JP6095140B2 - Remote monitoring system, remote monitoring method, and program - Google Patents

Description

[Description of related applications]
The present invention is based on a Japanese patent application: Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-188324 (filed on September 11, 2013), and the entire contents of this application are incorporated and described in this document by reference.
The present invention relates to a remote monitoring system, a remote monitoring method, and a program. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for remotely detecting a failure in a monitoring target device via a network.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following two methods are widely used in a system for detecting and maintaining a failure of an information processing apparatus installed at a customer site. The first method is a method in which a monitoring module is introduced into an information processing apparatus of a customer, and the monitoring module detects and notifies a failure. The second method is a method in which a failure monitoring device is installed in the customer network, and the failure monitoring device detects a failure of the information processing device.

  However, the first method has a problem that a failure such as an abnormal stop of the information processing device cannot be detected because a failure cannot be detected from outside the information processing device. Further, in the second method, there is a problem that a trouble monitoring apparatus must be installed in the customer network, and the introduction cost of the trouble monitoring apparatus becomes a burden on the customer.

  In order to solve the above problem, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a maintenance management system that monitors a failure of a computer system installed at a plurality of customer sites by a failure monitoring server of a maintenance management center via a network. Yes. According to the maintenance management system, the failure information collected from a plurality of customer sites is scored, the importance and urgency of the failure are quantitatively evaluated by the level of the score, and priority is given to dispatch of maintenance parts and arrangement of maintenance personnel. Rankings can be managed collectively.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a maintenance device connected to a plurality of customer systems via the Internet. The maintenance device has a means for registering the configuration information (model name, serial number, version number, etc.) of the device in each customer system, and can execute remote diagnosis based on the configuration information. In addition, the maintenance device can automatically call maintenance personnel when an abnormality is detected in the diagnosis result.

JP 2003-241999 A JP 2003-345622 A

  The entire disclosure of the above patent document is incorporated herein by reference. The following analysis is given from the perspective of the present invention.

  In the maintenance management systems disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, when the diagnosis execution for a plurality of customer systems is performed at intervals of time as shown in FIG. In addition, it is possible to execute a countermeasure against a failure with a desired processing capacity. However, in an emergency such as an earthquake, for example, it is required to simultaneously perform failure detection, failure analysis, and failure countermeasures for a plurality of customer systems. In such a case, the maintenance management systems disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 may have insufficient processing capability.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a remote monitoring system that can contribute to the improvement of processing capability of failure detection, failure analysis, and failure countermeasures for a plurality of monitoring target devices.

The remote monitoring system according to the first aspect includes the following failure monitoring device, failure analysis device, and failure management device. The failure monitoring device transmits a failure detection command to a plurality of monitoring target devices via a network, receives an execution result of the failure detection command executed by each of the monitoring target devices, and receives each of the monitoring target devices. The fault detection information including the information on the monitoring target apparatus and the execution result of the fault detection command is output for the monitoring target apparatus determined to have a fault. The failure analysis apparatus receives the failure detection information, analyzes a failure detection command execution result included in the received failure detection information, determines a failure handling method for recovering the failure, and determines the monitoring target Failure analysis information including device information and the failure handling method is output. Further, the failure management apparatus receives the failure analysis information and manages execution of a failure handling method included in the received failure analysis information. Here, two or more of the failure monitoring device, the failure analysis device, and the failure management device are configured to be able to execute processes for different monitoring target devices in parallel. The failure monitoring device is composed of two or more failure monitoring devices including a primary failure monitoring device and a secondary failure monitoring device, and the primary failure monitoring device and the secondary failure monitoring device include: The failure detection information is output respectively . Furthermore, when the failure analysis device detects an abnormality in the primary failure monitoring device, the failure analysis device may be configured to switch between the primary / secondary failure monitoring device between the primary failure monitoring device and the secondary failure monitoring device. Switch settings. Further, when the failure analysis device does not detect an abnormality of the primary failure monitoring device, the failure analysis method is determined using the failure detection information transmitted from the primary failure monitoring device, The failure detection information transmitted from the secondary failure monitoring device is not used.

The remote monitoring method according to the second aspect includes the following steps. That is, the remote monitoring method includes a step of transmitting a failure detection command to a plurality of monitoring target devices via a network. Further, the remote monitoring method receives the execution result of the failure detection command executed in each of the monitoring target devices, determines whether there is a failure in each of the monitoring target devices, and determines that there is a failure And a determination step of outputting failure detection information including information on the monitoring target device and an execution result of the failure detection command with respect to the monitoring target device. Further, the remote monitoring method receives the failure detection information, analyzes a result of executing a failure detection command included in the received failure detection information, determines a failure handling method for recovering the failure, and determines the monitoring target An analysis step of outputting failure analysis information including device information and the failure handling method. Further, the remote monitoring method includes a management step of receiving the failure analysis information and managing execution of the failure handling method included in the received failure analysis information. Further, two or more devices including a primary device and a secondary device execute the determination step. Further, the remote monitoring method includes a step of switching the setting of the primary / secondary system between the primary system device and the secondary system device when an abnormality of the primary system device is detected. In addition. Furthermore, the remote monitoring method determines a failure handling method using the failure detection information transmitted from the primary device when an abnormality of the primary device is not detected, and A step of not using the failure detection information transmitted from the device. Here, two or more of the determination step, the analysis step, and the management step can be executed in parallel.
The present method is linked to specific machines such as a failure monitoring device that monitors failures, a failure analysis device that analyzes failures, and a failure management device that manages failures.

The program according to the third aspect is a program for detecting a failure of a plurality of monitoring target devices, and causes a computer to execute the following processing. That is, the program transmits a failure detection command to a plurality of monitoring target devices via a network, receives an execution result of the failure detection command executed by each of the monitoring target devices, and receives each of the monitoring target devices. The failure detection information including the monitoring target device information and the execution result of the failure detection command for the monitoring target device determined to have a failure is determined using the failure detection information. Processing to output to a device that determines a failure handling method to be recovered is executed by a computer.
Further, the program according to another viewpoint, connected through a fault monitoring device and the network to monitor the monitoring target device, a program executed by a failure analysis equipment, to execute the following processing on the fault analysis device. That is, the program receives failure detection information including information on the monitored device and an execution result of the failure detection command regarding the monitored device determined to have a failure, and is included in the received failure detection information. Analyzing the execution result of the failure detection command to determine a failure handling method for recovering the failure, and executing the analysis processing for outputting the failure analysis information including the monitored device information and the failure handling method to the failure analysis device Let Further, two or more fault monitoring apparatuses including the primary fault monitoring apparatus and the secondary fault monitoring apparatus output the fault detection information. Further, when an abnormality of the primary fault monitoring device is detected, the program executes the primary / secondary communication between the primary fault monitoring device and the secondary fault monitoring device. The fault analysis apparatus is caused to execute processing for switching the system setting. Further, when no abnormality is detected in the primary fault monitoring device, the program determines a fault handling method using the fault detection information transmitted from the primary fault monitoring device, and The failure analysis device is caused to execute processing that does not use the failure detection information transmitted from the system failure monitoring device.
Note that these programs can be recorded on a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium may be non-transient such as a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, or the like. These inventions can also be embodied as computer program products.

