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Computer management system

1. 31 1995 JP Japan 00020000000 7 133177 LLP 51 Int CE iet ee 06 11 30 57 ABSTRACT 52 395 183 07 395 200 59 A ee 58 Field of Search 395 183 07 18301 14404 UE rn nds epus 22220 ie 395 183 15 184 01 182 2 200 53 200 54 uang 364 280 3 tions on the computer to be managed a service processor board having a processor independent from the computer to 56 References Cited be managed for monitoring fault in the computer to be managed and controlling power of the computer to be U S PATENT DOCUMENTS managed a manager for executing instructions on a man 5204955 4 993 Kagel et al 395 183 01 agement computer and conducting controls such as fault 204 agei et al 222242441 nu 5 257 384 10 1993 Farrond et al 305 725 aie power m Ihe agent ver d 5 272 382 12 1993 Heald et al 307 667 Inc q ane 5283005 2 1994 Saadeh et al 395 750 manager directly connected to the service processor for 5 285 198 2 1994 Asahina 340 82516 conducting remote power on and receiving and diagnosing 5 309 563 5 1994 Farrond et al 395 200 critical fault The service processor and the service processor 5 367 635 11 1994 Baver et al 395 200 manager are provided with switching circuits for swi
2. 7913 5 815 652 Sheet 3 of 23 Sep 29 1998 U S Patent QHvoa 1 ONIHO LINON inva SO MHOMLAN a H39VNVIN 31ONW3t tH3SVNVIN 31OSNOO HalfidWOO 31OSNOO ONIOVNVIN YALNdNOD 3LON3H ONIOVNVIN Q39VNVNW 38 OL H3l dWOO HOlHd Old 5 815 652 Sheet 4 of 23 Sep 29 1998 U S Patent NYI HONASV W 4 1 HONASV NOILONNA 55329 3 LOW3H dV H3AH3S NOILONN 4 55322 3LONW3H YALNdNOOD YALNdWOO ALOWSY HalndWOO 1VO01 Old 5 815 652 Sheet 5 of 23 Sep 29 1998 U S Patent HONASV B W H3OVNVN 3l1ON3H H3lfidWOO ONIOVNVIN 3 LOW3H HONASV NOLLONn3 SS320Vv NOLLONN SLOWSY 55329 3LOW3H Q35VNVMW OL H3l ndWOO H31ndWOO ONIOVNVIN 3LOW3H lHV HOlHd v Sid m XHOML3N H3OVNVW YALNdINOO ONIOVNVIN 5 815 652 Sheet 6 of 23 Sep 29 1998 U S Patent GZ WH y L9c 85 vs HONASV 3 1 HONASV d HONASV 181 Sn8 LINN Z LTT HOLINON NOLLOSTISS H3TIOHINOO ONIHOLIMS i H3TIOHLNOO E NOILYOINNWWOO HOASV S H3TIOHLINOO ONIWHO3NI Linvs OLLVWOLNV SNLVLS SO LINN snd E UN LNH q1081NO9 508
3. connected system is suitable for the steady system manage ment where the computer to be managed operates normally On the other hand when the system management is attained by connecting the modem and the line directly to the fault monitoring extended board it is suitable for the system management in which a critical fault occurs in the computer to be managed and the agent cannot operate Thus it is a system management method which is effective in different and exclusive situations In light of the above it is an object of the present invention to provide means to realize the remote system management by the above two methods by one remote management computer and one modem Thus the redundant remote management computer line and modem which causes a problem in the operation is elimi nated It is another object of the present invention to provide computer management method and system which attains the remote power control of the computer to be managed which could not be attained in the prior art from the manager connected by the LAN or the public line provide an environment to centrally conduct the fault management from small fault of a plurality of computers to a critical fault leading to the system down and the operation support such as the start and stop of the computer to be managed from the manager connected by the LAN or the public line In order to achieve the above objects in accordance with one aspect of the present invention the
4. from the history of the fault log For the remote reset as shown in the flow chart of FIG 20 the remote reset means 2933 sends the power off request and the power on request sequentially to the power control ler 12122 through the line 25 to turn on the power imme diately after the power off to reset the computer 10 to be managed steps 5141 5145 When no significant problem is detected by the diagnosing means 2932 the computer 10 to be managed is restarted by the reset Most causes of the system down are troubles in the network OS or the fault occurred by chance and the normal operation may be recovered in many cases by the restarting The restarting by the user s decision is effective means as the initial measures As shown in the flow chart of FIG 21 to check the system operation after the remote reset the system operation check means 2944 sends the system operation check request to the OS status monitor 12141 of the main unit through the line 25 steps 5151 5152 The OS status monitor 12141 of the main unit requests the response to the SVP driver 19 determines whether the system is in operation or not by the presence or absence of the response and returns the result to the system operation check means 2944 through the line 25 steps 5153 5135 The system operation check means 2944 displays the message of the system operation status on the screen to inform it to the user step 5156 Referring to a block diagram of FIG 22 an em
5. housing the error in the power unit or the stop of the fan through the SVP interface control circuit 1202 and informs the occurrence of the fault to the fault event generator 12112 The line connection monitor 12133 monitors the carrier signal of the modem 261 from the RS232C driver circuit 1251 to monitor the connection status of the line The line switching controller 12132 controls the asynchronous I F switching circuit 122 by the switching request from the line switching means 2911 of the SVP manager 29 and the switching request from the line connection monitor 12133 to select the line control circuit 1203 or the serial port control circuit 1241 When the line control circuit 1203 is selected the asynchronous communication controller 12131 controls the line control circuit 1203 to exchange data with the SVP manager 29 through the line 25 On the other hand when the serial port control circuit 1241 is selected the line driver 181 of the management computer 10 controls the serial port control circuit 1241 to connect the remote access function portions 1611 and 1631 through the line 25 The power controller 12122 controls the power control circuit 1204 by the agent 17 the preset time power controller 12121 and the power on off request of the remote power on off means to control the on off of the power unit 13 5 815 652 11 The flow charts of FIGS 6 20 should be interpreted to correspond to portions of media such as ROMs and floppy dis
6. CONTROL POWER UNIT SVP DRIVER 19 13 TO TURN ON MAIN UNIT POWER 50155 SEND SYSTEM SHUT DOWN END REQUEST TO NETWORK OS 5016 ISEND POWER OFF REQUEST THROUGH SVP DRIVER 19 5017 SEND POWER OFF REQUEST TO POWER CONTROLLER 12122 BY BUS CONTROLLER 1215 THROUGH BUS CONTROL CIRCUIT 126 5018 CONTROL POWER UNIT 13 TO TURN OFF MAIN UNIT POWER U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 10 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 8 ISSUE LINE SWITCHING REQUEST TO LINE SWITCHING MEANS 2911 5022 SEND LINE SWITCHING REQUEST TO LINE SWITCHING CONTROLLER 12132 THROUGH ASYNCH I F 28 LINE 25 ASYNCH 123 AND ASYNCH COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER 12131 CONTROL ASYNCH I F SWITCHING CIRCUIT 7 5023 122 TO SWITCH TO ASYNCH I F 124 5024 DETECT CONNECTION OF MODEM 261 BY LINE DRIVER 181 AND INFORM TO REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1661 INITIALIZE MODEM 261 BY LINE DRIVER 181 5025 AND WAIT FOR CONNECTION REQUEST FIG 9 REMOTE ACCESS CONNECTION ENTER TELEPHONE NUMBER OF COMPUTER TO BE MANAGED TO REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1631 AND ISSUE LINE CONNECTION REQUEST CONTROL ASYNCH 28 AND MODEM 262 BY LINE DRIVER 182 TO CONNECT MODEM 261 THROUGH LINE 25 ESTABLISH MUTUAL REMOTE ACCESS CONNECTION BETWEEN REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1631 AND REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1611 THROUGH LINE DRIVER 182 ASYNCH I F 28 LINE 25 ASYNCH I F 124 AND LINE DRIVER 181 U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 11 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 10 REMOTE ACCESS DISCONNECTION
7. TO SVP DRIVER 19 5093 SEND POWER ON OFF TIME TO PRESET TIME POWER CONTROLLER 12121 BY BUS CONTROLLER 1215 THROUGH BUS MASTER CONTROL CIRCUIT 126 5094 SET POWER ON OFF TIME TO RTC 127 5095 U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 15 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 16 PRESET TIME POWER OFF INFORM POWER OFF TIME TO PRESET 5101 TIME POWER CONTROLLER 12121 BY RTC 127 SEND POWER OFF REQUEST TO 5102 AGENT 17 THROUGH SVP DRIVER 19 SEND SYSTEM SHUT DOWN REQUEST TO 5103 NETWORK OS SEND POWER OFF REQUEST THROUGH 5104 SVP DRIVER 19 SEND POWER OFF REQUEST TO POWER CONTROLLER 12122 BY BUS CONTROLLER 1215 THROUGH BUS 9105 CONTROL CIRCUIT 126 CONTROL POWER UNIT 13 TO 5106 TURN OFF MAIN UNIT POWER FIG 17 PRESET TIME POWER ON INFORM POWER ON TIME TO PRESET TIME POWER CONTROLLER 12121 BY RTC 127 CONTROL POWER UNIT 13 BY PRESET TIME POWER CONTROLLER 12121 THROUGH POWER CONTROLLER 12122 TO TURN ON MAIN UNIT POWER U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 16 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 18 AUTOMATIC FAULT INFORMING CRITICAL FAULT OCCURS IN COMPUTER 10 TO BE MANAGED AND 5121 SYSTEM DOWN STATE OCCURS WHEN REMOTE ACCESS CONNECTION HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED BETWEEN REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1631 AND REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1611 DISCONNECT LINE BY REMOTE 5122 ACCESS FUNCTION 1631 BY NO RESPONSE FROM REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1611 DETECT LINE DISCONNECTION BY CARRIER SIGNAL OF 261 AND _ 5123 SEND LINE SWITCHING REQUEST TO LINE
