JP6503248B2 - Device confirmation system and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a system and method for performing device confirmation of a data center or the like.

  The operation work of the data center or the like has a check work called a cyclic check that a person visually checks. In the patrol inspection, a worker patrols the server room and checks the lamp color and lighting status, the presence or absence of abnormal noise, the presence or absence of abnormal odor, the connection status of the cable, etc. for the IT equipment in the rack. In these operations, it is difficult to carry out by remote monitoring via a network, and it is necessary for workers to confirm the site of the IT equipment of the customer who received such a request for inspection.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a circuit inspection support system for a substation which stores inspection items in an IC memory card of a handy terminal and confirms the inspection items.

  In patrol work, it is common for workers to check one customer's rack based on the checklist, move on to the next customer's rack confirmation, and create a report after completing all the confirmation work. It is. However, the customer racks are not always arranged in a row, and there are many movements of the machine room floor to check all the racks of a specific customer. For example, the same route may be traveled redundantly, so there is unnecessary travel time. In a data center, it is difficult to instruct workers in real time appropriate movement and confirmation work in a state where technology for specifying position information such as GPS can not be used.

JP-A-7-56999

  In the conventional inspection and confirmation work, since the work is performed for each customer, if the racks of the customers are in a discontinuous arrangement, the traveling route does not become a single writing, and there is a problem that the moving time becomes long. In addition, an unfamiliar worker has a problem that it takes time to grasp the position of the device which needs to be confirmed, as compared with a veteran worker. Furthermore, there is a problem that it is time-consuming to create a report after the confirmation work, and it is difficult to respond promptly on the spot even when an incident occurs which the worker needs to respond during the work.

  The present invention aims to solve the above problems by giving workers appropriate instructions in real time and automating a part of the work.

In the present invention, using a smart device (hereinafter referred to as an operation terminal), a bar code, a beacon or the like, an appropriate work instruction is given to the worker on the spot, and a part of the work is automated.
(1) The scheduler collects rack information to be checked, and the system calculates the shortest traveling route (hereinafter referred to as the optimal traveling route) with a single writing. In addition, the movement time can be shortened by acquiring the position / direction information of the worker by the beacon and instructing the worker based on the appropriate patrol route.
(2) The operator instructs the operator on the operation to be performed and the check item to be performed in each rack from the operation terminal by scanning one capable of identifying the device such as a bar code attached to the rack. In addition, with the camera attached to the smart device, by taking a picture of the state at the time of work, a trail of additional confirmation and work afterward is left.
(3) The system creates a report based on the check items input by the worker. In addition, when an incident occurs that requires the operator to respond, the operation response is displayed on the operation terminal so that the operator can respond.

  The present invention reduces unnecessary time such as traveling time, supports the judgment of the worker and the preparation of the report, and reduces the burden on the worker, thereby improving the work efficiency and promptly responding to the incident that occurred. It becomes possible to correspond.

Example of whole system configuration Example of patrol route screen Rack Information Table Example Customer Information Table Example Contract Information Table Example Example of rack position information table Schedule table example Example of flow chart of confirmation work Example of flow chart of user terminal processing Example of flow chart of report preparation process Example of move instruction screen Report confirmation screen example

  One embodiment of the present invention will be described using the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of the system of the present invention. In this system, a barcode, a wearable device (user terminal 1) and a server 2 are used.

  The bar code is attached to each rack 23, and scanning the bar code with the user terminal 1 provides rack information. By using the user terminal 1 capable of receiving the radio wave from the beacon 24, the direction and the position to which the worker 22 faces can be acquired. Although the example using a barcode is described in this embodiment, it is also possible to use a sticker having an identifier of the device or an IC chip which can read data without contact.

  The user terminal may be a smart device such as a tablet terminal or a glasses-like wearable device. The user terminal 1 includes an input / output unit 5, a main memory 6, and a CPU 4. Further, a camera having a bar code scanner function is attached to the input / output unit 5. In the input / output unit 5, rack information obtained by scanning a bar code and position / direction information of the user obtained from the beacon 24 can be taken in, and a traveling route, confirmation data, report data, etc. are connected to the input / output unit 5 Can be displayed on the screen.

