 410 uses the message A322 to transmit the new route information to the respective synchronization source servers (that is, the synchronization source server 1_420 and the synchronization source server 2_430) using the message A322, The synchronization source server assigns the communication IFs 421 and 431 to the new path (B323).

  Further, each synchronization source server of the transmission source and the transmission destination transmits a communication IF name for identifying the allocated communication IF to the management server 410 as a message A323.

  The message A322, the procedure B323, and the message A323 are the same as in the third embodiment, but only the point that the management server 410 transmits path information to the transmission source and the transmission destination, respectively, as in the third embodiment. Different.

  Upon receiving the message A323, the management server 410 stores the communication IF name included therein in the communication IF name 312c4 (B424). In addition, the management server 410 storing the communication IF name transmits a communication IF securing request message A124 to each synchronization source server.

  Receiving the communication IF securing request message A124, each synchronization source server starts communication by transmitting the message A125 to each other. This procedure is the same as in the first embodiment.

  Next, the management server 410 performs the procedure B450, which will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Thereafter, the management server 410 transmits a message A312 and the synchronization source server 1_420 executes the procedure B313. Since these are the same as those transmitted and executed in the third embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Furthermore, the management server 410 transmits a message A326 and executes a procedure B326. These are the same as those described in the third embodiment except that the management server 410 sends a message to both the transmission source and the transmission destination synchronization source servers, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 40 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 414 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention creates the application-path correspondence information master 313 based on the application request information 311 and the path characteristic information 312.

  The basic structure of the flowchart of FIG. 40 is the same as that of FIG. 29 of the third embodiment. However, since only a part is different, that part will be described with emphasis, and description of other parts will be omitted.

  B451 to B4512 in FIG. 40 correspond to B351 to B3512 in FIG. 29, respectively. In the third embodiment, the transmission source and the transmission destination are fixed, but the present embodiment is characterized in that the transmission source and the transmission destination can be switched. Therefore, unlike the procedure B352, the procedure B452 acquires not only the transmission destination but also the transmission destination.

  In the procedure B353, an unallocated application is selected for the transmission destination selected in the procedure B352. In the procedure B453, an unallocated application is selected for the transmission source and the transmission destination selected in the procedure B352. Selected. Also in the procedure B455, it is checked whether or not the application selected in the procedure B453 has been transmitted to the transmission source and transmission destination selected in the procedure B452 through the route selected in the procedure B454. Also in the determination of the procedures B457, B458, and B4510, it is necessary to determine using not only the transmission destination but also the combination of the transmission source and the transmission destination.

  FIG. 41 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure by which the application-path correspondence determination mechanism 414 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention determines whether an application can be assigned to the selected path. A procedure B460 shown in FIG. 41 explains the details of the procedure B455 of FIG.

  When FIG. 41 is compared with FIG. 30 of the third embodiment, the only difference is that the procedure B461 is different from B361. In procedure B461, a list of applications already allocated to the communication path selected in the new allocation information 315 is acquired. At that time, the transmission source 315c2 and transmission destination 315c3 included in the acquired list are replaced. Combinations also need to be added to the list of applications. This is because the use of the band is bidirectional.

  For example, when the transmission application 1_441 and the transmission application 1_451 are the same (or corresponding) applications, perform communication in opposite directions, and have the same characteristics of the communication path requested by them, the new allocation information In the case where only the transmission application 1_441 is included in 315, it is actually necessary to secure a communication path for data requested to be transmitted by the transmission application 1_451. Therefore, for example, when “1”, “source server 1”, and “source server 2” are stored as the application ID 315c1, the source 315c2, and the destination 315c3 of the new allocation information 315, they are created in the procedure B461. It is necessary to add not only the above combination but also a combination of the application ID “1”, the transmission source “transmission source server 2”, and the transmission destination “transmission source server 1” to the list.

  For this reason, also in the following procedure B162, the application-path correspondence determining mechanism 414 needs to calculate the sum of bidirectional bands for the selected application, as described above.