  According to the remote monitoring system, it is possible to provide a remote monitoring system that can contribute to the improvement of processing capability of failure detection, failure analysis, and failure countermeasure for a plurality of monitoring target devices.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure at the time of applying the remote monitoring system which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a sequence chart which shows operation | movement of the remote monitoring system which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure at the time of applying the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the failure monitoring apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the failure analysis apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the failure management apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the failure monitoring apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the failure analysis apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the failure management apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart following FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a failure monitoring apparatus when system switching of the failure monitoring apparatus occurs in the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart of a failure analysis device when a system switching of the failure monitoring device occurs in the first embodiment. It is an example of the failure detection object apparatus database of the failure monitoring apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is an example of the failure detection item database of the failure monitoring apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is an example of the data transfer destination database of the failure monitoring apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is an example of the monitoring object apparatus information database of the failure analysis apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is an example of the failure information database of the failure analysis device in the remote monitoring system according to the first embodiment. It is an example of the fault monitoring apparatus redundant structure information database of the fault analysis apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is an example of the failure management database of the failure monitoring apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is an example of the customer information database of the failure monitoring apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is an example of the employee information database of the failure monitoring apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is an example of the work schedule database of the failure monitoring apparatus in the remote monitoring system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure at the time of applying the remote monitoring system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a sequence chart which shows operation | movement of the remote monitoring system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure at the time of applying the remote monitoring system which concerns on the comparative example 1. FIG. 10 is a sequence chart showing the operation of the remote monitoring system according to Comparative Example 1.

  First, an outline of one embodiment will be described. Note that the reference numerals of the drawings added in the description of the outline of the embodiment are merely examples for helping understanding, and are not intended to be limited to the illustrated modes.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the remote monitoring system 1 according to an embodiment includes the following failure monitoring device 100, failure analysis device 200, and failure management device 300. The failure monitoring device 100 transmits failure detection commands 3a to 3b to the plurality of monitoring target devices 10a to 10b via the network 2, and the execution results 4a to b of the failure detection commands executed by each of the monitoring target devices. Each of the monitoring target devices 10a and 10b is received to determine whether or not there is a failure. Information on the monitoring target device (A0001 corresponding to 10a; see FIG. 1B) regarding the monitoring target device determined to have a failure and Fault detection information 5a-b including fault detection command execution results 4a-b is output. The failure analysis apparatus 200 receives the failure detection information 5a-b, analyzes the failure detection command execution results 4a-b included in the received failure detection information 5a-b, and recovers the failure. The method is determined, and the failure analysis information 6a-b including information on the monitoring target device and the failure handling method (7a included in 6a; see FIG. 1C) is output. Further, the failure management apparatus 300 receives the failure analysis information 6a-b and executes the failure handling method (7a included in 6a; see FIG. 1C) included in the received failure analysis information 6a-b. Manage. Here, as illustrated in FIG. 2, two or more of the failure monitoring device 100, the failure analysis device 200, and the failure management device 300 are configured to be able to execute processes for different monitoring target devices 10 a and 10 b in parallel. (As shown in FIG. 2, the failure monitoring apparatus 100 and the failure analysis apparatus 200 are executed in parallel during the period TA, and the failure analysis apparatus 200 and the failure management apparatus 300 are executed in parallel during the period TB).

  With the above configuration, in the remote monitoring system 1 that remotely performs failure detection, failure analysis, and failure countermeasures on the plurality of monitoring target devices 10a and 10b, the failure monitoring device 100 and the failure analysis device that configure the remote monitoring system 1 Two or more of 200 and the failure management apparatus 300 are configured to be able to execute processes in parallel. Therefore, it is possible to provide a remote monitoring system with improved processing capability as a whole.

  In the above remote monitoring system, the failure analysis apparatus 200 preferably includes a failure information database (205 in FIG. 5) in which a failure handling method corresponding to the execution results of a plurality of failure detection commands is determined. Then, the failure analysis device 200 searches the failure information database (205 in FIG. 5) using the failure detection command execution results 4a and b included in the failure detection information 5a and b received from the failure monitoring device 100, and detects the failure. A failure handling method (such as 7a in FIG. 1C) may be determined.

  In the remote monitoring system described above, it is preferable that suspected part information 9 corresponding to each failure handling method is further defined in the failure information database (205 in FIGS. 5 and 17). Then, the failure analysis apparatus 200 searches the failure information database (205 in FIG. 5) using the failure detection command execution results 4a and b included in the failure detection information 5a and b to obtain the suspected component information 9a and b. Then, the suspicious component information 9a-b is added to the failure analysis information 6a-b, and the failure management apparatus 300 instructs to arrange the suspicious component based on the suspected component information 9a-b included in the received failure analysis information 6a-b. May be sent out.

  In the above remote monitoring system, it is preferable that maintenance information dispatch request information 19 corresponding to each failure handling method is further defined in the failure information database (205 in FIGS. 5 and 17). Then, the failure analysis apparatus 200 searches the failure information database (205 in FIG. 5) using the failure detection command execution results 4a-b included in the failure detection information 5a-b, and obtains maintenance staff dispatch request information 19a-b. The maintenance manager dispatch request information 19a-b is added to the failure analysis information 6a-b, and the failure management apparatus 300 is based on the maintenance staff dispatch request information 19a-b included in the received failure analysis information 6a-b. You may make it transmit the notification which instruct | indicates dispatch of a maintenance worker to the maintenance worker terminal 22a.

  In the remote monitoring system described above, the failure management apparatus 300 includes a customer information database (208 in FIGS. 6 and 20) that stores addresses of customer terminals 20a and 20b corresponding to each of the plurality of monitoring target apparatuses 10a and 10b. It is preferable. Then, the failure management apparatus 300 uses the information on the monitoring target device (A0001 in FIG. 1B) included in the received failure analysis information (for example, 6a), and the customer information database (208 in FIGS. 6 and 20). ) To obtain the address of the customer terminal 20a corresponding to the monitoring target device 10a, and notify the address of the customer terminal 20a of the failure of the monitoring target device 10a.

  In the above remote monitoring system, as shown in FIG. 3, the failure monitoring device is preferably composed of two or more failure monitoring devices including a primary failure monitoring device 100m and a secondary failure monitoring device 100s. Here, when the failure analysis apparatus 200 detects an abnormality in the primary fault monitoring apparatus 100m, the fault analysis apparatus 200 establishes a primary / subordinate fault monitoring apparatus 100m between the primary fault monitoring apparatus 100m and the secondary fault monitoring apparatus 100s. The settings are switched, and the failure analysis device 200 determines a failure handling method using the failure detection information transmitted from the primary failure monitoring device, and does not use the failure detection information transmitted from the secondary failure monitoring device. It is preferable.

  In the above remote monitoring system, the plurality of failure monitoring devices (100m, 100s, etc.) are set to periodically transmit the operation notification information 8a to 8b to the failure analysis device 200. It is determined whether or not the operation notification information 8a to 8b can be received from each of two or more failure monitoring devices (100m, 100s, etc.), and it is detected that the failure monitoring device that cannot receive the operation notification information is abnormal. May be.

  In the above remote monitoring system, as shown in FIG. 3, the failure monitoring devices (100m, 100s) execute failure detection commands from a plurality of monitoring target devices (10a-b) via a closed IP (Internet Protocol) network 50. It is preferable to receive results 4a-b.

  The remote monitoring method in one embodiment includes the following steps as shown in either FIG. 1 or FIG. That is, the remote monitoring method includes a step of transmitting failure detection commands 3a to 3b to the plurality of monitoring target devices 10a to 10b via the network 2. In addition, the remote monitoring method receives the execution result 4a-b of the failure detection command executed in each of the monitoring target devices 10a-b, determines whether there is a failure in each of the monitoring target devices 10a-b, and And a determination step (S100a, S100b) for outputting failure detection information 5a-b including information on the monitoring target device and execution results 4a-b of the failure detection command for the monitoring target device determined to be present. Further, the remote monitoring method receives failure detection information 5a-b, analyzes the failure detection command execution results 4a-b included in the received failure detection information 5a-b, and recovers the failure. And an analysis step (S101a, S101b) for outputting failure analysis information 6a-b including information on the monitoring target device and a failure handling method. Further, the remote monitoring method includes management steps (S102a, S102b) for receiving the failure analysis information 6a-b and managing the execution of the failure handling method included in the received failure analysis information 6a-b. Here, two or more of the determination step, the analysis step, and the management step can be executed in parallel (in FIG. 2, the determination step S100b and the analysis step S101a, and the analysis step S101b and the management step S102a are executed in parallel, respectively. Have been).

