COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, SERVER MAINTENANCE OPERATION METHOD FOR COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, SERVER, AND SERVER MAINTENANCE OPERATION METHOD

Abstract

To provide a communication system configured to easily execute maintenance work on a server connected to a communication control apparatus.SOLUTION: A server to be subjected to maintenance out of a plurality of servers transmits a maintenance state start notification to a connection control apparatus in accordance with operation during maintenance, transmits, when receiving a maintenance state start acknowledgment from the connection control apparatus in response to the maintenance state start notification, a command to a subordinate terminal to be subordinated to a server other than the server which is subjected to maintenance out of the above servers, and executes rebooting the server after transmitting the command. On receipt of the maintenance state start notification, the connection control apparatus transmits the maintenance state start acknowledgement to the server to be subjected to maintenance, and stops error generation operation due to disconnection from the server to be subjected to maintenance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication system including a plurality of servers together with a communication control device such as an IP-PBX, a server maintenance operation method for a communication system, a server, and a server maintenance operation method. [Background technology]

[0002] In a communication system in which an application server is installed on the IP network connecting the IP-PBX and terminals in order to reduce the communication load of the IP-PBX, it is generally necessary to perform periodic maintenance work involving restarting the application server to ensure long-term operation of the system.

[0003] Conventionally, when performing maintenance work on an application server, it was required to perform the work without stopping the operation of the communication system. In order to avoid alarms or error output from the IP-PBX during maintenance work on the application server, complicated maintenance procedures were performed that involved inputting commands to both the application server and the IP-PBX.

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing system that switches from an operational server to a standby server using a virtualization technology when a failure occurs in the operational server. As described above, in order to prevent the operation of the communication system from being stopped even during maintenance work on the application server, it is possible to apply such a switching technology from an operational server to a standby server to the communication system. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2008-305070 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, even in a system that uses the switching technology from an active server to a standby server as described in Patent Document 1, there is a problem in that maintenance work cannot be performed unless the maintenance personnel is familiar with communication control devices such as IP-PBX and communication systems.

[0007] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a communication system, a server maintenance operation method for a communication system, a server, and a server maintenance operation method, in which maintenance work on a server connected to a communication control device can be easily performed, focusing on such problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A communication system of the present invention includes a plurality of terminals, a connection control device that controls communication connections to the plurality of terminals, and a plurality of servers, each of which is communicatively connected to the plurality of terminals and the connection control device and provides communication services to subordinate terminals among the plurality of terminals when communication with the connection control device is established. A server among the plurality of servers that is a target for maintenance work transmits a maintenance state start notification to the connection control device in response to an operation during maintenance work, and receives a Maintenance state start acknowledgement Upon receiving the notification, the connection control device transmits a command to the subordinate terminal to change the subordinate destination to a server among the plurality of servers other than the server that is the target of the maintenance work, and restarts itself after transmitting the command. Upon receiving the notification, the connection control device transmits a notification of acknowledgment of the start of the maintenance state to the server that is the target of the maintenance work, and stops the error generating operation due to the disconnection of the communication connection with the server that is the target of the maintenance work.

[0009] The server maintenance operation method of the present invention for a communication system includes a plurality of terminals, a connection control device that controls communication connections to the plurality of terminals, and a plurality of servers each connected to the plurality of terminals and the connection control device so as to be able to communicate with the plurality of terminals and providing communication services to subordinate terminals among the plurality of terminals when communication with the connection control device is established, the method including the steps of a server that is a target of maintenance work among the plurality of servers transmitting a maintenance state start notification to the connection control device in response to an operation during maintenance work, and receiving a notification from the connection control device in response to the maintenance state start notification. Maintenance state start acknowledgement and a step of, upon receiving the maintenance state start notification, sending a command to the subordinate terminal to change the subordinate destination to a server among the plurality of servers other than the server that is the target of the maintenance work, and a step of restarting itself after sending the command, and the connection control device has a step of, upon receiving the maintenance state start notification, sending the maintenance state start acknowledgement notification to the server that is the target of the maintenance work, and stopping the error generating operation by disconnecting the communication connection with the server that is the target of the maintenance work.

[0010] The server of the present invention is communicatively connected to a plurality of terminals and a connection control device that controls communication connections to the plurality of terminals, and provides communication services to each of the subordinate terminals among the plurality of terminals in a state in which communication with the connection control device is established. The server transmits a maintenance state start notification to the connection control device in response to an operation during maintenance work, and receives a maintenance state start notification from the connection control device in response to the maintenance state start notification. Maintenance state start acknowledgement When the server receives the notification, the subordinate terminal transmits a command to the subordinate terminal to change its dependency to another server that provides the communication service, and after the command is transmitted, the subordinate terminal restarts itself. In addition, the maintenance state start notification is transmitted to the connection control device, causing the connection control device to stop the error generation operation due to the disconnection of the communication connection with the server.

