Computer, computer network system, and recording medium

• US 6,546,500 B1
• Filed: 01/24/2000
• Issued: 04/08/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Miyamoto, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Duncan, Marc M
• Application Number:
  US09/490,069
• Time in Patent Office: 1,170 Days
• Field of Search: 711/162, 707/202, 707/204, 714/25, 714/37, 714/32, 714/42, 714/16, 714/5, 714/36, 714/20, 714/15, 714/6
• US Class Current: 714/6.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1461 Backup scheduling policy

Abstract

According to the present invention, it is possible to identify such data that need not undergo the subsequent diagnosis-and-recovery operations based on results of self-diagnosis performed up to the current performing of diagnosis, each time diagnosis is performed as many as the predetermined number of times or each time a predetermined lapse of time passes or a user makes an instruction to that effect. Also, each time diagnosis is performed as many as the predetermined umber of times or each time a predetermined lapse of time passes or each time the user makes an instruction to that effect, based on results of self-diagnosis performed up to the current performing of diagnosis, backup data of interest is classified into frequently-used backup data and not-immediately-required backup data automatically, which are then backed up in mutually different storage media. Also, the frequently-used backup data is stored in a storage medium having a relatively high read-out speed and the not-immediately-required backup data, in a storage medium having a relatively low read-out speed. Also, the not-immediately-required data is compressed before being backed up in the storage medium.

Claims

1. A computer comprising:

a backup-data storage unit for storing backup data for data usable by the computer itself;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings storage unit where information to specify data to be subject to diagnosis and recovery among the data usable by the computer itself is set;

a diagnosis-and-recovery unit for replacing with data saved in the backup-data storage unit such data specified by the information set in the diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings storage unit, among data diagnosed to need recovery based on results of self-diagnosis performed on data usable by the computer itself, thus recovering the data;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit for storing information which specifies recovered data each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit performs self-diagnosis;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up unit for classifying storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit into information which specifies each data piece, and sum up the classified information each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit performs self-diagnosis;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit for storing summing-up results by the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up unit;

an analysis-condition storage unit for storing conditions for analyzing the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit for analyzing the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit according to the storage contents of the analysis-condition storage unit, to decide whether each data piece should be subject to diagnosis and recovery; and

a new-diagnosis-and-recovery-object setting unit for changing settings of the diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings storage unit according to the analysis results by the diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit.

2. The computer according to claim 1, wherein said conditions stored in the analysis-condition storage unit include a frequency and the number of times of performing recovery for each data piece.

3. A computer network system wherein a first computer and a second computer which stores therein backup data of data usable by the first computer are connected to a network, one of said computers connected to the network comprising:

a diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings storage unit where information to specify data to be subject to diagnosis and recovery among the data usable by the first computer;

a diagnosis-and-recovery unit for replacing with data saved by the second computer such data specified by the information set in the diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings storage unit among data diagnosed to need recovery based on results of diagnosis performed on data usable by the first computer, thus recovering the data;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit for storing information which specifies recovered data each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit diagnoses the first computer;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result collecting/summing-up unit for collecting the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit to classify the collected contents into information which specifies each data piece and sum up the classified information, each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit diagnoses the first computer;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit for storing summing-up results by the diagnosis-and-recovery-result collecting/summing-up unit;

an analysis-condition storage unit for storing conditions for analyzing the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit for analyzing the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit according to the storage contents of the analysis-condition storage unit, to decide whether each data piece should be subject to diagnosis and recovery; and

a diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings changing unit for changing settings of the diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings storage unit according to the analysis results by the diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit.

4. The computer according to claim 3, wherein said conditions stored in the analysis-condition storage unit include a frequency and the number of times of recovering each data piece related to the first computer.