8. a computer to be managed of said computers connected by said net work an agent on said computer to be managed for monitoring information on said computer to be managed and controlling said computer to be managed in accordance with an instruction from said manager sent through said network an extended board connected to an I O bus of said computer to be managed said extended board includ ing a processor independent from said computer to be managed for monitoring the occurrence of fault in said computer to be managed sending fault information to said agent through said I O bus and a service processor SVP for controlling a power supply of said computer to be managed by an instruction from said agent and a sub power supply for continuously and constantly sup plying power to said extended board independently of the power supply to said computer to be managed 2 A computer management system according to claim 1 wherein said managing computer and said computer to be managed are connected by a public line by a modem connected to an asynchronous interface as an additional function of said network OS and said manager executed by said management computer controls said agent executed by said computer to be managed having said SVP connected thereto and said SVP to manage said computer 3 A computer management system according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of sensors for monitoring the fault of said computer to be monito
9. agent on said computer to be managed for monitoring information on said other computer to be managed and controlling said other computer to be managed in accordance with an instruction from said manager sent through said network an extended board connected to an I O bus of said computer to be managed said extended board includ ing a processor independent from said computer to be managed for monitoring the occurrence of fault in said computer to be managed sending fault information to said agent through said I O bus and a service processor SVP for controlling a power supply of said computer to be managed by an instruction from said agent and an SVP manager adapted to be executed on said manage ment computer at a remote site operating indepen dently from said manager directly connected to said SVP by a modem connected to an asynchronous inter face through a public line for controlling said SVP in response to the occurrence of power off or critical fault in said computer to be managed 12 A computer management system according to claim 11 further comprising a power control circuit for controlling a power unit of said computer to be managed power control means for controlling said power control circuit in response to a request from said SVP manager of said agent to control the power on off of said com puter to be managed and preset time power control means responsive to a preset time power on off request from said agent for
10. agent which con ducts the fault monitoring on the computer to be managed and the power control and the computer unit to be managed are controlled by independent processors It provides the computer management system comprising the service pro 5 815 652 3 cessor board hereinafter referred to as an SVP board which is the extended board to monitor the fault and control the power supply in cooperation with the agent the manager for managing the system connected to the agent through the network OS including the remote access function and oper ating on the management computer connected by the public line or the LAN and the SVP manager for controlling the SVP board connected directly to the SVP board by the public line On the SVP board there are provided a switching circuit for selectively connecting one of an asynchronous interface connected to the processor of the SVP board and an asyn chronous interface accessible from the computer to be managed to the modem connected to the line and switching control means On the SVP board there is provided line connection monitoring means for monitoring the connection status of the line after the line connection through the asynchronous interface accessible from the computer to be managed and switching the switching circuit of the asyn chronous interface to the processor of the SVP board upon the disconnection of the line On the SVP board there are also provided a power control circuit for co
11. driver 181 detects the connection of the modem 261 and informs it to the remote access function 1661 step 5024 The remote access function 1661 initializes the modem 261 by the line driver 181 and waits for the connection step 5025 Since the connection by the remote access remote access connection is ready by the line switching the remote access function connection is made as shown in FIG 9 The user enters the telephone number of the computer 10 to be managed the same number because the line and the modem are same to the remote access function 1631 and issues a line connection request step 5031 The remote access function 1631 controls the asynchronous I F 28 and the modem 262 by the line driver 182 and connects the modem 261 to the line through the line 25 step 5032 The remote access connection is established between the remote access function 1631 and the remote access function 1611 through 5 815 652 7 the line driver 182 the asynchronous I F 28 the line 25 the asynchronous I F 124 and the line driver 181 step 5033 To disconnect the remote access connection as shown in FIG 10 the user issues a line disconnection request to the remote access function 1631 to release the connection with the remote access function 1631 and disconnect the connec tion steps 5041 5043 Upon the establishment of the remote access connection the line connection monitor 12133 monitors the line disconnection by the carrier signal of the
12. fault information from the fault monitor 1211 of the SVP board 12 by the SVP driver 19 and requests the power on off to the power controller 1212 On the other hand when the power off or the critical fault has occurred in the computer 10 to be managed the network OS 161 is not operative and the connection from the manager 242 to the agent 17 through the remote access function is not attained Even when the critical fault occurs in the computer to be managed the SVP which is controlled by the independent processor continues to operate normally Even when the power of the main unit is turned off the SVP board 12 which is continuously powered by the sub power supply 131 is operative Thus it is the SVP manager 29 that is directly connected to the SVP board when the critical fault or the power off occurs to manage the fault of the computer 10 to be managed and control the power When the power of the main unit is off the line controller 1213 sets the asynchronous I F switching circuit 122 to select the asynchronous I F 123 Thus the SVP manager 29 may be connected to the line controller 1213 of the SVP board 12 by the line manager 291 through the line 25 After the connection the SVP manager 29 sends a power on request to the power controller 1212 of the SVP board 12 by the power manager 292 to turn on the power of the computer 10 to be managed When the critical fault occurs in the computer 10 to be managed the critical fault monitor 1214 a
13. modem 261 through the asynchronous I F driver circuit 125 which connects the asynchronous I F and the external modem Thus it detects the line disconnection and sends the line switch request to the line switching controller 12132 to switch the asynchronous I F switch 122 to the asynchronous I F 123 steps 5044 5045 Thus except when the remote access connection is made the SVP man ager 29 can always connect the line to the SVP board 12 The fault warning and the fault logging in the agent 17 which are the fault monitor function in the steady sate in which the computer to be managed operates normally is now explained An error signal such as an abnormal housing temperature the stop of a cooling fan or a fault in the power supply unit is informed as a fault signal from the computer 10 to be managed to the SVP board through a cable As shown in FIG 11 the fault monitor 12111 continuously monitors the fault signal from the housing temperature sensor of the main unit to inform the occurrence of the fault to the fault event generator 12112 step 5051 The fault event generated by the fault event generator 12112 is logged in the fault log recorder 12113 and also sent to the agent 17 through the bus of the main unit and the SVP driver 19 steps 5092 5054 Since the capacity of the log area in the SVP is limited after the agent 17 logs the fault event in the file it sends it to the manager 242 as the fault warning when the remote access connectio
14. several hundreds to several thousands and when the network manages and operates the respective computers manually by the system operators the loads of the system operators and the cost therefor increase which causes a problem In order to solve such a problem a management system has been proposed in which a manager is mounted on at least one of the computers on the LAN and an agent for managing each computer in accordance with a direction by the manager is mounted in each of the servers to be managed connected to the LAN so that central management is attained by the manager through the network Particularly when a CSS system for a fundamental business of an enterprise is to be constructed a high reliability is required for the server and a management system focused on fault management of the server is provided In such a system focused on the fault management as disclosed in U S Pat No 5 367 670 a dedicated extended board for monitoring fault which mounts a processor inde pendent from a main unit is connected to an extended interface of a computer main unit so that fault information collected by the extended board is received by the agent and it is sent to the manager of other management computer connected by the LAN through the network OS to manage the fault Further an asynchronous interface is mounted on the extended board so that such collected information may be acquired from the remote computer connected by a modem and a public li
