RELAY SERVER AND RELAY COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20080137672A1
• Filed: 12/10/2007
• Published: 06/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Murata Machinery Limited (Muratec)
• Original Assignee: Murata Machinery Limited (Muratec)
• Inventors: TANIMOTO, Yoshifumi
• Granted Patent: US 8,010,647 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion

Abstract

A relay server which is connected to a LAN and which can communicate with a relay server in a different LAN, includes: an account information registering unit that stores information on client terminals connected to the LAN; a relay group information registering unit that stores relay group information; a shared resource information registering unit that stores shared resource information; a check unit that checks whether the client terminals stored in the account information registering unit can be accessed; a relay group information notifying unit that updates the relay group information and transmits a change notification of the relay group information to the relevant relay server; and a shared resource information notifying unit that updates the relevant shared resource information and transmits a change notification of the shared resource information to the relevant client terminal which is stored in the account information registering unit.

Claims

1. A relay server which is connected to a LAN and which can communicate with a relay server in a different LAN, the relay server comprising:

an account information registering unit that stores information on client terminals connected to the LAN;

a relay group information registering unit that stores relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other;

a shared resource information registering unit that stores shared resource information including information on resources, state information indicating statuses of the resources, and information on the client terminals sharing the resources;

a check unit that checks whether the client terminals stored in the account information registering unit can be accessed;

a relay group information notifying unit that updates the relay group information and transmits a change notification of the relay group information to the relevant relay server, when checking that a client terminal is changed in access status; and

a shared resource information notifying unit that updates the relevant shared resource information and transmits a change notification of the shared resource information to the relevant client terminal which is stored in the account information registering unit, when receiving the change notification of the relay group information.

2. A relay server which is connected to a LAN and which can communicate with a relay server in a different LAN, the relay server comprising:

an account information registering unit that stores information on client terminals connected to the LAN;

a relay group information registering unit that stores relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other and status information indicating statuses of the relay servers;

a shared resource information registering unit that stores shared resource information including information on resources, status information indicating statuses of the resources, and information on the client terminals sharing the resources;

a check unit that checks whether the relay servers stored in the relay group information registering unit can be accessed;

a relay group information notifying unit that updates the relay group information and transmits a change notification of the relay group information to the relevant relay server, when checking that a relay server is changed in access status; and

a shared resource information notifying unit that updates the relevant shared resource information and transmits a change notification of the shared resource information to the relevant client terminal which is stored in the account information registering unit, when receiving the change notification of the relay group information.

3. A relay communication system comprising:

a plurality of LANs; and

a relay server and client terminals connected to each LAN,

wherein the relay server includes;

an account information registering unit that stores information on client terminals connected to the LAN;

a relay group information registering unit that stores relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other;

a shared resource information registering unit that stores shared resource information including information on resources, state information indicating statuses of the resources, and information on the client terminals sharing the resources;

a check unit that checks whether the client terminals stored in the account information registering unit can be accessed;

a relay group information notifying unit that updates the relay group information and transmits a change notification of the relay group information to the relevant relay server, when checking that a client terminal is changed in access status; and

a shared resource information notifying unit that updates the relevant shared resource information and transmits a change notification of the shared resource information to the client terminals connected to the same LAN, when receiving the change notification of the relay group information, and

wherein the relay group information and the shared resource information held in the relay communication system are automatically updated.

4. A relay communication system comprising:

a plurality of LANs; and

a relay server and client terminals connected to each LAN,

wherein the relay server includes;

an account information registering unit that stores information on client terminals connected to the LAN;

a relay group information registering unit that stores relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other and status information indicating statuses of the relay servers;

a shared resource information registering unit that stores shared resource information including information on resources, status information indicating statuses of the resources, and information on the client terminals sharing the resources;

a check unit that checks whether the relay servers stored in the relay group information registering unit can be accessed;

a relay group information notifying unit that updates the relay group information and transmits a change notification of the relay group information to the relevant relay server, when checking that a relay server is changed in access status; and

a shared resource information notifying unit that updates the relevant shared resource information and transmits a change notification of the shared resource information to the relevant client terminal which is stored in the account information registering unit, when receiving the change notification of the relay group information, and

wherein the relay group information and the shared resource information held in the relay communication system are automatically updated.

