JPH1115721A - File server system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To read a file out of a data storage device at a high speed by performing the data reading control via the data storage device and also the data writing control via a server different from the data storage device. SOLUTION: When a terminal 20a reads a file out of a data storage device 40, a network protocol processing part performs the communication protocol processing and transfers the protocol processing result to an interface processing part. The interface processing part converts the received protocol processing result into a signal form of a network 1 and sends it to the device 40 via the network 1. When the data are written into the device 40 from the terminal 20a, the interface processing part sends the protocol processing result to a server 30 via the network 1. Then the device 40 reads out the file and sends it to the terminal 20a with no intervention of the server 30, so that the file reading speed is increased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a file server system in which a plurality of terminals share a data storage device via a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional file server system. In FIG.
b denotes a plurality of terminals connected to the network 1, 3 denotes a server also connected to the network 1, and 4 denotes a data storage device 4 connected to the server 3.

In such a file server system, each of the terminals 2 a and 2 b can access a file in the file storage device 4 via the network 1 and the server 3. Here, when an access to the same file occurs from a plurality of terminals, if there is a read request, there is no big problem, but if it is a write request, which terminal is permitted to write is controlled ( Exclusive control).

In the above configuration, one terminal, for example, 2a
When the terminal 2 a reads a file, for example, f, from the data storage device 4, the terminal 2 a generates a read request for the file f and transmits it to the server 3. The server 3 that has received the request to read the file f reads the file f from the data storage device 4 and sends it to the requesting terminal 2a. At this time, upon receiving a read request for the file f from another terminal, for example, 2b at the same time, the server 3 transmits the file f to the terminal 2b as well as the terminal 2a.

When one terminal, eg, 2a, writes data to one file, eg, f, of the data storage device 4, the terminal 2a generates a write request for the file f,
Send it to server 3.

The server 3 that has received the request to write the file f determines whether or not there is another terminal that has transmitted the request to write the file f at the same time.
A write permission command for file f is transmitted to a. The terminal 2a that has received the write permission command for the file f transmits the write data to the server 3, and the server 3 writes the received write data to the file f of the data storage device 4.

On the other hand, when there is another terminal, for example, 2b, which has simultaneously transmitted the write request for the file f, the server 3 performs contention control, and issues a write permission command for the file f to one of the terminals, for example, 2a. Is transmitted, and a write prohibition command for the file f is transmitted to the other terminals (in this case, 2b).

The terminal 2a that has received the write permission command for the file f transmits the write data to the server 3 in the same manner as described above, and the server 3 writes the received write data to the file f of the data storage device 4. The terminal 2b that has received the write prohibition command suspends the transmission of the write data until receiving the write permission command for the file f. After that, when the terminal 2a finishes writing,
The server 3 gives a write permission command for the file f to the terminal 2b.

Another conventional system performs exclusive control by setting an access right for each file in a data storage device to a terminal.

In the case of this system, when a plurality of terminals access the same file, for example, f, the server gives the terminal that has previously accessed the read / write right (whether reading and writing can be freely performed) to the file f. The right to read the file f (the right to read freely) to the other terminals.
And if the accesses are simultaneous, the server performs contention control, giving read / write rights to one of the terminals, and giving only read rights to the other terminals, thereby exclusion of write requests. Enables control.

In any of the above-described systems, the amount of processing for adjustment between terminals for a read request is small, but adjustment between terminals for a write request (exclusive control).
The amount of processing is large, and the server on the network handles both read and write adjustment processing.

[0012]

As described above, in the conventional system, both the case where the terminal reads data from the data storage device and the case where the terminal writes data to the data storage device are performed through the server. However, the processing capacity of the server becomes a bottleneck. In general, as for the user's request for the processing speed, there is a great demand for maximizing the read processing, but not so much for the write processing. Therefore, high-speed reading is required. However, in the current configuration of the file server system, there is a problem that the speed of the reading cannot be increased because the server capacity is devoted to processing for exclusive control of a writing request. Was.

An object of the present invention is to provide a file server system which can speed up reading of a file from a data storage device.

