JP7045652B2 - Storage device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a storage device connected to a terminal such as a personal computer (PC) via a network, and is a storage that provides the terminal with a history of usage status of a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD), a solid state disk (SSD), or the like. Regarding the device.

There is known an HDD status monitoring device configured to acquire HDD management information at regular time intervals and store it in an information storage unit (Patent Document 1). In the description of the background technology, the HDD status monitoring device includes a control unit, a fixed time elapsed detection unit, and an HDD management information acquisition unit. When the control unit detects that a certain time has elapsed, the HDD management information acquisition unit acquires the HDD information. The HDD management information acquisition unit acquires SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) information from the HDD. The control unit determines the value of the acquired SMART information, and issues a warning to the user when the state of the HDD has deteriorated.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-198322

In the HDD condition monitoring device of Patent Document 1, the control unit makes a judgment based on the value of the acquired SMART information, and makes a determination based on the value of the management information at the time of acquisition. There is a possibility that such a value can be determined more accurately by looking at the history of changes in the value, rather than simply comparing it with a threshold value at a temporary point. For example, it is difficult to determine when the HDD capacity will be insufficient based on the current usage capacity alone. In other words, by looking at the past history of used capacity, it is possible to predict when the capacity will be insufficient, and take measures such as eliminating duplicate data, organizing unnecessary data, introducing new HDDs, and using cloud storage. Can be taken in advance.

In the means for solving the problem of Patent Document 1, there is a description that "the HDD management information acquisition unit acquires the management information and stores it in the information storage unit", but this information storage unit has a temporary point. There is no description as to whether the information is only information or whether the past information is also stored, and how to issue an alarm from the stored information is not disclosed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and stores historical information of index values of the usage status of storage devices such as HDDs and SSDs, and makes it possible for users to visually recognize past changes in index values over time. Further, the purpose is to provide a storage device that integrates information about the storage unit and facilitates management by storing the abnormal state of the storage unit in the history information and visualizing it in the same manner.

The storage device according to the first aspect of the present invention is a storage device connected to a network, via a storage unit for storing data, a terminal device using the data stored in the storage unit, and the network. A communication unit that communicates, a clock circuit unit that outputs date and time data, a history storage unit that records an index value indicating the usage status of the storage unit for the date and time, and an abnormal state of the storage unit that is detected and output of abnormal state information. An abnormal state detection unit, and a control unit that acquires date and time data from the clock circuit unit, acquires abnormal state information from the abnormal state detection unit, and controls the communication unit, the storage unit, and the history storage unit. , And the control unit stores the date and time data acquired from the clock circuit unit and the index value indicating the usage status of the storage unit in the history storage unit, and is detected by the abnormal state detection unit. The abnormal state information of the storage unit is stored in the history recording unit, the history of the index value read from the history storage unit is graphed in response to an inquiry about the usage status from the terminal device, and the abnormal state information is also included. It is characterized in that it is visually displayed on a graph and transmitted to the terminal device.

In the storage device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the index value is the used capacity of the storage unit. In this specification, the used capacity includes the usage rate as well as the capacity value. Further, in the storage device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the index value is the remaining used capacity of the storage unit. In this specification, the remaining usage capacity includes the remaining usage rate in addition to the capacity value.

In the storage device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the control unit acquires the index value at predetermined time based on the date and time data acquired from the clock circuit unit, and the index value is acquired at the predetermined time. If it cannot be done, a display indicating that the index value could not be obtained is displayed in the graphed history.

In the storage device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the storage unit is configured to distribute and store data on a plurality of disks, the abnormal state detection unit detects an abnormal state for each of the plurality of disks. ..

In the storage device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the control unit detects an abnormal state and displays information on the detected abnormal state in the graphed history. Further, the storage device according to the seventh aspect of the present invention includes a cooling fan, the control unit controls the cooling fan and monitors the rotation of the cooling fan, and the cooling fan does not rotate according to the control. In this case, the cooling fan abnormality is stored in the history unit as the abnormal state and displayed in the graph.

