Network system, information management server, and information management method

• US 20100023612A1
• Filed: 09/29/2009
• Published: 01/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp. (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Kitagawa, Fumio, Yamada, Naoki, Yoshida, Takeo
• Granted Patent: US 8,069,237 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0888 Throughput
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4541 Directories for service discovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

To reduce the load on a management server in a load distributed system, a server list manager 16 of a management server 10 selects servers 4, 6, 20, and 30 to be accessed by a client terminal management server 43 by referencing an operation status or a load status of the servers 4, 6, 20, and 30, generates a server list, and sends the generated server list to the client terminal management server 43. An inquiry unit 47 of the client terminal management server 43 regularly sends an inquiry to the network monitoring server 30, which is included in the server list 45, to ascertain whether or not information has been updated. If the information has been updated, an information collection unit 48 acquires a corresponding latest module and a rule base from the information providing server 20 included in the server list 45 based on information from the network monitoring server 30.

Claims

1. A management server that forms a network system in conjunction with one or more client systems, a plurality of information providing servers storing information to be referenced by said client systems, and a network monitoring server with a network monitoring function and that executes system management of the network system, said management server comprising:

an intra-system information management database in which information providing server management information, which is used for keeping track of information distributed among said information providing servers, is recorded; and

server list management means for selecting the servers to be accessed by each of said client systems to generate a list of the selected servers based on said intra-system information management database and on a load status of each of the servers included in said network system,

wherein, when collecting information, each of said client systems references the server list in order to directly access the servers.

2. The management server in a load distributed system according to claim 1,

wherein, if system failure information which indicates that one of multiplexed network monitoring servers has failed is sent from another network monitoring server that detects the failure, said server list management means re-generates the server list and sends the re-generated server list to the client system that accesses the network monitoring server that has failed.

3. An information management method for use in a load distributed system comprising a management server that forms a network system in conjunction with one or more client systems, a plurality of information providing servers each storing information to be referenced by the client systems, and a network monitoring server with a network monitoring function and that executes system management of the network system,

wherein, based on an intra-system information management database in which is stored information providing server management information for monitoring information distributed among said information providing servers and on a load status of each of the servers included in the network system, the servers to be accessed by each of said client systems are selected to generate a list of the selected servers, and

wherein, when collecting information, each of said client systems references the server list in order to directly access the servers.

4. A medium recording therein a program for use in a load distributed system and for execution on a management server that forms a network system in conjunction with one or more client systems, a plurality of information providing servers each storing information to be referenced by the client systems, and a network monitoring server with a network monitoring function and that executes system management of the network system,

wherein, based on information providing server management information that keeps track of information distributed among said information providing servers and on a load status of each of the servers included in the network system, said program selects the servers to be accessed by each of said client systems to generate a list of the selected servers.