[0014]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the control relating to the read request and the write request in the file server system is divided into the control relating to the read and the control relating to the write. The control is assigned to the data storage device, and the control related to writing is assigned to a server different from the data storage device.

[0015] Specifically, the terminal generates a data write request when writing data to the data storage device and transmits the request to the server. When the terminal receives a write permission command for the write request, the terminal writes the write data. Means for transmitting, a means for forgoing transmission of write data until a data write enable command is received when a write inhibit command for the write request is received, and a file read request for reading a file stored in the data storage device. Means for generating and transmitting the data to the data storage device, wherein the server receives a data write request from the terminal, and when a plurality of terminals have transmitted the request, a terminal to which the write request should be permitted from the plurality of terminals. Means for performing exclusive control for selecting only one of them, and one end selected by the exclusive control. Means for generating and transmitting a data write enable command to the terminal, means for generating and transmitting a data write disable command for the remaining terminals not selected by the exclusive control, and receiving write data from the terminal. Means for transmitting to a data storage device, the data storage device receiving a file read request from the terminal, transmitting the file to the requesting terminal in accordance with the request, and writing data transmitted from the server. And means for receiving and writing the data.

In a conventional file server system, a terminal sends both a data write request and a file read request to a server, and the server that receives the data write request or the file read request sends the data to a data storage device on behalf of the terminal. Or read a file from the data storage device and send it to the requesting terminal.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the terminal transmits the data write request to the server, but transmits the file read request to the data storage device without passing through the server. The data storage device that has received the file read request transmits the file to the requesting terminal without going through the server.

According to the present invention, the file read request from the terminal is transmitted to the data storage device without passing through the server, and the corresponding file from the data storage device is transmitted to the terminal without passing through the server. The processing amount of the server can be reduced, and the file can be read without depending on the processing capacity of the server, so that the speed of reading the file from the data storage device can be increased.

[0019]

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a file server system according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a network, 20a and 20b denote terminals, 30 denotes a server,
0 is a data storage device. Here, the terminals 20a, 20
b, the server 30 and the data storage device 40 are all connected to the network 1.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed configuration of the terminal 20a (the same applies to the terminal 20b) in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 21 denotes an I / O interface unit, 22 denotes an instruction processing unit, 23 denotes a network protocol processing unit, and 24 denotes a network protocol processing unit. Is an interface processing unit, 25
Is a data storage unit. Although only two terminals are shown here, the same applies to a case where there are three or more terminals.

FIG. 4 shows a detailed configuration of the server 30 in FIG. 2. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 31 denotes an interface processing unit, 32 denotes a network protocol processing unit, 33 denotes a selector,
Reference numerals 4 and 35 denote memory units, 36 denotes an exclusive control unit, and 37 denotes an address conversion unit.

FIG. 5 shows a detailed configuration of the data storage device 40 in FIG. 2. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 41 denotes an interface processing unit, reference numeral 42 denotes a network protocol processing unit, reference numeral 43 denotes a selector, reference numeral 44 denotes a write processing unit, and reference numeral 45 denotes a write processing unit. Read processing unit,
46 is a data storage unit.

In the above configuration, when the terminal 20a reads a file from the data storage device 40, a file read command issued by the I / O interface unit 21 is transferred to the command processing unit 22. The command processing unit 22 analyzes the file read command to generate a file read request,
It is transferred to the network protocol processing unit 23. The network protocol processing unit 23 performs communication protocol processing, and transfers the protocol processing result to the interface processing unit 24. The interface processing unit 24 converts the received protocol processing result into a signal format of the network 1,
The data is transmitted to the data storage device 40 via the network 1.

The interface processing unit 41 of the data storage device 40 transfers the file read request transmitted from the terminal 20a to the network protocol processing unit 42. The network protocol processing unit 42 performs communication protocol processing, and transfers the protocol processing result to the selector 43. The selector 43 identifies whether the received protocol processing result is a file read request or write data. In the case of a file read request, it is transferred to the read processing unit 45. The read processing unit 45 accesses the data storage unit 46 to read the requested file, and transfers the file to the network protocol processing unit 42. The network protocol processing unit 42 performs communication protocol processing, and transfers the protocol processing result to the interface processing unit 41. Interface processing unit 41
Converts the received protocol processing result into the signal format of the network 1 and transmits it to the terminal 20a via the network 1.