[0011] The maintenance operation method of the present invention is a maintenance operation method for a server that is communicably connected to a plurality of terminals and a connection control device that controls communication connections to the plurality of terminals, and provides communication services to each of the subordinate terminals among the plurality of terminals in a state in which communication with the connection control device is established, the method comprising the steps of: transmitting a maintenance state start notification to the connection control device in response to an operation during maintenance work; Maintenance state start acknowledgement upon receiving the notification, the method includes the steps of: sending a command to the subordinate terminal to change its subordination to another server that provides the communication service; and restarting the subordinate terminal after sending the command. The method is characterized in that the transmission of the maintenance state start notification to the connection control device causes the connection control device to stop the error generation operation caused by the disconnection of the communication connection with the server. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the communication system, the server maintenance operation method of the communication system, the server, and the server maintenance operation method of the present invention, the maintenance worker does not need to operate both the connection control device such as IP-PBX and the server for the maintenance work of the server, and the server maintenance work can be easily performed. Also, even if the communication connection between the server and the connection control device is cut off by restarting the server during the maintenance work, the generation of an error in the connection control device due to the disconnection can be prevented. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an IP telephone switching system according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is a sequence diagram showing a regular maintenance operation executed by an application server in the system of FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of regular maintenance work in which a maintenance worker operates both an IP-PBX and an application server. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0015] 1 shows the basic configuration of an IP telephone exchange system as an embodiment of the communication system of the present invention. This IP telephone exchange is a dual-system operation system to ensure redundancy in the event of a server malfunction or during maintenance, and includes two systems of application servers 12, 13 and subordinate terminal groups 14, 15 in addition to an IP-PBX 11. Note that the IP telephone exchange system may include more than two systems of application servers.

[0016] The IP-PBX 11 is a telephone exchange that controls the switching of IP telephones. Each of the application servers 12 and 13 is installed for the purpose of reducing the communication load of the IP-PBX 11, and also plays a role in storing data such as records of incoming and outgoing calls using a database (not shown). Each of the application servers 12 and 13 may also have the function of a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) server, for example.

[0017] The application servers 12 and 13 are connected to individual terminals of the IP-PBX 11 and are capable of communicating with the IP-PBX 11 under the establishment of a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) connection. The application servers 12 and 13 and the groups of dependent terminals 14 and 15 are each connected to an IP network 17. The IP network 17 is the Internet. Each of the groups of dependent terminals 14 and 15 includes a plurality of terminals 141 to 14. m , 151-15 n Terminals 141 to 14 m , 151-15 n are telephones, personal computers, etc., and each is assigned an IP address and a telephone number.

[0018] During normal operation, the first system is made up of the application server 12 and the dependent terminal group 14, and the second system is made up of the application server 13 and the dependent terminal group 15. During normal operation, the application server 12 is connected to the terminals 141 to 14 of the dependent terminal group 14. m Subordinate terminals 141 to 14 m The application server 12 is the active server (subordinate server). m Similarly, the application server 13 controls the terminals 151 to 15 of the group of dependent terminals 15 during normal operation. n Subordinate terminals 151 to 15 n The application server 13 is the operational server.

[0019] When a communication error such as a breakdown occurs in the first system application server 12, the terminals 141 to 14 m In the same manner, when a communication error such as a breakdown occurs in the application server 13 of the second system, the terminals 151 to 15 n It is possible to use the first system application server 12 as a detouring system server.

[0020] Next, the operation of the IP-PBX 11 and the application server 12 when performing regular maintenance on the first system application server 12 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. When performing regular maintenance, it is assumed that a TCP connection (communication connection) has already been established between the IP-PBX 11 and each of the application servers 12 and 13, as shown in Fig. 2 (steps S11 and S12).

[0021] First, the application server 12 starts a maintenance application by manual operation of a maintenance worker (step S13), which then transmits a regular maintenance state start notification to the IP-PBX 11 (step S14). The regular maintenance state includes restarting the application server 12, as described later.

