JPH05303509A - Stand-by machine control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry on a transaction by switching to a stand-by machine if an in-use machine enters a system-down state by disconnecting the power source when the system diagnoses itself to judge the normalcy of the stand-by machine. CONSTITUTION:In the system provided additionally with the stand-by machine 2 which carries on the transaction as a substitute for the in-use machine if the in-use machine becomes abnormal, self-diagnoses of the in-use machine and stand-by machine 2 are taken in parallel at the time of, for example, initial powering-ON operation, but when the stand-by machine 2 is in a stand-by state, the power source of the stand-by machine 2 is temporarily turned on by a powering-ON means 3a when necessary. When the transaction ends normally, a powering-OFF means 3b turns off the power source of the stand-by machine 2, which enters the stand-by state, but when the transaction ends abnormally, a warning means 5 generates a warning. Consequently, the stand-by machine 2 in the stand-by state can easily diagnose itself at any time from any place not to mention the initial powering-ON operation, and can be put in the stand-by state by being powered off in the normal state to reduce the power consumption, thereby preventing the device, components, etc., from deteriorating.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a standby machine control system for always maintaining the standby machine in a normal state in a system provided with the standby machine.

In recent years, computer systems have become larger in scale,
Higher system speed is required along with higher speed.

In order to meet such a demand, a system having a spare machine and improved reliability by switching to the spare machine and continuing the work when a failure occurs in the working machine is put to practical use. However, there was little consideration for the reliability of the standby machine itself. Therefore, there is a demand for a standby machine control system that improves the reliability of the standby machine itself and has high reliability as a whole system.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a system in which a spare machine is provided to increase the reliability of a system incorporating a computer, and an alarm (buzzer, lamp, etc.) is generated to notify the operator when the system of the current machine is down. Has been. Upon receiving the above warning, the operator took action such as switching the operation from the current machine to the standby machine.

There are two control methods for switching to the standby machine when the current machine is down.

[0006] The first method is a method of switching on by turning on the power supply of the standby machine after the current machine under business processing is down. In this case, since the operator operates after receiving the alarm, the power supply of the standby machine is in the disconnected state until the operator turns it on.

For this reason, even if the mechanical part of the spare machine fails and does not move, or the element or component is broken for some reason, the spare machine remains in standby until the test is performed by switching the power supply to the spare machine. There was a problem that the abnormality of the machine was unknown.

The second method is a method in which the standby machine is always energized while the active machine is operating, and the standby machine is kept in a running state.

In this method, since the standby machine 2 is always in the energized state, it is possible to take swift actions such as quick switching, but it consumes extra power and is wasteful, and parts and devices are also used. Is also a cause of deterioration.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a standby machine which is normally in a standby state with its power supply turned off, and which is promptly switched to the standby machine when the system of the current machine is down. It is to provide a highly reliable and economical standby machine control system that can be switched to continue to execute work.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of a standby machine control system according to the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, the standby machine control system of the present invention has a power-on means 3a for powering on the standby machine 2 while the standby machine 2 is on standby, and a power-on means 3a.
The self-diagnosis means 4 for diagnosing the normality of the standby machine 2 when the power is turned on by the 3b, and an alarm means 5 for issuing an alarm in the case of abnormal termination.

[0013]

The present invention is a system in which an active machine 1 and a standby machine 2 for continuing work on behalf of the active machine 1 when an abnormality occurs in the active machine 1 are installed side by side. The self-diagnosis of the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 is performed in parallel. While the standby machine 2 is on standby, the power of the standby machine 2 is temporarily turned on by the power-on means 3a as necessary, and the self-diagnosis means 4 is activated. The self-diagnosis is automatically performed by the power-off means 3b to turn off the standby unit 2 in the case of normal termination, and when the abnormal termination occurs, the alarm means 5 issues an alarm. is there.

As a result, not only when the power is turned on for the first time, but also when the standby unit 2 is on standby, it is possible to easily perform self-diagnosis at any time and from any place. It is possible to provide an economical and highly reliable standby machine control system that reduces the number and prevents the deterioration of devices and parts.

Further, the standby machine control system is provided with a timer means 24, and when an instruction is given from the timer means 24, the power is turned on by the power-on means 3a, and the self-diagnosis means 4 carries out a self-diagnosis. When the power-off means 3b is instructed to turn off the power when it is finished, and the timer means 24 is instructed to the next power-on time,
In the standby machine 2, self-diagnosis is performed at predetermined intervals.

As a result, the standby machine 2 can intermittently perform self-diagnosis at a predetermined cycle without giving a command from the outside again, and the standby machine 2 is always kept in a normal state with the power supply turned off to stand by. be able to.