In the storage device according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the control unit has a web server function, and the graphed history is transmitted to the terminal device by HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). In this specification, HTTP also includes HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure).

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the temporal change of the index value indicating the usage status of the storage unit is transmitted to the terminal device as a graph. Since the transmitted graph also includes the display of the abnormal state of the storage unit, the user of the terminal device can visually grasp the change of the index value and the occurrence of the abnormality from the past change of the index value. Since it is possible to predict the occurrence of an abnormality or to know the progress of an abnormal condition that has already occurred, it is possible to take appropriate measures. As for the response, the user's operational response and the repair / replacement of the storage unit, etc. can be considered.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the user can visually grasp the history of used capacity. Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the user can visually grasp the history of the remaining usage amount. The user looks at how the used capacity increases or how the remaining used amount decreases, and determines whether one or both of the operational response and the repair / replacement response are necessary.

As an operational measure, the usage amount can be reduced by deleting unnecessary data in the storage unit or deleting duplicate data. In addition, the user prepares another storage device or storage on the cloud and is ready to move data. As a repair / replacement measure, it is conceivable to replace the HDD or SSD constituting the storage unit with one having a large capacity. This measure is effective when the used capacity is large and an abnormality is detected in the storage unit.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the index value is acquired at predetermined time intervals, but the index value is acquired when the user turns off the power of the storage device or when the storage device is stopped due to a power failure. There will be times when it cannot be done, but it will be displayed in a graph that can be seen.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the storage unit is configured to distribute and store data on a plurality of disks, an abnormal state is detected for each of the plurality of disks, so that one or more disks are abnormal. The user can know that the problem has occurred, and the user can determine whether or not the disk needs to be replaced, the number of disks to be replaced, and the like.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the occurrence of the abnormality of the cooling fan is displayed on the graph, and the user can see how long and how often the abnormality of the cooling fan occurs. From the graph display, the user can determine whether the cooling fan needs to be replaced and take action early.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since the graphed history is transmitted to the terminal device by HTTP, it is convenient for the terminal device side to be able to see the graph as long as there is a browser.

It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the storage apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the screen which the said storage device provides to a terminal device.

A mode for carrying out the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a storage device according to the present invention. The storage device 1 is configured as network attached storage (NAS) and is connected to the terminal device by a wired LAN or a wireless LAN. In the following description, a PC is taken as an example of the terminal device, but a smartphone or a tablet may be used.

Reference numeral 2 is a SoC (System on a Chip), which is a device in which one or more CPU (Central Processing Unit) cores (central processing unit) cores (not shown), a memory controller, and various I / Os are formed on one chip. SoC2 includes DDR SDRAM (Double-Data-Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) 3, SD memory card 4, RAID module 5, HDD6a, 6b, RTC (Real Time Clock) 7, PHY chip 8, wireless LAN module 9, and cooling. The fan 10 is connected.

The DDR SDRAM 3 serves as a work area for the CPU core in the SoC2, and various programs and data being processed are developed. The SD memory card 4 is connected to the SoC2 via the connector 4a. The SD memory card 4 has a built-in flash memory which is a non-volatile memory, and stores an OS (Operating System), various applications, and setting data. When the SoC2 starts up, the CPU core reads the OS and various applications and deploys them to the DDRSD DRAM 4. Various applications include file sharing applications and web server applications. In addition, the SD memory card 4, which will be described later, also stores historical data of index values of storage usage status such as used capacity.

A RAID (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks) module 5 is connected to the SoC2. HDD 6a and HDD 6b are connected to the RAID module 5 by a SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) interface. The RAID module 5 performs mirroring between the two HDDs 6a and 6b, and distributes and stores the data in the two HDDs 6a and 6b to enhance the redundancy (RAID_1).