[0022] When the IP-PBX 11 receives the periodic maintenance state start notification from the application server 12, it responds by transmitting a periodic maintenance state start acknowledgement notification to the application server 12 (step S15), and changes the operation mode for the application server 12 from the normal operation state to a periodic maintenance standby state (step S16). In the periodic maintenance standby state of step S16, the IP-PBX 11 stops the error generation operation that is executed when it detects a TCP connection disconnection accompanying the restart of the application server 12. That is, when the IP-PBX 11 normally detects a TCP connection disconnection, it rewrites a message related to an alarm in the TCP control process and executes an error generation operation that generates an error output and an alarm, but in this periodic maintenance standby state, the error generation operation for the application server 12 is disabled so that it is not executed, and it executes a process to stop the error generation operation.

[0023] When the application server 12 receives the notification of acceptance of the start of the regular maintenance state from the IP-PBX 11, the application server 12 notifies the terminals 141 to 14 m In response to this command, the terminals 141 to 14 are instructed to change the subordinate destination to the bypass server (step S17). m Each of these is subordinate to the second system application server 13 which is a detouring system server, and performs, for example, call origination and reception processing via the application server 13.

[0024] After step S17 is executed, the application server 12 is in a state where maintenance work is possible, so that the maintenance worker starts the maintenance work on the application server 12. The maintenance work includes, for example, various inspections such as checking the operation of each part of the server by executing the above-mentioned maintenance application, as well as restarting the application server 12, so that the application server 12 restarts itself during the maintenance work (step S18). This restart causes the TCP connection between the IP-PBX 11 and the application server 12 to be disconnected (step S19). At this time, the TCP connection between the IP-PBX 11 and the application server 13 is maintained (step S20), so the terminals 141 to 14 mEach of these can make and receive calls via the second system application server 13.

[0025] After the restart in step S18, the application server 12 establishes a TCP connection with the IP-PBX 11 (step S21). That is, the TCP connection between the IP-PBX 11 and the application server 12 is automatically restored. Even at this time, the TCP connection between the IP-PBX 11 and the application server 13 is maintained (step S22).

[0026] When the application server 12 establishes a TCP connection with the IP-PBX 11, it starts the regular maintenance end operation in response to the operation of the maintenance worker (step S23). For example, the operation of the maintenance application displays the regular maintenance result on the display screen of the application server 12, and the maintenance worker confirms the regular maintenance result and then operates the regular maintenance end OK button to start the regular maintenance end operation. The application server 12 transmits a regular maintenance state release notification to the IP-PBX 11 (step S24).

[0027] When the IP-PBX 11 receives the scheduled maintenance state release notification from the application server 12, it responds by transmitting a scheduled maintenance state release acknowledgement notification to the application server 12 (step S25) and changes the operation mode for the application server 12 from the scheduled maintenance standby state to the normal operation state (step S26). In the normal operation state, the error generation operation for the application server 12 described above is enabled, and for example, when a disconnection of the TCP connection with the application server 12 is detected, the error generation operation is executed.

[0028] When the application server 12 receives the notification of the cancellation of the periodic maintenance state from the IP-PBX 11, the application server 12 notifies the terminals 141 to 14 m In response to this command, the terminals 141 to 14 are instructed to change the subordinate destination to the active server (step S27). mEach of these is subordinate to the first system application server 12 which is an operational server, and for example, outgoing and incoming call processing is performed via the application server 12.

[0029] As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, regular maintenance work can be performed simply by operations of the maintenance worker at the application server 12.

[0030] For example, as shown in Fig. 3, during regular maintenance work, first, the maintenance worker operates the IP-PBX to input a command to disconnect the TCP connection (step S31), and similarly, the maintenance worker operates the IP-PBX to stop the use of the TCP package (step S31). Next, the maintenance worker operates the application server to input a command to stop the execution of the application (step S33), and similarly, the maintenance worker operates the application server to restart the application server (step S34). After the application server is restarted, the maintenance worker operates the application server to start the execution of the application of the application server (step S35). Also, the maintenance worker operates the IP-PBX to input a command to start the use of the TCP package (step S36), and similarly, the maintenance worker operates the IP-PBX to input a command to establish the TCP connection (step S37).

[0031] That is, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is not necessary for the maintenance worker to operate both the IP-PBX and the application server as shown in Fig. 3. Therefore, even a maintenance worker who is not familiar with the IP-PBX 11 can easily perform regular maintenance of the application server 12. Also, by operating only the application server 13 as a single system during regular maintenance, regular maintenance can be performed without interrupting the service.

[0032] In the above embodiment, the maintenance operation for the application server 12 has been described, but the maintenance operation for the application server 13 can also be executed in the same manner.