  Hereinafter, each embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
(Configuration of the first embodiment)
The configuration of the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the remote monitoring system 11 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the remote monitoring system 11 includes monitoring target devices 10a and 10b installed at a plurality of customer sites (customer site A, customer site B, etc.) from the monitoring center where the remote monitoring system 11 is installed. This is a remote monitoring device. Here, the monitoring target devices 10a and 10b are information processing devices such as servers, network devices, and PCs (Personal Computers), for example.

  Here, the customer of each customer site does not want to install the monitoring facility in the company network, but requests the supplier who provides the remote monitoring system 11 to maintain and manage the information processing apparatus in the company. As shown in FIG. 3, the remote monitoring system 11 of the monitoring center includes two failure monitoring devices 100m and 100s, a failure analysis device 200, and a failure management device 300. Each of the four devices is a server device on which a central processing unit CPU (Central Processing Unit) is mounted. Hereinafter, the failure monitoring device is simply referred to as a “failure monitoring device” when there is no distinction between the primary system and the secondary system.

  The fault monitoring devices (100m, 100s) detect faults of the monitoring target devices 10a and 10b via the closed IP network 50, and when faults are detected from the monitoring target devices 10a and 10b, the fault detection information 5a and b are faulty. It has a function of notifying the analysis apparatus 200. As the closed IP network 50, for example, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) or the like is applicable. The fault monitoring apparatus has a redundant configuration including a primary fault monitoring apparatus 100m and a secondary fault monitoring apparatus 100s.

  The failure analysis device 200 has a function of analyzing the failure detection information 5a-b notified from the failure monitoring device (100m, 100s) and notifying the failure management device 300 of the analysis result as failure analysis information 6a-b. ing. Here, the failure detection information 5a and the failure analysis information 6a correspond to the monitoring target device 10a, and the failure detection information 5b and the failure analysis information 6b correspond to the monitoring target device 10b.

  The fault monitoring device (100m, 100s) functions as a fault monitoring device in which one is a primary system and the other is a secondary system. In FIG. 3, the failure monitoring device 100m and the failure monitoring device 100s are set as a primary failure monitoring device and a secondary failure monitoring device, respectively. The failure analysis device 200 uses only the failure detection information 5a-b transferred from the primary failure monitoring device 100m as an analysis target. However, when the failure analysis device 200 detects an abnormality in the primary failure monitoring device 100m, the primary / sub system is switched. That is, 100s that was the fault monitoring device of the secondary system is switched to the primary system, and 100m that was the fault monitoring device of the primary system is switched to the secondary system.

  Based on the failure analysis information 6a-b transferred from the failure analysis device 200, the failure management device 300 notifies the customer terminals 20a-b of the failure content, the notification of the dispatch instruction to the maintenance staff, and the maintenance component (suspected component). ) Selection function.

(Configuration of fault monitoring device)
Next, the configuration of the failure monitoring apparatus (100m, 100s) will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The failure monitoring apparatus (100m, 100s) includes a system failure detection unit 101, a failure detection information creation unit 102, an operation notification information regular creation unit 103, and a data transfer unit 104. Each of the above-described units is a software module that is executed by a CPU provided in the failure monitoring apparatus. Further, the failure monitoring device (100m, 100s) includes a failure detection target device DB 201, a failure detection item DB 202, and a data transfer destination DB 203 as databases (here, DB is an abbreviation of a database; the same applies hereinafter). The above database is stored in a storage unit (not shown) of the failure monitoring apparatus.

  The system failure detection unit 101 refers to the failure detection target device DB (201 in FIG. 13), and the IP addresses of the monitoring target devices 10a to 10b that execute the failure detection commands 3a to 3b and the monitoring target device code (monitoring target device) To get a unique code).

  Then, the system failure detection unit 101 detects the failure detected from the failure detection item DB (202 in FIG. 14) via the closed IP network 50 with respect to the IP address of the monitoring target device acquired from the failure detection target device DB 201. Send commands 3a-b. And the execution result 4a-b of the command for fault detection performed by each monitoring object apparatus 10a-b is received. The received failure detection command execution results 4a and 4b are determined to be normal or abnormal by comparing them with the failure determination threshold value in the failure detection item DB 202, for example. If it is determined as abnormal, the failure code in the failure detection item DB 202 is acquired.

  Next, failure detection information creation is performed using various types of acquired information (failure detection command execution date and time, monitored device IP address, monitored device code, failure detection command execution results 4a and 4b, failure code) as arguments. The unit 102 is activated. The failure detection information creation unit 102 creates files of failure detection information 5a-b in a predetermined directory.

  The operation notification information regular creation unit 103 will be described later when the flowcharts of FIGS. 11 to 12 are described.

  The data transfer unit 104 has a function of transferring the failure detection information 5a to 5b to the failure analysis apparatus 200. The data transfer unit 104 determines whether or not the file of the failure detection information 5a-b created by the failure detection information creation unit 102 exists in a predetermined directory. If there is, the data transfer destination DB (FIG. 15). 203), the IP address of the failure analysis apparatus 200 as the transfer destination is acquired. Then, the data transfer unit 104 transfers the failure detection information 5a to 5b to the IP address of the failure analysis device 200. The transferred failure detection information 5a-b is stored in a predetermined directory of the failure analysis apparatus 200.

  The failure detection target device DB 201 is a database for managing monitoring target devices as shown in FIG. The failure detection target device DB 201 has the IP address of the monitoring target device (10a-b, etc.) and the monitoring target device code. The failure detection target device DB 201 is used by the system failure detection unit 101 to identify a device that executes the failure detection commands 3a and 3b via the closed IP network 50.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the failure detection item DB 202 is a database for managing information used for determining the failure detection commands 3a and 3b and the execution results 4a and 4b of the failure detection command. The failure detection item DB 202 includes a monitoring target device code, a failure detection command, a failure determination threshold, and a failure code. The failure detection item DB 202 is used for acquiring the failure detection commands 3a and 3b transmitted via the closed IP network 50, acquiring the failure determination threshold, and acquiring the failure code.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the data transfer destination DB 203 manages the transfer destinations of the created failure detection information 5a-b. The data transfer destination DB 203 is used when the data transfer unit 104 transfers the failure detection information 5a to 5b to the failure analysis apparatus 200. The data transfer destination DB 203 is similarly used when transferring the operation notification information 8a-b (details will be described later).

(Configuration of failure analysis device)
Next, the configuration of the failure analysis apparatus 200 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The failure analysis device 200 includes a data analysis unit 105, an operation notification information monitoring unit 106, a failure monitoring device system switching unit 107, and a data transfer unit 108. Each of the above units is a software module that is executed by a CPU provided in the failure analysis apparatus 200. The failure analysis device 200 includes a monitoring target device information DB 204, a failure information DB 205, and a failure monitoring device redundant configuration information DB 206 as databases.

  The data analysis unit 105 analyzes the failure detection information 5a to 5b transferred from the failure monitoring device (100m, etc.), identifies the device information in which the failure has occurred, determines the failure handling method, determines the necessity of field work, And a function of identifying the suspected part. The data analysis unit 105 determines whether or not the files of the failure detection information 5a to 5b transferred from the failure monitoring device (100m or the like) exist in a predetermined directory. If the failure detection information 5a-b file does not exist, the process ends. If the failure detection information 5a-b file exists, the failure detection information 5a-b is referred to, and various information described in the failure detection information 5a-b (failure detection command execution date and time, The monitoring target device IP address, the monitoring target device code, the failure detection command execution results 4a to 4b, and the failure code) are acquired. Further, the data analysis unit 105 determines whether the failure detection information 5a-b is transmitted from the primary failure monitoring device or the secondary failure monitoring device (details will be described later).

  If the data analysis unit 105 determines that the failure detection information 5a to b is transmitted from the main system, the monitoring target device information DB is used with the monitoring target device code acquired from the failure detection information 5a to b as a key. (204 in FIG. 16) is searched, and information (device model number, product name) of the monitoring target device is acquired.

