JPH08307431A - Lan monitoring method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a LAN monitoring method and device which can properly monitor even such a system that stops its operation at night an on holidays by deciding a system state based on a schedule information. CONSTITUTION: The LAN working schedule information is previously stored in a storage, and LAN monitoring device 1 connected to a LAN periodically issues the monitoring commands to the terminal equipments 4 and 5 to be monitored to check whether both terminal equipments are operating and also to check based on the schedule information whether both terminal equipments should be operating at present. Based on these check results, the occurrence of an error is reported to a host device when both equipments 4 and 5 are not operating state when they should be in operation state. Then no error report is given to the host device when it is decided that both equipments 4 and 5 are not in operating state at the points of time except the one when they should be in operating state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a LAN (Local Area Network), and more particularly to a LAN monitoring method and apparatus for monitoring the operating status of terminal equipment connected to the LAN.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a LAN system, an administrator decides an operating time for its operation. It is necessary that each terminal device constituting the LAN system is turned on and is in a state capable of proper LAN operation during its operation time. In addition, it is not necessary that the power is turned on except during operation, but rather, it is desirable that the power is turned off and the operation is stopped for economic or security reasons. Therefore, it is important for the operation of the LAN system to monitor whether or not the terminal devices that make up the LAN system are operating or stopped on time.

[0003]

However, it is not always guaranteed whether each terminal device is in such an operating state during operation of the LAN system. In particular, when the terminal device is a terminal device for personal use, the operating state thereof is influenced by the schedule of the individual, which is even more so. Conventionally, there is a commercially available network management tool for checking the operation status of each terminal device against such a problem, but this can be applied only to a system operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That is,
Since the management is performed on the assumption that the state of always operating is normal, there is a problem that if the terminal device is in a stopped state at night or on holidays, it is determined to be abnormal.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a LAN monitoring method and apparatus capable of appropriately monitoring a system that is stopped at night or on holidays by making a determination based on a schedule function.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a LAN monitoring method for monitoring the operating state of a LAN to which a plurality of terminal devices are connected.
Is stored in the storage device, the LAN monitoring device connected to the LAN issues a terminal monitoring command to the terminal device to be monitored periodically, and the terminal device is in the operating state. Check whether or not
Based on the schedule information, it is checked whether or not each monitored terminal device should be in the operating state at the present time, and based on the both check results, the monitored terminal device is not in the operating state when it should be in the operating state. If it is determined that an error is reported to the host device of the LAN monitoring device, and if it is determined that the terminal device is not in operation at a time other than when it should be in operation, an error report is issued. The present invention provides a LAN monitoring method characterized by the absence thereof. Further, the present invention is a LAN monitoring device for monitoring the operating state of a LAN to which a plurality of terminal devices are connected, and means for storing definition information of the plurality of terminal devices and means for storing LAN schedule information. Then, the terminal monitoring command is periodically issued to the terminal device to be monitored based on the definition information to check whether or not the terminal device is in the operating state, and at the present time based on the schedule information, the monitoring target is monitored. It is checked whether or not each terminal device in step 1 should be in the operating state, and based on the results of both checks, the LAN monitoring is performed when it is determined that the terminal device to be monitored is not in the operating state when it should be in the operating state. An error report is sent to the higher-level device of the device, and if it is determined that the terminal device is not in the operating state except when it should be in the operating state, the error report is issued. The monitoring means is not performed, there is provided a LAN monitor device provided with a.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the LAN monitoring device connected to the LAN periodically issues a terminal monitoring command to the terminal device to be monitored to check whether the terminal device is in the operating state or not. Based on the schedule information, it is checked whether each terminal device to be monitored should be in the operating state at the present time, and based on both check results,
When it is determined that the terminal device to be monitored is not in the operating state when it should be in the operating state, an error report is sent to the host device of the LAN monitoring device, and the terminal device other than when the terminal device should be in the operating state If it is determined that the device is not in the operating state at that time, no error is reported.

By performing the determination based on the schedule in this way, it is possible to properly monitor the system that is stopped at night, on holidays, or the like. That is, if there is no response to the terminal monitoring command during business hours, for example, an error report can be made. Further, it is possible to report an error even when there is a response to the terminal monitoring command during non-business hours.