5. A computer connected via a network to such a computer that comprises a diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings storage unit for storing information which specifies data to be subject to diagnosis and recovery among data usable by a computer subject to diagnosis, a diagnosis-and-recovery unit for replacing with backup data such data specified by the information set in the diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings storage unit, among data diagnosed to need recovery based on results of diagnosing data usable by the computer subject to diagnosis, thus recovering the data, and a diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit for storing information which specifies recovered data each time the diagnosis-and- recovery unit performs diagnosis, said former computer further comprising:

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result collecting/summing-up unit for collecting the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit to classify the collected contents into information which specifies each data piece and sum up the classified information, each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit diagnoses the computer subject to diagnosis and recovery;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit for storing summing-up results by the diagnosis-and-recovery-result collecting/summing-up unit;

an analysis-condition storage unit for storing conditions for analyzing the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit for analyzing storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit according to the storage contents of the analysis-condition storage unit, to decide whether each data piece should be subject to diagnosis and recovery; and

a diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings changing unit for changing settings of the diagnosis-and-recovery-object settings storage unit according to the analysis results by the diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit.

6. The computer according to claim 5, wherein said conditions stored in the analysis-condition storage unit include a frequency and the number of times of recovering each data piece related to the computer to be diagnosed.

7. A computer-readable recording medium which records therein a computer program for causing a computer to store beforehand diagnosis-and-recovery-object setting information which is information to specify data to be subject to diagnosis and recovery among data usable by the computer, to replace with backup data such data specified by the information set as the diagnosis-and-recovery-object setting information, among data diagnosed to need recovery based on results of self-diagnosis performed on the data usable by the computer, thus recovering the data, said computer program including:

program code means for causing the computer to store diagnosis-and-recovery-result information which specifies recovered data, each time self-diagnosis is performed;

program code means for causing the computer to classify the contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result information into information which specifies each data piece and to sum up the classified data, each time self-dignosis is performed;

program code means for causing the computer to store diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up information obtained by summing up the diagnosis-and-recovery-result information;

program code means for causing the computer to analyze the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up information according to predetermined analysis-condition information, to decide whether each data piece should be subject to diagnosis and recovery; and

program code means for causing the computer to change settings of the diagnosis-and-recovery-object setting information according to the analysis results of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up information.

8. The recording medium according to claim 7, wherein the analysis-condition information includes a frequency and the number of times of recovering each data piece.

9. A computer-readable recording medium for stored therein a computer program for causing a computer connected to a computer subject to diagnosis to store beforehand diagnosis-and-recovery-object setting information which is information to specify data to be subject to diagnosis and recovery among data usable by the computer itself, to replace with backup data such data specified by the information set as the diagnosis-and-recovery-object setting information, among data diagnosed to need recovery based on results of self-diagnosis performed on the data usable by the computer itself, thus recovering the data, said computer program including:

program code means for causing the computer to classify contents of diagnosis-and-recovery-result information of the computer subject to diagnosis into information which specifies each data piece and sum up the classified information, each time the diagnosis-object computer performs self-diagnosis;

program code means for causing the computer to store diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up information obtained by summing up the diagnosis-and-recovery-result information for each computer subject to diagnosis;

program code means for causing the computer to analyze the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up information according to predetermined analysis-condition information, to decide whether each data piece should be subject to diagnosis and recovery for each computer subject to diagnosis; and

program code means for causing the computer to change settings of diagnosis-and-recovery-object setting information of the diagnosis-object computer, according to the analysis results of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up information.

10. The recording medium according to claim 9, wherein the analysis-condition information includes a frequency and the number of times of recovering each data piece related to each diagnosis-object computer.

11. A computer which comprises a diagnosis-and-recovery unit for replacing with backup data such data diagnosed to need recovery based on results of self-diagnosis performed on data usable by the computer itself, thus recovering the data,

a plurality of storage media for storing backup data;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit for storing information which specifies recovered data, each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit performs self-diagnosis;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up unit for classifying the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit into information which specifies each data piece and sum up the classified information, each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit performs self-diagnosis;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit for storing the summing-up results by the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up unit;

an analysis-condition the storage unit for storing conditions for analyzing storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit for analyzing the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit according to the storage contents of the analysis-condition storage unit, to decide in which one of the plurality of storage media such backup data for each data piece should be stored; and

a backup-medium changing unit for changing a backup-data storage medium among the plurality of storage media according to the analysis results of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit.