  Further, the worker 22 can confirm and correct the confirmation data and the report data at the user terminal 1. The main memory 6 includes a rack information reading unit 7, a traveling route instructing unit 8, an azimuth recognition unit 9, and a device recognition unit 10. The rack information reading unit 7 temporarily stores rack information read by the bar code scanner. The traveling route instructing unit 8 instructs the worker 22 on the rack and the traveling route to be confirmed next based on the traveling route. The direction recognition unit 9 recognizes the position and direction information of the user obtained by the beacon 24. The device recognition unit 10 determines whether the rack scanned by the worker 22 is a rack instructed by the traveling route instruction unit 8 or not.

  The server comprises a main storage 12, an external storage 13, a CPU 11, and an external storage 13. The main memory 12 includes a report preparation unit 15, a traveling plan preparation unit 16, and an authentication processing unit 17. The report creation unit 15 automatically creates a report based on the confirmation data and the photographing data of the worker. The tour plan creation unit 16 acquires the schedule 18 and the rack position information 21 stored in the external storage device, and creates an optimal tour path for a plurality of work target racks. The authentication processing unit 17 authenticates whether the user terminal 1 and the worker 22 are valid.

  The external storage unit 13 is a place where the schedule 18, rack information 19, rack position information 21 and customer information 20 are temporarily stored, and can transmit / receive information with the user terminal 1.

  FIG. 2 is an example of a screen showing an example of a cyclic route created by the cyclic plan creation unit 16 of the server and outputted to the display device via the input / output unit 5 of the user terminal 1. The traveling plan creation unit 16 acquires the schedule 18 and the rack position information 21, and creates a traveling path with a small moving distance with respect to the work target rack 23. A circle 30 in FIG. 2 is a rack to be worked, a mark 31 of the camera is a rack that requires photographing, and an arrow 32 is a working flow line. The traveling route with a small moving distance is a single writing, and is calculated based on the address of the rack 23 and the position information of the worker so that the total distance of the traveling route becomes short.

  Although such manual rack confirmation work is not a necessary service for customers who use data centers, it is a necessary service for customers who provide mission-critical services even when using data centers. It is.

  In addition, the contents of the service and the necessary measures taken as a result of confirmation are individually determined by a contract such as a service level agreement (SLA), and it is necessary to make detailed confirmation work for each customer.

  Therefore, cost reduction can be achieved by implementing only the racks necessary for customers, instead of the service that can be provided uniformly for all racks in the data center.

  In the example of the patrol route of FIG. 2, the worker first receives an electric wave from the beacon 24 which enters from the entrance, and corrects the position and direction of the worker. Next, in the front of the racks A1 to A3, the photographing operation and the confirmation operation instructed on the screen of the user terminal are performed. Next, a confirmation operation is performed on the front of the racks B6 to B4 and the back of A1 to A3. Finally, the confirmation work is completed on the racks C4 to C6, and the check work can be performed on the traveling route with a small moving distance by returning to the entrance along the traveling route.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a table of rack information 19 in the external storage device 13. As shown in FIG. The rack information 19 includes data such as a rack ID 41, a customer ID 42, a contract ID 43, and an address 44. The rack ID 41 of the rack information 19 is a primary key of the table. The customer ID 42 of the rack information 19 is an external key of the customer information, and the customer information is linked to the rack information.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the table of the customer information 20 in the external storage device 13. The customer information 20 includes data such as a customer ID 51, a customer name 52, a customer system name 53, a rack ID 54, and a contract ID 55. The customer ID 52 of the customer information 20 is a primary key of the table. The contract ID 55 of the customer information 20 is an external key of the contract information 25, and the contract information 25 is linked to the customer information 20.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the table of the contract information 25 in the external storage device 13. The contract information 25 includes a contract ID 61, a customer ID 62, a rack ID 63, a confirmation content 64 indicating what needs to be confirmed, a confirmation method 65 indicating whether a visual confirmation is also required or a photo shoot is also required. There is data such as a confirmation schedule 66 indicating whether it is necessary to confirm. The contract ID 61 of the contract information is a primary key of the table. The contract ID 61 of the contract information 25 is an external key of the rack information 19 and the customer information 20, and is linked to the information.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a table of rack position information 21 in the external storage device 13. The rack position information 21 includes data such as data center name 71, floor floor number 72, server room 73, customer ID 74, rack ID 75, address 76 and the like. By associating rack position information with an address, the position of the rack can be specified and the operator can be guided.