In the issuance of a terminal monitoring command and the determination as to whether or not there is a response thereto, in reality, even if the issuing terminal is in a normal operating state, one terminal monitoring command is issued due to various factors. There is no guarantee that there will be a response. Therefore, preferably, a terminal monitoring command is issued multiple times during one monitoring of one terminal, and when a response is confirmed even once, the terminal is in a normal operating state (on state). To determine.
If a response is confirmed before issuing the terminal monitoring command up to a predetermined number of times, the remaining terminal monitoring commands may be omitted.

In this case, it is possible to avoid increasing the number of command issuances more than necessary by dynamically determining the next number of issuances by taking into consideration the required number of issuances of the terminal monitoring command in the past. As a result, when the terminal is in an operating state and it is difficult to obtain a response due to some factor, it is possible to avoid making a final decision of "no response" more quickly than necessary, while generally concluding "no response". Faster,
The effect of not unnecessarily increasing the traffic by issuing the terminal monitoring command is obtained.

[0010]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

First, FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a LAN system having a LAN monitoring device according to the present invention. This LAN
In the system, a LAN monitoring device 1 and terminal devices 4, 5, 6 are mutually connected via a LAN communication medium 7. The LAN monitoring device 1 and each terminal device 4, 5, 6
Each of them is composed of a workstation (WS) or a personal computer (PC). Note that in this example, the terminal device 5 constitutes a server. The LAN monitoring device 1 is connected to the centralized monitoring center 3 via a communication line 8 such as a public line, notifies the centralized monitoring center 3 of the monitoring result, or responds to an inquiry from the centralized monitoring center 3. You can do it.

The LAN monitoring device 1 has a LAN monitoring unit 1a for monitoring and controlling the LAN, a protocol unit 1b for controlling the communication protocol of the LAN, and a communication unit 1c for communicating with the centralized monitoring center 3. . In this embodiment, TCP / I is used as the protocol of the protocol unit 1b.
P (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol)
Has been adopted. The hardware configuration of the LAN monitoring device 1 is not particularly illustrated, but is the same as that of a normal computer.
Central processing unit, internal memory (ROM, RAM, etc.) for storing various operation programs and data, external storage device (hard disk, etc.) for storing various files to be described later, input device such as keyboard, display device such as CRT,
It is composed of a LAN control board and a communication control device.
From the LAN monitoring device 1, TCP / IP as described later
The terminal monitoring command "ping command" is used to monitor whether the monitored terminal devices 4 and 5 are operating / stopped according to a preset schedule, and if there is an abnormality, the centralized monitoring center Report an error to 3. In response to this error report, the centralized monitoring center 3 can recognize the operating state of the LAN and take necessary measures. The figure shows an example in which the terminal device 6 is not a monitoring target.

FIG. 2 shows the internal file structure of the LAN monitoring device 1. As the files used in this embodiment, the monitoring condition file 12, the schedule file 13, the LAN
It has an internal terminal definition file 14 and an information (report) file 15, and the monitoring program 11 uses these. The monitoring program 11 issues a ping command to each terminal device to be monitored at regular time intervals. The ping command is a command for confirming whether or not the own device and the partner terminal device are communicably connected via a LAN. Specifically, the ping command transmits a connection confirmation packet to This is to confirm that a response packet is returned from the terminal device.

The LAN terminal definition file 14 is a LAN
This file is used to set information on all terminal devices connected to the inside. The schedule file 13 is a file for setting out-of-monitoring information (year, month, day, day of the week), monitoring time (start-end), and an overtime monitoring designation option for each terminal device or each group to be described later. These pieces of information are set based on the schedule (for example, business days and business hours) of the department in which the LAN exists. The monitoring condition file 12 is a file for setting parameters (data size, number of transmissions) specified when issuing a ping command, a monitoring interval, and the like. The “number of transmissions” here is one of the parameters specified in the format of the ping command as shown below, and is one pin
It shows how many times data transmission / reception is repeated between the monitoring device and the terminal to be monitored (host name) at the time of issuing the g command, and should be distinguished from the number of times of ping issuing described later.

Format of ping command: ping host name data size number of transmissions timeout time In addition, the "timeout time" is such that if no response is returned when the ping command is issued, it is judged that there is no response and the ping command is forced. It's time to finish.

