JPH10134012A - Method and processor for information processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To economically constitute a decentralized system with high reliability by decentralizing a connection destination to not only a stand by processor, but also a processor which performs a transaction process normally. SOLUTION: External storage devices 2-1 to 2-4 and five processors 1-0 to 1-4 which are four processors performing processes by using data stored in those external storage devices 2-1 to 2-4 and one stand-by processor are provided. The external storage devices 2-i (i=1 to 4) are connected to the processors 1-i through input/output signal lines and the processor 1-0 is a stand-by processor. The external storage devices 2-(i+1) are connected to the processors 1-i (except i=4) so that they can substitute for the processors 1-(i+1) and the external storage device 2-1 is connected to the processor 1-0 so that it can substitute for the processor 1-1. Therefore, extension is easy and while high reliability is maintained, economical constitution can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for performing distributed processing of transaction processing by a plurality of processors. In particular, it relates to a redundant configuration for improving reliability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When processing a large number of transactions, a database is divided into n and distributed and stored in n external storage devices. It is common to perform distributed processing by In this case, a redundant configuration is provided in which a spare processor is provided and an external storage device connected to the failed processor is connected to the spare processor so that transaction processing is not stopped by a processor failure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a redundant configuration of a conventional distributed system. The system includes processors 3-0 to 3-4 and external storage devices 4-1 to 4-4, and a processor 3-1 is an external storage device. In the storage device 4-1, the processor 3-2 is in the external storage device 4-2, the processor 3-3 is in the external storage device 4-3,
The processor 3-5 is connected to the external storage device 4-5, and the processor 3-0 is connected to each of the external storage devices 4-1 to 4-4.

In this configuration, usually, the processor 3
-I (i = 1, 2, 3, 4) performs transaction processing based on the database stored in the external storage device 4-i. The processor 3-0 is on standby as a standby. Such a configuration is generally referred to as an n + 1 spare configuration.

In this configuration, the processor 3-j (j
= 1, 2, 3 or 4), the transaction processing performed using the database of the external storage device 3-j cannot be performed. To avoid this, the processor 3-0 restarts the process using the database of the external storage device 3-j.

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the configuration shown in FIG.
In this modification, a plurality of external storage devices are bus-connected to one channel of the spare processor. That is, the configuration shown in FIG. 3 includes the processors 5-0 to 5-4 and the external storage devices 5-1 to 5-4, and the processors 5-1 to 5-4.
-4 and the external storage devices 6-1 to 6-4 are connected to each other on a one-to-one basis.
6-4 are bus-connected.

[0007]

In order not to hinder transaction processing when a processor fails, it is necessary to connect an external storage device storing a database to at least two processors. Become. However, when all the external storage devices are connected to the spare processor, there is a disadvantage that n cannot be increased because the number of channels of the spare processor increases. Also,
Even when the external storage device is connected to the bus, the data transfer speed of the channel for transferring data between the spare processor and the external storage device is reduced, and construction work for adding a processor and the external storage device is difficult. Similarly, n cannot be increased because the number of external storage devices that can be connected is limited. That is, in the related art, it is difficult to increase n physically and performance.

The present invention solves such a problem, and there is no need to increase the number of channels of the spare processor and no need to connect the spare processor to an external storage device by bus.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing method and apparatus for realizing a +1 preliminary configuration.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus, which comprises a plurality of n external storage devices and a processor for performing processing using data stored in these external storage devices. And an (n + 1) processor comprising a spare and one spare, and an i-th (i = 1, 2,..., N) processor of the n + 1 processors is connected to an i-th external storage device, The 0-th processor is an information processing device arranged as a spare, and i-th processor other than i = n
The (i + 1) -th processor is further connected to an (i + 1) -th external storage device so as to be able to perform processing of the (i + 1) -th processor, and the first external storage device is capable of performing processing of the first processor to the zero-th processor. The device is connected.

A second aspect of the present invention is an information processing method, in which a database is divided and stored in n external storage devices in units of records, and stored in corresponding external storage devices by n processors. Performs transaction processing using the data.
In the information processing method in which one processor stands by for standby, the i-th (i = 1, 2,..., N)
In the state where the transaction processing is performed using the external storage device and the processor 0 is on standby,
When the j-th (j = 1, 2,..., n) processor fails, the k-th (k = 0,..., j−1) processor uses the data in the (k + 1) th external storage device. And perform transaction processing.