  FIG. 7 shows a table example of the schedule 18 in the external storage device 13. The schedule 18 includes data such as a customer ID 81, a rack ID 82, a contract ID 83, a confirmation date 84, a confirmation time 85, a confirmation content 86, a confirmation method 87 and the like. By reading the schedule, the operator can be instructed what kind of confirmation should be performed on the rack at the time of the confirmation operation.

  FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart of the confirmation operation. This example is a process for performing a rack monitoring operation using a basic user terminal and a server.

  Step 100: Enter a worker ID into a user terminal dedicated to the confirmation operation, for example, a smart device.

  Step 101: The worker ID and terminal ID input to the user terminal are sent to the server, and the authentication processing unit 17 of the server authenticates whether the user terminal and the worker are valid. If it is correct, it will transition to the next step, the report input screen. On the other hand, when the fraud is detected, an error is displayed on the user terminal, and the process is ended.

  Step 102: The report creation unit 15 of the server 2 extracts the data of the work content from the schedule 18 and rack position information 21 in the external storage device 13, and the position of the rack on the screen connected to the input / output unit 5 of the user terminal And display the confirmation work contents.

  Step 103: The operator confirms the items displayed on the input screen of the user terminal, and enters confirmation results on the user terminal while performing confirmation work. In addition, the racks that need to be photographed are photographed using the camera provided in the user terminal, and after completing the confirmation work regarding the racks and entering all the items, the user clicks the Finish button.

  Step 104: The user terminal confirms whether all items of the report on the rack have been entered. If all items have been input, the process proceeds to the next step. On the other hand, if there is a missing entry, an error is displayed on the user terminal and the screen returns to the report entry screen.

  Step 105: The user terminal stores the data of the report inputted by the worker in the customer information 20.

  Step 106: The operator looks at the display screen of the patrol route displayed on the user terminal, and confirms where the rack to be confirmed next is. The process returns to step 102 until all racks are checked.

  In this example, the operator inputs the confirmation result according to the instruction displayed on the browser of the user terminal based on the rack position information and the confirmation work content sent in rack units from the report preparation unit 15 of the server. However, if you send the confirmation result to the server at the stage when all the confirmation work related to the received instruction has been completed, it will be efficient even in a center with poor communication environment. Check work can be done.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart example of user terminal processing. In this example, the position and direction of the worker are corrected by the information received from the beacon, and the position and direction of the worker are specified by the information of the bar code attached to the rack, thereby making the worker a rack to be checked. The process of inducing will be described.

  Step 110: The worker inputs a worker ID and a password in the user terminal process, receives authentication and logs in.

  Step 111: Based on the schedule 18 of the server, check if there is a rack that needs to be checked at the current time, and if it is not there, end the processing.

  Step 112: When the user enters the server room, the user terminal receives a signal from the beacon, and corrects the current position and the heading of the worker. Normally, correction should be made using beacons when the position or orientation of the operator changes significantly, for example, when entering the server room, but if multiple beacons are installed, the operator's It can correct the position and direction.

  Step 113: The traveling route information created from the rack position information and the schedule indicating the confirmation work content are transmitted to the user terminal.

  Step 114: Based on the patrol route information received from the server, the patrol route indication unit 8 of the user terminal displays a patrol route (rack confirmation order and patrol route) on the screen of the user terminal. Although the screen to be displayed is as shown in the example of FIG. 2 or FIG. 11, either one screen may be displayed depending on the type of user terminal to be used and the size of the displayable screen, or both may be displayed in combination You may.