The schedule file 13 can be commonly used by the terminals in the LAN, but it is also possible to prepare a different file for each terminal. Monitoring program 11
By inputting / analyzing these files, the operation permission time of each terminal device can be determined, and according to that, the operating status of each terminal device or its group can be checked,
Monitor. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the LAN monitoring device 1
The contents of the LAN terminal definition file 4 and the information file 15 are notified or notified to the centralized monitoring center 3 via the communication program 2.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the structure of each of the files 12-15.

The LAN internal terminal definition file 14 has a full path 1 of the execution command storage file for each terminal device (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a terminal) to which the target name 140 is assigned.
41, host name 142, user ID 143, password 144, group ID 145, schedule file name 146, site code 147, site code 148,
Each item of the timeout time 149 is included. The target name 140 consists of the model name of the monitored terminal and its serial number. The monitoring condition file 12 is a file that stores information for setting operand information specified when the ping command is issued, and has a data size 121, a transmission count 122, a monitoring interval 123, and a recovery notification specification 12
It has 4 items. The schedule file 13 is a file that stores schedule information for terminal monitoring,
It has an overtime monitoring designation (monitoring designation option) 131, non-monitoring information 132, and monitoring information 135. The non-monitoring information 132 includes a non-monitoring date 133 and a non-monitoring day 134. The monitoring information 135 includes a start time 136 and an end time 137. The information file 15 is created when the monitoring program 11 detects an abnormality, and includes the host name 151 and the location information 15
2. Each item has an abnormality content 153. A range surrounded by a frame 30 in the drawing is a range of data used by the monitoring program 11. Hereinafter, the details of each of these files will be sequentially described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 4 shows the contents of the LAN terminal definition file 14. In the figure, "MAX" indicates the maximum number of digits of the character or numerical value of the item. Item data for each target name is stored in the record format of FIG. “CR” in the figure indicates a line feed code. Figure 4 shows the contents of each item
This is as shown in (b). That is, the execution command storage file full path 141 is the full path of the file in which the maintenance command to be executed or the file name to be collected is set. The host name 142 is the host name or IP address of the monitored terminal. The user ID 143 is
This is the user ID when logging in the monitored terminal.
The password 144 is a password used when logging in. The group ID 145 is a group ID for grouping the terminals to be monitored, and sets A to D or 0 to 9 for the terminals in the same group. When the space is set, it indicates that the terminal does not belong to any group. Grouping of terminal devices and their significance will be described later. The schedule file name 146 indicates the full path of the file in which the schedule information of the ping command (LAN terminal monitoring command) is set. If this is other than space, it indicates the terminal to be monitored, and if it is space, the terminal not to be monitored. Indicates. In the present embodiment, the base code 147 indicates an identification code assigned to the base (branch office or the like) of the maintenance company in charge of maintenance of the customer system having the terminal to be monitored. The site code 148 indicates an identification code assigned to the place where the customer system having the monitored terminal exists. The time-out time 149 is a time-out time for determining no response, which is specified when the ping command is issued to the monitored terminal as described above.

FIG. 5 shows the contents of the schedule file 13. In this example, as the record format of the schedule file 13, as shown in FIG. 5A, there are two formats depending on the designation of the non-monitored days. Format 1 corresponds to the case where the non-monitored days are specified by date, and format 2
Corresponds to the case where a non-monitored day is designated by a day of the week. Of course, it is also possible to combine them into one form.

FIG. 5B shows an explanation of the contents of the schedule file 13. The overtime monitoring designation 131 is information for designating whether or not monitoring by the ping command is performed at times other than the designated time (operation permission time), and monitoring is performed with “y” and not monitored with “n” ( Default).
The “operation permission time” is the time from the start time to the end time on a day other than the non-monitoring date and the non-monitoring day. When checking whether each terminal device is in a stopped state even on non-business days such as holidays, the overtime monitoring designation 131
Is set to "y". Unmonitored date 133 is ping
Yyymmdd is the date when monitoring by command is not performed
Is specified in the format. As a general rule, monitoring by the ping command is not performed on the date when this is set. However, when "y" is set in the overtime monitoring designation 131, monitoring is performed. Outside monitoring day 134, p
Set the day of the week that is not monitored by the ing command to "Mo / T
u / We / Th / Fr / Sa / Su ”. In principle, monitoring is not performed by the ping command on the set day of the week. If "" is set, monitoring is performed. Start time 136 and end time 137.
Is the time to start and end the monitoring by the ping command on the monitoring target day, and hhmmss
Specify in the format.

