JP2009266117A - Usb memory device and plug-in application system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To recover a computer from an arbitrary computer without requiring a standby system unlike general redundant systems. <P>SOLUTION: The computer 101 comprises a CPU 102, a main storage device 103 and a hard disk device 104 where an OS (operating system) is installed. The devices only provide the function of providing arithmetic and storage capabilities required by applications, and a USB interface 100 on which a USB memory 105 can be mounted is provided. The USB memory 105 has an application 106 for executing a service of the computer 101, a setting file 107 for the application 106, operation data 110 used by the application 106, a setting program 108 for configuring initial settings when the USB memory is mounted, and software 109 on which the application 105 is executed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a processing technique related to an application provided on a computer, and more particularly, to a recovery technique when a failure occurs in a computer using a USB memory device.

  In recent years, services provided by computer systems have become extremely important. Therefore, even if a failure occurs in the computer, the service must not be stopped or recovered in a short time. The continuous supply of such services has become an important issue, and it has become important to develop technologies for dealing with computer failures. Related art documents include Patent Documents 1 and 2 below.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-113898 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-115472

  Computer failures are inevitable. When a computer fails and stops, the services provided by the computer stop.

  If the service provided by the computer cannot be stopped due to a failure, or if it must be restored in a short time, prepare multiple computers with the same function in advance. Service provision can be maintained by switching the computer when it occurs, and it is possible to immediately respond to a computer failure and guarantee continuity of service.

  However, when preparing a plurality of computers and constructing a computer system such as the one described above that immediately copes with a failure, capital investment for preparing a plurality of computers, and switching or distributing them. The capital investment and the investment of the software to be installed on each computer are required, which increases the cost as a whole. If it is difficult to make a capital investment, the service may be stopped and the system may be stopped for a long time.

  The present invention keeps the state at the time when the computer is stopped against a computer failure when it is difficult to prepare for a failure by preparing a plurality of computers because it is difficult to make a capital investment. The object is to provide a technology that enables resumption of provision.

  The plug-in application system of the present invention is realized by attaching a USB memory to a computer main body. The USB memory device includes an application for realizing a computer service, data used by the application, and a setting file used by the application, and means for setting the installed computer.

  According to the system described above, everything necessary for continuation of the computer service, including applications, is mounted on the USB memory. Therefore, in the event of a computer failure, it is possible to resume the provision of computer services in the same environment as before simply by moving the USB memory to another computer and re-entering the necessary settings. Moreover, the state at the time of resumption can be resumed from the state immediately before the computer in which the failure has occurred stops.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, initial setting is performed when an application for executing a service of a computer, a setting file for the application, business data used by the application, and a USB memory device are mounted. A setting program, which displays a setting screen for accepting input of system-specific information necessary for an application to provide a computer service, on the computer display, and a base software as a basis for executing the application And a USB memory device that can be connected to a computer.

  The computer includes a CPU, a main storage device, and a hard disk device in which an OS (Operating System) is installed. However, these devices only provide functions that provide the computing and storage capabilities required by the application. Of course, the computer is provided with a USB interface to which a USB memory can be attached.

  Using the application stored in the USB memory, the data and setting files used in the application, and the execution platform, the procedure for installing the application on the computer can be omitted. Run applications and provide computer services.

  The business data and the setting file are read and written in a timely manner by the application, and the results are reflected in the main memory device and the USB memory device of the computer in a timely manner. When the computer is pulled out from the failed computer and installed in the alternative computer, the application, the business data, the setting file, and the execution base are automatically set in the alternative computer.

  Thereby, the same service as that provided by the failed computer can be provided. At this time, since the USB memory device holds the state immediately before the computer stops due to a failure, the alternative computer can start providing the service from the state immediately before the failure of the computer. As described above, when a failure occurs, the computer service can be resumed from the state immediately before the failure by simply replacing the USB memory device with another computer.

  The present invention also provides a plug-in application system comprising the USB memory device described above, a USB interface, a CPU, a memory, and a computer having a storage device and an operation system installed therein. Also good.

According to the USB memory device of the present invention and the plug-in application system including the same, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since there is no need to newly install an application on a computer that provides a computer service, labor can be saved.
(2) Even if a computer providing a computer service stops due to a failure, it can be recovered by simply mounting the USB memory device to another arbitrary computer. For this reason, when a failure occurs and the computer stops, the service stops, but it can be recovered in a relatively short time. In addition, it is easy to arbitrarily select a computer to start a service.
(3) When the stopped computer service is restored, the state immediately before the stop can be guaranteed.