15. 30 through the status monitor driver 31 to monitor the hardware status of the computer 10 to be monitored such as the housing temperature the operating status of the fan and the operating status of the power unit to determine the abnormal status of the hardware and generate the fault event Information such as an event name date of occurrence of fault and source of fault are set in the fault event The fault monitor means 1711 monitors the status of the devices through the network driver 201 the disk driver 21 and the SVP driver 19 to determine the abnormal status of the devices and generate the fault event After the generation of the fault event the fault monitor means 1711 sends the generated fault event to the fault log record means 1712 and the fault warning generation means 1713 The fault log record means 1712 records the fault event and the fault log on the disk The recorded fault log may be referred to by the user through the fault log display means 24112 of the manager 241 On the other hand the fault warning means 1713 adds the name of the computer 10 to be managed in which the fault has occurred to the fault event to generate the fault warning and sends it immediately to the fault warning display means 24111 of the manager 241 to display the fault warning message to inform the occurrence of the fault to the user The power off of the computer 10 to be managed is now explained By the power off operation by the user the power off m
16. 61 dAS Sn8 LINN Vs Sid YATIOWLNOD Y3MOd 145 4 47 a 501 3N39 Lins H3MOd HOSN3S 3univd3dW3l ONISNOH 5 815 652 Sheet 7 of 23 Sep 29 1998 N 691 HONASV anons 69 55200 310W3H NOILONNS U S Patent i SNV3N NOLS ae ann NOU Vu340 WALSAS E ee SNV3A SNV3W DNILL3S3H ONIHOLIMS INN SNV3W AV1dSIG ONISONSVIQ LINVS 501 1 SNV3W ONIAIO3H SNV3W AVTdSIC JLONJY 1 H3OVNVW dAS gec H31ndWOO ONIDVNVW 310W3H as 913 U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 8 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 6 LINE CONNECTION ENTER TELEPHONE NUMBER OF COMPUTER TO BE MANAGED TO LINE CONNECTION MEANS 2912 AND ISSUE LINE CONNECTION REQUEST CONTROL MODEM 262 THROUGH ASYNCH I F 28 AND CONNECT TO MODEM 261 THROUGH LINE 25 U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 9 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 7 REMOTE POWER ON OFF ISSUE POWER ON OFF REQUEST TO REMOTE 5011 POWER ON OFF MEANS 292 SEND POWER ON OFF REQUEST TO POWER CONTROLLER 12122 THROUGH ASYNCH I F 28 LINE 25 ASYNCH I F 123 AND ASYNCH COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER 12131 5012 POWER OFF POWER ON OFF 5014 POWER ON 5013 SEND POWER OFF REQUEST TO AGENT 17 THROUGH
17. BY DISK DRIVER 21 AND NETWORK DRIVER 201 THROUGH NETWORK OS 161 LOG FAULT EVENT IN FILE ON DISK 5062 15 AND SEND IT TO MANAGER 242 SEND FAULT EVENT TO SVP DRIVER19 5063 SEND FAULT EVENT TO FAULT LOG RECORDER 12113 BY BUS CONTROLLER 1215 5064 THROUGH BUS CONTROL CIRCUIT 126 LOG FAULT EVENT 5065 FIG 13 ISSUE FAULT LOG DISPLAY REQUEST TO FAULT LOG DISPLAY MEANS 24212 SEND FAULT LOG ACQUIRE REQUEST TO AGENT 17 BY REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1631 THROUGH LINE 25 AND ASYNCH I F 124 SEND FAULT EVENT LOG LOGGED IN FILE TO MANAGER 242 BY REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1611 THROUGH ASYNCH I F 124 AND LINE 25 DISPLAY FAULT WARNING ON SCREEN BY FAULT LOG DISPLAY MEANS 24212 U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 14 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 14 5081 ISSUE POWER OFF REQUEST TO POWER OFF MEANS 24222 SEND POWER OFF REQUEST TO AGENT 17 BY REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1631 5082 THROUGH LINE 25 AND ASYNCH I F 124 5083 SEND SYSTEM SHUT DOWN REQUEST TO NETWORK OS 161 SEND POWER OFF REQUEST 5084 TO SVP DRIVER 19 5085 SEND POWER OFF REQUEST TO POWER CONTROLLER 12122 BY BUS CONTROLLER 1215 THROUGH BUS CONTROL CIRCUIT 126 CONTROL POWER UNIT 13 TO TURN OFF MAIN UNIT POWER 5086 C END FIG 15 PRESET TIME POWER ON OFF SETTING SET POWER ON OFF TIME TO PRESET 5091 TIME POWER CONTROL MEANS 24221 5092 SEND SETTING INFORMATION TO AGENT 17 BY REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1631 THROUGH LINE 25 AND ASYNCH I F 124 SEND POWER ON OFF TIME SET REQUEST
18. ISSUE LINE DISCONNECTION REQUEST 5041 TO REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1631 SEND REMOTE ACCESS CONNECTION RELEASE REQUEST TO REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1611 THROUGH LINE DRIVER 182 ASYNCH 28 LINE 25 ASYNCH I F 124 AND LINE DRIVER 181 5042 RELEASE MUTUAL REMOTE ACCESS CONNECTION BETWEEN REMOTE ACCESS 5043 FUNCTION 1631 AND REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1611 AND DISCONNECT LINE DETECT LINE DISCONNECTION BY CARRIER SIGNAL OF MODEM 261 AND SEND LINE 5044 SWITCHING REQUEST TO LINE SWITCHING CONTROLLER 12132 CONTROL ASYNCH I F SWITCH 122 5045 TO SWITCH TO ASYNCH I F 123 END U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 12 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 11 FAULT WARNING FAULT LOGGING MONITOR FAULT SIGNAL OF HOUSING TEMPERATURE SENSOR ETC BY FAULT MONITOR 5051 12111 AND INFORM OCCURRENCE OF FAULT TO FAULT EVENT GENERATOR 12112 GENERATE FAULT EVENT SEND FAULT EVENT TO FAULT LOG RECORDER 12113 5052 TO LOG FAULT EVENT SEND FAULT EVENT TO SVP DRIVER 19 OVER MAIN UNIT BUS BY BUS CONTROLLER r 5053 1215 THROUGH BUS CONTROL CIRCUIT 126 SEND FAULT EVENT TO AGENT 17 5054 LOG IN FILE AND SEND FAULT EVENT AS FAULT WARNING TO MANAGER 242 5055 BY REMOTE ACCESS FUNCTION 1611 THROUGH ASYNCH I F 124 AND LINE 25 DISPLAY FAULT WARNING ON SCREEN BY 5056 FAULT WARNING DISPLAY MEANS 24211 END U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 13 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 12 5061 SEND FAULT OCCURRED IN DISK 15 AND LAN ADAPTER 141 TO AGENT 17 AS FAULT EVENT
19. LINOWI JbiHOMISN SNV3M ONIOVNVM NOLLVWHO3NI SNY3W 501 NOULVd340 SNV3W ONILVH3N39 ONINHVM 1073 7 L Q39VNVMW 38 OL 919 3OV3H31NI MYOMLAN 340 4 0 31003 925 40 OL VWOLR V ONILL3S AV 19510 NOLLVWBO3NI NOILLVYNDISNOO YIODVNVN HALNdWOD 5 815 652 1 COMPUTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a management system hereinafter referred to as a manager for a computer system and more particularly to a manager for monitoring and controlling fault and performance of a plurality of computers on a network through the network in a client server system hereinafter referred to as a CSS in which a plurality of computers are connected by the network such as a local area network hereinafter referred to as a LAN or a public line As the performance of a personal computer and a work station is enhanced it has become popular to connect a plurality of computers through a LAN to construct a system In the CSS various types of operating systems hereinafter referred to as network OSs are mounted on computers functioning as clients or server and these computers are connected through the network to operate in a cooperative manner In such a CSS system as a scale thereof expands the number of computers functioning as the clients and servers extends to
20. PLAY FAULT INFORMATION AND FAULT LOG ON SCREEN 5136 END U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 18 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 20 REMOTE RESETTING ISSUE REMOTE RESET REQUEST TO REMOTE RESET MEANS 2933 5141 SEND POWER OFF REQUEST TO POWER CONTROLLER 12122 THROUGH ASYNCH I F 28 LINE 25 ASYNCH I F 123 AND ASYNCH COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER 12131 CONTROL POWER UNIT 13 TO 5143 TURN OFF MAIN UNIT POWER SEND POWER ON REQUEST TO POWER CONTROLLER 12131 THROUGH ASYNCH I F 28 LINE 25 ASYNCH I F 123 AND ASYNCH COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER 12131 CONTROL POWER UNIT 13 TO 5145 TURN ON MAIN UNIT POWER 5142 5144 U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 19 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 21 SYSTEM OPERATION CHECK ISSUE SYSTEM OPERATION CHECK REQUEST TO SYSTEM OPERATION 5151 CHECK MEANS 2944 SEND SYSTEM OPERATION CHECK REQUEST TO MAIN UNIT OS STATUS MONITOR 5152 12141 THROUGH ASYNCH I F 28 LINE 25 ASYNCH I F 123 AND ASYNCH COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER 12131 REQUEST RESPONSE TO SVP DRIVER 19 BY BUS CONTROLLER 1215 AND BUS CONTROL CIRCUIT 126 THROUGH MAIN UNIT BUS 5153 DETERMINE IF SYSTEM IS OPERATION BY PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF RESPONSE 5154 FROM SVP DRIVER 19 SEND SYSTEM OPERATION STATUS TO 5155 SYSTEM OPERATION CHECK MEANS 2944 BY ASYNCH COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER 12131 THROUGH LINE 25 DISPLAY SYSTEM OPERATION STATUS 5156 MESSAGE ON SCREEN END 5 815 652 Sheet 20 of 23 Sep 29 1998 U S Paten
21. SWITCHING CONTROLLER 12132 CONTROL ASYNCH I F SWITCH 122 TO SWITCH TO ASYNCH I F 123 5124 DETECT SYSTEM DOWN STATE OF COMPUTER TO BE MANAGED BY 5125 NO RESPONSE FROM SVP DRIVER INFORM SYSTEM DOWN TO AUTOMATIC 5126 FAULT INFORMING CONTROLLER 12142 CONTROL ASYNCH I F 123 AND MODEM 261 BY ASYNCH COMMUNICATION 5127 CONTROLLER 12131 TO CONNECT MODEM 262 THROUGH LINE 25 INFORM SYSTEM DOWN TO AUTOMATIC FAULT INFORMATION RECEIVING MEANS 2931 BY ASYNCH COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER 12131 THROUGH REMOTE ASYNCH I F 123 LINE 25 AND ASYNCH I F 28 5128 DISPLAY SYSTEM DOWN MESSAGE OF COMPUTER 10 TO BE MANAGED ON 5129 SCREEN TO INFORM IT TO USER END U S Patent Sep 29 1998 Sheet 17 of 23 5 815 652 FIG 19 FAULT DIAGNOSIS ISSUE FAULT INFORMATION ACQUIRE 5131 REQUEST TO FAULT DIAGNOSING MEANS 2932 SEND FAULT INFORMATION ACQUIRE REQUEST TO FAULT MONITOR 12111 THROUGH ASYNCH I F 28 LINE 25 ASYNCH I F 123 AND 5132 ASYNCH COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER 12131 SEND STATUS OF FAULT SIGNAL OF HOUSING TEMPERATURE SENSOR ETC AS FAULT INFORMATION TO FAULT DIAGNOSING MEANS 2932 BY ASYNCH COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER 12131 THROUGH LINE 25 9133 SEND ENTIRE FAULT LOG INFORMATION ACQUIRE REQUEST TO FAULT LOG 5134 RECORDER 12113 THROUGH LINE 25 AND ASYNCH COMMUNICATION CONTROLLER 12131 SEND ENTIRE FAULT LOG TO FAULT DIAGNOSING MEANS 2932 BY ASYNCH COMMUNICATION 5135 CONTROLLER 12131 THROUGH LINE 25 DIS