The interface processing unit 24 of the terminal 20a
Transfers the file transmitted from the data storage device 40 to the network protocol processing unit 23. The network protocol processing unit 23 performs communication protocol processing, and transfers a result of the protocol processing to the instruction processing unit 22.
The command processing unit 22 transfers the received file to the I / O interface unit 21 or the data storage unit 25 according to a command from the I / O interface unit 21.

When writing data from the terminal 20a to the data storage device 40, a data write command from the I / O interface unit 21 is transferred to the command processing unit 22. The command processing unit 22 analyzes the data write command, generates a data write request, and
Transfer to 3. The network protocol processing unit 23 performs communication protocol processing, and transfers the protocol processing result to the interface processing unit 24. The interface processing unit 24 converts the result of the protocol processing into a signal format of the network 1 and transmits it to the server 30 via the network 1.

Interface processing unit 31 of server 30
Transfers the data write request transmitted from the terminal 20a to the network protocol processing unit 32. The network protocol processing unit 32 performs communication protocol processing, and transfers the protocol processing result to the selector 33. The selector 33 identifies whether the received protocol processing result is a data write request or write data. In the case of a data write request, the data write request is transferred to the exclusive control unit 36.

The exclusive control unit 36 simultaneously operates with the other terminal 20b.
If there is a write request from, one of the terminals,
For example, a write permission instruction is generated only for 20a,
A write inhibit command is generated for another terminal, in this case, 20b, and the generated write enable command and write inhibit command are transferred to the network protocol processing unit 32.
The network protocol processing unit 32 performs communication protocol processing, and transfers the protocol processing result to the interface processing unit 31.

The interface processing unit 31 converts the received protocol processing result into a signal format of the network 1, and sends the requesting terminals 20 a and 2 via the network 1.
0b. The exclusive control unit 36 transfers the address of the terminal 20a selected as a result of the exclusive control to the memory unit 34, and the terminal 20b not selected as a result of the exclusive control.
Is transferred to the memory unit 35. Memory unit 34
Holds the received address until the selected terminal 20a finishes writing data to the data storage device 40. The memory unit 35 holds the received address until the address held in the memory unit 34 is erased.

The terminal 20b having received the write inhibit command transmitted from the server 30 suspends the transmission of the write data until receiving the write permit command issued by the server 30.

Interface processing unit 24 of terminal 20a
Transfers the write permission command transmitted from the server 30 to the network protocol processing unit 23. The network protocol processing unit 23 performs communication protocol processing,
The protocol processing result is transferred to the instruction processing unit 22. The command processing unit 22 analyzes the write permission command from the server 30 and notifies the I / O interface unit 21 that writing is possible. Then, the I / O interface unit 2
1 or the data storage unit 25 transfers the write data to the instruction processing unit 22.

The instruction processing unit 22 that has received the write data
Transfers the write data to the network protocol processing unit 23. The network protocol processing unit 23 performs communication protocol processing, and the interface processing unit 24
To the protocol processing result. The interface processing unit 24 converts the result of the protocol processing into a signal format of the network 1 and transmits the result to the server 30 via the network 1.

The interface unit 31 of the server 30 transfers the write data transmitted from the terminal 20a to the network protocol processing unit 32. The network protocol processing unit 32 performs communication protocol processing, and transfers the protocol processing result to the selector 33. Selector 33
Identifies whether the received protocol processing result is a data write request or write data. In the case of write data, the write data is transferred to the address conversion unit 37.

The address converter 37 converts the destination address of the write data from the address of the server 30 to the address of the data storage device 40 and transfers the address to the network protocol processor 32. The network protocol processing unit 32 performs communication protocol processing, and transfers the protocol processing result to the interface processing unit 31. The interface processing unit 31 converts the received protocol processing result into a network 1 signal format and transmits the result to the data storage device 40 via the network 1.

