JP4842738B2 - Fault management support system and information management method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides a failure countermeasure case necessary for detecting and responding to failure detection and failure recovery cases in a computer system composed of a single or a plurality of monitored devices used by customers and the like. The present invention relates to a failure management support system that performs recovery support in the event of a failure and an information management method thereof.

  Conventionally, monitoring and monitoring of monitored devices via a network such as the Internet, information collection, automatic analysis of faults, and automatic management and monitoring of the hardware and software of monitored devices via a network such as the Internet Support systems that support maintenance centrally are known. For example, in Patent Document 1 or the like, a client to which peripheral devices such as an external storage device and an input / output device are connected, a plurality of sales office servers that manage the client, an integrated server that centrally manages the sales office server, and the integration In a client server system consisting of multiple levels of maintenance bases connected to a server, externally connected error log information indicating detailed error information and error statistical information collected for each peripheral unit in each level By recording in a specific area of the storage device, periodically reading the recorded information and sequentially sending it to the host server, the information is collected in the host server, and then edited to make it easier to read. The failure information transition list in the detailed information and the abnormal value list when the error statistics information threshold is exceeded are displayed on the upper server. The error log information collected in the integrated server is transferred to the maintenance base terminal, and the edited maintenance list is output to the maintenance terminal output device to feed back the maintenance list. An error log information management method that is used as data for each peripheral device has been proposed.

JP-A-7-21059

  In the fault management support system, error log information indicating detailed fault information of hardware faults and error statistical information is sequentially transmitted to a higher-level server. It is possible to provide more reliable services by collecting log information of software such as OS, applications or databases of the software, and collecting and analyzing these hardware failure information and software log information. It becomes. However, in order to collect not only hardware failure information but also software log information of the target monitoring device in which a failure has occurred, a separate system for collecting software log information of the failed device and sending it to the support system Need to be built separately. However, adding a new system that collects software log information to an existing system that automatically transmits information on hardware failures in this way not only costs enormous costs but also increases the workload. It will be a thing. For this reason, when collecting software log information for a monitored device that has failed, without significantly changing the existing system that automatically transmits hardware failure information, for example, the monitored device that has failed It is conceivable that a worker who is seconded or resident at a certain site collects software log information and sends the information to the support system separately from the hardware failure. In this case, the hardware failure information mentioned above is Automatically sent to a server or the like that accumulates hardware failure information. On the other hand, when an operator manually collects software log information, the hardware failure information and software log information are associated with each other. There is concern that it will be managed separately. For this reason, hardware failure information and software log information cannot be acquired appropriately and efficiently, such as individually checking hardware failure information and software log information. In addition, there is a risk of referring to log information of different software for hardware failure information, and there is a problem that it is impossible to efficiently provide a countermeasure method against the occurrence of a failure and a long time is required for recovery work. is there.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and by managing the hardware failure information and software log information sent to the support system in the event of a failure in association with each other, more detailed and certainty is achieved. An object of the present invention is to provide a failure management support system capable of providing high failure countermeasure examples and an information management method thereof.

  In the failure management support system according to claim 1, a client system used by a customer or the like and a support system that supports management / maintenance of monitored devices of the client system are connected via a communication network. A database in which failure information of the monitoring target device and countermeasure information thereof are stored; a failure information received from the client system when a hardware failure occurs in the monitoring target device; In the failure management support system for providing countermeasure information to the client, when receiving the hardware failure information, the support system assigns a different identification ID to each piece of hardware failure information. Software of the monitored device in which a hardware failure has occurred When the log information is collected and sent to the support system, the hardware fault information and the log information of the software are unified as common information by giving an ID associated with the identification ID of the hardware fault information. It is configured to be managed.

  According to the configuration of claim 1, by providing an ID associated with the identification ID of the hardware failure information to the software log information, the failure countermeasure necessary information in which the hardware failure information and the software log information are common thereafter It is tied as Then, analyze the hardware failure received from the client system when a failure occurs in the client system, search the database for necessary failure countermeasure information based on the analyzed information, investigate the cause of the failure, and handle the failure measures such as replacement parts arrangement processing By instructing, recovery of the monitored device in which the failure has occurred is attempted.