22. United States Patent ro Ote et al US005815652A 5 815 652 Sep 29 1998 1 Patent Number 4 Date of Patent 54 COMPUTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 75 Inventors Ichiro Ote Chigasaki Hiroshi Furukawa Yokohama Hiroaki Washimi Chigasaki Yuichi Kobayashi Kawasaki Shigeru Sakurai Zama Teiji Karasaki Yuji Miyagawa both of Owariasahi Masami Murai Hadano Tsunehiro Tobita Yokohama all of Japan 73 Assignee Hitachi Ltd Tokyo Japan 21 Appl No 655 482 22 Filed May 30 1996 30 Foreign Application Priority Data 5 592 675 1 1997 Itoh et al 395 750 5 596 628 1 1997 Klein 379 93 5 600 788 2 1997 Lofgren et al 395 183 07 5 603 038 2 1997 Crump et al 395 750 5 636 341 6 1997 Matsushita et al 395 183 01 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Transistor Technology Special No 9 CQ Publishing Co pp 36 39 and 42 45 EISA Specification Version 3 12 pp 292 293 Pentium Family User s Manual vol 1 Data Book 1994 pp 30 4 and 30 5 Intel Networking Networking Components 82595TX Eth ernet 1995 pp 1 8 to 1 11 Primary Examiner Robert W Beausoliel Jr Assistant Examiner Scott T Baderman Attorney Agent or Firm Antonelli Terry Stout amp Kraus
23. When the configuration information managing means 1731 receives the acquire request it collects the information on the configuration and the status of the network OS and the devices such as the number of CPUs and the capacity of the memory and the disk from the network OS 161 the network driver 201 the disk driver 21 the fault monitor driver 31 and the SVP driver 19 and sends it back to the configuration information display setting means 24131 The configuration information display setting means 24131 displays the sent back information on the screen On the other hand when the configuration information management means 1731 receives the setting request it sends the setting request to the network OS 161 and the drivers to change the setting In accordance with the present invention the fault moni toring and the power control of the computers connected by the LAN as well as the public line may be centrally and uniformly conducted through the agent by the remote access function of the network OS in the same manner as that through the LAN and the burden of the computer manage ment by the system operator on the wide network is signifi cantly reduced The fault which may lead to the critical fault such as the abnormal temperature of the housing the error in the power unit the stop of the fan and the error in the disk may be systematically monitored in an early stage as the fault warning and the system fault may be prevented by the pre coun
24. a remote management computer 27 numerals 261 and 262 denote modems for connecting the line numeral 28 denotes an asynchronous I F for connecting the remote management computer 27 to the modems and numeral 29 denotes an SVP manager directly connected to the SVP board for controlling the power on off and monitoring a critical fault The remote management computer 27 and the computer 10 to be managed are connected over the line 25 and it is totally equivalent to the management computer connected by the LAN 22 due to the remote access functions 1611 and 1631 although it is of lower speed and a transparent network environment is provided The manager 242 is a management unit used when it is connected to the computer 10 to be managed by the remote access functions and it may be of identical configuration to that of the manager 241 By virtue of the remote access function a transparent system man agement including the public line is attained A fault management 2421 of the manager 242 manages a steady fault which does not lead to a critical fault during the connection by the remote access function The fault man agement 2421 is connected to the agent 17 by the remote access function 1611 from the remote access function 1631 via the line and manages the fault of the computer 10 to be managed through the agent 17 The power management 2422 also manages the power supply of the computer 10 to be managed through the agent 17 The agent 17 receives
25. anager for managing the fault of the devices of the computer 10 to be managed in the agent 17 numeral 1711 denotes fault monitor means for accessing the status monitor driver 31 the network driver 201 and the disk driver 21 to monitor the status of the devices and determine the abnormal state to generate the fault event numeral 1712 denotes fault log record means for recording the fault log of the fault event in the disk and numeral 1713 denotes a fault warning generation means for sending the fault event to the manager 241 as the fault warning Numeral 172 denotes an automatic operation manager for managing the automatic operation of the computer 10 to be managed in the agent 17 numeral 1721 denotes automatic operation schedule management means for storing schedule informa tion for one year for example for the automatic operation in the disk and controlling the automatic operation of the computer 10 to be managed in accordance with the schedule and numeral 1722 denotes shut down means for issuing a shut down request to the network OS 161 in response to the power off request Numeral 173 denotes a configuration information manager for acquiring and setting the configu ration and the status of the devices and the network OS 161 from the fault monitor driver 31 and the SVP driver 19 Numeral 2411 denotes a fault manager of the manager for providing the fault management user interface numeral 24111 denotes fault warning display means for display
26. bodiment of hardware of the SVP board 12 is explained Numeral 1201 denotes a local processor of the SVP board 12 which is independent from the CPU 52 of the computer 10 to be managed Numeral 1202 denotes a n SVP interface control circuit by which the local processor 1201 inputs a status of the signal from the signals sent as the information on the fault from the sensors for monitoring the fault of the computer 10 to be monitored The sensor may be a sensor for 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 monitoring the abnormal temperature of the housing a sensor for monitoring the stop of a fan a sensor for monitoring an error in the power unit a sensor for moni toring the fault of a peripheral device board connected to the bus and a sensor for monitoring a disk drive particularly hard disk drives of a disk array Numeral 1203 denotes a line control circuit for control ling the modem 261 connected to the line 25 to conduct the communication Numeral 1204 denotes a power control circuit for controlling the power unit 13 to control the power on off of the computer 10 to be managed The SVP board 12 is continuously supplied from the sub power supply 131 Numeral 1205 denotes a PROM for storing a start program of the SVP board and numeral 1206 denotes a rewritable EEPROM for storing a program of the SVP controller 121 and the fault log information Numeral 1207 denotes an SRAM which is used as a work area to e
27. cessor of said computer to be managed by line switching means of said SVP manager by an instruction by a user so that said manager of said managing computer and said agent of said computer to be managed are connected to the network via the public line through said network OS and a remote access function from the state in which said SVP manager and said SVP are connectable through the public line whereby the user is allowed to manage said computer to be managed by said managing computer 5 10 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 18 18 A computer management system according to claim 17 further comprising line connection monitoring means for monitoring the disconnection of the public line connection after the start of said remote access function wherein when the user shuts down the management of said computer to be managed by said manager and the line of said remote access function is disconnected and shut down upon disconnection of the line said line connection monitoring means controls said line switch ing control means to switch said asynchronous inter face switching circuit to the local processor of said SVP and said manager returns the connection to an initial state connectable to said SVP 19 A computer management system according to claim 11 further comprising a power control circuit in said SVP for controlling a power supply unit of said computer to be managed power control means in said SVP for controllin