Further, in the above-mentioned standby machine control system, the power source switching means for switching the power sources of the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 is configured to interlock with the interface switching means 21 of the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2. , The switching device can be simplified and the operation can be simplified.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the main part of the spare machine control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Note that the same or corresponding portions as those in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an active machine, which is in charge of business processing. When the power of the working machine 1 is turned on, a self-diagnosis is performed by a program built in an internal memory (not shown). If the work is normally completed, the work program is loaded to perform work processing, and if the work is abnormally ended, Give an alarm.

Reference numeral 2 is a spare machine. The same device as that of the active machine 1 is usually used as the standby machine 2 and is installed side by side.
When the system goes down, it processes the work in place of the current machine.

Since the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 have substantially the same structure, the same reference numerals are used for the respective constituent parts in the following description, and when it is necessary to distinguish them, the "active machine" is used.
Or, the description will be given with the word "spare machine". When the power is turned on, the standby unit 2 performs self-diagnosis by a built-in program (stored in, for example, ROM), cuts off the power and waits for normal termination, and issues an alarm for abnormal termination.

When the system of the active machine 1 is down,
The work is taken over from the current machine 1, and the business process is performed in place of the current machine.

Reference numeral 21 is a switching device. This is a device for changing the connection of the host line and I / O line, the disk device 27, etc. connected to the active machine 1 as shown by the broken line in the figure to switch to the standby machine 2 when the system of the active machine 1 is down. ..

By operating the switching device 21 when the system of the active machine 1 is down, the standby machine 2 loads the operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") and the like from the disk device 27 and connects it to the active machine 1. Continue the business by taking over the existing host line and I / O line.

Reference numeral 22 is a control unit. The control unit 22 is provided inside the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2, respectively. In addition to controlling the entire apparatus, the control unit 22 performs self-diagnosis in the initial stage of the working machine 1 and the standby machine 2 when the power is initially turned on. The self-diagnosis is for diagnosing the normality of the device, and is performed by a program stored in a built-in memory (for example, ROM not shown). The active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 each start self-diagnosis when the power is turned on, and when the result of the self-diagnosis is normal termination, the control unit 22 of each machine has the disk devices 27, 28 connected to it. To OS
To load.

That is, in the case of the active machine 1, as a result of the self-diagnosis, when it is normally terminated, the business processing program is loaded based on the OS loaded from the disk device 27.

The control unit 22 activates this business processing program to control the lines from the host and the I / O to perform business processing.

On the other hand, in the case of the standby unit 2, when the processing is normally completed, the power-off program is loaded and activated based on the OS loaded from the disk device 28. As a result, the power supply controller 23 is driven and the power supply is cut off. As a result of the self-diagnosis, when the device is normally terminated, the determination whether the device is the active device 1 or the standby device 2 is normally performed by the disk devices 27 and 28 connected to the active device 1 and the standby device 2, respectively.
This is done depending on whether or not the OS stored in the OS is loaded with the business processing program. For example, by directly reading the switch set in the model-specific state, It may be configured to determine the model of the control device.

A flag for identifying the active machine 1 or the standby machine 2 may be provided in the OS, and the determination may be made by referring to this flag.

Reference numeral 23 is a power supply controller. Power control unit 23
Are provided inside the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2, respectively, and turn on / off the power according to an instruction from the control unit 22.

Reference numeral 25 is an automatic power supply control device. The automatic power control device 25 turns on / off the power of the active machine 1 or the standby machine 2 by remote control from the outside.

Reference numeral 26 is a power supply control section. Power control unit 26
Is provided in the switching device 21, and receives the control signal from the automatic power supply control device 25 to control the switching of the power supplies of the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2. The power supply control unit 26 switches the power supply in conjunction with the switching of the interface signal in the switching device 21.

Reference numeral 27 is a disk device for performing work.
The disk device 27 stores business processing programs and data, and is usually connected to the active machine 1.

Reference numeral 28 is a disk device for powering off. Normally, it is connected to the standby unit 2 and stores a program for powering off.

Reference numeral 5 is an alarm device. The alarm device 5 is usually installed outside the active device 1 and the standby device 2. As a result of self-diagnosis when the power is turned on, if an abnormal termination occurs, a lamp blinks or an alarm sounds to inform the operator, It is structured to wait for operator's treatment.

Depending on the application such as unmanned operation, the power may be automatically turned off when the alarm sounds.

There are the following three methods of turning on / off the power source in the above configuration.