  The fault management support system information management method according to claim 2 is the fault management support system according to claim 1, wherein when the support system receives hardware fault information automatically transmitted from the client system, the hardware fault The identification system automatically assigns an identification ID, and the support system includes a log server that stores hardware failure information to which the identification ID is assigned and log information of software collected from the monitored device The hardware failure information is identified as an ID of the software log information by associating an upload code for uploading the software log information to the log server with the hardware failure information assigned with the identification ID. It is characterized by associating with an ID.

  According to the configuration of claim 2, the failure countermeasure engineer collects log information of the software of the monitored device in which the failure has occurred, and performs processing to upload this log information to the support system via the Internet or the like. . At this time, in order to log in to the upload server, the upload code becomes an ID associated with the identification ID automatically assigned to the hardware failure information, and thereafter, the hardware failure information and the software log information are common. It is linked as necessary information for troubleshooting.

  An information management method for a failure management support system according to claim 3 is the failure management support system according to claim 2, wherein the support system includes a display unit that displays failure information, countermeasure information, and the like retrieved from the database, When the log file is uploaded to the log server, a pop-up display for notifying completion of the upload of the log file is made on the display unit.

  According to the configuration of claim 3, when the on-site failure countermeasure engineer uploads the software log information, a pop-up display indicating that the upload is completed is made on the display unit of the support system. It becomes possible.

  According to the failure management support system according to claim 1, a client system used by a customer or the like and a support system that supports management and maintenance of a monitoring target device of the client system are connected via a communication network, and the support The system has a database in which failure information of the monitored device and countermeasure information thereof are stored, and receives failure information from the client system when a hardware failure occurs in the monitored device, and stores or stores the failure information in the database. In the failure management support system that provides countermeasure information as a search result to the client, the support system, when receiving the hardware failure information, gives a different identification ID for each hardware failure information, The software of the monitored device in which the hardware failure occurred When collecting hardware log information and sending it to the support system, the hardware fault information and the software log information are unified as common information by assigning an ID associated with the identification ID of the hardware fault information. Therefore, when a hardware failure automatically sent from the client system is analyzed and the information necessary for troubleshooting is searched based on the analyzed information, the hardware failure information and software log The information is linked as common information necessary for troubleshooting, and it becomes possible to provide troubleshooting examples more quickly. Further, since it is possible to refer to not only hardware failure data associated with the occurrence of a failure but also software software log information, it is possible to provide more detailed and reliable failure countermeasure information.

  According to the information management method of the failure management support system according to claim 2, in the failure management support system according to claim 1, when the support system accepts hardware failure information automatically transmitted from the client system, the hardware The support system automatically assigns an identification ID to the hardware failure information, and the support system includes a log server that stores hardware failure information to which the identification ID is assigned and log information of software collected from the monitored device. The hardware fault information as an ID of the log information of the software by associating an upload code for uploading the log information of the software to the log server with the hardware fault information assigned with the identification ID Whether the ID is associated with Since the upload code when uploading the collected software log information is an ID associated with the identification ID automatically assigned to the hardware fault information, the hardware fault information, the software log information, Are linked as common troubleshooting information, and when troubleshooting information is searched, hardware troubleshooting information and software log information can be searched as common troubleshooting information, enabling quick and efficient troubleshooting. Countermeasure information can be searched.

  According to the information management method of the failure management support system according to claim 3, in the failure management support system information management method according to claim 2, the support system displays the failure information and countermeasure information retrieved from the database. When the log file is uploaded to the log server, a pop-up display for notifying the completion of the upload of the log file is made on the display unit. Become.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment as the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Of course, it goes without saying that the present invention can be easily applied to other than those described in the embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the conceptual configuration diagram of the system of FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a support system, and this support system 1 includes an e-mail server 3 and a mainframe 4 that receive a failure notification mail when a hardware failure of the client (customer) system 2 occurs. The support system 1 and the client system 2 are connected via a communication network 6. The main frame 4 is composed of, for example, a personal computer or a work station having data processing capability.

