JPH08305501A - Monitor for large capacity external storage device and its monitor system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide the monitor for a large capacity external storage device monitoring a status of the large capacity external storage device. CONSTITUTION: The monitor is provided with an input means 21 entering data from a large capacity external storage device, a log memory 26 storing log data, and the means 21 adding a current time to the data entered from the input means and allowing the log memory 26 to store the resulting data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to, for example, RAID (Redu
The present invention relates to a monitoring device for a large-capacity external storage device that monitors status output from a large-capacity external storage device such as a ndant array of inexpensive disks.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The progress of multimedia in recent years has been remarkable, and has spread to all fields. For example, it is conceivable that each home and the host computer are connected by an optical fiber cable, and the image data stored in the host computer is transmitted to each home at the request of each home. There is.

To store such image data, a large-capacity storage device is required. In addition, this large-capacity storage device has the mission of being high-speed and not causing an error. Therefore, an inexpensive, high-speed, large-capacity external storage device such as RAID has been used.

[0004]

In the RAID, when a failure or the like occurs, its status is displayed on its own display unit or output to a printer. In this way, by only displaying the status on the display unit, the operator can judge the contents of the status if the operator is in that place, but if the operator is not in that place, Had a problem that the contents of status could not be determined. The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
An object of the invention is to provide a monitoring device for a large-capacity external storage device that monitors the status of the large-capacity external storage device.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a monitoring device for a large-capacity external storage device, which comprises input means for inputting data from the large-capacity external storage device and storage means for storing log data. And a means for adding the present time to the data input from the input means and storing the data in the storage means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a monitoring device for a large-capacity external storage device, input means for inputting data from the large-capacity external storage device, storage means for storing log data, and input from this input means. A means for storing the stored data in the storage means, a determination means for determining the importance of the status stored by this means, and a response according to the determination content of this determination means And a processing unit that performs processing.

A monitoring system for a large-capacity external storage device according to a third aspect of the present invention is a large-capacity external storage device which is externally connected to a host computer and stores large-capacity data sent from the host computer. A monitoring device connected to the external output port of the large capacity external storage device, wherein the monitoring device stores the status output from the large capacity external storage device with time. And is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a monitoring system for a large-capacity external storage device, comprising: a large-capacity external storage device which is externally connected to a host computer and stores large-capacity data sent from the host computer. A monitoring device connected to the external output port of the large capacity external storage device, wherein the monitoring device stores the status output from the large capacity external storage device with time. And a determining means for determining the importance of the status stored by this means, and a processing means for performing a corresponding process according to the determination content of this determining means.

The monitoring device for a large-capacity external storage device according to claim 5 is characterized in that the large-capacity external storage device is RAID. In the monitoring system for a large-capacity external storage device according to claim 6, the large-capacity external storage device is RAID.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the monitoring device inputs the data from the large capacity external storage device through the input means and stores the input data with the current time in the storage means. I am trying.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the monitoring device inputs the data from the large-capacity external storage device through the input means, stores the input data with the current time, and stores the data. The importance of the status thus determined is determined, and the corresponding processing is performed according to the determination content of the determination means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the monitoring device is connected to the external output port (print output terminal) of the large capacity external storage device, and the monitor output from the external output port of the large capacity external storage device. -The status data is input and the time data is added to the status data for storage.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the monitoring device is connected to the external output port (print output terminal) of the large capacity external storage device, and the monitoring device outputs from the external output port of the large capacity external storage device. -Enter status data, add time data to the status data, store the status data, determine the importance of the status, and perform a corresponding process according to the content of the determination. There is.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a monitoring system for a large-capacity external storage device. In FIG. 1, 11
Is a host computer. This host computer 11 is used, for example, as a host computer of a video on demand system. To the SCSI terminal of the host computer 11, a disk array device 12 as a large capacity external storage means for storing image information is connected.

The detailed structure of the disk array device 12 will be described later with reference to FIGS. Further, the printer port of the disk array device 12 is a P / S converter 1 for converting parallel data into serial data.
3 is connected to the serial port of the monitoring device 13.