[0033] An example of actual operation is regular maintenance work on a server that relays line information and control information between the control console and IP-PBX in a railway control system.

[0034] In the above embodiment, the operation of the communication system during scheduled maintenance work has been described, but the present invention is not limited to scheduled maintenance work, and can be applied to a communication system performing maintenance work involving restarting an application server. Also, the present invention is not limited to application servers, and can be applied to a communication system performing maintenance work involving restarting other servers such as database servers and mail servers. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 11 IP-PBX 12, 13 Application Server 14, 15 Subordinate terminals 141~14 m , 151-15 n Terminal 17 IP Networks

Claims

1. Multiple devices and a connection control device for controlling communication connections to the plurality of terminals; A communication system comprising: a plurality of servers, each of which is communicatively connected to the plurality of terminals and the connection control device, and which provides communication services to subordinate terminals of each of the plurality of terminals in a state in which communication is established with the connection control device; A server that is a target of maintenance work among the plurality of servers transmits a maintenance state start notification to the connection control device in response to an operation during maintenance work, and upon receiving a maintenance state start acknowledgement notification from the connection control device in response to the maintenance state start notification, transmits a command to the subordinate terminal to change the subordinate destination to a server other than the server that is the target of maintenance work among the plurality of servers, and restarts itself after transmitting the command; A communication system characterized in that, when the connection control device receives the maintenance state start notification, it sends the maintenance state start acknowledgement notification to the server that is the target of the maintenance work, and stops the error generation operation by disconnecting the communication connection with the server that is the target of the maintenance work.

2. the server that is the target of the maintenance work transmits a maintenance state end notification to the connection control device in response to an operation at the end of the maintenance work, and when a maintenance state end acknowledgement notification is received from the connection control device in response to the maintenance state end notification, transmits a command to the subordinate terminal to change the subordinate destination to the server that is the target of the maintenance work, 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein, when the connection control device receives the maintenance state end notification, the connection control device transmits the maintenance state end acknowledgement notification to the server that is the target of the maintenance work, and enables the error generation operation.

3. 3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of servers is an application server, and said connection control device is an IP-PBX (telephone exchange).

4. Multiple devices and a connection control device for controlling communication connections to the plurality of terminals; A server maintenance operation method for a communication system including a plurality of servers, each of which is communicatively connected to the plurality of terminals and the connection control device, and which provides communication services to subordinate terminals among the plurality of terminals in a state in which communication is established with the connection control device, comprising: A server that is a target for maintenance work among the plurality of servers is transmitting a maintenance state start notification to the connection control device in response to an operation during maintenance work; a step of transmitting, when receiving a maintenance state start acknowledgement notification from the connection control device in response to the maintenance state start notification, a command to the subordinate terminal to change the subordinate destination to a server other than the server that is the maintenance work target among the plurality of servers; and performing a reboot of itself after sending said command, A server maintenance operation method characterized in that, when the connection control device receives the maintenance state start notification, it has a step of sending the maintenance state start acknowledgement notification to the server that is the target of the maintenance work, and stopping the error generation operation by disconnecting the communication connection with the server that is the target of the maintenance work.

5. A server that is communicatively connected to a plurality of terminals and a connection control device that controls communication connections to the plurality of terminals, and provides communication services to each of the subordinate terminals among the plurality of terminals in a state in which communication with the connection control device is established, transmits a maintenance state start notification to the connection control device in response to an operation during maintenance work, and when a maintenance state start acknowledgement notification is received from the connection control device in response to the maintenance state start notification, transmits a command to the subordinate terminal for changing the subordinate destination to another server that provides the communication service, and restarts itself after transmitting the command; a server, characterized in that, by transmitting the maintenance state start notification to the connection control device, the connection control device is caused to stop an error generating operation due to the disconnection of the communication connection with the server.

6. A maintenance operation method for a server that is communicatively connected to a plurality of terminals and a connection control device that controls communication connections to the plurality of terminals, and provides communication services to each of the subordinate terminals among the plurality of terminals in a state in which communication with the connection control device is established, comprising: a step of transmitting a maintenance state start notification to the connection control device in response to an operation during maintenance work; a step of transmitting, when receiving a maintenance state start acknowledgement notification from the connection control device in response to the maintenance state start notification, a command to the subordinate terminal for changing the subordinate destination to another server that provides the communication service; and performing a reboot of itself after sending said command, A maintenance operation method, comprising the steps of: transmitting the maintenance state start notification to the connection control device, and causing the connection control device to stop an error generating operation caused by disconnection of the communication connection with the server.

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