JPH08278945A - Distributed resource access system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a managing function for necessary shared resources even if management information on the shared resources that individual managing devices have is incomplete over the whole system. CONSTITUTION: In this distributed resource access system where information processors A, B, and C which access resources, the shared resources 3a, 3b, and 3c which are accessed in common by the information processors, and management devices A, B, and C which manage a group of some of the shared resources are arranged on a network 2, each management device is equipped with a communication means 13 which sends and receives messages through the network, a common resource list 15 containing information on the common resource that the device manages and information on other management devices managing other common resources, and a means 14 which generates a message including the information on other corresponding management device on the basis of the shared resource list at a request to access the shared resources managed by other management devices from an information processor; and this message is used to inform the information processor at the request source of the information on the desired shared resource.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of accessing a shared resource shared by various information processing devices on a network, and more particularly to a management device for managing a plurality of shared resources. The present invention relates to a distributed resource access system in which a plurality of distributed resource access systems are provided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a distributed system in which a plurality of information processing devices such as personal computers and workstations are connected to each other via a network, resources such as printers and file devices existing on the network are shared. . In order for the information processing apparatus to efficiently use such shared resources, it is necessary to manage each shared resource appropriately. Conventionally, there are roughly two types of management methods for shared resources, and there are a centralized management method in which management is centralized by a single device and a distributed management method in which management is distributed among a plurality of devices.

In the centralized management system, all shared resources are centrally managed by a host computer provided on the network, and an information processing device that intends to use the shared resources determines which shared resource is required by which device. Ask the host computer for information such as whether it is managed,
The desired shared resource has been used based on the information. Further, in the distributed management method, each information processing device is provided with management information regarding a shared resource managed by itself and a shared resource managed by another information processing device, and one information processing device manages another information processing device. When attempting to use the underlying shared resource, the other information processing apparatus is requested to use the shared resource based on its own management information.

The above-mentioned centralized management system has a drawback that the management load is concentrated on the host computer and the management process is delayed. From this point of view, each information processing device shares the management load. The distributed management method is excellent. Various inventions have been made in the past regarding the distributed management system of shared resources, and the following are known. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-214683 discloses that, in order to enable stable use of a shared resource, a certain terminal device is requested to access a resource managed by itself from another terminal device. The terminal device checks whether the requested resource is available, and if the power is off, the information processing system turns the power on to make it available to other terminal devices. Has been described. Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-96031, in order to realize efficient management of shared resources, the management method is dynamically changed based on the access frequency and access characteristics of the shared resources. The shared resource management formula for changing the processing performed by the server for is described.

[0005]

In the system in which the shared resources are distributed and arranged as described above, when the shared resources are newly installed, removed, or the information processing device to be managed is changed, the management of the shared resources is performed. Information needs to be changed. That is, when a shared resource is newly installed, management information indicating which information processing device is managing the shared resource is added to enable use of the newly created shared resource, and when the shared resource is removed, the shared resource is deleted. It is necessary to prevent the confusion in the use of the shared resource by reflecting the absence of the shared resource in the management information, and when the management device is changed, reflect the change in the management information to maintain the smooth use of the shared resource. .

In the centralized management method in which the host computer centrally holds the management information about all the shared resources, such a change of the management information is relatively easy because the management information is changed only at one place. It can be carried out.
However, in the distributed management method in which each information processing device also holds all management information about shared resources managed by other information processing devices, the management information must be changed for all information processing devices. However, there is a problem that not only the work is complicated but also the work for the change takes a long time and the operation of the system is hindered. In particular, when the system configuration is made flexible and the above-mentioned changes regarding shared resources frequently occur, it is extremely difficult to deal with these changes.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a distributed resource access system capable of easily coping with changes related to shared resources while maintaining the advantages of the distributed management system for shared resources. And That is, according to the invention described in claim 1, by exchanging messages between the management devices that manage the shared resources, the management of the shared resources required even if the management information is incomplete throughout the system is managed. It is an object to provide a distributed resource access system that achieves a function. It is another object of the present invention to provide a distributed resource access system that reflects changes related to shared resources in management information.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a distributed resource access system according to a first aspect of the present invention has an information processing apparatus for accessing a resource and a common access by a plurality of information processing apparatuses. In the distributed resource access system in which a plurality of shared resources and a plurality of management devices that manage some groups of these shared resources are arranged on the network, each management device is
Communication means for exchanging messages with the information processing apparatus and other management apparatus via a network, information on shared resources of a group managed by itself, and shared resources not included in the group A shared resource list storing information on the management device and information about another management device corresponding to the access request from the information processing device to the shared resource managed by the other management device based on the shared resource list. And a means for creating a message containing the message, and informs the information processing apparatus of the request source of information regarding the desired shared resource by the message.