  The client system 2 includes, for example, a plurality of computer systems, their operating systems, and a system that operates under the operating systems and manages a network or a database. When a hardware failure occurs, a failure notification mail is automatically transmitted from the client system 2 to the electronic mail server 3, and the hardware failure information is further transmitted to the central monitoring center 20. The central monitoring center 20 has a database 21 for storing hardware fault information from the client system 2 and its fault countermeasure information. When a hardware fault occurs from the client system 2, it analyzes the report contents, Stored in the failure case file 22 of the database 21. Further, the countermeasure information for the hardware failure is stored in the failure countermeasure necessary information file 23 of the database 21.

  The program of the support system 1 is activated when a failure occurs in the client system 2, and when a failure notification mail is transmitted from the client system 2 to the e-mail server 3, the hardware failure data is analyzed and the analysis information is centralized. The data is sent to the monitoring center 20 and the analyzed hardware failure data is stored in the failure case file 22 of the database 21. Further, the support system 1 includes a log server 25 that stores hardware failure information separately from the database 21, and the log server 25 includes the OS, application, database, or the like of the monitoring target device in which the hardware failure has occurred along with the hardware failure information. Log information of software. Note that the software log information is received from the hardware failure information from the client system 2, and a request is made from the central monitoring center 20 to the failure countermeasure engineer to collect the log information of the software of the monitoring target device. Is uploaded to the upload server 27 of the support system 1.

  Further, the trouble countermeasure necessary information file 23 stores information such as a detailed log of automatic notification, a collection log, a trouble history, an inspection history, trouble cases, notifications and precautions, a maintenance manual, and a transmission / reception mail for the client. A hardware failure received from the client system 2 when the failure of the system 2 occurs is analyzed, and a countermeasure message is retrieved from the failure countermeasure necessary information file 23 and output based on the analyzed information.

  Next, processing in the support system 1 when performing such a flow support will be described with reference to the chart of FIG. First, when a hardware failure occurs in the monitoring target device of the client system 2, automatic report reception processing is performed (step S1). In the automatic notification receiving process, first, a failure notification mail sent from the client system 2 is received, and a failure case registration process in the database 21 is performed by the automatic notification processing system (step S2). That is, the management number as the identification ID is automatically assigned to the hardware failure information sent from the client system 2 by the automatic report processing system, and the hardware failure information to which the management number is assigned is automatically transferred to the central monitoring center 20. Are registered in the failure case file 22 of the database 21. Next, the operator (fault countermeasure person in charge) of the central monitoring center 20 confirms the status of the hardware fault on the display unit (monitor) of the support system 1 by automatic notification from the client system 2 (step S3). After that, the failure related information automatic collection processing is executed as internal processing of the support system 1 (step S4), and the link information is registered in the failure countermeasure necessary information file 23, so that the failure countermeasure related to the hardware failure by the key input operation with the keyboard or the like. Information can be confirmed on the display unit (monitor) (step S5). Thereafter, the operator searches for the cause of the failure and the countermeasure information from the failure countermeasure necessary information file 23, examines the cause of the failure and specifies the replacement part. In addition to requesting the trouble countermeasure engineer to attend the client (step S6), adjustment of the schedule associated with the trouble countermeasure, communication with the client, arrangement of replacement parts, and the like are performed. Upon receiving the request from the operator, the failure countermeasure engineer collects the log information of the software of the monitoring target device in which the failure has occurred in accordance with the instruction from the operator, and performs upload processing to upload this to the upload server 27. (Step S7). This upload process is a manual work by a failure countermeasure engineer, and at the time of the upload work, the log information of the software acquired from the client system 2 using the upload function is transferred via the Internet. At this time, since it is necessary to log in to the upload server 27, the operator of the central monitoring center 20 receives the request for the upload code from the local trouble countermeasure engineer to the operator of the central monitoring center 20 using the portable terminal 30 or the like. An upload code acquisition process is performed (step S8). Upload code acquisition is performed by pressing the [Upload code] acquisition button on the display unit (monitor) of the support system 1 at the central monitoring center 20 to display an upload code acquisition screen in which the management number as the identification ID is set. The upload code acquired here is notified to the local failure countermeasure engineer using the portable terminal 30 or the like, and the log information (local collection material) of the collected software is uploaded. This upload code becomes the ID of the log information of the software, and the ID is associated with the identification ID automatically given for each hardware failure data. Thereafter, the hardware failure information of the monitoring target device in which the failure has occurred and the software log information in the monitoring target device are associated with each other and registered in the database 21. When the log information of the local software is uploaded in this way, the link information is registered in the failure countermeasure necessary information file 23 of the database 21 so that it can be referred to from the support system 1 (step S10). As a result, a pop-up is displayed on the screen of the display unit (monitor) to notify that the software log information (local collection material) has been uploaded, and the operator using the support system 1 can instantaneously log the software log information. It is possible to visually determine that (local collection material) has been uploaded (steps S11 and S12). By storing the hardware failure information and the software log information (locally collected data) that are associated with each other in the log server 25 in this way, the hardware failure received from the client system 2 when the failure of the client system 2 occurs is analyzed. Based on the analyzed information, the operator of the central monitoring center 20 refers to the failure countermeasure necessity information file 23, examines the cause of the failure (step S13), and instructs the failure countermeasure such as replacement parts arrangement processing. Restore the monitored device in which the error occurred. Thus, the trouble cases for which the trouble countermeasures have been completed are stored in the trouble case file 22 of the database 21 as examples (step S14), and are used for the subsequent trouble countermeasures.