5. A relay server which is connected to a LAN and which can communicate with a relay server in a different LAN, the relay server comprising:

an account information registering unit that stores information on client terminals connected to the LAN; and

a relay group information registering unit that stores relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other and information on the client terminals registered in the respective relay servers,

wherein when an access request is received from a client terminal stored in the account information registering unit of the different relay server, the relay server in which the client terminal having transmitted the access request is registered is specified on the basis of the relay group information and it is determined whether the access should be permitted by inquiring of the specified relay server.

6. The relay server according to claim 5, wherein the relay group information includes access information which is created every client terminal and which indicates the relay server as an access destination of the corresponding client terminal, and

wherein when the access request is received from the client terminal stored in the account information registering unit, details of the access information of the client terminal included in the relay group information stored in the relay server is updated and a change notification of the relay group information is transmitted to the corresponding different relay server.

7. The relay server according to claim 6, wherein when the access of the client terminal stored in the account information registering unit of the different relay server is permitted, details of the access information of the client terminal included in the relay group information stored in the relay server is updated and a change notification of the relay group information is transmitted to the corresponding different relay server.

8. A relay server which is connected to a LAN and which can communicate with a relay server in a different LAN, the relay server comprising:

an account information registering unit that stores information on client terminals connected to the LAN;

a relay group information registering unit that stores relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other;

a shared resource information registering unit that stores shared resource information including information on resources and information on the client terminals sharing the resources; and

a relay unit that relays a resource operation on the basis of the relay group information and the shared resource information, when receiving a command for operating a resource, which can be operated by the client terminal connected to the different LAN, from the client terminal stored in the account information registering unit,

wherein the resource operation includes a synchronous mode in which a seeming operation based on a change of the shared resource information and an essential operation of a resource are synchronized with each other and an asynchronous mode in which the seeming operation based on a change of the shared resource information and the essential operation of a resource are not synchronized with each other.

9. The relay server according to claim 8, wherein when the operation command for operating a resource which can be operated by the client terminal connected to the different LAN is received in the synchronous mode, the client terminal which can operate the resource is specified on the basis of the shared resource information, the relay server in which the specified client terminal is registered is specified on the basis of the relay group information, and the operation command is transmitted to the client terminal which can operate the resource through the specified relay server.

10. The relay server according to claim 8, wherein when the operation command for operating a resource which can be operated by the client terminal connected to the different LAN is received in the synchronous mode and the seeming operation can be performed by changing the shared resource information, the shared resource information is updated, and

wherein when the seeming operation cannot be performed by changing the shared resource information, the client terminal which can operate the resource is specified on the basis of the shared resource information, the relay server in which the specified client terminal is registered is specified on the basis of the relay group information, and the operation command is transmitted to the client terminal which can operate the resource.

11. The relay server according to claim 8, wherein a mode is set in advance.

12. The relay server according to claim 8, wherein a mode can be selected at the time of operating a resource.

13. A management method using a relay server which is connected to a LAN and which can communicate with a relay server in a different LAN, the management method comprising:

storing information on client terminals connected to the LAN;

storing relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other;

storing shared resource information including information on resources, state information indicating statuses of the resources, and information on the client terminals sharing the resources;

checking whether the client terminals stored in the registering of the account information can be accessed;

updating the relay group information and transmitting a change notification of the relay group information to the relevant relay server, when checking that a client terminal is changed in access status; and

updating the relevant shared resource information and transmitting a change notification of the shared resource information to the relevant client terminal stored in the registering of the account information, when receiving the change notification of the relay group information.

14. A management method using a relay server which is connected to a LAN and which can communicate with a relay server in a different LAN, the management method comprising:

storing information on client terminals connected to the LAN;

storing relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other and status information indicating statuses of the relay servers;

storing shared resource information including information on resources, status information indicating statuses of the resources, and information on the client terminals sharing the resources;

checking whether the relay servers stored in the registering of the relay group information can be accessed;

updating the relay group information and transmitting a change notification of the relay group information to the relevant relay server, when detecting a relay server changed in access status; and

updating the relevant shared resource information and transmitting a change notification of the shared resource information to the relevant client terminal which is stored in the registering of the account information, when receiving the change notification of the relay group information.