According to a second aspect of the distributed resource access system of the present invention, in the distributed resource access system of the first aspect, when each management device changes a shared resource managed by itself, the shared resource access system changes. It is characterized in that it has means for rewriting the list corresponding to the change. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to a system configured as a separate device of an information processing device and a management device, but is configured as a device in which these are integrated, and a computer such as a workstation manages and uses shared resources. It also includes a system that works together.

[0010]

According to the distributed resource access system of the first aspect, a plurality of shared resources such as printers provided on the network are distributed and managed by a plurality of management devices. Each management device manages (or is supposed to manage) the information about the shared resources that it manages in the shared resource list and the shared resources that are not under its control. It has the information of the management device.

In response to an access request from the information processing device, each management device performs the access control for the shared resource under its own control, but other management for the shared resource under its own control. A message including information about the means is returned via the communication means, and the request source information processing apparatus is informed of the management destination of the requested shared resource. Therefore, even if each management device does not have complete management information about the shared resource in the entire system, the information processing device can access the required shared resource by exchanging messages.

Further, according to the distributed resource access system of claim 2, when the shared resources managed by itself are newly installed, removed, or changed to other managed devices, each management device applies the shared resource list. Rewrite according to changes. That is, the shared resource management list need not be rewritten over the entire system, but only for a part of the management devices, and the shared resource usage in the entire system is maintained by the above message exchange. Is also rewritten to the correct content based on message exchange.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A distributed resource access system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The system of this embodiment is configured by integrating an information processing device and a management device as a computer, and the computer both uses and manages shared resources. As shown in FIG. 1, the distributed resource access system of this embodiment is configured by connecting a plurality of computers A, B and C such as workstations and a host computer 1 to each other via a network 2. The computers A, B and C are provided with shared resources 3a, 3b and 3c such as printers and file devices. Note that each computer A, B, C is also provided with a private resource that is used only by itself, but it is omitted in the figure for simplification of explanation.

The host computer 1 of this embodiment mainly controls communication on the network 2, and does not have a role of managing shared resources as in the conventional centralized management system. Each of the computers A, B, and C serves as both the information processing device and the management device according to the present invention, and both uses and manages the shared resource. Each of the computers A, B, and C has the same configuration, and the computer A of the computers will be described as a representative.

The computer A has a functional part as an information processing device and a functional part as a resource management device. As a functional part of the information processing device, an information processing application 11 and a control means 12 that performs predetermined information processing based on the application 11 are provided, and for example, a document is created based on the information processing application 11.
This document uses shared resources and private resources to print out and save files.

As the functional part of the resource management device of the computer A, the communication means 13 for exchanging messages with other computers B and C via the network 2, and the communication means 1
3, a message creating unit 14 for creating a message to be transmitted via 3, a shared resource list 15 storing management information about shared resources, a rewriting unit 16 for rewriting the information stored in the shared list 15, and other Request recording means 17 for recording the access request received from the computers B and C
And a server means 18 for controlling the shared resource 3a managed by itself, and a control means 12 for integrally controlling the above respective means.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the shared resource list 15, the identifiers (IDs) of the shared resources 3a and private resources of the group managed by the self among the plurality of shared resources 3a, 3b, 3c, The shared resources 3b and 3c managed by the other computers B and C and the identifier (ID) of the private resource are stored. That is, in the shared resource list 15, the computer A
For resources managed by other computers, information about which computer is managing is stored.

The message creating means 14 is another computer B,
Access request message sent to C ((a) in FIG. 3)
And a reply message ((b) in FIG. 3) are created. These messages have a header part containing destination information and sender information, the data part of the access request message stores information about the ID of the resource requested to be used, and the data part of the reply message contains the message A type flag indicating the type and an impossibility flag indicating permission or disapproval for the access request are stored. When the reply message is a reply notifying the resource management destination, the ID information indicating another computer corresponding to the access request is stored in the data part.