12. The computer according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of storage media take mutually different read-out times for reading out data stored therein and the backup-medium changing unit-compresses data before storing the data in such a storage medium that takes a relatively long read-out time.

13. The computer according to claim 11, wherein the conditions stored in the analysis-condition storage unit include a frequency and the number of times of recovering each data piece.

14. A computer network system to which a plurality of computers including a computer subject to diagnosis are connected provided with a diagnosis-and-recovery unit for replacing with backup data such data diagnosed to need recovery based on results of self-diagnosis performed on data usable by the computer subject to diagnosis itself, thus recovering the data, wherein at least two of said computers including the computer subject to diagnosis comprising at least one of:

at least one of a plurality of storage media for storing backup data of data usable by the computer subject to diagnosis;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit for storing information which specifies recovered data, each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit performs self-diagnosis;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up unit for classifying the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit into information which specifies each data piece and summing up the classified information, each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit performs self-diagnosis;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit for storing the summing-up results by the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up unit;

an analysis-condition storage unit for storing conditions for analyzing the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit for analyzing the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit according to the storage contents of the analysis-condition storage unit, to decide in which one of the plurality of storage media such backup data for each data piece should be stored; and

a backup-medium changing unit for changing backup-data-storage medium among the plurality of storage media according to the analysis results of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit.

15. The computer network system according to claim 14, wherein the plurality of storage media take mutually different read-out times for reading out data stored therein and the backup-data-medium changing unit compresses data before storing the data in a storage medium which takes a relatively larger read-out time.

16. The computer network system according to claim 14, wherein the conditions stored in the analysis-condition storage unit include a frequency and the number of times of recovering each data piece.

17. A computer connected to a computer subject to diagnosis provided with a diagnosis-and-recovery unit for replacing with backup data such data diagnosed to need recovery based on results of self-diagnosis performed on data usable by the computer subject to diagnosis itself, thus recovering the data, comprising:

at least one of a plurality of storage media for storing backup data of data usable by the computer subject to diagnosis;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit for storing information which specifies recovered data, each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit performs self-diagnosis;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up unit for classifying the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result storage unit, into information which specifies each data piece and summing up the classified information, each time the diagnosis-and-recovery unit performs self-diagnosis;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit for storing the summing-up results by the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up unit;

an analysis-condition storage unit for storing conditions for analyzing the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit;

a diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit for analyzing the storage contents of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result summing-up storage unit according to the storage contents of the analysis-condition storage unit, to decide in which one of the plurality of storage media such backup data for each data piece should be stored; and

a backup-data-medium changing unit for changing a backup-data-storage medium to store backup data therein among the plurality of storage media according to analysis results of the diagnosis-and-recovery-result analysis unit.

18. The computer according to claim 17, wherein the plurality of storage media take mutually different read-out times for reading out data recorded therein and the backup-data-medium changing unit compresses data before storing the data in a storage medium which takes a relatively long read-out time.

19. The computer according to claim 17, wherein the conditions stored in the analysis-condition storage unit include a frequency and the number of times of recovering each data piece.

20. A computer-readable recording medium which records therein a computer program for causing a computer to read out, from a plurality of storage media, backup data of such data diagnosed to need recovery based on results of self-diagnosis performed on data usable by the computer itself in order to replace the data with the read out backup data, thus recovering the data, said computer program comprising:

program code means for causing the computer to store information which specifies recovered data each time self-diagnosis is performed;

program code means for causing the computer to classify information which specifies the recovered data stored and to sum up the classified information, each time self-diagnosis is performed;

program code means for causing the computer to store the summing-up results;

program code means for causing the computer to analyze the summing-up results according to predetermined conditions, to decide in which one of the plurality of storage media such backup data for each data piece should be stored; and

program code means for causing the computer to change a backup-data-storage medium among the plurality of storage media according to the analysis results.

21. The recording medium according to claim 20, further comprising a program code means for causing the computer to compress data before storing the data in a storage medium, which takes a relatively long read-out time, among the plurality of storage media.

22. The recording medium according to claim 20, wherein the conditions include a frequency and the number of times of recovering each data piece.