The method is a method in which the operator directly turns on / off the power. In this case, normally, the power switch operated by the operator is provided in the power control unit 23,
It can also be attached to the automatic power supply controller 25 or the power supply controller 26.

Indicates the occurrence of an abnormality in the active machine 1 or the standby machine 2 and the turning on / off of the power by a timer.
This is the case when the power is turned on / off internally. In this case, the power supply control unit 23 turns on / off the power according to an instruction from the control unit 22.

In the case of turning on / off the power from the outside by remote control or control from another room, etc.
It is operated via the automatic power supply controller 25.

Generally, the power of the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 is turned on.
The disconnection is performed by an operator's power-on instruction or an external (via the automatic power control device 25) power-on instruction.

The first feature of the present embodiment is that when the power is turned on, the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 run in parallel to perform self-diagnosis, and when the operation is completed normally, the active machine 1 continues to perform business processing. However, the standby unit 2 turns off the power and enters a standby state, and always stands by in a normal state.

Therefore, when the system is initially activated, both the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 are powered on.

The second feature is that while the standby unit 2 is turned off and is on standby, the standby unit 2 can be easily powered on from the outside at any time and from anywhere to perform self-diagnosis. This is a point that can be done.

For the power supply operation for this purpose, there are a method operated by an operator and a method operated remotely. The power switch used by the operator can be attached to any of the power control unit 23, the automatic power control device 25, and the power control unit 26. When the power switch is operated from the outside by remote control, it is performed via the automatic power control device 25.

As a result, not only the reliability of the standby machine 2 is improved, but also the economy and labor saving effect are great.

Next, the structure of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the standby machine 2 that is on standby is turned on and off at intervals, and the self-diagnosis is repeated each time.

In this case, the function of each part is substantially the same as that described in the first embodiment, and therefore the differences will be mainly described.

The feature of the second embodiment is that the timer 24 is provided in the power supply controller 23. With this timer 24, the standby unit 2 waiting in the power-off state is automatically started at a predetermined time, and self-diagnosis is performed each time it is started.

In order to repeat the self-diagnosis at a predetermined interval, if the standby unit 2 is normally terminated as a result of the self-diagnosis, the control unit 22 gives the power-supply control unit 23 an instruction to turn off the power source at the next start-up. The time is set in the timer 24.

As a result, the standby machine 2 is self-diagnosed at predetermined intervals by repeating the operation of starting up at a predetermined time and carrying out self-diagnosis when rising up.

As a result, the standby unit 2 can always turn off the power and stand by in a normal state, so that the system can be operated while maintaining high reliability, and there are great economic effects such as power saving.

Also in terms of structure, the disk device 28 of the spare unit 2 can be deleted as will be described later, which also contributes to cost reduction.

Next, a third embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, a power supply control unit 26 for controlling power supply switching between the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 is used as an interface for host lines and I / O lines between the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 and disk devices 27, 28. The switching device 21 for controlling the switching of the power supply is configured to switch the power supply in conjunction with the switching of the interface. With such a configuration, the structure of the switching device 21 can be simplified and downsized, and the operation can be simplified.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention having the above structure will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

When the power is turned on, first, the control unit initial program is loaded (step S1). That is,
The memory (for example, R
The initialization program stored in the OM) is loaded and activated to initialize the stack pointer and registers for self-diagnosis.

Next, in the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2,
Various types of self-diagnosis are carried out (step S2).
The self-diagnosis is for diagnosing the function of each memory and each unit, and the state of the hardware that controls the line / file device.

Subsequently, it is checked whether or not the self-diagnosis is normally completed. (Step S3). Here, if it is determined that the diagnosis result is a normal end, the OS is loaded (step S4). That is, if the diagnosis result is normal end, the control units 22 of the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 are the disk devices 27 connected to the respective file control units,
Issue a 28 OS loading instruction.

Normally, the loaded OS is subsequently programmed to load the business processing program stored in the disk device 27 in the case of the active machine 1, and the disk device 28 in the case of the spare machine 2. It is programmed to load the power down program stored in.

Then, it is checked whether or not the device is the active device 1 (step S5).

That is, the programming state of the OS is checked to determine whether the device is the active device 1 or the standby device 2.

If it is determined that the machine is the active machine 1, the business processing program is started and the business processing is executed.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the backup machine 2 is the standby machine 2, the power-off program is activated, and the control unit 22 instructs the power control unit 23 to turn off the power. As a result, the power supply control unit 23 turns off the power supply and puts it in a standby state.