The rewriting means 16 rewrites the information stored in the shared resource list 15, and when a shared resource or a private resource managed by the computer A of its own is changed such as newly installed or an access request message is received. When the reply message reveals a change in the resources managed by the other computers B and C, the information stored in the shared resource list 15 is rewritten corresponding to the change.

The access request message received by the computer A is stored in the request recording means 17 in time series, and as a result, the request recording means 17 instructs the computer A of its own to select one of the other computers B and C. It stores information about what kind of resources the computer requested for access and when. The server means 18 causes the shared resources 3a and the private resources to perform a predetermined process, and based on the request from the computer A or the permitted request from the other computers B and C, the document data created by the computer A and the network. The document data and the like sent from the other computers B and C via 2 are made to perform a printing process, a saving process, etc. by a printer or a file device as a resource.

A process relating to resource utilization by the distributed resource access system having the above configuration will be described with reference to a flowchart. In the following description, the processing when the computer A sends an access request message to another computer and the processing when the computer A receives an access request message from another computer will be described as a representative. Since these processes for the other computers B and C are the same as those for the computer A, their explanations are omitted.

In the process of transmitting the access request message to the other computer by the computer A shown in FIG. 4, the following processes are sequentially repeated for each of the other computers stored in the shared resource list 15. At this time, if it takes too much time after the predetermined time has passed since the search for the resource was started (step S1), a display indicating that the necessary resource cannot be found is displayed to the user, and the process ends ( Step S2). First, when the resource that the computer A needs to use is not under its own control, the control means 12 searches the shared resource list 15 and needs another computer (for example, computer B) at the beginning of the list. It is determined whether the resource to be managed is managed (step S3).

As a result of searching the shared resource list 15, when another corresponding computer is specified, the message creating means 12 creates an access request message in which the ID information of the required resource is stored, and this access request is issued. The message is transmitted from the communication means 13 to the other computer via the network 2 (step S4). On the other hand, if another applicable computer is not specified, the control means 12 determines whether or not the access request message has been transmitted to all the other computers on the shared resource list 15 by the repeated processing (step S5). ), If the transmission is not completed, the process from step S1 is repeated,
When the transmission is completed, the message creating means 12
Creates a similar access request message and transmits this access request message from the communication means 13 to any other computer via the network 2 (step S6).

The message is sent to an arbitrary computer in order to search whether the information about the required resource is stored in the shared resource list of another computer. If there is the corresponding information, the computer A can obtain the information by a reply message regarding the change notification as described later. At the time of this transmission processing, the control means 12 determines from the request record 17 the computer which has most recently transmitted the access request message to the computer A for the same resource, and preferentially transmits the message to the computer. This is because the computer that is considered to have already used the same resource most recently has the highest possibility that the shared resource list includes the information of the computer that manages the resource. The computer that manages the required resources can be quickly identified.

In response to the above access request message, another computer returns a reply message as described later,
The computer A receives the reply message sent back from the communication means 13, and the control means 12 judges the type of the reply message from the type flag and the impossibility flag (step S7). As a result, in the case of a reply message permitting access, the rewriting unit 16 writes information that the resource requesting access is managed by another computer that has returned a reply in the shared resource list (step S8),
The computer A accesses the resource via the network 2 (step S9).

Further, as a result of the above judgment, if the reply message is a message that does not permit access, the stored information in the shared resource list 15 of its own may be incorrect, and this is checked (step S10). If it is not permitted even though it is listed as a computer for managing the target resource on the list, the information in the shared resource list 15 is incorrect, so the deletion is corrected (step S1).
1) From step S1, the process for the next computer is repeated. Further, as a result of the above judgment, when the type of the reply message is the notification regarding the change of the resource,
Based on the ID information included in the data part of the message,
The access request message is transmitted to the corresponding computer (step S12), and the processing from step S7 is repeated.

That is, when the computer A requests access to a shared resource that is not managed by itself, when there is information on another computer corresponding to the shared resource list 15, an access request message is sent to that computer. .
When there is no other computer information corresponding to the shared resource list 15, the computer A sends an access request message to an arbitrary computer (a computer that has a high possibility in this embodiment), and the reply message is required. You can know the management destination of shared resources. Therefore, even if the shared management list 15 of the computer A does not include complete information about the management destination of the shared resources of the entire system, it is possible to access the required shared resources by exchanging messages with other computers.