28. chart of FIG 13 the user sends a fault log request by the fault log display means 24212 of the manager 232 to the agent 17 through the remote access function 1631 while the remote access connection is established by the remote access func tion 1631 steps 5071 5072 The a gent 17 sends the fault log logged in the file back to the manager and displays it on 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 the screen by the fault log display means 24212 steps 5073 5074 In this manner the user may analyze the status of the computer from the fault history to prevent the critical fault or derive the analysis data for the cause of fault The power control of the computer 10 by the manager 242 is now explained The power manager 2422 of the manager 242 comprises power off means 24222 and a preset time power on off means 24211 For the power off means 24222 as shown in the flow chart of FIG 14 the user sends a power off request by the power off means 24222 to the agent 17 by the remote access function 1631 steps 5081 5082 The agent 17 issues a system shut down request to the network OS 161 and after the system has been shut down it sends the power off request to the power controller 12122 of the SVP board 12 through the SVP driver 19 The power controller 12122 receives the power off request and controls the power unit 13 to immediately turn off the power steps 5083 5086 For the preset time power on off set
29. eans 24122 of the manager 241 sends the power off request to the shut down means 1722 of the agent 17 through the LAN 22 Then the shut down means 1722 issues the shut down request to the network OS 161 After the shut down process when the shut down completion notice is received by the power off driver 33 from the network OS 161 the power off driver 33 sets the power off to the power unit 13 to power off the computer 10 to be managed The automatic operation management is now explained The automatic operation schedule setting means 24121 of the manager causes the user to set the automatic operation schedule of the computer 10 to be managed through the graphic user interface such as a calendar and sends the automatic operation schedule information to the schedule management means 1721 of the agent 17 When the auto matic schedule management means 1721 receives the sched ule information it stores it in the disk and automatically operates the computer 10 to be managed in accordance with the schedule information In order to attain the power off at the preset time of the schedule information the automatic operation schedule management means 1721 searches the nearest future power off time from the schedule information stored in the disk when the computer 10 to be managed is powered on and the agent 17 is executed and sends it as the preset time power off request to the SVP board 12 through the SVP driver 19 When the preset power off request ti
30. ence of the critical fault 8 A computer management system according to claim 7 further comprising automatic fault information reception means for display ing a system down message on a screen in response to the notice from said automatic fault informing control means of said SVP upon occurrence of the critical fault in said computer to be managed fault diagnosing means for sending a fault signal line information acquire request from the sensors of said computer to be managed to said fault monitoring means of said SVP by an instruction by the user sending a fault history acquire request to said fault logging means of said SVP and displaying the acquired fault informa tion on the screen to support the fault diagnosis of the user remote reset means for sequentially sending a power off request and a power on request to said power control means by an instruction of the user to remotely reset the system and system operation check means for sending a system operation check request to said OS status monitoring means of said SVP to acquire information on the operation status of the system and displaying the infor mation on the screen 9 A computer management system according to claim 1 further comprising a status monitoring circuit in said computer to be man aged for monitoring hardware status and fault of said computer to be managed an interface in said computer to be managed for allowing said agent to acquire the information on
31. er on off means 292 sends the power on or power off request to the power controller 12122 through the asynchro nous I F 128 the line 25 the asynchronous I F 123 and the asynchronous communication controller 12131 hereinafter the same route is abbreviated as the line 25 step 5012 For the power on request the power controller 12122 controls the power unit 13 to immediately turn on the power step 5013 On the other hand for the power off request the power controller 12122 temporarily sends the power off request to the agent 17 through the SVP driver 19 step 5014 The agent 17 issues a system shut down request to the network OS 161 and after the system is shut down sends the power off request to the power controller 12122 of the SVP board 12 through the SVP driver 19 The power controller 12122 receives the power off request and it now immediately controls the power unit 13 to turn off the power steps 5015 5018 For the line switching as shown in FIG 8 the asynchro nous interface switching circuit 22 connected to the SVP is switched to the main unit The user issues a line switch request to the line switching means 2911 step 5021 The line switching means 2911 sends the line switch request to the line switching controller 12132 through the line 25 step 5022 The line switching controller 12132 controls the switching circuit 22 of the asynchronous interface 22 to switch the line to the asynchronous I F 124 step 5023 The line
32. f said SVP and an asynchronous interface accessible by a CPU of said computer to be managed as an asynchronous interface connected to a modem line switching control means for controlling the switching of said asynchronous interface switching circuit asynchronous communication control means for control ling the asynchronous interface and the modem for connecting the SVP manager of said managing com puter to said SVP through the public line in response to the selection of the asynchronous interface connected to the local processor of said SVP by said line switch ing means and line connection monitoring means for controlling said line switching controller in response to the disconnection of the public line connection to switch said asynchronous interface switch to the local processor of said SVP 16 A computer management system according to claim 15 wherein said SVP manager includes line connection means for connecting said computer to be managed directly to said SVP from said SVP manager through the public line and line switching mens for sending an asynchronous inter face switching request to said line switching control means of said SVP 17 A computer management system according to claim 15 wherein said asynchronous interface switching circuit of said SVP is set to select an asynchronous interface con nected to the local processor of said SVP as an initial state and then set to select an asynchronous interface accessible by a pro
33. fault warning to said manager through said network 6 A computer management system according to claim 1 wherein said manager of said managing computer includes a fault manager comprising fault warning display means for displaying the fault event sent from said agent on a screen as the fault warning to provide warning to a user and fault log display means for sending a fault history acquire request for the record in a recorder of said agent to said agent by an instruction from a user and displaying the fault history sent from said agent on a screen 7 A computer management system according to claim 5 further comprising main unit OS status monitoring means for periodically communicating with said agent executed on said com puter to be managed to determine a normal operation of said computer to be managed and the system down by the presence or absence of a response from said com puter to be managed and requesting a response to said agent in response to a system operation check request of said manager to determine an operation status of the system by the presence or absence of a response from said computer to be managed and informing the status to said manager and automatic fault informing control means for connecting to said manager of said managing computer by asynchro nous communication control means in response to notification from said main unit OS status monitoring means upon occurrence of critical fault for informing the occurr
34. g said power control circuit by a request from said SVP manager to control the turn on off of the power of said computer to be managed and remote reset means in said SVP manager connected to said SVP via a public line by said SVP through an asynchronous interface for sequentially sending a power off request and a power on request to said power control means to remotely reset said computer to be managed 20 A computer management system comprising at least two computers connected by a network a network operating system OS adapted to be executed on each of said computers for controlling data transfer between the computers connected to said network and a file system service on said network a manager operating on at least one computer serving as a management computer of said computers connected by said network for managing at least configuration and fault of the other computer as a computer to be managed of said computers connected by said net work an agent on said computer to be managed for monitoring information on said other computer to be managed and controlling said other computer to be managed in accordance with an instruction from said manager sent through said network an extended board connected to an I O bus of said computer to be managed said extended board includ ing a processor independent from said computer to be managed for monitoring the occurrence of fault in said computer to be managed sending fault informati