15. A management method of a relay communication system which has a plurality of LANs and a relay server and client terminals connected to each LAN, the management method comprising:

storing information on client terminals connected to the LAN;

storing relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other;

storing shared resource information including information on resources, state information indicating statuses of the resources, and information on the client terminals sharing the resources;

checking whether the client terminals stored in the registering of the account information can be accessed;

updating the relay group information and transmitting a change notification of the relay group information to the relevant relay server, when detecting a client terminal changed in access status; and

updating the relevant shared resource information and transmitting a change notification of the shared resource information to the client terminals connected to the same LAN, when receiving the change notification of the relay group information, and

wherein the relay group information and the shared resource information held in the relay communication system are automatically updated.

16. A management method of a relay communication system which has a plurality of LANs and a relay server and client terminals connected to each LAN, the management method comprising:

storing information on client terminals connected to the LAN;

storing relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other and status information indicating statuses of the relay servers;

storing shared resource information including information on resources, status information indicating statuses of the resources, and information on the client terminals sharing the resources;

checking whether the relay servers stored in the registering of the relay group information can be accessed;

updating the relay group information and transmitting a change notification of the relay group information to the relevant relay server, when detecting a relay server changed in access status; and

updating the relevant shared resource information and transmitting a change notification of the shared resource information to the relevant client terminal which is stored in the account information registering unit, when receiving the change notification of the relay group information, and

wherein the relay group information and the shared resource information held in the relay communication system are automatically updated.

17. A management method using a relay server which is connected to a LAN and which can communicate with a relay server in a different LAN, the management method comprising:

storing information on client terminals connected to the LAN; and

storing relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other and information on the client terminals registered in the respective relay servers,

wherein when an access request is received from a client terminal stored in the registering of the account information of the different relay server, the relay server in which the client terminal having transmitted the access request is registered is specified on the basis of the relay group information and it is determined whether the access should be permitted by inquiring of the specified relay server.

18. The management method according to claim 17, wherein the relay group information includes access information which is created every client terminal and which indicates the relay server as an access destination of the corresponding client terminal, and

wherein when the access request is received from the client terminal stored in the registering of the account information, details of the access information of the client terminal included in the relay group information stored in the relay server is updated and a change notification of the relay group information is transmitted to the corresponding different relay server.

19. The management method according to claim 18, wherein when the access of the client terminal stored in the registering of the account information of the different relay server is permitted, details of the access information of the client terminal included in the relay group information stored in the relay server is updated and a change notification of the relay group information is transmitted to the corresponding different relay server.

20. A management method using a relay server which is connected to a LAN and which can communicate with a relay server in a different LAN, the management method comprising:

storing information on client terminals connected to the LAN;

storing relay group information including information on a group of relay servers permitting accesses to each other;

storing shared resource information including information on resources and information on the client terminals sharing the resources; and

relaying a resource operation on the basis of the relay group information and the shared resource information, when receiving a command for operating a resource, which can be operated by the client terminal connected to the different LAN, from the client terminal stored in the registering of the account information,

wherein the resource operation includes a synchronous mode in which a seeming operation based on a change of the shared resource information and an essential operation of a resource are synchronized with each other and an asynchronous mode in which the seeming operation based on a change of the shared resource information and the essential operation of a resource are not synchronized with each other.

21. The management method according to claim 20, wherein when the operation command for operating a resource which can be operated by the client terminal connected to the different LAN is received in the synchronous mode, the client terminal which can operate the resource is specified on the basis of the shared resource information, the relay server in which the specified client terminal is registered is specified on the basis of the relay group information, and the operation command is transmitted to the client terminal which can operate the resource through the specified relay server.

22. The management method according to claim 20, wherein when the operation command for operating a resource which can be operated by the client terminal connected to the different LAN is received in the synchronous mode and the seeming operation can be performed by changing the shared resource information, the shared resource information is updated, and

wherein when the seeming operation cannot be performed by changing the shared resource information, the client terminal which can operate the resource is specified on the basis of the shared resource information, the relay server in which the specified client terminal is registered is specified on the basis of the relay group information, and the operation command is transmitted to the client terminal which can operate the resource.

23. The management method according to claim 20, wherein a mode is set in advance.

24. The management method according to claim 20, wherein a mode can be selected at the time of operating a resource.