The present invention is similar to the conventional redundant configuration in that all the external storage devices are connected to at least two processors, but the connection destination is not only a spare processor but also a processor that normally performs transaction processing. Is also different from the conventional technology. Therefore, there is no need to provide a large number of channels in the spare processor, and there is no need to connect the spare processor and the external storage device, which may cause performance degradation, to a bus. According to the present invention, by providing two channels in each processor and the external storage device in advance, any number of channels can be easily expanded. N can be increased economically while maintaining high reliability.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and shows a configuration example when n = 4. In this configuration example, a plurality of external storage devices 2-1 to 2-4
And four units each performing processing using the data stored in these external storage devices 2-1 to 2-4 and a spare one
And five processors 1-0 to 1-5. An external storage device 2-i is connected to the processor 1-i (i = 1, 2,..., 4) via an input / output signal line, and the processor 1-0 is reserved. An external storage device 2- (i + 1) is further connected to the processor 1-i other than i = 4 so that the processing of the processor 1- (i + 1) can be performed on behalf of the processor 1-i. The external storage device 2-1 is connected so as to perform processing.

A database is stored in the external storage devices 2-1 to 2-4 in units of records, and the processors 1-1 to 1-4 normally correspond to the external storage devices 2-1 to 2--4, respectively. The transaction processing is performed by using the data stored in No.4. The processor 1-0 is waiting as a spare.

In this configuration, the processor 1-j (j
= 1, 2,..., N), the transaction processing using the database of the external storage device 2-j cannot be performed. Therefore, the transaction processing using the data in the external storage device 2-j is performed by the processor 1-.
The transaction processing using the data in the external storage device 2- (j-1) performed by the processor 1- (j-1) and performed by the processor 1- (j-1) is performed by the processor 1- (j-2). Similarly, the transaction processing using the database of the external storage device 2-1 which has been performed by the processor 1-1 is processed by the processor 1-0.

In the above description, the case where n = 4 has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly implemented with any value as long as n is plural. Generally described, i = 1, 2,..., N
The i-th external storage device and the (i + 1) -th external storage device are connected to the i-th processor other than i = n,
The nth external storage device is connected to the i = nth processor, and the first external storage device is connected to the 0th processor. Normally, the i-th processor performs transaction processing using the database of the i-th external storage device. The 0th processor is waiting. When the j-th (j = 1, 2,..., n) processor fails, the k-th (k = 0,..., j−1) processor uses the data of the (k + 1) th external storage device. And perform transaction processing.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When configuring a high reliability system with n + 1 spares,
There is no disadvantage such as an increase in the number of channels of the spare processor or an increase in the length of the input / output cable, and it is possible to flexibly cope with an increase in n. Thereby, there is an effect that a highly reliable distributed system can be economically configured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a redundant configuration of a conventional distributed system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional example obtained by modifying the structure shown in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

1-0 to 1-4, 3-0 to 3-4, 5-0 to 5-4 Processor 2-1 to 2-4, 4-1 to 4-4, 6-1 to 6-4 External storage device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of n external storage devices; and n + 1 processors consisting of n and one spare unit for performing processing using data stored in these external storage devices, respectively. I of the processors (i = 1, 2,
.., N) are provided with i of the n external storage devices.
The 0th processor is an information processing device arranged as a spare, and the nth processor other than i = n is further connected to the nth external processor so as to be able to perform processing of the (i + 1) th processor. An information processing apparatus, wherein an (i + 1) th storage device is connected, and the first of the n external storage devices is connected to the 0th processor so as to be able to perform processing of the first processor. 2. A database is divided and stored in n external storage devices in units of records, and transaction processing is performed by n processors using data stored in the corresponding external storage devices. In an information processing method in which one processor is put on standby as a spare separately from one processor, an i-th (i = 1, 2,..., N) processor performs a transaction process using an i-th external storage device. Do
If the j-th (j = 1, 2,..., N) processor fails while the 0-th processor is on standby, the k-th (k = 0,..., J−1) An information processing method, wherein the processor performs transaction processing using data in the (k + 1) th external storage device.