# US 2013/0159773 A1 · Information processing apparatus and operation status monitoring method

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- Number: US 2013/0159773 A1
- Document ID: US20130159773A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/658,926
- Filed: 2012-10-24
- Published: 2013-06-20
- Earliest claimed: 2011-12-20
- Assignees: Fujitsu Limited
- Inventors: Tsunemichi Harada; Hiroaki Sato; Akira Sampei; Fumio Hanzawa
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130159773A1

## CPC

- G06F 11/076: {by exceeding a count or rate limit, e.g. word- or bit count limit}
- G06F 11/0727: {in a storage system, e.g. in a DASD or network based storage system (drivers for digital recording or reproducing units G06F3/06; circuits for error detection or correction within digital recording or reproducing units G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097)}
- G06F 11/0784: {Routing of error reports, e.g. with a specific transmission path or data flow}
- G06F 11/3006: {where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems (multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50)}
- G06F 11/3034: {where the computing system component is a storage system, e.g. DASD based or network based (digital input from or digital output to record carriers G06F3/06; digital recording or reproducing G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097)}
- G06F 11/3055: {Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available (error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operations G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16)}
- G06F 11/3065: {Monitoring arrangements determined by the means or processing involved in reporting the monitored data (error or fault reporting or logging G06F11/0766)}
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

An information processing apparatus includes a plurality of controller modules capable of performing communications with each other, and a memory included in each controller module to be stored with status information reflecting a status of an error occurring during the communications with other controller modules with respect to the controller module of a communication partner apparatus and/or the controller module of the self-apparatus, wherein, when determining whether or not a fault occurs in a certain controller module in the plurality of controller modules, the controller module different from a determination target controller module determines, based on status information of the determination target controller module that is stored on the memories of two or more controller modules different from the determination target controller module, whether the fault occurs in the determination target controller module.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An information processing apparatus comprising:
a plurality of controller modules capable of performing communications with each other; and
a memory included in each controller module to be stored with status information reflecting a status of an error occurring during the communications with other controller modules with respect to the controller module of a communication partner apparatus and/or the controller module of the self-apparatus,
wherein, when determining whether or not a fault occurs in a certain controller module in the plurality of controller modules, the controller module different from a determination target controller module determines, based on status information of the determination target controller module that is stored on the memories of two or more controller modules different from the determination target controller module, whether the fault occurs in the determination target controller module.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of controller modules includes a master module operating as a master controller module, a next master module operating as a next master controller module and a plurality of slave modules each operating as a slave controller module, and
when determining whether or not the fault occurs in the master module, the next master module determines, based on the status information of the master module on the memory within the self-module and the status information of the master module of which the slave module notifies, whether the fault occurs in the master module or not.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the master module executes:
a first updating process of updating the status information about the controller module of the communication partner apparatus on the memory within the self-module and/or the status information about the self-module on the basis of a type of an error occurring during the communications with other controller modules;
a second updating process of adding values of pieces of status information about the respective controller module that are transmitted from the next master module and the respective slave modules to values of pieces of status information about the respective controller modules on the memory within the self-module; and
a first determining process of determining, based on the status information on the memory within the self-module, whether the fault occurs in the slave module or the next master module,
each slave module executes:
the first updating process; and
a first transmitting process of transmitting the status information of each controller module on the memory to the master module if the value of the status information of any one of the slave modules or the next master module on the memory within the self-module becomes equal to or larger than a second predetermined value smaller than a first predetermined value, and transmitting the status information about the master module on the memory to the next master module if the value of the status information about the master module on the memory becomes equal to or larger than the second predetermined value, and
the next master module executes:
the first updating process;
a second transmitting process of transmitting the value of the status information of each controller module on the memory to the master module if the value of the status information of any one of the slave modules or the self-module on the memory within the self-module becomes equal to or larger than the second predetermined value;
a second updating process of adding the value of the status information of the master module of which each slave module notifies to the value of the status information of the master module on the memory within the self-module; and
a second determining process of determining that the fault occurs in the master module if the value of the status information of the master module on the memory within the self-module becomes equal to or larger than a third predetermined value.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each controller module operates as an identity-grasped module which grasps an identity of the self-module from among the master module, the next master module and the slave module on the basis of pieces of identifying information and operation statuses of the plurality of controller modules.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second determining process is a process of trying the communication with the master module if the value of the status information about the master module on the memory within the self-module becomes equal to or larger than the third predetermined value, determining that the fault does not occur in the master module if succeeding in the communication and if a communication success count within a predetermined period is less than a predetermined count, and determining that the fault occurs in the master module if failing in the communication and if the communication success count within the predetermined period becomes equal to or larger than the predetermined count.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the next master module further executes a counting/managing process of counting and managing a reception count of the status information about the master module on a per slave module basis, and
the second determining process is a process of determining whether or not the reception count about the plurality of slave modules, which is managed in the counting/managing process, becomes equal to or larger than “1” if the value of the status information about the master module on the memory within the self-module becomes equal to or larger than the third predetermined value, and determining that the fault occurs in the master module limitedly to the case where the reception count about the plurality of slave modules becomes equal to or larger than “1”.

### Claim 7

An operation status monitoring method for monitoring operation statuses of a plurality of controller modules capable of performing communications with each other, the method comprising:
storing, into a memory included in each controller module, status information reflecting a status of an error occurring during the communications with other controller modules with respect to the controller module of a communication partner apparatus and/or the controller module of the self-apparatus, and
when determining whether or not a fault occurs in a certain controller module in the plurality of controller modules, determining, by the controller module different from a determination target controller module, based on status information of the determination target controller module that is stored on the memories of two or more controller modules different from the determination target controller module, whether the fault occurs in the determination target controller module.