  Subsequently, the data analysis unit 105 searches the failure information DB (205 in FIG. 17) using the monitored device code that has been acquired and the failure code as a key, the failure handling method, the necessity of field work, and the suspicious part code ( A unique code for identifying the suspicious part is acquired. Subsequently, the data analysis unit 105 performs the above-described acquired information (failure detection command execution date and time, monitoring target device IP address, monitoring target device code, failure detection command execution results 4a to b, failure code, monitoring target. Create failure analysis information 6a-b files to be transferred to the failure management device 300 in a predetermined directory based on device information (device model number, product name), failure handling method, necessity of field work, suspected part code) To do.

  Details of the operation notification information monitoring unit 106 and the failure monitoring apparatus system switching unit 107 will be described later when the flowcharts of FIGS. 11 to 12 are described.

  Next, the data transfer unit 108 has a function of transferring the files of the failure analysis information 6 a to 6 b created by the data analysis unit 105 to the failure management apparatus 300. The data transfer unit 108 determines whether there is a file of the failure analysis information 6a-b in a predetermined directory. If the failure analysis information 6a-b file does not exist, the process ends. If the failure analysis information 6a-b file exists, the failure analysis information 6a-b file is transferred to the failure management apparatus 300.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the failure target device information DB 204 is a database used for specifying a monitoring target device, and manages the monitoring target device code, the model number of the monitoring target device, and the product name. The failure target device information DB 204 is used when the data analysis unit 105 acquires information about the monitoring target device using the monitoring target device code acquired from the failure detection information 5a-b file as a key.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the failure information DB 205 is a database for managing information on a failure that has occurred, and includes a monitoring target device code, a failure code, a failure handling method, a suspicious component code (suspected component information), and field work Management (maintenance staff dispatch request information) is managed. The failure information DB 205 is used to acquire a failure handling method, necessity of field work, and suspected component code using the monitoring target device code and failure code acquired from the failure detection information 5a-b by the data analysis unit 105 as keys. The The failure monitoring apparatus redundant configuration information DB (206 in FIG. 18) will be described later.

(Configuration of fault management device)
Next, the configuration of the failure management apparatus 300 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The failure management apparatus 300 includes a mail transmission unit 109, a maintenance staff dispatch instruction unit 110, and a maintenance parts arrangement unit 111. Each of the above units is a software module executed by the CPU provided in the failure management apparatus 300. Further, the failure management apparatus 300 includes a failure management DB 207, a customer information DB 208, an employee information DB 209, and a work schedule DB 210 as databases.

  The mail transmission unit 109 has a function of transmitting information regarding a failure detected by the remote monitoring system 11 to the customer terminals 20a and 20b via the Internet 60. The mail transmission unit 109 periodically refers to the failure management DB (207 in FIG. 19), and determines whether there is failure information for which the email transmission completed flag information is not implemented. If there is failure information for which mail transmission has not been performed, various information about the failure information for which mail transmission has not been performed from the failure management DB 207 (failure detection command execution date and time, IP address of the monitoring target device, monitoring information) Acquire and acquire the target device code, failure detection command execution results 4a-b, failure code, monitored device information (device model number, product name), failure handling method, necessity of local work, suspected component code) A mail for notifying failure information is created based on the information.

  Subsequently, the mail transmission unit 109 searches the customer information DB (208 in FIG. 20) using the monitoring target device code as a key, acquires the mail transmission destination address, and performs mail transmission. When mail transmission ends, the mail transmission unit 109 sets a mail transmission completed flag corresponding to the failure information in the failure management DB (207 in FIG. 19) to “1”.

  The maintenance staff dispatch instruction section 110 is a function that automatically assigns maintenance staff dispatched to the site (customer site) when field work is required to deal with a failure. The maintenance staff dispatch instruction unit 110 periodically refers to the failure management DB 207 to determine whether or not the field work is necessary (that is, when the data is “1”), and the maintenance staff requested flag is not implemented ( That is, the presence / absence of failure information whose data is “0”) is determined. If no failure information corresponding to the above condition exists, the process ends. If the corresponding failure information exists, the customer information DB (208 in FIG. 20) is searched using the monitored device code as a key, and the corresponding customer information (maintenance base code, customer name, customer address, customer telephone number) is obtained. get. Subsequently, the employee information DB (209 in FIG. 21) is searched using the acquired maintenance base code as a key, and information (employee code, employee name, maintenance staff mail address) of the employee belonging to the base in charge is acquired.

  Subsequently, the maintenance staff dispatch instruction unit 110 refers to the work schedule DB (210 in FIG. 22), and schedules work schedule information (monitored device code, employee code, employee name, work start) to an employee whose work schedule is not registered. Date and time) is registered, and the work schedule information is notified by email to the email address of the employee who registered the work schedule. Subsequently, the maintenance staff dispatch instruction unit 110 sets a maintenance engineer requested flag (data is set to “1”) in the corresponding fault information in the fault management DB (207 in FIG. 19).

  Next, when there is a suspicious component code registered in the failure information in the failure management DB 207, the maintenance component arrangement unit 111 is activated with the monitored device code, device model number, and suspicious component code as arguments. The maintenance part arrangement unit 111 has a function for sending a maintenance part corresponding to a suspected part code required for failure recovery to a customer site. The maintenance parts arrangement unit 111 searches the customer information DB (208 in FIG. 20) using the monitoring target device code as a key, and acquires the customer information (customer name, customer address, customer telephone number) of the parts delivery destination. Then, the maintenance part arranging unit 111 transmits an email notifying the maintenance parts warehouse terminal 21 of an instruction to deliver the maintenance part corresponding to the suspected part code to the customer address.

  The failure management DB 207 is a database for managing failure information, as shown in FIG. 19, and includes a monitoring target device code, a failure detection command execution date, a device model number, a product name, a monitoring target device IP address, and a failure detection command. Execution results 4a-b, fault monitoring system code, fault code, fault handling method, necessity of field work, suspected part code, mail transmission completed flag, maintenance staff requested flag are managed. The failure management DB 207 is created when the mail transmission unit 109 creates a mail to be transmitted to the customer terminals 20a and 20b, when the maintenance staff dispatch instruction section 110 performs the scheduled registration of the maintenance staff, and when the maintenance parts arrangement section 111 performs the maintenance. Referenced when registering parts.

  As shown in FIG. 20, the customer information DB 208 is a database for managing customer information, and manages a monitoring target device code, a maintenance base code, a customer name, a customer address, a customer telephone number, and a customer mail address. The customer information DB 208 is used when the maintenance staff dispatch instruction section 110 acquires maintenance staff dispatch destination information and when the maintenance parts arrangement section 111 acquires maintenance parts transmission destination information.

  As shown in FIG. 21, the employee information DB 209 is a database for managing employee information (maintenance personnel), and manages maintenance base codes, employee codes, employee names, and maintenance personnel email addresses. The employee information DB 209 is used when the maintenance staff dispatch instruction unit 110 acquires maintenance staff information belonging to the maintenance base of the failure occurrence device.

  As shown in FIG. 22, the work schedule DB 210 is a database for managing work schedules, and manages monitoring target device codes, employee codes, employee names, and work start dates and times. The work schedule DB 210 is used when the maintenance staff dispatch instruction unit 110 issues a field work instruction.

(Operation of the first embodiment)
Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a sequence chart showing the operation of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3 (that is, FIG. 2 is a common sequence chart for the configurations of FIGS. 1 and 3). In FIG. 2, the remote monitoring system 11 assumes the case where the failure detection of the monitoring target devices 10a and 10b installed at two customer sites is simultaneously performed. Note that the number of monitoring target devices that start failure detection all at once is not limited to two, and an arbitrary number is applicable. Further, it is assumed that 100 m is set as the primary failure monitoring apparatus.