  Step 115: The operator scans the barcode attached to the rack using the user terminal. The rack information reading unit 7 of the user terminal checks whether the scanned rack information is the rack instructed by the traveling route instruction unit 8 or not. If it is the instructed rack, the confirmation content is displayed on the screen of the user terminal, and if it is not the instructed rack, an error is displayed.

  Step 116: The operator performs confirmation work based on the confirmation content, inputs the confirmation result to the user terminal, and stores the rack image data for the rack for which shooting is instructed. The input information is stored in the main storage of the user terminal in association with the time.

  In this example, an example is described in which the operator performs the confirmation operation, but the image data of the photographed rack is sent to the server, and the confirmation operation is performed using the image processing function provided in the report creation unit of the server. If so, the burden on the worker can be further reduced, and the worker's error can be prevented.

  Step 117: The circulation route instruction unit 8 of the user terminal collates the rack information stored in the main storage 6 of the user terminal with the circulation route information, and confirms whether or not a rack to be confirmed remains. When the confirmation work of all the target racks is completed, the process proceeds to step 118, and when there is an unconfirmed rack, the process proceeds to step 114 to display the patrol route to the rack of the next confirmation work object.

  Step 118: If there is no circulation route information, the user terminal transmits confirmation data and photographed image data to the server.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart example of the report preparation process at the server.

  Step 130: The report creation unit of the server receives from the user terminal information such as a customer ID for creating a report, a customer name, a system name, and a period.

  Step 131: The server searches rack information in the database for the received information.

  Step 132: If the corresponding rack information is in the database, proceed to step 133. If not, exit.

  Step 133: The report creation unit of the server creates report data from the confirmation data and the imaging data.

  Step 134: Send the report data to the user terminal and output it on the screen of the user terminal.

  Step 135: If there are additions and corrections entered by the worker, the report is reflected and sent to the server.

  Step 136: The server stores the report data in the customer information database. The operator can output a report in which the image information of the device photographed from the customer database, the photographed time, and the system name included in the customer information 20 are displayed in association with each other as needed.

  FIG. 11 shows a movement instruction to the worker. The worker uses the wearable device capable of receiving the beacon signal to acquire the position information of the worker and the direction information to which the worker is facing, and corrects the position and the direction of the worker. Further, based on the patrol route, the patrol route designation unit of the user terminal instructs the operator with the arrow 150 displayed on the left and right of the screen for the rack to be confirmed next. When the bar code attached to the rack to be confirmed is scanned, the content 151 of the confirmation work is displayed on the upper right of the screen. In the case of a rack requiring imaging, a display 152 indicating that imaging is necessary is displayed on the upper left of the screen. The color of the display 152 may be changed to indicate that shooting is necessary when the confirmation data is input or when the shooting data is stored in the user terminal, or in the case of a glasses-type terminal having a narrow screen, the screen From the above, the content 151 of the confirmation operation and the display 152 indicating that the photographing is necessary may be deleted.

  FIG. 12 is an example of a report confirmation screen. The report created by the report creation unit of the server is displayed on the screen of the user terminal. The report displays information such as customer information, customer's system name, rack ID, date and time, place, content and result of confirmation operation. The worker can check the content of the report, and can input the comment 170 and correct the check result as necessary. When the worker's confirmation / correction report is sent to the server, it is stored in the customer information of the database.

  If a lamp abnormality is confirmed in step 103 in the embodiment, the abnormality may be entered in the check items, and the solution may be solved by the following method to close the incident on the spot.

  (1) Close the user's terminal with reference to the manual.

  (2) Report an incident from the user terminal to the superior and close it for help.

  (3) Contact the customer and close it on the spot according to the customer's instructions.