For example, when Saturday and Sunday are non-business days and weekdays AM 8:00 to PM 5:00 are business hours, and when monitoring after hours, the schedule file 13
Is set as follows.

Y CR Sa, Su; CR 080000-170000; CR In addition, January 1995, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25,
The 30th is a holiday, and the business days are from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm
Is the business hours, and when the overtime monitoring is not performed, the schedule file 13 is set as follows.

N CR 199501/5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30; C
R 090000-200000; CR In the present embodiment, the non-monitoring days are set as the whole one-day monitoring, but it is also possible to monitor during the designated time zone. For that purpose, for example, when the start time and the end time are designated corresponding to the non-monitoring day (or the year, month, day), the time zone can be monitored.

Next, FIG. 6 shows the contents of the monitoring condition file 12. This is set in the format of FIG. As shown in FIG. 6B, the data size 121 is pin
The data size at the time of issuing the g command is specified by a number. In this embodiment, this data size is not particularly important and may be any value. As described above, the number of transmissions 122 specifies the number of transmissions at the time of issuing the ping command with a number. Here, the default is 5 and the maximum is 10. The monitoring interval 123 specifies the interval at which the ping command is issued with a number in minutes. In this example, the default is 30 minutes and the maximum value is 10080 (1
Week). The abnormality recovery notification designation 134 is for designating whether or not to notify the recovery when the recovery is detected after the abnormality is detected. Report with "y", "n"
Indicates not to report (default). The file 12 can be omitted, in which case the default value set in the monitoring program 11 is used.

FIG. 7 shows the detailed contents of the information file 7. The record format is as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7B, the host name 1
Reference numeral 51 is either the host name or the IP address of the terminal in which the abnormality is detected by the monitoring program 11. The location information 152 is a code of a site and a base where the terminal, which has detected an abnormality in the monitoring program 11, is installed. The abnormality content 153 includes a connection trigger, a cause code, fixed data of CDAT, and a reference code. The connection opportunity represents the opportunity to connect to the centralized monitoring center, and “CINF = UF” represents the connection due to the failure notification.
The cause code indicates the cause of connection, and “DINF = 01” indicates a monitoring abnormality by the monitoring program. CDAT represents data exchanged when the communication program and the centralized monitoring center communicate with each other. The reference code is a code representing a reporting factor detected by the monitoring program 11, and a different code is prepared for each of four combinations of individual device / group and in-time / out-of-time.

A schematic flow of the monitoring process according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This processing is started by the activation of the program 11 of the LAN monitoring device 1, and thereafter, always,
It is in a running state. First, the LAN terminal definition file 14
Is read into the internal memory and the configuration of the terminals that compose the LAN is grasped (81). Next, the monitoring condition file 12 is read into the internal memory, and information such as the number of times the ping command is transmitted at one monitoring point and the monitoring interval is recognized (8
3). Next, the schedule file 13 is read into the internal memory and the schedule information regarding the monitoring of the terminals in the LAN is recognized (85). Therefore, the monitoring process of the terminal in the LAN is executed (87). Note that steps 81, 83, 8
Error check is performed after each of 5 (82, 84, 8
6).

A detailed flow of the LAN terminal monitoring process will be described with reference to FIG. First, for one of the terminals to be monitored, it is determined whether or not the schedule file is specified by the LAN.
The determination is made based on the internal terminal definition file 14 (871).
If not, jump to step 880. If there is, the schedule information is read to obtain the operation permission time (872).
As described above, the operation permission time is the time from the start time to the end time on a day other than the non-monitoring date and the non-monitoring day. Next, it is determined whether the terminal belongs to any group (872). If it does not belong, the process jumps to step 888 in FIG. If it belongs, the terminal of the same group is searched and grasped from the terminal definition file in LAN (874). Therefore, the current date and time is acquired from the internal clock (not shown) of the monitoring device (87).
5). Then, the terminals in the same group are sequentially pinned.
The g command is issued (876). Next, it is determined whether or not the current time is within the range of the operation permission time (878).
If it is outside the range, the process proceeds to step 884, and if it is within the range, the process proceeds to step 879.