  In FIG. 2, failure detection commands 3a and 3b are successively transmitted from the failure monitoring device 100m to the two failure target devices 10a and 10b, respectively. The failure target devices 10a and 10b receive the failure detection commands 3a and 3b, respectively, and execute diagnostic processing corresponding to the failure detection commands 3a and 3b. The failure target device 10a transmits the execution result 4a of the failure detection command to the failure monitoring device 100m when the diagnosis process is completed. The failure detection command execution result 4a is log information in the diagnosis process. Here, the log information may include all information collected by the monitoring target device 10a, or may be information obtained by extracting only information effective for failure analysis. Alternatively, the failure detection command execution result 4a may simply indicate the normality / abnormality of the failure detection command 3a-b execution results. Similarly, the monitoring target device 10b transmits the execution result 4b of the failure detection command to the failure monitoring device 100m when the diagnosis process is completed.

  Upon receiving the failure detection command execution result 4a, the failure monitoring apparatus 100m determines the failure detection command execution result 4a (S100a) and transmits the failure detection information 5a accordingly. Next, the failure analysis device 200 receives the failure detection information 5a, analyzes the failure detection information 5a (S101a), and transmits the failure analysis information 6a. Next, the failure management apparatus 300 receives the failure analysis information 6a and performs management (S102a) using the failure analysis information 6a. Similarly, in response to the execution result 4b of the failure detection command, the failure monitoring device 100m, the failure analysis device 200, and the failure management device 300 perform determination (S100b), analysis (S101b), and management (S102b) processing, respectively. I do. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the remote monitoring system 11 shares the three processes of determination, analysis, and management with each of the three devices, the failure monitoring device 100m, the failure analysis device 200, and the failure management device 300. Are configured to be executed. Thereby, in the period TA in FIG. 2, the determination by the failure monitoring device 100m (S100b) and the analysis by the failure analysis device 200 (S101a) can be executed in parallel. In the period TB, the analysis by the failure analysis device 200 (S101b) and the management by the failure management device 300 (S102a) can be executed in parallel. Thus, in the remote monitoring system 11, the overall processing capability is improved by operating two or more devices in parallel.

  Next, the operation of the failure monitoring apparatus 100m shown in FIG. 2 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the failure monitoring device 100m in the remote monitoring system 11 according to the first embodiment, and shows the operation of the failure monitoring device 100m for only the monitoring target device 10a. In the following description of the operation, a description that overlaps with the content described in the configuration of the failure monitoring apparatus described above may be omitted.

  In FIG. 7, steps A1 to A4 are parts for starting the system failure detection unit 101 and transmitting a failure detection command 3a to the monitoring target device 10a. Specifically, referring to the failure detection target device DB (201 in FIG. 13), the monitoring target device code A0001 and its IP address 10.0.0.1 are acquired. Next, the failure detection item DB (202 in FIG. 14) is searched using the monitoring target device code A0001 as a key. In FIG. 14, three commands TestCommand001_1, TestCommand001_2, and TestCommand001_3 corresponding to the monitoring target apparatus code A0001 are acquired and transmitted to the monitoring target apparatus 10a as a failure detection command 3a. In recent years, since information processing apparatuses have become multifunctional and test contents are diverse, the failure detection command 3a tends to include a plurality of commands.

  Next, steps A5 to A12 in FIG. 7 are portions corresponding to the determination (S100a) in FIG. In step A5, the failure detection command execution result 4a is received. The failure detection command execution result 4a is, for example, log information for each of the three commands TestCommand001_1, TestCommand001_2, and TestCommand001_3. Step A6 ends the process when it is determined from the log information that the failure detection command execution result 4a is normal. On the other hand, when it is determined that the failure detection command execution result 4a is abnormal, the following steps A7 to A12 are executed.

  Here, in step A6, when the failure determination thresholds val001_1, val001_2, and val001_3 are defined for the execution results of the above three commands as shown in FIG. 14, the failure corresponding to the execution result of each command is determined. The determination threshold values are compared to determine whether the execution result of each command is normal or abnormal. Alternatively, an expected value of the execution result of each command may be determined instead of the failure determination threshold value, and normal / abnormal of the execution result of each command may be determined based on a match / mismatch with the expected value.

  As described above, the failure detection information 5a generated in steps A7 to A8 includes the failure detection command execution date and time, the monitored device IP address, the monitored device code, the failure detection command execution result 4a, and the failure code. Contains. Here, when the failure detection command execution result 4a includes a large amount of log information, the failure detection command execution result 4a written to the failure detection information 5a registers only the file name of the log information. The log information file may be separately transferred to the failure analysis apparatus 200. Further, the failure code of the failure detection information 5a is defined corresponding to each command as shown in FIG. For example, when the execution results of TestCommand001_1, TestCommand001_2, and TestCommand001_1 are abnormal, SG001_1, SG001_2, and SG001_3 are defined as respective failure codes.

  Steps A <b> 9 to A <b> 12 are parts in which processing for transferring the generated failure detection information 5 a to the failure analysis apparatus 200 is performed. Here, in step A11, the IP address 192.168.0.1 of the failure analysis apparatus 200 is acquired with reference to the data transfer destination DB (203 in FIG. 15).

  Next, the operation of the failure analysis apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 2 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the failure analysis device 200 in the remote monitoring system 11 according to the first embodiment, showing the operation of the failure monitoring device 200 only for the monitoring target device 10a. This corresponds to the processing of S101a). In the following description of the operation, a description that overlaps the content described in the configuration of the failure analysis apparatus described above may be omitted.

  In FIG. 8, after starting the data analysis unit 105 in step A13, information is acquired from the failure detection information 5a transferred from the failure monitoring apparatus 100m in steps A14 to A15. Next, in step A16, the failure monitoring device redundant configuration information DB (206 in FIG. 18) is referred to, and it is determined that the failure monitoring device 100m (failure monitoring device code is 100) is the main system. Therefore, in step A17, it is determined that the failure detection information 5a is information from the primary failure monitoring device. Next, in step A18, the product name Express5800XXXXXX and the device model number N12345 are acquired by searching the monitoring target device information DB (204 in FIG. 16) using the monitoring target device code A0001 of the monitoring target device 10a as a key. Yes.

  Next, in step A19, the failure information DB (205 in FIG. 17) is searched using the monitoring target device code A0001 of the monitoring target device 10a and the failure codes SG001_1, SG001_2, SG001_3 of the failure detection information 5a as keys. As a result, the failure information DB 205 hits the above key, the failure handling method 7a is “requires replacement of XXX”, the suspected component code (suspected component information) 9a is A001, the necessity of local work (dispatching maintenance personnel) Request information) 19a is acquired as 1 (requires local work). If there is no hit when the failure information DB 205 is searched using the monitoring target device code and the failure code as keys, for example, by directly analyzing the log information of the execution result 4a of the failure search command, a failure handling method or the like can be obtained. It may be determined.

  Next, steps A20 to A23 are parts for generating the failure analysis information 6a based on the failure analysis result and transmitting it to the failure management apparatus 300.

  Next, the operation of the failure management apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 2 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10 are flowcharts showing the operation of the failure management apparatus 300 in the remote monitoring system 11 according to the first embodiment, showing the operation of the failure management apparatus 300 for only the monitoring target device 10a. This corresponds to the management (S102a) process. In the following description of the operation, a description that overlaps with the content described in the configuration of the failure management apparatus described above may be omitted.

  In FIG. 9, step A24 receives the failure analysis information 6a from the failure analysis apparatus 200 and outputs it to the failure management DB (207 in FIG. 19). Referring to FIG. 19, it can be seen that information corresponding to the failure analysis information 6a is written in the first row of the failure management DB 207. Note that the mail transmission completed flag and the maintenance personnel requested flag are initially set to “0” indicating that the flag has not been implemented. The log file name is written as the command execution result.