The interface processing unit 41 of the data storage device 40 transfers the write data transmitted from the server 30 to the network protocol processing unit 42. The network protocol processing unit 42 processes the communication protocol, and transfers the protocol processing result to the selector 43.
The selector 43 identifies whether the received protocol processing result is a data read request or write data. In the case of write data, the write data is transferred to the write control unit 44. The write control unit 44 writes the write data to a designated position in the data storage unit 46.

When the transfer of the write data to the data storage device 40 is completed, the exclusive control unit 36 of the server 30 deletes the address stored in the memory unit 34 and checks whether the address is stored in the memory unit 35. Check whether or not.

Here, when no address is held in the memory unit 35, the exclusive control unit 36 does nothing. When the address is held in the memory unit 35, the exclusive control unit 36 transfers the address held in the memory unit 35 to the memory unit 34, and at the same time, the terminal 20b having the address.
, And transfers it to the network protocol processing unit 32. The network protocol processing unit 32 performs communication protocol processing, and transfers a result of the protocol processing to the interface processing unit 31. The interface processing unit 31 converts the received protocol processing result into a signal format of the network 1, and transmits the signal format to the terminal 20b via the network 1.

When the server 30 receives a data write request from the terminal 20b while data is being written to the data storage device 40, the data write request is transferred to the exclusive control unit 36. The exclusive control unit 36 checks whether or not an address is held in the memory unit 34.

In this case, the server 30 is connected to the data storage device 4
0 is written in the memory unit 34 and the address is held in the memory unit 34. Therefore, the exclusive control unit 36, which has confirmed that the address is held in the memory unit 34,
Of the terminal 20 at the same time
A write prohibition command for b is generated and transferred to the network protocol processing unit 32.

The network protocol processing unit 32 performs a communication protocol process, and transfers the protocol processing result to the interface processing unit 31. The interface processing unit 31 converts the received protocol processing result into a signal format of the network 1,
0b.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When writing data to the data storage device, the terminal sends a data write request to the server, while when reading a file from the data storage device, the terminal sends a data read request to the data storage device. Exclusive control of data write requests, generation of write enable and write disable instructions, transmission of these instructions to the terminal, address conversion of write data received from the terminal, and transfer of data to the data storage device, and perform data storage. By not performing the process related to the reading of the file from the device, the processing amount of the server can be reduced.

Further, the terminal transmits a file read request to the data storage device without going through the server, and the data storage device that has received the file read request reads the requested file and sends it to the terminal without going through the server. By doing so, the speed of reading the file can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional file server system.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of an embodiment of a file server system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram of a terminal in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a detailed configuration diagram of a server in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a detailed configuration diagram of the data storage device in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Network, 20, 20b: Terminal, 21: I / O
Interface unit, 22 ... instruction processing unit, 23, 32, 4
2. Network protocol processing unit, 24, 31, 41
... Interface processing unit, 25, 46 ... Data storage unit,
30 server, 33, 43 selector, 34, 35 memory unit, 36 exclusive control unit, 37 address conversion unit, 4
0: data storage device, 44: write processing unit, 45: read processing unit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] In a file server system in which a plurality of terminals share a data storage device via a network, control relating to a read request and control relating to a read request is divided into control relating to reading and control relating to writing. A file server system, wherein control is assigned to a data storage device, and writing control is assigned to a server different from the data storage device. 2. A file server system in which a plurality of terminals share a data storage device via a network, wherein when writing data to the data storage device, the terminal generates a data write request and transmits the request to the server. A means for transmitting write data when receiving a write permission command for the write request; and a means for suspending transmission of write data until receiving a data write permission command when receiving a write prohibition command for the write request. Means for generating a file read request when reading a file stored in the data storage device and transmitting the file read request to the data storage device, wherein the server receives the data write request from the terminal, In the case of multiple devices, write requests should be permitted from the multiple terminals Means for performing exclusive control for selecting only one of the terminals, means for generating and transmitting a data write permission command to one terminal selected by the exclusive control, and means for the remaining terminals not selected by the exclusive control Means for generating and transmitting a data write prohibition command to the terminal; and means for receiving write data from the terminal and transmitting the data to the data storage device. The data storage device receives a file read request from the terminal. And a means for transmitting the file to the requesting terminal in accordance with the request, and means for receiving and writing the write data transmitted from the server.