Next, in the processing when the computer A shown in FIG. 5 receives an access request message from another computer,
The control means 12 checks the shared resource list 15 based on the resource ID stored in the data part of the access request message, and determines whether or not the resource is managed by itself (step S21). As a result, if the message is under management and can be permitted, the message creating means 14 creates a reply message indicating access permission with an unusable flag, and sends it from the communication means 13 to the sender computer (step S22).

On the other hand, if the requested resource is not under control, the control means 12 checks the shared resource list 15 based on the requested resource ID, and the shared resource list 15 contains the relevant information in the information about other computers. It is checked whether there is a computer that manages the resources (step S23). As a result, if there is information on another applicable computer, the message creating means 14 creates a reply message of the notification type including the ID of the computer, and sends it from the communication means 13 to the originating computer (step). S24). The source computer that receives this reply message can know the management destination of the required resource as described above, and sends the access request message to the relevant computer again to access the required resource. .

Further, as a result of the above judgment, if there is no information on the other computer concerned, the message creating means 14 creates a reply message indicating the access is not permitted by the disable flag, and the communication means 13 sends the reply message. It is transmitted to the computer (step S25). The source computer that received this reply message sends an access request message again to any computer in order to know the management destination of the required resource as described above, and the corresponding management destination is exchanged several times. Access the resources you need to know.

In the above embodiment, the computer has both the function of the information processing device and the function of the resource management device, but these functions are configured by separate information management devices and management devices. You may make it connect to a network and exchange messages between an information management apparatus and a management apparatus. Further, in the above embodiment, the resource is identified by the resource ID in the shared resource list. However, when the resource format is flexible, the shared resource list indicates the resource by a type such as a printer or a file device. Alternatively, a management destination that manages the required main pair of resources may be searched for by message exchange.

In the above embodiment, the computers exchange messages one-to-one, but some computers are grouped together and messages are exchanged between these groups to reduce the load on the network. You may do it. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the exchanged message is configured to include the minimum necessary information, but the shared resource list of the user is attached to the access request message and the reply message to be transmitted to the computer. The contents of the shared resource list between the two may be made more consistent.

[0033]

As described above, according to the distributed resource access system of claim 1, since the information processing apparatus of the request source is notified of the information regarding the desired shared resource by message exchange, the shared resource is changed. Even if the information about the resources grasped by each management device becomes incomplete management information over the entire system, the required shared resource management function can be reliably achieved, and distributed management of shared resources is possible. A distributed resource access system is realized which can easily cope with changes regarding shared resources while maintaining the advantages of the scheme. Further, according to the distributed resource access system described in claim 2, since the contents of the shared resource list can be rewritten, in addition to the above effect, when the information about the shared resource is changed, the change is made to the entire system. It is possible to quickly realize the corresponding processing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a distributed resource access system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration of a shared resource list according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a structure of a message according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is an access request message,
(B) is a reply message.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart relating to processing on the transmission side of an access request message.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of processing on the reception side of an access request message.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Network, 3a, 3b, 3c ... Shared resources, 13 ... Communication means, 14 ... Message creating means, 15 ... Shared resource list, 16 ... Rewriting means, A, B , C ... Computer (information processing device, management device),

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for accessing a resource, a plurality of shared resources commonly accessed by a plurality of information processing apparatuses, and a plurality of management apparatuses for managing some groups of these shared resources. In the distributed resource access system arranged on the network, each management device has a communication means for exchanging messages with the information processing device and another management device via the network, and A shared resource list that stores information on shared resources of a group and information on other management devices that manage shared resources not included in the group, and from the information processing device to a shared resource managed by another management device. And a means for creating a message containing information about other corresponding management apparatus based on the shared resource list, in response to the access request of Distributed resource access system characterized by communicating information regarding the desired shared resource to the requesting information processing apparatus by sage. 2. The distributed resource access system according to claim 1, wherein each management device has means for rewriting the shared resource list in response to the change when the shared resource managed by itself changes. A distributed resource access system characterized by the following.