  Next, steps A25 to A30 are parts for transmitting a trouble contact mail to the customer terminal 20a. Specifically, in steps A26 to A27, the first line of the failure management DB (207 in FIG. 19) is referred to, and it is determined that the mail transmission flag is 0 (that is, mail transmission has not been performed). As a result, information of the data in the first row of the failure management DB 207 is acquired. Subsequently, in step A29, the customer information DB 208 is searched using the monitoring target device code A0001 acquired in step A28 as a key, and the customer mail address “Asia@XXX.com” is acquired. In step A30, the trouble contact mail is sent to the mail address Asya @ XXX. com.

  Next, steps A31 to A37 are parts for making a request for dispatch to the maintenance staff terminal 22a. Specifically, the maintenance staff dispatch instruction unit 110 is activated in step A31. In step A32, the information on the first line of the failure management DB (207 in FIG. 19) is acquired as in step A28 described above. In step A33, since the necessity of field work is “1” in the acquired information, it is determined that the maintenance staff needs to be dispatched.

  In step A34, as in step A29 described above, the customer information DB (208 in FIG. 20) is searched using the monitoring target apparatus code A0001 as a key to obtain the customer maintenance base code “HK001”. Next, in step A35, the employee information DB (209 in FIG. 21) is searched using the maintenance base code “HK001” as a key, and the employee code “1111111” of the maintenance staff at the base corresponding to the maintenance base code “HK001” is stored. Member email address “chainA@test.com” is acquired. Next, in step A36, the work schedule is registered in the row of the work schedule DB (210 in FIG. 22) of the employee code “1111111” (work start time January 15, 2013, 9:00 as shown in FIG. 22). Is written). Subsequently, in step A37, the work schedule mail is transmitted to the mail address “chainA@test.com” of the maintenance staff terminal 22a. Information such as the customer's address of the destination, the failure information, and the work start time is notified by the work schedule mail.

  Next, steps A38 to A41 in FIG. 10 are parts for arranging maintenance parts at the maintenance parts warehouse terminal 21. Specifically, in step A38, it is determined whether or not the suspected part code is registered in the information on the first line of the acquired failure management DB 207. In the information on the first line of the failure management DB 207 in FIG. 19, the suspected part code “A001” is registered, so it is determined in step A38 that a maintenance part is necessary. Next, the maintenance parts arrangement unit 111 is activated at step A39. Next, in step A40, the customer information DB 208 is searched by using the monitoring target apparatus code A0001 as a key to acquire the customer name “Company A” and the customer address “Tokyo XXX”. In step A41, a parts delivery instruction mail is transmitted to the maintenance parts warehouse terminal 21. The parts delivery instruction mail is an instruction to deliver a maintenance part corresponding to the suspected part code “A001” to the customer address “Tokyo XXX”.

  Next, the switching operation between the primary system and the secondary system of the failure monitoring apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, the fault monitoring system of the remote monitoring system 11 has a redundant configuration having a primary system and a secondary system. In FIG. 3, 100m and 100s are the primary system fault monitoring device and the secondary system fault, respectively. The monitoring device is set.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the failure monitoring apparatus when system switching of the failure monitoring apparatus occurs. Of the two failure monitoring devices 100m and 100s provided in the remote monitoring system 11, FIG. 11 shows the operation of the failure monitoring device 100m (the operation of 100s is the same). In FIG. 11, the operation notification information regular creation unit 103 is periodically activated in step B1. The interval for periodically starting is set to a predetermined value in advance. In step B2, the operation notification information periodic creation unit 103 generates operation notification information 8a. In the operation notification information 8a, information on the activation date and time of the operation notification information periodic creation unit 103 and the fault monitoring device code are written.

  Next, steps B <b> 3 to B <b> 6 are parts for transferring the generated operation notification information 8 a to the failure analysis apparatus 200. Specifically, the data transfer unit 104 is periodically started in step B3, and the presence / absence of a file of the operation notification information 8a is determined in step B4. If it is determined in step B4 that there is a file of the operation notification information 8a, the IP address “192.168.0.1” of the failure analysis apparatus 200 is acquired from the data transfer destination DB 203 in step B5. In step B6, the operation notification information 8a is transmitted to the IP address of the failure analysis apparatus 200.

  Next, FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the failure analysis apparatus 200 when system switching of the failure monitoring apparatus occurs. The failure analysis device 200 attempts to receive the operation notification information 8a and 8b generated by each of the failure monitoring devices (100m, 100s). If the failure notification device 200 receives the notification, the failure monitoring device on the transmission side is operating normally. Judge. Here, the fault monitoring device codes of the fault monitoring devices 100m and 100s are 100 and 200, respectively.

  Steps B7 to B10 in FIG. 12 are parts for determining the operation of each failure monitoring apparatus. Specifically, the operation notification information monitoring unit 106 is periodically activated in step B7. Subsequently, the failure monitoring device redundancy configuration information DB 206 is referred to, the failure monitoring device codes 100 and 200 are searched, and the failure monitoring device code 100 (that is, the failure monitoring device 100m) is the primary failure monitoring device. Information indicating that the failure monitoring device code 200 (that is, the failure monitoring device 100s) is a secondary failure monitoring device is acquired.

  Next, reception of operation notification information 8a-b is tried at step B9. In step B10, when there is no arrival of the operation notification information 8a-b (that is, when the operation notification information 8a-b can be received together), the process ends. On the other hand, when the operation notification information 8a from the primary failure monitoring device has not arrived (that is, when it cannot be received), the failure monitoring device system switching unit 107 is activated in step B11, and the primary and secondary systems of the failure monitoring device are activated. Switch. In step B12, the primary failure monitoring device code is updated to 200 and the secondary failure monitoring device code is updated to 100 in the first row of the failure monitoring device redundant configuration information DB 206.

(Comparative Example 1)
Next, Comparative Example 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the remote monitoring system according to Comparative Example 1. As can be seen by comparing FIG. 25 with FIG. 3, FIG. 25 has a configuration in which the remote monitoring system 11 of FIG. In Comparative Example 1, each function of the failure monitoring device 100m, the failure analysis device 200, and the failure management device 300 of the first embodiment is configured to be executed by one remote monitoring device 13. In the first comparative example, the remote monitoring device 13 and the monitoring target devices 10a and 10b are connected not via the closed IP network 50 but via the Internet 60.

  FIG. 26 is a sequence chart showing the operation of the first comparative example. In FIG. 26, determination (S300a), analysis (S301a), management (S302a), determination (S300b), analysis (S301b), and management (S302b) by the remote monitoring device 13 are sequentially processed. Here, each processing content is the same as the determination (S100a), analysis (S101a), management (S102a), determination (S100b), analysis (S101b), and management (S102b) in FIG.

(Comparison between the first embodiment and Comparative Example 1)
Next, the effects obtained in the first embodiment will be described by comparing the first embodiment with the comparative example 1. Comparing FIG. 2 (first embodiment) and FIG. 26 (Comparative Example 1), in the case of FIG. 2, the overall processing capability is improved by executing the processes in parallel during the periods TA and TB. It turns out that there exists an effect which shortens the whole processing time. Therefore, in the case where a plurality of devices to be monitored are simultaneously detected in an emergency, the first embodiment capable of parallel processing can send a failure notification mail to the customer earlier, and can be used for maintenance personnel. On the other hand, a dispatch instruction can be issued early, and maintenance parts can be arranged quickly. In the first embodiment, the case where there are two monitoring target devices is illustrated. However, when the number of monitoring target devices increases, the effect of performing the parallel operation becomes significant.

  Moreover, in the case of the comparative example 1, when the malfunction of the remote monitoring apparatus 13 generate | occur | produces, there exists a possibility that it may be in the state which cannot perform remote monitoring. On the other hand, in the case of the first embodiment, the failure monitoring apparatus has a redundant configuration of the primary system and the secondary system, and the switching is controlled by the failure analysis apparatus 200. By configuring in this way, even if some trouble occurs in the primary fault monitoring device and it becomes inoperable, the secondary fault monitoring device can perform fault monitoring instead. The effect of becoming is obtained.