That is, exactly the same data is stored in the HDD 6a and the HDD 6b, and even if one HDD fails, the other HDD can continue to operate as NAS. Here, the case where two HDDs are used is taken as an example, but triple mirroring may be performed with three HDDs to further increase the redundancy. Further, in the case of three or more HDDs, the efficiency of HDD usage may be improved while maintaining redundancy by parity distributed recording (RAID_5). It should be noted that SSD may be adopted instead of HDD.

RTC7 outputs date and time information to SoC2. The SoC2 stores the index value of the HDD usage status in the SD memory card 4 based on the date and time information obtained from the RTC7. The RTC 7 is connected to the battery 7a, and even if the power of the storage device 1 is turned off, the RTC 7 continues the timekeeping operation by the battery 7a.

The PHY chip 8 is a chip that converts between a logical signal and a physical signal, and is connected to the SoC51. The PHY chip 8 is connected to the wired LAN 11 by a LAN cable. A PC 12 is connected to the wired LAN 11, and the storage device 1 and the PC 12 can communicate with each other via the wired LAN 11.

The wireless LAN module 9 complies with standards such as IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) 802.11a, ac, b, g, and n, and functions as an access point in infrastructure mode. A terminal device (not shown) connected to the wireless LAN module as a slave unit (station) can also communicate with the storage device 1.

The cooling fan 10 cools the inside of the storage device 1 with air, and rotates at a rotation speed corresponding to the temperature detected by a temperature sensor (not shown). A signal indicating that the cooling fan is rotating is output from the cooling fan 10 to the SoC2. From this signal, the SoC2 can monitor whether the cooling fan 10 is rotating as controlled.

Next, a case where the history of the index value of the usage status is browsed from the terminal device will be described. In the following description, as an example of the index value, the HDD usage rate (%) will be described as an example. Further, although the case of browsing from the PC 12 connected to the LAN 11 will be described, the browsing can be similarly performed from the terminal device connected to the wireless LAN module 9. Start the browser on the PC12 and access the IP address of the storage device 1. When each of the web server applications receives access from the PC 12, the data on the top page is transmitted to the PC 12. The PC 12 draws a top page image from the data on the top page and displays it on a display unit (not shown).

The top page image includes a menu. For example, when the management menu is selected, the PC 12 transmits to the storage device 1 that the management menu has been selected. The web server application of the storage device 1 generates management screen data and sends it to the PC 12. The browser of the PC 12 displays the management screen on the display from the received management screen data.

When the user operates the PC 12 and selects the HDD usage rate history from the management screen, the PC 12 sends a request for the HDD usage history screen to the storage device 1. SoC2 of the storage device 1 reads the usage rate history data from the SD card 4. The web server application generates a usage rate graph from the usage rate history data and sends it to the PC 12. The browser of the PC 12 draws the received usage rate graph on the display. The management screen and the usage rate graph below it may be viewed only by a user having management authority.

FIG. 2 shows the usage rate history displayed on the display as described above. In FIG. 2, the usage rate history is displayed as a bar graph in the window W of the browser. The vertical axis of the bar graph is the usage rate (%), and the horizontal axis is the date. In this example, the daily usage for the last 20 days is indicated by the height of the bar. For example, when the user turns off the power of the storage device 1 on a holiday or the like, or when the storage device 1 is stopped due to a power failure, the usage rate for that day may not be obtained. In that case, the usage rate is displayed by a white bar 14, and the height thereof is taken as the usage rate on the immediately preceding working day. In FIG. 2, April 5 and April 6 are indicated by the white bars 14 of the usage rate, and the height of the bars is the same as that of April 4.

Further, when the usage rate exceeds a predetermined value, for example, 90%, the color of the bar is changed to warn the user that the free space of the HDD is low. In FIG. 2, the usage rate exceeds 90% from April 8th to April 10th, and the usage rate is displayed by the bars 15 having different colors. As an operational measure, the user can reduce the stored data, that is, delete unnecessary data, delete duplicate data, compress data, and the like.