  As described above, in this embodiment, hardware failure data and software log information associated with the occurrence of a failure are associated with each identification ID (management number) and an ID (upload code) corresponding to the identification ID, Thereafter, since the linkage with the common information necessary for failure countermeasures is maintained, it is possible to provide more detailed and reliable failure countermeasure examples. Further, since it is possible to refer to not only hardware failure data associated with a failure but also software log information, it is possible to provide more advanced and highly reliable failure countermeasure information. In addition, log information of the software software can be referred to without significantly modifying the existing support system 1, so that cost reduction can be improved. In addition, when the on-site troubleshooting engineer uploads the software log information (local collection data), the pop-up display is displayed on the display (monitor) screen, indicating that the upload is complete, enabling quick response to the failure. There is also an effect that the system stop time can be shortened.

It is the schematic explanatory drawing which showed the structure of the assistance system which shows one Example of this invention. It is a chart figure which shows the process in a support system same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Support system 2 Client system 4 Mainframe 6 Communication network 21 Database 20 Central monitoring center 22 Failure matter file 23 Failure countermeasure required information file 25 Log server

Claims (3)

  A client system used by a customer or the like and a support system that supports management / maintenance of the monitoring target device of the client system are connected via a communication network, and the support system includes failure information of the monitoring target device and countermeasures for them. Fault management having a database in which information is stored, receiving fault information from the client system when a hardware fault occurs in the monitored device, and providing countermeasure information as a result of storage or search in the database to the client When the hardware failure information is received, the support system assigns a different identification ID to each piece of hardware failure information, and the software of the monitored device in which the hardware failure has occurred Collect log information and send it to the support system At this time, the hardware fault information and the log information of the software are centrally managed as common information by giving an ID associated with the identification ID of the hardware fault information. Fault management support system.   When the support system receives hardware failure information automatically transmitted from the client system, the support system automatically assigns an identification ID to the hardware failure information, and the support system includes a hardware to which the identification ID is assigned. A log server for storing software failure information and software log information collected from the monitored device, and the identification ID is assigned an upload code for uploading the software log information to the log server 2. The information management method for a failure management support system according to claim 1, wherein the hardware failure information is associated with an identification ID of the hardware failure information as an ID of the log information of the software. The support system includes a display unit that displays failure information and countermeasure information retrieved from the database, and when the log file is uploaded to the log server, a pop-up that notifies the display unit of completion of uploading the log file 3. The information management method for a failure management support system according to claim 2, wherein display is performed.

Images