  In the first comparative example, the remote monitoring device 13 and the plurality of monitoring target devices 10a to 10b transmit / receive the failure detection command and the transmission / reception of the execution result of the failure detection command via the Internet 60. When a diagnostic process and another highly confidential process are executed in parallel, the execution result (for example, log information) of the failure detection command may contain highly confidential data. . On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the remote monitoring system 11 and the plurality of monitoring target devices 10a to 10b perform transmission / reception of a failure detection command and transmission / reception of the execution result of the failure detection command via the closed IP network 50 such as VPN. Therefore, even if highly confidential data is included in the execution result (for example, log information) of the failure detection command, it is possible to ensure the security so that it is not accessed from the outside. .

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration when the remote monitoring system 12 according to the second embodiment is applied. In the second embodiment, the functions of the failure analysis device 200 and the failure management device 300 of the first embodiment are configured to operate with one device of the failure analysis management device 400.

  FIG. 24 is a sequence chart showing the operation of the second embodiment. In FIG. 24, the processing contents of determination (S200a), analysis (S201a), management (S202a), determination (S200b), analysis (S201b), and management (S202b) are the same as the determination (S100a) and analysis of FIG. This is the same as (S101a), management (S102a), determination (S100b), analysis (S101b), and management (S102b). In FIG. 24, the determination by the failure monitoring device 100 (S200b) and the analysis by the failure analysis management device 400 (S201a) can be performed in parallel during the period TA. However, the parallel operation in the period TB of FIG. 2 (first embodiment) cannot be obtained.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, although the operation that can be parallelized is halved compared to the first embodiment, the processing capability can be improved as compared with the first comparative example.

  Further, the remote monitoring system 12 of the second embodiment can be configured with a small number of devices (three remote monitoring systems 12 of the second embodiment compared to four of the first embodiment). Thus, it is possible to obtain a low-cost remote monitoring system.

  In the first embodiment, processing (steps in FIGS. 7 and 11) by the failure monitoring device (100m, 100s) is stored as a program in a storage unit (not shown) of the failure monitoring device. It is called and executed by the CPU provided in (100m, 100s). Further, the processing (each step in FIGS. 8 and 12) by the failure analysis device 200 is stored as a program in a storage unit (not shown) of the failure analysis device, and is called and executed by a CPU provided in the failure analysis device 200. The Further, the processing (steps in FIGS. 9 and 10) by the failure management apparatus 300 is stored as a program in a storage unit (not shown) of the failure management apparatus, and is called and executed by the CPU provided in the failure management apparatus 300. The Further, the processing by the failure analysis management device 400 of the second embodiment is also stored as a program in a storage unit (not shown) of the failure analysis management device, and is called and executed by the CPU provided in the failure analysis management device 400. . Each program described above can be downloaded via a network or updated using a storage medium storing the program.

  Part or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as in the following forms, but is not limited to the following.

(Mode 1) A failure detection command is transmitted to a plurality of monitoring target devices via a network, and an execution result of the failure detection command executed by each of the monitoring target devices is received to detect a failure of each of the monitoring target devices. A fault monitoring device that outputs fault detection information including information on the monitoring target device and an execution result of the fault detection command regarding the monitoring target device determined to have a fault,
The failure detection information is received, the execution result of the failure detection command included in the received failure detection information is analyzed, a failure handling method for recovering the failure is determined, and the information on the monitored device and the failure handling method are determined. A failure analysis device that outputs failure analysis information including
A failure management device that receives the failure analysis information and manages execution of a failure handling method included in the received failure analysis information;
With
A remote monitoring system in which two or more of the failure monitoring device, the failure analysis device, and the failure management device are configured to be able to execute processes for different monitoring target devices in parallel.

(Mode 2) The failure analysis apparatus comprises:
Provided with a failure information database in which failure handling methods corresponding to the execution results of a plurality of failure detection commands are predetermined,
The remote monitoring system according to mode 1, wherein a fault handling method for searching for the fault information database and determining a fault is determined by using an execution result of a fault detection command included in the fault detection information received from the fault monitoring device.

(Mode 3) The failure information database further includes suspected part information corresponding to each failure handling method,
The failure analysis device searches the failure information database using the execution result of the failure detection command included in the failure detection information to obtain the suspected component information, adds the suspected component information to the failure analysis information,
The remote monitoring system according to mode 2, wherein the failure management apparatus sends an instruction to arrange a suspected component based on suspected component information included in the received failure analysis information.

(Mode 4) The failure information database further defines maintenance staff dispatch request information corresponding to each failure handling method,
The failure analysis device searches the failure information database using the execution result of the failure detection command included in the failure detection information to obtain maintenance staff dispatch request information, and adds the maintenance staff dispatch request information to the failure analysis information. Add
The remote monitoring system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the failure management device transmits a notification instructing dispatch of a maintenance staff to a maintenance staff terminal based on maintenance staff dispatch request information included in the received failure analysis information.

(Mode 5) The failure management apparatus is:
A customer information database storing addresses of customer terminals corresponding to the plurality of devices to be monitored;
The customer information database is searched by using the information on the monitoring target device included in the received failure analysis information to obtain the address of the customer terminal corresponding to the monitoring target device, and the monitoring target is added to the address of the customer terminal. The remote monitoring system according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 4, which notifies a device failure.

(Mode 6) The failure monitoring device is composed of two or more failure monitoring devices including a primary failure monitoring device and a secondary failure monitoring device,
When the failure analysis device detects an abnormality in the primary failure monitoring device, the failure analysis device sets the primary / secondary system between the primary failure monitoring device and the secondary failure monitoring device. switching,
The failure analysis device determines a failure handling method using the failure detection information transmitted from the primary failure monitoring device, and does not use the failure detection information transmitted from the secondary failure monitoring device. The remote monitoring system according to any one of Forms 1 to 5.

(Mode 7) Each of the plurality of failure monitoring devices is set to periodically transmit operation notification information to the failure analysis device,
In mode 6, the failure analysis device determines whether or not operation notification information can be received from each of the two or more failure monitoring devices, and detects that the failure monitoring device that cannot receive the operation notification information is abnormal. The remote monitoring system described.

(Mode 8) A failure detection command is transmitted to a plurality of monitoring target devices via a network, and an execution result of the failure detection command executed on each of the monitoring target devices is received to detect a failure of each of the monitoring target devices. A fault monitoring device that outputs fault detection information including information on the monitoring target device and an execution result of the fault detection command regarding the monitoring target device determined to have a fault,
A fault that receives the fault detection information, analyzes a result of executing a fault detection command included in the received fault detection information, determines a fault handling method for recovering the fault, and manages execution of the fault handling method; An analysis management device;
With
A remote monitoring system in which the failure monitoring device and the failure analysis management device are configured to be able to execute processes for different monitoring target devices in parallel.

(Mode 9) The remote monitoring system according to any one of modes 1 to 8, wherein the fault monitoring apparatus receives a fault detection command execution result from the plurality of monitoring target apparatuses via a closed IP (Internet Protocol) network. .

(Mode 10) Sending a failure detection command to a plurality of monitoring target devices via a network;
Receiving an execution result of the failure detection command executed in each of the monitoring target devices, determining whether or not each of the monitoring target devices has a failure, and regarding the monitoring target device determined to have a failure, the monitoring target A determination step of outputting failure detection information including device information and an execution result of the failure detection command;
The failure detection information is received, the execution result of the failure detection command included in the received failure detection information is analyzed, a failure handling method for recovering the failure is determined, and the information on the monitored device and the failure handling method are determined. An analysis step for outputting failure analysis information including
A management step for receiving the failure analysis information and managing execution of a failure handling method included in the received failure analysis information;
Including
A remote monitoring method in which two or more of the determination step, the analysis step, and the management step can be performed in parallel.

(Mode 11) A program for detecting a failure of a plurality of monitoring target devices,
A failure detection command is transmitted to a plurality of monitoring target devices via a network, and an execution result of the failure detection command executed on each of the monitoring target devices is received to determine whether each of the monitoring target devices has a failure. And a failure handling method for recovering the failure using the failure detection information, the failure detection information including the monitoring target device information and the execution result of the failure detection command regarding the monitoring target device determined to have a failure. A program that causes a computer to execute processing to be output to a determining device.