In addition, the user can increase the free space by moving the data to another NAS or file server on the LAN 11 or by moving the data to the storage on the cloud. As a result of such processing by the user, the usage rate has dropped to 60% or less on April 11. On the other hand, as a response to repair / replacement, the user may consider replacing the HDD with a larger capacity HDD, for example, replacing the HDD with a 3TB HDD when a 2TB (Tera Byte) HDD is currently installed.

Various abnormalities can be superimposed and shown on this usage rate graph. In FIG. 2, the abnormalities of the cooling fan occurred on April 15 and April 16 are further indicated by bars 16 having different colors (reference numeral 16). As a result of the user calling a serviceman to see this display and replacing the cooling fan, the usage rate is displayed with a normal color stick from April 17th. Further, regarding the abnormality related to HDD6a and HDD6b, it is preferable to display the abnormality for each of HDD6a and HDD6b.

In FIG. 2, the change in the usage rate for 20 days is shown by a bar graph, but the period (number of days) displayed in the graph is not limited to this. Further, the display interval is not limited to one day, and may be as short as 12 hours or as long as one week. Further, as the display format of the graph, a line graph may be adopted instead of the bar graph.

Further, the index value displayed in the graph is not limited to the usage rate. The remaining used capacity or the remaining usage rate may be used instead of the used capacity and the usage rate. Further, the information included in the S.M.A.R.T. information, for example, the temperature of the HDD, the number of bad sectors, and the like may be displayed as a graph. Further, the index value to be displayed on the graph may be displayed by superimposing a plurality of index values. Further, the error display may not only change the color but also display the content of the error in characters.

1: Storage device 2: SoC
3: DDR SDRAM
4: SD card 6a, 6b: HDD
7: RTC
10: Cooling fan 12: PC

Claims (8)

A storage device connected to a network
The storage unit that stores data and
A terminal device that uses data stored in the storage unit, a communication unit that communicates via the network, and a communication unit.
A clock circuit that outputs date and time data, and
A history storage unit that records an index value indicating the usage status of the storage unit with respect to the date and time, and a history storage unit.
An abnormal state detection unit that detects an abnormal state of the storage unit, and
It includes a control unit that acquires date and time data from the clock circuit unit, acquires abnormal state information from the abnormal state detection unit, and controls the communication unit, the storage unit, and the history storage unit.
The control unit stores the date and time data acquired from the clock circuit unit and the index value indicating the usage status of the storage unit in the history storage unit in association with each other.
The abnormal state information of the storage unit detected by the abnormal state detection unit is stored in the history storage unit.
In response to an inquiry about usage status from the terminal device
The history of the index value read from the history storage unit is visually displayed as a single graph on one screen for each period.
In addition, the abnormal state information is also visually displayed on the graph of the period corresponding to the abnormal state information.
A storage device characterized by transmitting to the terminal device. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein the index value is the used capacity of the storage unit. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein the index value is the remaining used capacity of the storage unit. The control unit acquires the index value at predetermined time based on the date and time data acquired from the clock circuit unit, and when the index value cannot be acquired at the predetermined time, the graphed history is displayed. The storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which indicates that the index value could not be acquired. The abnormal state detection unit is configured to store data in a distributed manner on a plurality of disks in the storage unit.
The storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an abnormal state is detected for each of the plurality of disks. The storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the abnormal state detecting unit detects an abnormality of a cooling fan for lowering the temperature of the storage unit. The storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the control unit has a web server function and transmits the graphed history to the terminal device by HTTP. The control unit
The history of the index value read from the history storage unit is shown as a single graph on one screen as a bar graph for each period.
The storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the abnormal state information has a color different from the color of the bar graph corresponding to the normal state in the color of the bar graph during the period corresponding to the abnormal state information. ..

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