When it is determined that the result of the self-diagnosis in step S3 is not normal, the buzzer sounds and the alarm lamp lights up (step S6). That is, the control unit 22 issues an alarm with a lamp, a buzzer or the like to notify the operator of the abnormality, waits in that state, and waits for the operator's treatment.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the standby machine 2 performs self-diagnosis at the time of initial start-up, and at the time of standby by a remote operation from the operator or the outside, the self-diagnosis from any time and anywhere. Because you can
System reliability is improved and operability is improved.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The feature of this embodiment is that the power control timer 24
This is because the disk device 28 of the standby machine 2 is not required because the power supply controller 23 is built in, and the power-off procedure does not depend on the OS.

When the power is turned on, first, the control unit initial program is loaded (step S11). That is, an initialization program stored in a memory (for example, ROM) built in the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2 is loaded and activated, and initial settings such as stack pointers and registers for self-diagnosis are performed. ..

Next, in the active machine 1 and the standby machine 2,
Various self-diagnosis is carried out (step S1)
2). The self-diagnosis is for diagnosing the function of each memory and each unit, and the state of the hardware that controls the line / file device.

Then, it is checked whether or not the self-diagnosis is completed normally (step S13).

If it is determined that the process has ended normally, the time to turn off the power is instructed (step S1).
4). That is, if the result of the self-diagnosis is normal termination, the control unit 22 sets the timer 24 of the power supply control unit 23 to the time at which the power of the working machine 1 or the standby machine 2 is cut off.

Then, the next power-on time is designated (step S15).

Then, it is checked whether or not the device is a working device (step S16). That is, the programming state of the OS is checked to determine whether the device is the active device 1 or the standby device 2.
Whether or not it is determined. This is done, for example, by reading a switch set in a model-specific state.

If it is determined that it is not the active machine 1, that is, the standby machine 2, the control unit 22 cannot access the disk because the disk device does not exist and enters the infinite loop (step S20).

Since the power supply control unit 23 is instructed at the power-off time in step S14, the standby machine 2 in an endless loop turns off the power and enters the standby state at the time instructed by the timer 24.

Since the next power-on time has been set in step S15, the standby machine 2 is powered on at a predetermined time and returns to step S11 to start self-diagnosis. Hereinafter, the same operation as described above is repeated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 16 that the machine is the active machine, the OS is loaded (step S17).

Then, the instruction for the power-off time of the active machine 1 is canceled (step S18). That is, the instruction for the power-off time set in step S4 is canceled, the business processing program is subsequently loaded from the disk device 27, and business processing is started.

When it is determined that the result of the self-diagnosis in step S13 is not normal, the buzzer sounds and the alarm lamp is turned on (step S19).

That is, when the self-diagnosis result is abnormal termination, the control unit 22 issues an alarm with a lamp, a buzzer or the like to notify the operator of the abnormality, waits in that state and waits for the operator's treatment. In the case of an unmanned system, the power may be automatically cut off.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the standby unit 2 will perform self-diagnosis at predetermined intervals if the next power-on time is instructed when the power is turned on. The state of the machine 2 can be confirmed, and the standby machine 2 can always be maintained in a good state.

Moreover, since it is not necessary to connect the disk device 28 to the spare device 2, the system can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

[0084]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the standby machine can always stand by in a normal state, wasteful power is not wasted, deterioration of devices and parts can be prevented, and system reliability is improved. It is possible to provide a standby machine control system with improved economy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Working Machine 2 Standby Machine 3a Power Supply Means (Power Supply Control Section 23) 3b Power Supply Cutting Means (Power Supply Control Section 23) 4 Self-Diagnosis Means (Control Section 22) 5 Alarm Means (Alarm) 22 Control Section 23 Power Supply Control Section 24 Timer means (timer)

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shigeru Hashimoto 1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Fujitsu Limited

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A system comprising an active machine (1) and a standby machine (2) provided side by side, and a power-on means for powering on the standby machine (2) while the standby machine (2) is on standby. (3a) and the standby unit (2) when the power is turned on by the power-on means (3a)
Self-diagnosis means (4) for checking the normality of, and the result of self-diagnosis by the self-diagnosis means (4)
The standby unit (2) is abnormal as a result of the self-diagnosis by the power-off means (3b) for cutting off the power when (2) is diagnosed to be normal and the self-diagnosis means (4). A standby machine control system comprising: an alarm means (5) for issuing an alarm when the above is diagnosed. 2. The standby machine control system according to claim 1, further comprising a timer means (24) for activating the power-on means (3a) at a predetermined time interval. 3. The standby machine control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the power supply of the active machine (1) and the standby machine (2) is switched between the active machine (1) and the standby machine (2). A standby machine control system, comprising a switching means (21) for interlocking with the interface switching.