35. ing the fault warning from the fault warning generation means 1713 on the screen of the management computer numeral 24112 denotes a fault log display means for displaying the fault log recorded in the fault log record means 1712 on the screen numeral 2412 denotes a manager operation manager for providing a user interface of the automatic operation numeral 24121 denotes automatic operation schedule setting means for setting the schedule in the automatic schedule management means 1721 numeral 24122 denotes power off means for turning off the power of the computer 10 to be managed by the means 1722 numeral 2413 denotes a manager configuration information manager for providing a 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 user interface of the configuration information management and numeral 24131 denotes configuration information dis play setting means for displaying and setting the configu ration information on the screen through the configuration information management means 1731 Other configuration is same as that of the embodiment of FIG 1 In the present embodiment the agent 17 directly accesses the status monitor circuit 30 without routing the SVP 12 to monitor the status of the hardware to determine the hardware fault such as the abnormal temperature of the housing the stop of the fan and the error in the power unit The fault monitor means 1711 of the agent 17 accesses the status detection circuit
36. ircuit of the asynchronous interface is set to select the processor of the SVP board Accordingly when a critical fault occurs in the computer to be managed and the network OS and the agent cannot operate the SVP manager is remotely con nected to the SVP mode directly to diagnose the fault and remotely reset Other objects features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from reading the following detailed description of the embodiments taken in conjunc tion with the accompanying drawings BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS 1A and 1B collectively show a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention FIG 2 shows a block diagram of a prior art system configuration 10 15 20 25 30 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 FIG 3 shows a block diagram of a remote access function FIG 4 shows a block diagram for illustrating a problem in the prior art FIGS 5A and 5B collectively show a block diagram of a detail of the embodiment FIG 6 shows a flow chart of a line connection procedure FIG 7 shows a flow chart of a remote power ON OFF procedure FIG 8 shows a flow chart of a line switching procedure FIG 9 shows a flow chart of a remote access procedure FIG 10 shows a flow chart of a remote access discon nection procedure FIG 11 shows a flow chart of a fault warning fault logging procedure FIG 12 shows a flow chart of a fault logging procedure FIG 13 show
37. it 13 through the power controller 12122 to turn on the power step 5112 The critical fault manager 293 of the SVP manager 29 is now explained The critical fault manager 293 comprises automatic fault information reception means 2931 fault diagnosing means 2932 remote reset means 2933 and system operation check means 2944 for providing diagnosis based on the information the resetting and the initial coun termeasures from the remote management computer 27 when the critical fault occurs in the computer 10 to be managed As shown in the flow chart of FIG 18 when the critical fault occurs in the computer 10 to be managed and the remote access connection is made between the remote access function 1631 and the remote access function 1611 the line is disconnected by the remote access function 1631 because of the absence of the response by the remote access function 1611 steps 5121 5122 During the remote access connection the line connection monitor 12133 monitors the disconnection of the line by the carrier signal of the modem 261 of the asynchronous I F driver 125 When it detects the 5 815 652 9 disconnection of the line it sends the line switching request to the line switching controller 12132 to switch the asyn chronous I F switch 122 to the asynchronous I F 123 steps 5123 5124 When the remote access connection is not established the steps 5122 5124 are skipped The OS status monitor 12141 of the main unit periodically commu
38. ks which store processor readable programs to implement the corresponding functions shown in the flow charts FIGS 23A 23B and 24 show a modification of the embodiment of FIG 1 The modified embodiment of FIGS 23A and 23B as compared with FIG 1 includes in the agent 17 of the computer 10 to be managed a fault manager 171 an automatic operation manager 172 and a configuration man ager 173 details of which are shown in FIG 24 Further a status monitor circuit 30 and a status monitor driver 31 are provided A manager of the management computer 23 and a manager 242 of the remote management computer 27 include configuration managers 2413 and 2423 and auto matic operation managers 2412 and 2422 respectively Referring to FIGS 23A 23B and 24 an embodiment of the fault management the automatic operation management and the configuration management focused at the agent 17 is explained In FIG 23 a numeral 30 denotes a status monitor circuit for monitoring the status and error of the devices of the computer 10 to be managed such as the temperature of the housing the operation status of the fan and the operating status of the power unit numeral 31 denotes a status monitor driver for accessing the status monitor circuit 30 to acquire the information in the status of the devices and numeral 32 denotes a power off driver for controlling the power unit 13 to turn off the power of the computer 10 to be managed Numeral 171 denotes a fault m
39. me is reached during the operation of the computer 10 to be managed the SVP board 12 sends the power off request to 5 815 652 13 the shut down process 1722 of the agent 17 through the SVP driver 19 The shut down process 1722 shuts down the network OS 161 and then powers off the computer 10 to be managed in the same manner as the power off of the manager 241 On the other hand in order to attain the preset time power on of the schedule information the automatic operation schedule management means 1721 searches the nearest future power on time from the schedule information stored in the disk during the shut down process and sends it as the preset time power on request to the SVP board 12 through the SVP driver 19 When the power on request time is reached during the power off of the computer 10 to be managed the SVP board 12 controls the power unit 13 to immediately turn on the power The configuration information management is now explained The configuration information management man ages the information on the configuration and the status of the devices of the computer 10 to be managed and the network OS to provide the reference setting function to the user By the reference setting request from the user the configuration information display means 24131 of the man ager 241 sends the acquire setting request of the configura tion information to the configuration information manage ment means 1731 of the agent 17 through the LAN 22
40. n is established step 5055 It may be considered that the fault log in the SVP is logged as a spare for the loss of the fault log saved in the file by a fault of the disk While the description is addressed to the management in the remote management computer the fault event is of course sent to the manager 241 connected by the LAN When the fault warning is sent the fault warning display means 24211 of the manager 242 displays it on a screen by a graphic user interface such as a fault warning window to immediately inform the occurrence of the fault to the user In this manner the prevention of the critical fault and the reduction of the time to countermeasure the fault are attained step 5056 As shown in the flow chart of FIG 12 the fault event is detected not only in the SVP board but the fault event generated in the disk 15 or the network adaptor 141 are similarly sent from the disk driver 21 or the network driver 201 respectively as it is from the SVP driver 19 and the agent 17 logs it in the file and sends it to the manager 242 steps 5061 5062 For the fault events occurred in other than the SVP board the agent 17 sends the fault event to the fault log recorder 12113 of the SVP board 12 through the SVP diver 19 to save it as the log in the SVP steps 5063 5065 Those fault logs are not only sent to the manger as the warning but also all fault logs may be referred from the manages 241 and 242 as required As shown in the flow
41. ne and the remote management computer is connected to the extended board via the modem and the public line and the fault is monitored by a dedicated manager Such remote monitoring offers the advantage of continuous monitoring of fault because the monitoring of fault and the warning are conducted by a processor inde pendent from the main unit on the extended board even if a critical fault which leads to non operation of the network OS occurs on the computer to be managed see prior art of FIG 2 On the other hand as a recent trend of the network OS which provides the network environment of the CSS in order to expand a range of connection of the network and an application area of the system by not only providing the network functions to a plurality of computers connected by the LAN but also connecting mobile computers and office computers it has been proposed to achieve a remote access function which is totally equivalent to the computers con nected by the LAN between the remote computers con 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 nected by the modem and the public line as shown in FIG 3 to provide a transparent network environment including the public line connection From the application AP oper ating on the network OS it is not necessary to know which of the LAN and the line the low order network is connected by except a communication rate An example of such network OS is the remote access ser