  A plug-in application system using a USB memory device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Generally, a USB memory device called a USB memory has a built-in non-volatile memory and can be easily plug-in play with a PC having a USB interface. Also, recently, the storage capacity of the nonvolatile memory built in the USB memory device has been increased, and it is easy to store business data and the like. Furthermore, the data transfer speed has been increased. The inventor has focused on this point and has come up with the technology described in the following embodiments.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of a plug-in application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the plug-in application system shown in FIG. 1, a computer 101 that provides a computer service includes a CPU 102, a main storage device (DRAM or the like) 103, and a hard disk device 104 in which an OS (operating system) is installed. It has been. However, these sections 102 to 104 need only provide functions that provide the computing and storage capabilities required by the application. Instead, a USB interface 100 is provided on which a USB memory device 105 that is small and lightweight and excellent in portability can be mounted. The USB interface 100 is always provided if it is a general PC. The application execution platform may be installed in the HDD 104 or may not be installed.

  On the other hand, the USB memory 105 has an initial setting when the application 106 for executing the service of the computer 101, the setting file 107 of the application 106, the business data 110 used by the application 106, and the USB memory are mounted. A setting program 108 to be executed and software 109 as a base for executing the application 105 are provided. The setting file 107 is a file for setting an application. However, although the execution base 109 exists in the USB memory 105, the OS does not have to exist.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the plug-in application system described in FIG. 1 and showing an initial operation when the USB is mounted. With reference to FIG. 2, an operation until the operation of the system is started after the USB memory 204 is mounted on the PC 201 will be described. As described with reference to FIG. 1, the system (PC) 201 is provided with a central processing unit 202, a main storage device 203, and a hard disk device 210. It is not in the state.

  On the other hand, the USB memory 204 stores application data 205, a setting program 206, a setting file 207, an execution platform 208, and an application 209. Here, when the USB memory 204 is connected to the system (PC) 201, the setting program 206 is automatically activated. The setting program 206 first checks the software environment in the system 201 and checks whether or not software 208 as an execution base is installed. As a result of this check, if the execution base software 208 is not installed, the execution base 208 is automatically installed (L3). As a result, the execution base 210 a is provided in the HDD 210. A business data area 210b is also provided.

  Here, the execution platform 208 refers to a program that is irrelevant to an application, but is necessary for the execution of the application, for example, a system commonly used in a system such as a computer language.

  Next, the setting program 206 displays the setting screen 211 on the display of the PC 201. In this setting screen 211, input of information specific to the system 201 necessary for the application 209 to provide a computer service is received (L1). The information unique to the system 201 refers to information uniquely set for each computer, such as a network address (IP address) 211a. Information input on the setting screen 211 is returned to the USB memory 204 and stored in the setting file 207 (L2).

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example during operation of the system 101 described in FIG. In this figure, the operation from the start of operation of the system 301 with the USB memory 304 attached will be described. When the operation of the system 301 is started, an application 306 (L11), business data 307 (L12), and a setting file 308 (L13) are loaded from the USB memory 304 to the main storage device 302.

  The application 306 is executed using these data (business data, setting file), and a computer service is provided. The business data 307 and the setting file 308 are read and written by the application 306 in a timely manner, and the result is reflected in the main storage device 302 and the USB memory 304 in a timely manner (L12 to L15). In this way, by reflecting in a timely manner, it is possible to deal with a failure at any point in time.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining switching until a failure occurs in the system described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and the computer service is restarted by an alternative computer. The computer 401 provides a computer service with the configuration shown in FIGS. Assume that a failure has occurred in this computer 401.