In step 879, it is determined whether or not there is a response to the ping command. If not, the process proceeds to step 882. If there is, it is confirmed that the terminal is operating, and the process returns to step 871 to move to the processing of the next terminal. When the processing of all the terminals is completed (step 880yes), an interval timer (not shown) is started and the monitoring interval 1 of the monitoring condition file 12 is set.
It waits for the time set to 33 (881). During this waiting period, the terminal monitoring device 1 can execute other processing. The processing is continued in response to the interrupt when the interval timer times out. Step 88
At 2, it is determined whether all the terminals in the group are in the off state. If not, the process returns to step 876 to proceed to the processing of the next terminal in the group. If it is determined that all of the terminals in the group are off, an error report is made to the centralized monitoring center by the information file 15 described above (883). However, when the recovery notification designation 134 of the monitoring condition file 12 is "n", this notification is not issued. Then, the process proceeds to step 880 and the process of the next terminal is performed.

If it is determined in step 878 that the current time point is outside the range of the operation permission time, first, the overtime monitoring designation 131 is checked (884). If there is no designation (“n”), the process proceeds to step 880 without confirming whether or not there is a response to the ping command, and the process of the next terminal is performed. If there is a designation (“y”), it is checked whether or not there is a response to the ping command (885). In this case, if there is a response, an error is reported (886). this is,
The fact that the terminal is in the operating state outside the monitoring time, that is, outside the operation permission time, is reported as an error. If there is no response in step 885, it is checked in step 887 whether all the terminals in the group are in the off state, and if not, the process returns to step 876 to proceed to the processing of the next terminal in the group, and all in the off state. If it is determined that there is, the process proceeds to step 880 and the process of the next terminal is performed.

If no group is designated in step 873, the process moves to FIG. 10 to obtain the current date and time (888) and issues a ping command to the terminal (889). Next, it is checked whether or not the current time is within the range of the operation permission time (890), and if not, the process proceeds to step 893. If there is, a judgment is made as to whether or not there is a response to the ping command (891), and if not, an error is reported (892). If there is, it jumps to step 880 and shifts to the processing of the next terminal. If step 890 is out of range,
It is checked whether or not there is an overtime monitoring designation (893), and if there is no response, step 8 is performed without checking whether or not there is a response.
It jumps to 80 and shifts to the processing of the next terminal. If there is, an error is reported (895).

As described above, when the overtime monitoring designation is "y", an error is reported if there is no response to the ping command within the operation permission time, while there is a response to the ping command outside the operation permission time. Sometimes error reporting can be done.

Issuing a ping command (step 87)
6, 889) and the response presence / absence determination (steps 879, 885, 891, 894), in reality, even if the terminal of the issuing partner is in a normal operating state, one There is no guarantee that a ping command will be issued. Therefore, in this embodiment, a ping command is issued a plurality of times at one time of monitoring (determined by the monitoring interval 133) for one terminal, and when a response is confirmed even once, the terminal is normal. It is determined to be in the operating state (on state).
If a response is confirmed before issuing the ping command up to a predetermined number of times, issuing the remaining ping commands may be omitted.

FIG. 11 shows a specific processing flow for checking the presence / absence of a response (live / dead) at the time of one monitoring for one terminal in this embodiment. This does not correspond exactly to the flow of Figure 9, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that it can be incorporated into the flow of Figure 9. First,
Initially, the number of ping issuances m until the current response is 1, the total number g of ping issuances until the response is 0, and the next ping issuance number n is 50 (110 to 1).
12). Next, issue a ping command (113),
It is checked whether there is a response within the timeout time (114). If there is a response, the variable g is updated by adding the number of ping issuances m up to this response (11
5), p = g / (x +) is an average value p of the number of ping issuances (required number of pings) until there is a response up to the previous time.
It is calculated by 1) (116). Here, the variable x indicates the number of updates of the ping issuance count up to the previous time (that is, the monitoring count). This average value p is used as the next p for the terminal.
The ing issuance count n is stored in the memory (11
7). Then, in the flow of FIG. 9, the process proceeds to the step subsequent to “with response”. If there is no response at step 114, the number of ping issuances up to the current response is counted up (118), and it is checked whether or not this has exceeded the number of issuances n (119). If not, step 1
Return to 13 and issue the ping command again. If it exceeds, it is determined that there is no response in this monitoring.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the number of issuances is set to 50 at the first monitoring, and at the second and subsequent monitorings, the average value of the number of ping issuances until a past response is obtained, and this average is calculated. By setting the value to the number of ping issuances in the next monitoring, the number of pings issued in one monitoring can be recursively changed. Note that the average value p of the number of ping issuances may be the average of only a predetermined number in the past close to the present time.