42. nicates with the SVP driver 19 to check from time to time the normal operation of the computer 10 to be managed For the critical fault because of the absence of the response from the SVP driver 19 the system down of the computer 10 to be managed is detected and it is informed to the automatic fault informing controller 12142 steps 5125 5126 The auto matic fault informing controller 12142 connects the line with the remote management computer 27 by the asynchro nous communication controller 12131 by the previously registered telephone number to inform the system down to the automatic fault information reception means 2931 of the SVP manager 29 steps 5127 5128 The automatic fault information reception means 2931 displays the system down message of the computer 10 to be managed to inform it to the user step 5129 As shown in the flow chart of FIG 19 in the fault diagnosis the user who received the information of the critical fault issues the fault information acquire request to the fault diagnosing means 2932 step 5131 The fault diagnosing means 2932 requests the fault signal information to the fault monitor 12111 of the SVP 12 through the line 25 and the entire log information to the fault log recorder 12113 acquires them through the line 25 and displays them on the screen steps 5132 5136 The user may watch them to confirm the current status of the commuter 10 to be monitored and also confirm the history to the critical fault
43. ntrolling the ON OFF of the power supply unit and control means therefor The SVP manger is provided with line switching means for sending the switch request of the switching circuit of the asynchronous interface in synchronism with the user opera tion In the power off status of the computer to be managed the switching circuit of the asynchronous interface of the SVP board is set to select the processor of the SVP board The SVP board is always kept operative by a sub power supply even when the power supply of the main unit is off Accordingly the SVP manager can always be directly con nected to the SVP board so that the power on request may be sent to the power control circuit of the SVP board to remotely turn on the power supply of the main unit In the normal operation state after the power on of the computer to be managed the switching circuit of the asyn chronous interface is set to select the asynchronous interface accessible from the computer to be managed by the line switching means of the SVP manager Thus since the network OS can be connected by the remote access function of the management computer and the remote access function of the computer to be managed the fault monitoring and the power control may be conducted remotely by the manager through the agent When the connection by the remote access function is disconnected by the line connection monitoring means or the connection is disconnected by the fault the switching c
44. on to said agent through said I O bus and a service processor SVP for controlling a power supply of said computer to be managed by an instruction from said agent and automatic operation schedule management means in said agent for holding schedule information to automati cally operate said computer to be managed and con trolling said SVP in accordance with the scheduling information to automatically turn on and off the power supply of said computer to be managed
45. red including a sensor for moni toring the stop of a fan a sensor for monitoring an abnormal temperature of a housing a sensor for moni toring an error in a power supply unit a sensor for monitoring a fault in a peripheral device board con nected to said I O bus and a sensor for monitoring a fault in hard disk drives of a disk array and signal lines for sending information on the fault from said sensors to said SVP board 4 A computer management system according to claim 3 wherein said SVP includes a fault monitor comprising fault monitoring means for monitoring various faults of said computer to be monitored by said signal lines from said sensors fault event generation means for generating a fault event to inform the fault to said agent through said I O bus in response to the occurrence of the fault and sending the fault event to said agent and fault logging means for recording the fault event as fault log 5 A computer management system according to claim 4 wherein said computer to be managed comprises a device driver for sending the fault occurred in peripheral devices including a disk drive and a network adaptor to said agent as the fault event 5 815 652 15 wherein said agent collects the fault event from said device driver or said SVP records the fault event on a disk as fault history sends the fault event to said fault logging means of said SVP records the fault event in said SVP as the fault history and sends
46. s a flow chart of a fault log display procedure FIG 14 shows a flow chart of a power off procedure FIG 15 shows a flow chart of a preset time power on off time setting procedure FIG 16 shows a flow chart of a preset time power off procedure FIG 17 shows a flow chart of a preset time power on procedure FIG 18 shows a flow chart of an automatic fault inform ing procedure FIG 19 shows a flow chart of a fault diagnose procedure FIG 20 shows a flow chart of a remote reset procedure FIG 21 shows a flow chart of a system operation confir mation procedure FIG 22 show a block diagram of an embodiment of hardware of the SVP board and FIGS 23A 23B and 24 show block diagrams of other embodiment which is a modification of the embodiment of FIG 1 and detail of the modification DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS 1A and 1B show in a group a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention A configuration thereof is now explained Numeral 10 denotes a computer to be managed numeral 11 denotes hardware of the computer to be managed numeral 12 denotes an SVP board numeral 121 denotes an SVP controller which is firmware for controlling by a processor of the SVP numeral 122 denotes a switching circuit of an asynchronous interface numeral 123 denotes an asynchronous interface hereinafter referred to as an asyn chronous I F connected to the processor of the SVP board numeral 124 deno
47. setting a power on off time to a real time clock circuit respon sive to a notice of a power on off time from said real time clock circuit for controlling said power control circuit by said power control means to turn on the power of said computer to be managed at the power on time and at the power off time sending a system 5 815 652 17 shut down request to said network OS through said agent and after the shut down of the system operation turning off the power by said power control means 13 A computer management system according to claim 11 wherein said SVP manager includes remote power on off means connected directly to said SVP through a public line for sending a power on off request to power control means of said SVP in response to an instruction from a user 14 A computer management system according to claim 12 wherein said management computer comprises power on off means for sending a power on off request to said power control means of said SVP through said agent con nected to said network in response to an instruction from the user and preset time power on off means for sending a preset time power on off request to said preset time power control means of said SVP through said agent in response to an instruction from the user 15 A computer management system according to claim 11 further comprising an asynchronous interface switching circuit for selecting one of an asynchronous interface connected to a local processor o
48. t 9 H3MOd ans oa je LINDYIO JOHINOO H3MOd SEN 55 Dou TEE L JL Ew LINDYID LINDYID JOHLINOO lHOd VIH3S 9 YALSVW snd Vsia O13 WWNDIS SOVSYSLNI dAS WHV v 81 1 202 1021 Dilda sna vsia IG LINN eS 5 815 652 Sheet 21 of 23 Sep 29 1998 U S Patent 862 Old MHOMLAN XHOMISN 20 YOLINOW HOLINOW 110v3 SNLYLS WOLD E XHOMI3N YSAI d3AIHO HOLINOW H3AlJHG dAS SALVLS ASIQ NOILONNSA SS329Vv 310N3H H3 LC0 dNOO ONIOVNVIN H3OVNVW NOILVHNDISNOO NOLO OLLVWOLnV CLL GSDVNVW 38 OL YALNdWOD vez Old vez Did 5 815 652 Sheet 22 of 23 Sep 29 1998 U S Patent 8c 292 NOILONN 43 SS309V_ SLOWSY H3OVNVN H3O9VNVIN 17074 WOoOILIHO H3OVNVIN dAS H3OVNVMW NOIL VH3dO OILVNOLAV dv67 NOILLVYNDISNOD YALNdWOO ONIOVNVIN 3 LOW3H gez Old 5 815 652 Sheet 23 of 23 Sep 29 1998 U S Patent 0 SNLVLS L X 6l EE HO
49. tching 5 367 667 11 1994 Wahlquist et al 395 183 07 an asynchronous interface for remotely connecting to the 5 455 932 10 1995 Major et al 395 184 01 to be managed and an asynchronous interface for 5 465 349 11 1995 Geronimi et al 395 184 01 directly connecting to a local processor of the service 5 511 191 4 1996 de Leeuw van Weenen et al 395 184 01 processor 5 515 418 5 1996 Yamaguchi et al 370 216 5 577 112 11 1996 Cambray et al 379 216 20 Claims 23 Drawing Sheets 27 COMPUTER TO BE MANAGED REMOTE MANAGING COMPUTER 294 SVP MANAGER MANAGER 7242 je MANAGER 292 manager 2421 293 201 10 291 ONER 2422 MANAGING I L COMPUTER inven NETWORK OS lc gal es 241 15 ON 1631 141 2121 Edd NETWORK 162 INTERFACE N 755 I ASYNCH ASYNCH 202 NETWORK POWER OWER 13 SUB 262 142 NTERFACE POM 1211212 1213 12 28 5 COMPUTER HARDWARE 11 131 5 LAN 5 815 652 Sheet 1 of 23 Sep 29 1998 U S Patent E3NUG JAS SIO NOILONN4 55 JLOWJY Q39VNVW 38 OL H3l dWOO Vi 7013 CG SOVAYSALNI MYOMLAN YALNdWOO 5 815 652 Sheet 2 of 23 Sep 29 1998 U S Patent 8 292 NOILONNS SS300V