  The present invention remotely detects a failure of a plurality of monitoring target devices (information processing devices such as server devices, network devices, and computers; air conditioning systems, etc.) via a network, analyzes the failure information, It can be applied to a remote monitoring system that automatically performs measures such as dispatch of maintenance personnel.

  Note that, within the scope of the entire disclosure (including claims and drawings) of the present invention, the embodiments can be changed and adjusted based on the basic technical concept. Various combinations or selections of various disclosed elements (including each element of each claim, each element of each embodiment, each element of each drawing, etc.) are possible within the scope of the claims of the present invention. . That is, the present invention naturally includes various variations and modifications that could be made by those skilled in the art according to the entire disclosure including the claims and the drawings, and the technical idea. In particular, with respect to the numerical ranges described in this document, any numerical value or small range included in the range should be construed as being specifically described even if there is no specific description.

1, 11: Remote monitoring system 2: Network 3a-b: Failure detection command 4a-b: Failure detection command execution result 5a-b: Failure detection information 6a-b: Failure analysis information 7a: Failure handling method 8a-b: Operation notification information 9, 9a-b: Suspected component information 10a-b: Monitoring target device 12: Remote monitoring system 13: Remote monitoring device 19, 19a-b: Maintenance staff dispatch request information 20a-b: Customer terminal 21: Maintenance component Warehouse terminal 22a: maintenance worker terminal 50: closed IP network 60: Internet 100: failure monitoring device 100m: (primary) failure monitoring device 100s: (secondary) failure monitoring device 101: system failure detection unit 102: failure detection Information creation unit 103: Operation notification information periodic creation unit 104: Data transfer unit 105: Data analysis unit 106: Operation notification information monitoring unit 107: Fault monitoring device system disconnection Replacement unit 108: Data transfer unit 109: Mail transmission unit 110: Maintenance staff dispatch instruction unit 111: Maintenance part arrangement unit 200: Failure analysis device 201: Failure detection target device database 202: Failure detection item database 203: Data transfer destination database 204 : Monitoring target device information database 205: Failure information database 206: Failure monitoring device redundant configuration information database 207: Failure management database 208: Customer information database 209: Employee information database 210: Work schedule database 300: Failure management device 400: Failure analysis management apparatus

Claims (9)

A failure detection command is transmitted to a plurality of monitoring target devices via a network, and an execution result of the failure detection command executed on each of the monitoring target devices is received to determine whether each of the monitoring target devices has a failure. A fault monitoring device that outputs fault detection information including information on the monitored device and an execution result of the fault detection command regarding the monitored device determined to have a fault;
The failure detection information is received, the execution result of the failure detection command included in the received failure detection information is analyzed, a failure handling method for recovering the failure is determined, and the information on the monitored device and the failure handling method are determined. A failure analysis device that outputs failure analysis information including
A failure management device that receives the failure analysis information and manages execution of a failure handling method included in the received failure analysis information;
With
Two or more of the failure monitoring device, the failure analysis device, and the failure management device are configured to be able to execute processes for the different monitoring target devices in parallel,
The fault monitoring apparatus is composed of two or more fault monitoring apparatuses including a primary fault monitoring apparatus and a secondary fault monitoring apparatus, and the primary fault monitoring apparatus and the secondary fault monitoring apparatus are respectively described above. Output fault detection information,
When the failure analysis device detects an abnormality in the primary failure monitoring device, the failure analysis device sets the primary / secondary system between the primary failure monitoring device and the secondary failure monitoring device. and switching shall,
If the failure analysis device does not detect an abnormality of the primary failure monitoring device, the failure analysis device determines a failure handling method using the failure detection information transmitted from the primary failure monitoring device, and A remote monitoring system that does not use the failure detection information transmitted from a system failure monitoring device . The failure analysis device
Provided with a failure information database in which failure handling methods corresponding to the execution results of a plurality of failure detection commands are predetermined,
2. The remote monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein a failure handling method for searching the failure information database to determine a failure is determined by using an execution result of a failure detection command included in the failure detection information received from the failure monitoring apparatus. . The failure information database further defines suspected part information corresponding to each of the failure handling methods,
The failure analysis device searches the failure information database using the execution result of the failure detection command included in the failure detection information to obtain the suspected component information, adds the suspected component information to the failure analysis information,
The remote monitoring system according to claim 2, wherein the failure management apparatus sends an instruction to arrange a suspected component based on suspected component information included in the received failure analysis information. The failure information database further defines maintenance staff dispatch request information corresponding to each of the failure handling methods,
The failure analysis device searches the failure information database using the execution result of the failure detection command included in the failure detection information to obtain maintenance staff dispatch request information, and adds the maintenance staff dispatch request information to the failure analysis information. Add
The remote monitoring system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the failure management apparatus transmits a notification instructing dispatch of a maintenance staff to a maintenance staff terminal based on maintenance staff dispatch request information included in the received failure analysis information. . The failure management device is:
A customer information database storing addresses of customer terminals corresponding to the plurality of devices to be monitored;
The customer information database is searched by using the information on the monitoring target device included in the received failure analysis information to obtain the address of the customer terminal corresponding to the monitoring target device, and the monitoring target is added to the address of the customer terminal. The remote monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which notifies a device failure. The plurality of failure monitoring devices are each set to periodically transmit operation notification information to the failure analysis device,
The failure analysis device determines whether or not operation notification information can be received from each of the two or more failure monitoring devices, and detects that the failure monitoring device that cannot receive the operation notification information is abnormal. The remote monitoring system according to any one of 1 to 5 . The remote monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the failure monitoring device receives a failure detection command execution result from the plurality of monitoring target devices via a closed IP (Internet Protocol) network. Transmitting a failure detection command to a plurality of monitored devices via a network;
Receiving an execution result of the failure detection command executed in each of the monitoring target devices, determining whether or not each of the monitoring target devices has a failure, and regarding the monitoring target device determined to have a failure, the monitoring target A determination step of outputting failure detection information including device information and an execution result of the failure detection command;
The failure detection information is received, the execution result of the failure detection command included in the received failure detection information is analyzed, a failure handling method for recovering the failure is determined, and the information on the monitored device and the failure handling method are determined. An analysis step for outputting failure analysis information including
A management step for receiving the failure analysis information and managing execution of a failure handling method included in the received failure analysis information;
Including
2 or more devices executing the determining step comprising the apparatus and the sub system of the apparatus of the main system,
When an abnormality of the primary device is detected, switching between the primary / sub system settings between the primary device and the secondary device ;
If an abnormality of the primary device is not detected, a failure handling method is determined using the failure detection information transmitted from the primary device, and the failure detection transmitted from the secondary device is detected. Steps without information,
Further including
A remote monitoring method in which two or more of the determination step, the analysis step, and the management step can be performed in parallel. Connected through a fault monitoring device and the network to monitor the monitoring target device, a program executed by a failure analysis equipment,
The failure detection information including the monitoring target device information and the failure detection command execution result for the monitoring target device determined to have a failure is received, and the failure detection command execution result included in the received failure detection information Analyzing the error and determining a failure handling method for recovering the failure, causing the failure analysis device to execute analysis processing for outputting the failure analysis information including the monitoring target device information and the failure handling method,
2 or more of the fault monitoring device including the fault monitoring device of the fault monitoring device and a sub system of the main system outputs the fault detection information,
Processing for switching the setting of the primary system / sub system between the primary system fault monitoring apparatus and the secondary system fault monitoring apparatus when an abnormality of the primary system fault monitoring apparatus is detected When,
If no abnormality is detected in the primary failure monitoring device, a failure handling method is determined using the failure detection information transmitted from the primary failure monitoring device, and the secondary failure monitoring device A program that causes the failure analysis apparatus to execute processing that does not use the transmitted failure detection information .

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