As described above, by dynamically determining the next issue count by taking into consideration the required issue count of the past ping command, it is possible to avoid increasing the command issue count more than necessary. As a result, while avoiding making a final "no response" conclusion faster than necessary when it is difficult to obtain a response due to some factor while the terminal is operating, the overall "no response" conclusion It is possible to obtain the effect of lowering the traffic faster and not unnecessarily increasing the traffic by issuing the ping command.

FIG. 13 shows a modification of the process of FIG.
The variables p, m, n, x and g are the same as in FIG. In this case, the minimum issuance number o of the ping command is introduced to ensure that the value is not smaller than this.
This reduces the possibility of an erroneous operation of erroneously determining that there is no response when a situation occurs that requires a larger number of issuances in the operating state after a small number of required issuances continues. be able to.

Next, the significance and specific example of grouping the terminals to be monitored will be described. Now, as shown in FIG. 14, let us consider a case where the monitoring device 1 monitors terminals in the LAN to which the monitoring apparatus 1 is connected, and also monitors terminals in other LANs via the routers B and H. Also, four terminals C to
It is assumed that F is connected to the lower level of the hub G and that these four units belong to one group (group 1). L in this case
The group ID 145 and the schedule file name 146 of the AN terminal definition file 14 are shown in FIG. Although the presence / absence of the schedule file is simply shown here, the file name is actually set. "Group ID 145 of terminals C to F"
1 "is set, and it can be seen that they belong to the same group. Since the routers B and H and the servers A and I shown in FIG. 14 also have a function of returning a response to the ping command, the ping command is also applied to them. However, the hub G can check all the terminals C to F under the control of the hub G regardless of whether or not the hub G can respond to the ping command. When it is determined that none of these terminals is operating, it is possible to determine that the hub G above it is abnormal (including the non-operating state and the power off state). It is possible to omit issuing the ping command for the schedule file name 146 without setting the file name.

In the above description, the schedule file 13
The setting of was done manually, but in addition to this,
It is also possible to make the setting automatically. 16
It is explanatory drawing in the case of automatically updating the schedule file 13. For example, the machine maintenance management system 15
If 01 exists, its maintenance schedule file 1
Schedule file conversion program 1 for converting the update data of the schedule file 13 based on 502
By using 503, it is possible to automatically update. Thereby, it is possible to automatically deal with a sudden or irregular event.

Finally, a method of monitoring the operation of the monitoring device 1 itself will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the central monitoring center 3 periodically sends a pin to the monitoring device 1.
It is possible to confirm whether or not the monitoring device 1 itself is in a normal operation state by transmitting the g command and checking whether or not there is a response.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above description, when issuing a terminal monitoring command multiple times to one terminal during one monitoring,
The command is issued continuously until there is a response to one device (or until a timeout occurs), but the command issuance to other monitored terminals may be prioritized.

Although a specific terminal monitoring command is used to confirm the operating state of the terminal device, depending on the partner terminal device, instead of using such a command, direct communication with the partner application is used. It is also possible to confirm the operation state of the terminal device including the operation of the application. For example, when the partner terminal device is a mail server, the mail server asks the mail server if there is a mail addressed to it and confirms whether or not there is a response to the operation of the application of the mail server terminal device. Can be monitored.

[0043]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a LAN monitoring method and apparatus capable of appropriately monitoring a system that is stopped at night, on holidays, etc. by making a determination based on a schedule function.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a LAN system having a LAN monitoring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a file configuration of the LAN monitoring device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a detailed configuration of each file shown in FIG.

4 is an explanatory diagram of a LAN terminal definition file shown in FIG. 3. FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram of a schedule file shown in FIG.

6 is an explanatory diagram of a monitoring condition file shown in FIG.

7 is an explanatory diagram of an information file shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a schematic processing procedure of monitoring processing in the embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing procedure of the LAN monitoring processing shown in FIG.

10 is a flowchart of a processing procedure following the processing of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a specific example of the life / death check of the terminal device in the present embodiment.

12 is a graph for explaining the processing of FIG.