50. termeasures Further once the critical fault occurs and the computer is system downed the system operator may immediately receive the information through the public line or the network and the information on the fault may be acquired and the remote power off the remote resetting and the confirmation of the system operation after the remote power off can be attained so that the initial countermeasures to the critical fault may be immediately taken In this manner the system down time may be reduced and the damage by the fault may be minimized Further the auto matic preset time power on off and the remote power on off control may be attained through the LAN and the public network and the central operation management of the com puters connected to the network is attained the burden of the system operator is reduced and the remote operation main tenance is supported 10 15 20 25 30 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 What is claimed is 1 A computer management system comprising at least two computers connected by a network a network operating system OS adapted to be executed on each of said computers for controlling data transfer between the computers connected to said network and a file system service on said network a manager operating on at least one computer serving as a management computer of said computers connected by said network for managing at least configuration and fault of the other computer as
51. tes an asynchronous I F accessible by the computer 10 to be managed numeral 13 denotes a power unit numeral 131 denotes a sub power supply for continu ously supplying a power to the SVP board numerals 141 and 142 denote LAN adapters numeral 15 denotes a disk drive numerals 161 162 and 163 denote network OSs for con ducting communication by the computers numerals 1611 and 1631 denotes remote access functions for connecting the network OSs through a public line numeral 17 denotes an agent for monitoring fault of the computer 10 to be managed and managing the power control numerals 181 and 182 denote line drivers for enabling the remote access functions 1611 and 1631 to access the public line respectively numeral 19 denotes an SVP driver for exchanging data 5 815 652 5 between the agent 17 and the SVP board 12 numerals 201 and 202 denote network drivers for controlling the network adapters 141 and 142 respectively numeral 21 denotes a disk driver for driving the disk drive 15 numeral 22 denotes a LAN local area network for connecting the management computer and the computer to be managed numeral 23 denotes the management computer connected to the com puter to be managed through the LAN numerals 241 and 242 denote managers connected to the agent via the network OSs 161 162 and 163 for managing the computer 10 to be managed numeral 25 denotes a public line for connecting the computer 10 to be managed or the SVP board 12 and
52. the hardware status from said status monitoring circuit 20 25 35 45 50 55 60 65 16 fault monitoring means in said agent for acquiring the information on the hardware status of said computer to be managed from said status monitoring circuit through said SVP or said interface to determine fault state to generate a fault event fault log recording means in said SVP for recording the fault event as fault log and fault warning generation means in said SVP for sending the fault event to said manager as fault warning 10 Acomputer management system according to claim 1 further comprising an interface between said network OS and devices in said computer to be managed and said agent and configuration information managing means in said agent for managing acquirement and setting of information on configuration and status of said network OS and said devices 11 A computer management system comprising at least two computers connected by a network a network operating system OS adapted to be executed on each of said computers for controlling data transfer between the computers connected to said network and a file system service on said network a manager operating on at least one computer serving as a management computer of said computers connected by said network for managing at least configuration and fault of the other computer as a computer to be managed of said computers connected by said net work an
53. ting as shown in the flow chart of FIG 15 the power on off request time which is set by the user by the preset time power control means 24221 is sent to the agent 17 by the remote access function 1631 steps 5091 5092 The agent 17 sends the power on off request time to the preset time power controller 12121 of the SVP board 12 The preset time power controller 12121 sets the power on off request time to the RTC real time clock steps 5093 5095 For the preset time power off as shown in the flow chart of FIG 16 when the preset power off request time is reached the RTC 127 informs the arrival of the power off request time to the preset time power controller 12121 step 5101 The preset time power controller 12121 sends the power off request to the agent through the SVP driver step 5102 The agent 17 issues the system shut down request to the network OS 161 and after the system has been shut down it sends the power off request to the power controller 12122 of the SVP board 12 through the SVP driver 19 The power controller 12122 receives the power off request and immediately controls the power unit 13 to turn off the power steps 5103 5106 For the preset time power on as shown in the flow chart of FIG 17 when the preset power on request time is reached the RTC 127 informs the arrival of the power on request time to the preset time power controller 12121 step 5111 The preset time power controller 12121 controls the power un
54. utomatically dials by the line controller 1213 to inform the occurrence of the 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 60 65 6 critical fault to the critical fault manager 293 of the SVP manager 29 through the line 25 FIGS 5A and 5B show in a group a detailed block diagram for illustrating configurations and a relation of the SVP board the SVP manager and the manager FIGS 6 to 21 show flow charts of the operations of the respective control means Referring to FIGS 1 5 and the flow charts of FIGS 6 through 21 detailed controls of the embodiment are explained As shown in the flow chart of FIG 6 a user first enters a telephone number of the computer 10 to be managed to the line connection means 2912 and a line connection request is sent from the SVP manager 29 to the SVP board 12 step 5001 The line connection means 2912 controls the modem 262 through the asynchronous I F 28 and connects the modem 261 to the line via the line 25 step 5002 Thus the communication from the SVP manager 29 to the SVP board through the asynchronous communication controller 1231 is established In the following description it is assumed that this line connection has already been established in any access from the SVP manager to the SVP board The remote power on off is now explained As shown in the flow chart of FIG 7 the user issues a power on or power off request to the remote power on off means 292 step 5011 The remote pow
55. vice RAS performed in Windows NT trade mark of the Microsoft Inc US which is becoming a standard function of the future network OS Accordingly the management system for the LAN may be introduced to the line connected remote computer and uniform management may be attained In the above prior art system which is focused on the fault monitoring no attention is paid to the remote access func tion of the network OS Thus when the system management similar to that of the computer which is LAN connected to the remote computer connected to the public line by utilizing the remote access function is to be conducted a remote management computer for managing the system through the agent by utilizing the remote access function a line and a modem for the connection thereof a remote management computer directly connected to the fault monitoring extended board for management and a line and a modem for the connection thereof are required Two management computers two lines and two modems are required on the management computers and two lines and two modems are required on the computer to be managed This may cause a problem in the operation As to the prior art reference is made to U S Pat No 5 367 670 to Ward et al and U S Pat No 5 410 706 to Ferrand et al SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The system management which is conducted by the manager of the remote management computer through the agent of the computer to be managed as it is in the LAN
56. xecute the control program of the SVP program The SVP controller 121 controls the by the local processor 1201 as the control program on the EEPROM 1206 and the SRAM 1207 Numeral 1208 denotes a local bus for connecting the memory and the peripheral circuit to the local processor 1201 Numeral 52 denotes a CPU of the computer 10 to be managed and numeral 51 denotes an EISA bus of the main unit for connecting the SVP board 12 and the main unit Numeral 1241 denotes a serial port controller accessible from the main unit CPU 52 and operates as an asynchronous I F by which the main unit CPU 52 is connected to the modem 261 through the EISA bus 51 Numeral 1251 denotes an RS232C driver circuit for connecting the modem 261 and the SVP board The local processor 1201 monitors the carrier signal of the modem 261 from the RS232C driver circuit 1251 to monitor the connection status of the line Numeral 1261 denotes an EISA bus master control circuit by which the local processor 1201 accesses the I O of the computer 10 to be monitored and the memory through the EISA bus 51 A relation between the embodiment of FIG 5 and the block diagram of FIG 22 is now explained The bus controller 1215 controls the EISA bus master control circuit 1261 corresponding to the bus control circuit 126 and exchanges data such as the fault event data with the SVP driver 19 and the agent 17 The fault monitor 12111 receives the alarm signal such as the abnormal temperature of the

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