A detailed description of the monitoring device 14 will be given later with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The monitoring device 13 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, it is constructed by a note-type workstation.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the monitoring device 14.
Will be described with reference to. In FIG. 3, 21 is a monitoring device 1.
4 is a CPU (central processing unit) that controls and controls 4 in a centralized manner.
The system bus 21a from the CPU 21 has a ROM (read only memory) 22 for storing a control program as shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7, and a RAM 23 for storing various data. , A display unit 24 for displaying various data, a key input unit 25 for inputting various data, a log file 26 for storing status data transmitted from the disk array device 12 together with time, a serial port. −
An I / O port 27 including a port and a modem 28 are connected.

Further, the RAM 23 stores a table in which message classes corresponding to the types of status data are stored in comparison with each other. When the message class is the most important, a process of displaying the message on the display unit 24 of the monitoring device 14 is performed. Thereafter, as the message class decreases from the most important level, an electronic mail is output to the system administrator via the modem 28.

Here, even when the message level becomes low, the log file 26 always stores the status data and the time. Further, depending on the type of status data, the system administrator is notified via the modem 28 of an error.
The corresponding processing for transmitting the contents of the above by electronic mail is stored.

Next, referring to FIG. 4 and FIG.
The detailed configuration of the array device 12 will be described. First,
A perspective view of the disk array device 12 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the disk array device 12 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and on the front surface thereof, a floppy disk drive device 31 and a liquid crystal display unit 32 are installed, and a plurality of disk adapters 33 are attached and detached. It is installed freely.

The disk adapter 33 accommodates, for example, three hard disks, and these three hard disks have a capacity of several GMB. Next, the system configuration of the disk array device will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 41 is a CPU that controls the disk array device as a whole. The CPU 41 is provided with a cash controller 4 via a control bus 41a.
2, a plurality of disk adapters 33, a SCSI interface 43, a ROM 44, a RAM 45, an FDD 31, and a printer interface 46 are connected.

The cache array controller 42, the SCSI interface 43, and the plurality of disk adapters 33 described above are connected by a high-speed data bus 48.
The cache controller 42 has a large-capacity cache memory and buffers input / output data with the host computer 11.

Further, each disk adapter 33 has 3
The hard disk devices 33a to 33c can be mounted. The host computer 1 is installed in the SCSI interface 43.
The cable from the SCSI terminal 1 is connected.

In the ROM 44, the disk array device 1
A control program for integrally controlling 2 is stored. This control program duplicates the image data sent from the host computer 11 and restores it when the hard disk devices 33a to 33c fail.
The disk array device 12 has a self-diagnosis function. The status obtained by this self-diagnosis function is output as a parallel signal via the printer I / F 46.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention constructed as above will be described. Host computer 1
The SCSI terminal 1 is connected to the SCSI terminal of the disk array device 12.

Therefore, the image information output from the SCSI terminal of the host computer 11 is the disk array device 12
Is input to the cache array controller 42 via the SCSI interface 43. The cache array controller 42 stores the image information in the hard disk device 33a via the disk adapter 33.

On the other hand, when the image information stored in the hard disk device 33a is read, it is output to the host computer 11 via the cache array controller 42 and the SCSI interface 42.

While the disk array device 12 is transmitting / receiving image information to / from the host computer 11,
The self-diagnosis function monitors failures. The status information generated at that time is the printer I / F.
It is output as parallel data via 46.

The status information, which is the parallel data, is converted into serial data by the P / S converter 13,
It is input to the I / O port 27 of the monitoring device 14. Then, the monitoring device 14 responds to the status information sent from the disk array device 12 with the flow charts of FIGS.
The processing shown in the chart is performed.

First, the monitoring device 14 sets a counter n for counting the number of characters in a message to zero (step S1).
Then, one character of the message as status information is read (step S2).

Then, the counter n is incremented by "+1" (step S3). Next, it is determined whether the counter n is "1" (step S4). When it first comes to this step S4, since "n = 1", it is determined to be "YES" and the date and time are obtained from the system (step S4).
5).

Then, the date and time data are stored in the log file 26 (step S6). Then, it is determined whether the one character of the message read in step S2 is a delimiter code (step S7). If the determination in step S7 is "NO", the process of writing one character of the message read in step S2 to the log file 26 is performed (step S8). That is, it is written after the date and time data.

Then, the process returns to step S2. Then, the next character of the message is read (step S
2). Then, after the counter n is incremented by "+1", "n =
It is determined whether it is "1" (step S4). Since n = 2, it is determined as "NO" in the determination in step S4 and the process proceeds to step S7.