  The configuration and control method of the synchronization system in the fourth embodiment have been described above. According to the fourth embodiment, even when two-way data transmission is performed between servers, efficient operation is performed on a plurality of communication paths so as to satisfy the characteristics required by each application while suppressing the operation cost of the operator. Can be assigned an application.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful for effectively using resources of a communication path in a system that performs communication between bases connected by a plurality of communication paths.

110, 310, 410 Management server 120 Communication control source server 121, 131, 221, 231, 321, 331, 421, 431 Communication interface 130 Communication control destination server 140, 440, 450 Transmission source application server 150 Transmission destination application server 160, 360, 460 Wide area network 161, 361, 461 Communication path 220, 320, 420, 430 Synchronization source server 230, 330 Synchronization destination server

Claims (14)

A computer system comprising: a first computer connected to one or more networks; and a management unit that manages communication paths set in the one or more networks,
The first computer is
One or more first interfaces connected to the one or more networks; a first processor connected to the one or more first interfaces; a first storage device connected to the first processors; With
Connected to the second computer via a plurality of communication paths on the one or more networks,
The management unit
Holding information indicating characteristics of the plurality of communication paths, and information indicating characteristics of communication paths requested by a plurality of applications using the plurality of communication paths;
Associating each of the plurality of applications with one of the plurality of communication paths so as to satisfy the characteristics of the communication paths requested by the plurality of applications;
Create information indicating the correspondence of each application to the communication path,
The first computer is
Holding information indicating the correspondence of each application to the communication path;
The data requested for transmission by each application is transmitted to the second computer via the communication path associated with the application that requested the transmission,
The computer system further includes a first application computer connected to the first computer,
The first application computer includes a second interface connected to the first computer, a second processor connected to the second interface, and a second storage device connected to the second processor,
Each application is realized by the second processor executing a program stored in the second storage device,
The first application computer transmits information indicating characteristics of a communication path requested by an application using the communication path to the management unit,
The management unit
As information indicating the association of each application to the communication path, create information that associates the identifier of each application given by the management unit and the identifier of the communication path,
Sending an identifier of each application to the first application computer;
Sending information indicating the correspondence of each created application to the communication path to the first computer,
The first application computer transmits data requested to be transmitted by the application and the identifier of the application requested to transmit the data to the first computer,
The first computer transmits data received from the first application computer to the second computer via the communication path corresponding to the received identifier of the application,
The management unit
For the application that needs to be associated with the communication path, select one of the communication paths;
When it is assumed that the application that needs to be associated with the communication path is associated with the selected communication path, the application that needs to be associated with the communication path and all the applications that are already associated with the communication path Whether or not the characteristics of the communication path requested by is satisfied, information indicating the characteristics of the plurality of communication paths, and characteristics of the communication paths requested by a plurality of applications using the plurality of communication paths Judgment based on information,
If it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied, the selection of the communication path is changed,
If it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are satisfied, the application that needs to be associated with the communication path is associated with the selected communication path;
The application that needs to be associated with the communication path is the information when the management unit receives new information indicating the characteristics of the communication path requested by the application that uses the communication path from the first application computer. Each application, and each application when information indicating the characteristics of the plurality of communication paths is added, changed, or deleted,
The computer system further includes the second computer,
The second computer is connected to one or more third interfaces connected to the one or more networks, a third processor connected to the one or more third interfaces, and the third processor. A third storage device,
The first computer stores the data received from the first application computer in the first storage device;
The computer system, wherein the second computer stores the data received from the first computer in the second storage device.   The information indicating the characteristics of the plurality of communication paths includes at least one of the bandwidth, delay time, usage fee, and security level of the plurality of paths,
  The characteristics of the requested communication path include at least one of a bandwidth, a delay time, a usage fee, a security level, and an average data length requested by each application,
  The management unit
  The selected communication path is the sum of the band requested by the application not yet associated with the communication path and the band requested by all the applications already associated with the selected communication path. If the bandwidth exceeds the bandwidth, it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied,
  If the usage fee requested by an application not yet associated with the communication path is lower than the usage fee for the selected communication path, determine that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied;
  If the degree of security requested by an application not yet associated with the communication path exceeds the degree of security of the selected communication path, determine that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied;