  The user prepares an alternative computer 403, pulls out the USB memory 402 from the faulty computer 401, and attaches it to the alternative computer 403 (412). In the alternative computer 403, the application 404, the business data 405, the setting file 406, and the execution base 407a are automatically set by the method described in FIGS. 1 to 3 (L21) and provided by the failed computer 401. The same service as the service can be provided. At this time, since the USB memory 402 holds the state immediately before the computer 401 stops due to a failure, the alternative computer 403 can start providing the service from the state immediately before the failure of the computer 401 (413). If the USB memory 402 is pointed to any of the other notebook PC 415 (L17) and desktop PC 417 (L18), the service can be provided by the system pointed to.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow from the installation of the USB memory to the start of the provision of the computer service in the present embodiment. Basically, this flow does not change during normal operation or when switching to an alternative machine due to a failure. When using the technique according to the present embodiment, first, as shown in step S501, the USB memory according to the present embodiment is first attached to the computer. When the USB memory is attached, the setting program built in the USB memory is automatically activated as shown in step S502. As shown in step S503, the automatically started setting program first checks whether an execution base exists in the computer. The execution platform mentioned here refers to a prerequisite program such as various computer languages used by an application. If the execution base does not exist in the computer, step S504 is executed to install the execution base. Next, the setting program executes step S505 to display a setting item input screen. The setting here means inputting information unique to the computer such as the network address of the computer to which the USB memory is connected. Next, the input setting item is stored in the USB memory in step S506 and used for the application. Next, as shown in step S507, the setting program expands data necessary for operating the application on the main storage device and prepares for application operation (loading of business data). Next, as shown in step S508, the setting program loads the application main body into the computer and starts executing the process. Also, as shown in step S509, application operation data is stored in the USB memory. Although the system according to the present embodiment is realized as described above, the same operation is performed even when the computer breaks down and the USB memory is reattached to the alternative device.

  Since data indicating the operating state is always stored in the USB memory, it is always possible to restore the state immediately before the stop of the computer service and execute processing. In addition, since it has a setting program, it can be easily operated on computers in different environments. When the USB memory is pointed again at the system in which the failure has been recovered, the processing from that point can be started again, including the processing that has been performed in the other system up to that point.

  In the above embodiment, the USB memory device has been described as an example. However, it goes without saying that other portable small memory devices may be used.

(Summary)
The plug-in application system according to the present embodiment has the following effects.
(1) It is not necessary to install an application on a computer that provides a computer service.
(2) Even if a computer providing a computer service stops due to a failure, it can be recovered by simply mounting the USB memory on another arbitrary computer. For this reason, when a failure occurs and the computer stops, the service stops, but it can be recovered in a relatively short time.
(3) When the stopped computer service is restored, the state immediately before the stop can be guaranteed.

  The present invention can be executed by a plug-in application system.

It is a figure which shows the example of 1 structure of the plug-in application system by one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the operation | movement of the initial setting in this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the operation | movement in operation | movement in this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the response | compatibility at the time of the failure occurrence in this Embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of operation | movement in this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Computer, 102 ... Central processing unit, 103 ... Main memory, 104 ... Hard disk drive, 105 ... USB memory, 106 ... Application, 107 ... Setting file, 108 ... Setting program, 109 ... Execution base, 110 ... Application data, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 201 ... Computer, 202 ... Central processing unit, 203 ... Main memory, 204 ... USB memory, 205 ... Application data, 206 ... Setting program, 207 ... Setting file, 208 ... Execution base, 209 ... Application, 210 ... Hard disk device, 211 ... setting screen 301 ... computer 302 ... main storage device 303 ... central processing unit 304 ... USB memory 305 ... setting program 306 ... application 307 ... application data 308 ... Constant file, 309 ... execution platform, 310 ... hard disk drive, 401 ... failed computer, 402 ... USB memory, 403 ... alternative computer, 404 ... application 405 ... application data, 406 ... setting file 407 ... hard disk drive

Claims (4)

  An application for executing a service of a computer, a setting file of the application, business data used by the application, and a setting program for performing initial settings when a USB memory is attached, the application being a computer service A setting program for displaying a setting screen for accepting input of system-specific information necessary for providing the information on a computer display, and a base software as a base for executing the application A USB memory device that can be connected to a computer.   2. The USB memory according to claim 1, wherein the business data and the setting file are read and written by the application in a timely manner, and the result is reflected in a main memory and a USB memory of the computer in a timely manner. apparatus.   The application, the business data, the setting file, and the execution base are automatically set for the alternative computer when the computer is pulled out from the failed computer and attached to the alternative computer. Item 3. The USB memory device according to Item 1 or 2. The USB memory device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A plug-in application system comprising a USB interface, a CPU, a memory, and a computer that is a storage device and in which an operation system is installed.

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