13 is a flowchart showing a modified example of the processing of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a system configuration for explaining grouping of terminal devices in the embodiment.

15 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the grouping together with FIG.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of automatic update of a schedule file in the example.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of monitoring of the LAN monitoring device itself according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... LAN monitoring device, 2 ... Remote master, 3 ... Centralized monitoring device, 4, 5, 6 ... Terminal device, 7 ... LAN medium, 8 ... Communication line, 11 ... Monitoring program, 12 ... Monitoring condition file, 13 ... Schedule Files, 14 ... LAN terminal definition file, 15 ... Information file.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kazuhisa Kinugawa 2-14-6 Kanda, Uchikanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Ritsuden Electronic Service Co., Ltd. (72) Takahiro Kayaba 2-14, Uchikanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 6 Nitrate Electronic Service Co., Ltd.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A LAN monitoring method for monitoring an operating state of a LAN to which a plurality of terminal devices are connected, wherein schedule information of LAN operation is stored in a storage device in advance, and LAN monitoring connected to the LAN is performed. The device periodically issues a terminal monitoring command to the terminal device to be monitored to check whether the terminal device is in the operating state, and based on the schedule information, each terminal device to be monitored currently It is checked whether or not it should be in the operating state, and based on the results of both checks, if it is determined that the terminal device to be monitored is not in the operating state when it should be in the operating state, the above-mentioned higher-level device of the LAN monitoring device is The error report is sent to the terminal device, and if it is determined that the terminal device is not in the operating state except when it should be in the operating state, the error report is not made. LAN monitoring method to collect. 2. The LAN monitoring method according to claim 1, wherein
An error report is sent to a host device of the LAN monitoring device when it is determined that the terminal device to be monitored is in the operating state at a time other than when it should be in the operating state, based on both the check results. LAN monitoring method characterized by: 3. The LAN monitoring method according to claim 1, wherein when a plurality of terminal devices are connected under the superordinate terminal device, it is determined that none of the plurality of terminal devices is operating. When it is determined that the upper terminal device is not operating, the issuance of the terminal monitoring command to the upper terminal device is omitted.
AN monitoring method. 4. The LAN monitoring method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein when the operating state of one terminal device is checked by issuing the terminal monitoring command, a predetermined plurality of commands are issued until a response is received. A LAN monitoring method in which the terminal device is issued up to twice and the terminal device determines that the terminal device is in an operating state when there is a response from the terminal device. 5. The LAN monitoring method according to claim 4,
The LAN monitoring method in which the predetermined plurality of times is dynamically changed according to the number of past required command issuances to the terminal device. 6. The LAN monitoring method according to claim 5,
A LAN monitoring method for guaranteeing the minimum number of issuances when dynamically changing the predetermined number of times. 7. A LAN monitoring device for monitoring an operating state of a LAN to which a plurality of terminal devices are connected, comprising means for storing definition information of the plurality of terminal devices and means for storing LAN schedule information. The terminal monitoring command is periodically issued to the monitoring target terminal device based on the definition information to check whether the terminal device is in the operating state, and based on the schedule information, the monitoring target terminal device is currently monitored. It is checked whether or not each terminal device should be in the operating state, and based on both check results, when it is determined that the terminal device to be monitored is not in the operating state when it should be in the operating state, the LA is executed.
N monitoring means for reporting an error to the host device of the monitoring device and not reporting an error when it is determined that the terminal device is not in the operating state at a time other than when the terminal device should be in the operating state. LAN monitoring device. 8. The LAN monitoring device according to claim 7,
When checking the operating state of one terminal device by issuing the terminal monitoring command, the monitoring means issues the command up to a predetermined number of times until a response is received, and there is a response from the terminal device. At this time, the LAN monitoring device determines that the terminal device is in the operating state. 9. The LAN monitoring device according to claim 8, wherein
The monitoring unit is a LAN monitoring device that dynamically changes the predetermined number of times in accordance with the number of past required commands issued to the terminal device. 10. The LAN monitoring apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the monitoring unit guarantees a minimum number of issuances when the predetermined plurality of times are dynamically changed. 11. The LAN according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
In the monitoring method, as the terminal monitoring command, T
A LAN monitoring method in which the operating state of an application is monitored by direct communication with the application of the partner terminal device instead of using a prepared command such as a CP / IP ping command.