  Based on the bandwidth of the plurality of communication paths, the delay time of the plurality of communication paths, the requested bandwidth, the requested delay time, and the requested average data length, it is still associated with the communication path. Calculating an expected value of a delay time when data that has been requested to be transmitted by each of the applications that are not associated with the communication path is transmitted through the selected communication path,
  The computer system according to claim 1, wherein when any of the calculated delay times exceeds the requested delay time, it is determined that characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied.   The computer system further includes a second application computer connected to the second computer,
  The second application computer includes a fourth interface connected to the second computer, a fourth processor connected to the fourth interface, and a fourth storage device connected to the fourth processor,
  The fourth processor executes an application by executing a program stored in the fourth storage device,
  The first application computer specifies, in addition to the data requested to be transmitted by the application and the identifier of the application requested to transmit the data, the application to be executed by the second application computer of the transmission destination Information to be sent to the first computer,
  2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the second computer transmits the received data to the second application computer based on information specifying the application received from the first computer.   The computer system further includes a plurality of the second computers,
  The information indicating the association of each application with the communication path includes a set of an identifier of each application and an identifier of each second computer that is a transmission destination of data by each application, and by each application. Including information indicating an association with an identifier of the communication path used for transmitting data to each of the second computers,
  The first computer is
  Storing the data received from the first application computer in the first storage device;
  Transmitting the data received from the first application computer to each second computer via each communication path corresponding to the received identifier of the application and the identifier of each second computer;
  2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein each of the second computers stores data received from the first computer in each of the second storage devices.   The management unit
  When it is necessary to associate a pair of the application and the second computer that is a transmission destination of data requested to be transmitted by the application with the communication path, the communication path is related to the pair that needs to be associated with the communication path. Select one of the
  When it is assumed that a pair that needs to be associated with the communication path is associated with the selected communication path, an application included in the pair that needs to be associated with the communication path and all of the already associated communication paths Whether or not the characteristics of the communication path requested by the application are satisfied, information indicating the characteristics of the plurality of communication paths, and the communication path requested by the plurality of applications using the plurality of communication paths. Judgment based on information indicating characteristics,
  If it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied, the selection of the communication path is changed,
  5. The computer system according to claim 4, wherein when it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are satisfied, a set that needs to be associated with the communication path is associated with the selected communication path.   The computer system further includes a second application computer connected to the second computer,
  The second application computer includes a fourth interface connected to the second computer, a fourth processor connected to the fourth interface, and a fourth storage device connected to the fourth processor,
  The fourth processor executes an application by executing a program stored in the fourth storage device;
  The first application computer transmits an identifier of each application received from the management unit to the second application computer,
  The first computer stores the data received from the first application computer in the first storage device;
  The second computer stores the data received from the first computer in the second storage device;
The second application computer transmits data requested to be transmitted by the application in the second application computer and the identifier of the application requested to transmit the data to the second computer.
  The second computer is
  Storing the data received from the second application computer in the third storage device;
2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein data received from the second application computer is transmitted to the first computer via the communication path corresponding to the received identifier of the application.   The management unit
  It is necessary to associate a set of the application and the first computer, which is a transmission source of data requested to be transmitted by the application, with the second computer, which is a transmission destination of data requested to be transmitted by the application, to the communication path. Select one of the communication paths for a set that needs to be associated with the communication path,
  When it is assumed that a pair that needs to be associated with the communication path is associated with the selected communication path, an application included in the pair that needs to be associated with the communication path, all that are already associated with the communication path Whether or not the characteristics of the communication path requested by all applications that perform reverse communication corresponding to all the applications already associated with the communication path are satisfied. Determining based on information indicating the characteristics of the communication path and information indicating the characteristics of the communication path requested by a plurality of applications using the plurality of communication paths;
  If it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied, the selection of the communication path is changed,
  7. The computer system according to claim 6, wherein, when it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are satisfied, the selected communication path is associated with a set that needs to be associated with the communication path.   The computer system further includes a management computer connected to the first computer and the first application computer,