1 user terminal, 2 server, 3 network, 4, 11 CPU, 5, 14 input / output unit, 6, 12 main memory, 7 rack information reading unit, 8 cyclic route instructing unit, 9 azimuth recognition unit, 10 equipment recognition unit, 13 external storage, 15 report creating unit, 16 traveling plan creating unit, 17 authentication processing unit, 18 schedule, 19 rack information, 20 customer information, 21 rack position information, 22 workers, 23 racks, 24 beacons, 25 contracts information

Claims (6)

A data center work support system comprising a user terminal for collecting device information installed in a data center and a server for receiving and storing device information collected by the user terminal,
The storage device stores work schedule information based on contract information of a device installed in a data center, position information of the installed device, and device information indicating a state of the collected device.
A traveling plan creation unit that determines the order in which the installation site is to be traveled based on the schedule information and the position information;
Wherein the user terminal includes a cyclic routing unit for instructing the patrol route based on the design and performance and the position information of the device Kai Tour for a plurality of devices received from the server,
A reading unit that reads image information of the device;
For example Bei the input-output unit to send the read device information to the server,
The contract information includes data indicating whether it is necessary to take a picture,
The patrol route instruction unit determines whether or not the image information of the device that needs to be photographed is read by the reading unit, and when it is determined that the image information is read, when there is a device that has not been circulated, A data center work support system characterized by displaying a patrol route indicating equipment to be patrolled next . The user terminal has an input unit for receiving azimuth information from a beacon installed in a data center ;
An azimuth recognition unit that recognizes the azimuth of the user terminal based on the azimuth information from the beacon;
E Bei determining apparatus determining unit whether target device to collect device information based on the identifier of the device included in the image information of the device to the reading unit has read,
The traveling route instruction unit
Generating a traveling route based on the direction recognized by the direction recognition unit;
If it is determined by the device determination unit that the device information is to be collected, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to take a picture of the device, and if it is determined that it is necessary to take a picture of the device Is displayed, and when the device has been photographed, the color of the mark is changed to a color indicating that the device has been photographed, or the mark is displayed. data center operations support system according to claim 1, characterized in that to remove. The input / output unit transmits image information of the device read by the reading unit to the server when the circulation of all the devices in the traveling plan is finished.
Before SL server data center operations support system according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises a reporting unit that displays in association with time and system name read image information of the image information and the equipment of the device . Receives the device information collected by the user terminal and the user terminal collecting equipment installed information to the data center, a de Tasenta work supporting method in the data center operations support system Ru comprising a server storing,
The server includes a storage device for storing work schedule information based on contract information of a device installed in a data center, position information of the installed device, and device information indicating a state of the collected device.
The traveling plan creation unit decides the order for traveling the installation site based on the schedule information and the position information,
The cyclic routing unit of the user terminal, outputs the patrol route based on the design and performance and the position information of the device Kai Tour for a plurality of devices received from the server,
Read-section of the user terminal reads the image information of the device,
Subjected send device information input and output unit has read the user terminal to the server,
The contract information includes data indicating whether it is necessary to take a picture,
The patrol route instruction unit determines whether or not the image information of the device that needs to be photographed is read by the reading unit, and when it is determined that the image information is read, when there is a device that has not been circulated, data centers work support wherein the you to view the patrol route indicating the equipment to be next cyclic. The input unit of the user terminal receives direction information from a beacon installed in a data center,
Recognizing the orientation of the user terminal towards position recognition unit of the user terminal based on the orientation information from the beacon,
Whether equipment of subject apparatus determining unit collects the device information based on the identifier of the device included in the image information of the device to the reading unit has read the user terminal and determine a constant,
The traveling route instruction unit
Generating a traveling route based on the direction recognized by the direction recognition unit;
If it is determined by the device determination unit that the device information is to be collected, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to take a picture of the device, and if it is determined that it is necessary to take a picture of the device Is displayed, and when the device has been photographed, the color of the mark is changed to a color indicating that the device has been photographed, or the mark is displayed. data center operations support method according to claim 4 to be characterized Rukoto remove. The input / output unit transmits image information of the device read by the reading unit to the server when the circulation of all the devices in the traveling plan is finished.
Data center operations support method according to claim 5, characterized in that broadcast Tsugesho creation unit of the server displayed in association with time and system name read image information of the image information and the equipment of the device.

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