If the determination in step S7 is "NO", that is, if one character of the read message is not a delimiter code, a process of writing the read character in the log file 26 is performed. When the message continues, the above-mentioned steps S2 to S4, S
After the processing of 7 and S8, a message is written in the log file 26 character by character.

That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the log file 26 stores time data and messages. If the read character has a delimiter code,
In step S7, it is determined to be "YES", and the process of writing the line feed character in the log file 26 is performed (step S
9).

In this way, a message for one line is written in the log file 26. Next, log file 2
The type of the message written in 6 is determined (step S10).

The message type determining process (step S10) will be described with reference to FIG. First, R
With reference to the message class determination table stored in the AM 23, a message class determination process is performed (step S21). That is, the classes are classified according to the importance of the message.

Next, the message is sorted and the contents are transmitted or recorded according to the class. So, in the most important case of a message,
The information is displayed on the display unit 24 of the monitoring device 14.
Then, as the degree of importance thereof decreases, a message may be sent to the system administrator via the modem 28 by electronic mail.

As described above, the disk array device 12
Since the status data output from the device is added to the time data and stored in the memory, the history of the status data output from the mass storage device is saved. It can be used for maintenance in the event of a failure.

Further, the status data output from the disk array device 12 is added with time data and stored in the memory, and further according to the degree of importance of the status data, By changing the handling process, when an important error occurs, it can be dealt with immediately.
Note that the message class determination process is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible.

[0041]

According to the monitoring device for a large-capacity external storage device according to claim 1 or the monitoring system for a large-capacity external storage device according to claim 3, a stage output from the large-capacity external storage device is obtained.
Since the time data is added to the status data and stored in the memory, the history of the status data output from the large-capacity external storage device can be saved.
It can be useful for maintenance when a failure occurs.

According to the monitoring device for a large-capacity external storage device according to claim 2 or the monitoring system for a large-capacity external storage device according to claim 4, the time is output to the status data output from the large-capacity external storage device. Data is stored in the memory, and further, according to the importance of the status data,
By changing the handling process, when an important error occurs, it can be dealt with immediately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a monitoring system for a large-capacity external storage device.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a monitoring device.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the monitoring device.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a disk array device.

FIG. 5 is a control block diagram of a disk array device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the monitoring device.
To.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the monitoring device.
To.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Host computer, 12 ... Disk array device, 13 ... P / S converter, 14 ... Monitoring device, 21 ... CP
U (central processing unit), 22 ... ROM (read only
Memory), 23 ... RAM (random access memory), 24 ... display section, 25 ... key input section, 26 ... log file, 27 ... I / O port, 28 ... modem, 31 ... floppy disk drive , 32 ... Liquid crystal display part, 33 ...
Disk adapter.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Takasaki 7-30-2, Sumiyoshi-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo Inside Tokyo Electron FE Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An input means for inputting status data from a large-capacity external storage device, a storage means for storing log data, and a current time in the status data input from this input means. And a means for storing in the above-mentioned storage means. 2. An input means for inputting status data from a large capacity external storage device, a storage means for storing log data, and a current time in the status data input from this input means. Means for storing in the storage means,
Monitoring of a large-capacity external storage device, characterized in that it comprises a judging means for judging the importance of the status stored by this means, and a processing means for carrying out corresponding processing according to the judgment contents of this judging means. apparatus. 3. A large-capacity external storage device externally connected to the host computer for storing large-capacity data sent from the host computer, and an external output port of the large-capacity external storage device. And a monitoring device connected to the monitoring device, the monitoring device including means for storing the status data output from the large-capacity external storage device with a time. Monitoring system for large-capacity external storage devices. 4. A large-capacity external storage device externally connected to the host computer for storing large-capacity data sent from the host computer, and an external output port of the large-capacity external storage device. A monitoring device connected to the monitoring device, the monitoring device including means for storing the status data output from the large-capacity external storage device with a time, and the status stored by the means. 2. A monitoring system for a large-capacity external storage device, comprising: a determination unit that determines the importance of the determination unit; and a processing unit that performs a corresponding process according to the determination content of the determination unit. 5. The monitoring device for a large-capacity external storage device according to claim 1, wherein the large-capacity external storage device is a RAID. 6. The monitoring system for a large-capacity external storage device according to claim 3, wherein the large-capacity external storage device is a RAID.