  The management computer includes a fifth interface, a fifth processor connected to the fifth interface, and a fifth storage device connected to the fifth processor,
  The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the management unit is realized by the fifth processor executing a program stored in the fifth storage device.   A first computer connected to one or more networks; a management unit for managing communication paths set in the one or more networks; and a plurality of communication paths on the one or more networks to the first computer. A computer system comprising: a second computer connected via a computer;
  The first computer is
  One or more first interfaces connected to the one or more networks; a first processor connected to the one or more first interfaces; a first storage device connected to the first processors; With
  The second computer is connected to one or more third interfaces connected to the one or more networks, a third processor connected to the one or more third interfaces, and the third processor. A third storage device,
  The management unit holds information indicating characteristics of the plurality of communication paths, and information indicating characteristics of communication paths requested by a plurality of applications using the plurality of communication paths.
  The control method is:
  The management unit associates each of the plurality of applications with one of the plurality of communication paths so as to satisfy the characteristics of the communication paths requested by the plurality of applications, and creates information indicating the association. The first step;
  A second procedure in which the first computer holds information indicating association of each application with the communication path;
  A third procedure in which the first computer transmits data requested to be transmitted by each application to the second computer via the communication path associated with the application that requested the transmission;
  The computer system further includes a first application computer connected to the first computer,
  The first application computer includes a second interface connected to the first computer, a second processor connected to the second interface, and a second storage device connected to the second processor,
  Each application is realized by the second processor executing a program stored in the second storage device,
  The control method further includes a procedure in which the first application computer transmits information indicating characteristics of a communication path requested by an application using the communication path to the management unit.
  In the first procedure, the management unit associates the identifier of each application given by the management unit with the identifier of the communication path as information indicating the association of each application to the communication path. Create
  The control method further includes:
  A procedure in which the management unit transmits an identifier of each application to the first application computer;
  A procedure in which the management unit transmits information indicating the correspondence of each created application to the communication path to the first computer;
The first application computer transmitting data requested to be transmitted by the application and the identifier of the application requested to transmit the data to the first computer;
  In the third procedure, the first computer transmits data received from the first application computer to the second computer via the communication path corresponding to the received identifier of the application,
  The first procedure includes:
  The management unit selects one of the communication paths for the application that needs to be associated with the communication path;
  When it is assumed that the application that needs to be associated with the communication path is associated with the selected communication path, the management unit associates the application that needs to be associated with the communication path and the communication path. Whether the characteristics of the communication paths requested by all the applications are satisfied, information indicating the characteristics of the plurality of communication paths, and communication requested by the plurality of applications using the plurality of communication paths A fourth procedure for determining based on information indicating the characteristics of the route;
  If it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied, the management unit changes the selection of the communication path;
  If it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are satisfied, the management unit includes a procedure of associating the application that needs to be associated with the communication path with the selected communication path;
  The application that needs to be associated with the communication path is the information when the management unit receives new information indicating the characteristics of the communication path requested by the application that uses the communication path from the first application computer. Each application, and each application when information indicating the characteristics of the plurality of communication paths is added, changed, or deleted,
  The computer system further includes the second computer,
  The second computer is connected to one or more third interfaces connected to the one or more networks, a third processor connected to the one or more third interfaces, and the third processor. A third storage device,
  The control method further includes:
  A procedure in which the first computer stores data received from the first application computer in the first storage device;
  A computer system control method comprising: a step of storing data received from the first computer in the second storage device by the second computer.   The information indicating the characteristics of the plurality of communication paths includes at least one of the bandwidth, delay time, usage fee, and security level of the plurality of paths,
  The characteristics of the requested communication path include at least one of a bandwidth, a delay time, a usage fee, a security level, and an average data length requested by each application,
  The fourth procedure includes
  The selected communication path is the sum of the band requested by the application not yet associated with the communication path and the band requested by all the applications already associated with the selected communication path. The management unit determines that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied,
  If the usage fee requested by an application not yet associated with the communication path is lower than the usage fee of the selected communication path, the management unit determines that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied And the steps to
  When the degree of security requested by an application not yet associated with the communication path exceeds the degree of security of the selected communication path, the management unit satisfies the characteristics of the requested communication path. The procedure to determine that
  The management unit determines the communication path based on the bandwidth of the plurality of communication paths, the delay time of the plurality of communication paths, the requested bandwidth, the requested delay time, and the requested average data length. Expected value of the delay time when data requested to be transmitted by each of the application not yet associated and all the applications already associated with the communication path is transmitted via the selected communication path The procedure for calculating
  A step of determining that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied when any of the calculated delay times exceeds the requested delay time. The method for controlling a computer system according to claim 9.   The computer system further includes a plurality of the second computers,
  Each of the second computers is connected to one or more third interfaces connected to the one or more networks, a third processor connected to the one or more third interfaces, and the third processor. A third storage device,
  The information indicating the association of each application with the communication path includes a set of an identifier of each application and an identifier of each second computer that is a transmission destination of data by each application, and by each application. Including information indicating an association with an identifier of the communication path used for transmitting data to each of the second computers,
  In the third procedure, the first computer receives the data received from the first application computer via each communication path corresponding to the set of the received identifier of the application and the identifier of each second computer. To each of the second computers,
  The control method further includes:
  A procedure in which the first computer stores data received from the first application computer in the first storage device;
  The computer system control method according to claim 9, further comprising: a procedure in which each of the second computers stores data received from the first computer in each of the second storage devices.   The first procedure includes:
  When it is necessary to associate a set of the application and the second computer that is a transmission destination of data requested to be transmitted by the application with the communication path, the management unit needs to associate with the communication path. The procedure for selecting one of the communication paths;
  When it is assumed that a pair that needs to be associated with the communication path is associated with the selected communication path, the management unit may include an application included in the pair that needs to be associated with the communication path and an already existing communication path. Requested by a plurality of applications using the plurality of communication paths and information indicating the characteristics of the plurality of communication paths, whether or not the characteristics of the communication paths requested by all the associated applications are satisfied A procedure for determining based on information indicating the characteristics of the communication path,
  If it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied, the management unit changes the selection of the communication path;
  The management unit including a procedure for associating a set that needs to be associated with the communication path with the selected communication path when it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are satisfied. The method for controlling a computer system according to claim 11.   The computer system further includes a second application computer connected to the second computer,
  The second application computer includes a fourth interface connected to the second computer, a fourth processor connected to the fourth interface, and a fourth storage device connected to the fourth processor,
  The fourth processor executes an application by executing a program stored in the fourth storage device;
  The control method further includes
  A procedure in which the first application computer transmits an identifier of each application received from the management unit to the second application computer;
  A procedure in which the first computer stores data received from the first application computer in the first storage device;
  A procedure in which the second computer stores the data received from the first computer in the second storage device;
  The second application computer transmits data requested to be transmitted by the application in the second application computer and the identifier of the application that has requested transmission of the data to the second computer.
  A procedure in which the second computer stores the data received from the second application computer in the third storage device;
  The second computer includes a procedure of transmitting data received from the second application computer to the first computer via the communication path corresponding to the received identifier of the application. Item 10. A computer system control method according to Item 9.   The first procedure includes:
  It is necessary to associate a set of the application and the first computer, which is a transmission source of data requested to be transmitted by the application, with the second computer, which is a transmission destination of data requested to be transmitted by the application, to the communication path. If there is, a procedure for the management unit to select one of the communication paths for a set that needs to be associated with the communication path;
  When it is assumed that a pair that needs to be associated with the communication path is associated with the selected communication path, the management unit includes an application included in the pair that needs to be associated with the communication path, Whether the characteristics of the communication path required by all the associated applications and all the applications that perform reverse communication corresponding to all the applications already associated with the communication path are satisfied Determining based on information indicating characteristics of the plurality of communication paths, and information indicating characteristics of communication paths requested by a plurality of applications using the plurality of communication paths;
  If it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are not satisfied, the management unit changes the selection of the communication path;
  A step of associating the selected communication path with a set that needs to be associated with the communication path when it is determined that the characteristics of the requested communication path are satisfied; The computer system control method according to claim 13.

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