Patent Application
20080107036
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication relay device, a communication relay method, and a computer product that relay in a communication network, input data input from a line to another line as output data, and, more particularly to a communication relay device, a communication relay method, and a computer product that notify a quality deterioration of the communication network in real time and enable communication quality control by causing a user to take quick countermeasures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, along with an increasing use of a computer network such as a local area network (LAN) and the Internet, a flow of traffic (traffic of packets) via a network line is also increasing.
The computer network includes lines that are connected by a relay device. However, when bandwidths of the connected lines differ, a bandwidth of an input line is subjected to a bandwidth limitation to output the packets to an output line. Due to this, regardless of the increase in the traffic via the network line, the packets are smoothly relayed from one line to the other line.
However, carrying out the bandwidth limitation reduces the communication speed and accuracy of the packet transmission, thus resulting in a quality deterioration of the traffic in the computer network. The quality deterioration of the traffic needs to be quickly detected and quick countermeasures need to be taken.
To overcome the drawback, a quality of service (QoS) control system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-148823. The QoS control system can individually set a protocol and communication parameters for each hierarchy of an open systems interconnection (OSI) basic reference model and carry out the QoS control for each hierarchy. Upon detecting a quality deterioration of the traffic in a hierarchy, the QoS control system can automatically update the communication parameters to restore the quality of the traffic.
Further, a traffic control system is disclosed in “Packet Shaper of Packeteer”, (online), library, (searched on Sep. 29, 2006), Internet URL: http://www.packeteer.co.jp/document/packetshaper-ds.pdf. For carrying out the quality control of the traffic according to user's needs, based on criteria such as application, protocol, subnet, uniform resource locator (URL), the traffic control system classifies the traffic in a seventh hierarchy of the OSI basic reference model, analyzes a usage status of the network, application performance, and network efficiency, stores the analysis results, and carries out the bandwidth limitation and compression on the traffic.
However, in the conventional technologies described above, when the traffic is monitored based on a quality control criterion which flexibly deals with the user's needs and the quality deterioration of the traffic is detected as a result of the monitoring, the quality deterioration is not notified to the user in real time and the user cannot take quick countermeasures.
To be specific, in the former conventional technology, a criterion that notifies the quality deterioration of the traffic is a fixed value preset in the QoS control system and the user cannot freely set the criterion according to his or her needs. Therefore, upon detecting that the quality of the traffic in a hierarchy has deteriorated, even if the QoS control system attempts to restore the quality of the traffic by automatically updating the communication parameters, the quality control itself is limited. This is because a range subject to the quality control of the traffic is limited.
Further, in the latter conventional technology, although the user can freely set, according to his or her needs, the criterion that detects the quality deterioration of the traffic, the traffic control system does not notify the user of the detection of the quality deterioration in real time and the user cannot take quick countermeasures.
Further, even if these conventional technologies are combined, the quality deterioration related to the quality of a communication service is not notified to the user in real time according to the user's needs. Thus, the user cannot take quick countermeasures.
It is an object of the present invention to at least partially solve the problems in the conventional technology.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a communication relay device that relays in a communication network, input data that is input from a line to another line as output data, includes an evaluation-criterion setting unit that in advance sets, based on the input data and the output data, an evaluation criterion that is arbitrarily set for evaluating a performance of the communication network; an indicator calculating unit that calculates, based on the input data and the output data, a performance indicator of the communication network; and an evaluating unit that evaluates, based on the performance indicator calculated by the indicator calculating unit and the evaluation criterion set in advance by the evaluation-criterion setting unit, the performance of the communication network.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a communication relay device that relays in a communication network, a communication bandwidth of input data that is input from a line and subjected to a bandwidth limitation to a predetermined bandwidth, to another line as output data, includes an evaluation-criterion setting unit that in advance sets an evaluation criterion that is arbitrarily set for evaluating the bandwidth limitation; an indicator calculating unit that calculates a bandwidth limitation indicator based on the communication bandwidth of the input data and one of the predetermined bandwidth and a communication bandwidth of the output data after the bandwidth limitation; and an evaluating unit that evaluates, based on the bandwidth limitation indicator calculated by the indicator calculating unit and the evaluation criterion set in advance by the evaluation-criterion setting unit, the bandwidth limitation.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a communication relay method of relaying in a communication network, input data that is input from a line to another line as output data, includes setting an evaluation criterion that is arbitrarily set for evaluating a performance of the communication network in advance based on the input data and the output data; calculating a performance indicator of the communication network based on the input data and the output data; and evaluating the performance of the communication network based on the performance indicator calculated in the calculating and the evaluation criterion set in advance in the setting.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a communication relay method of relaying in a communication network, a communication bandwidth of input data that is input from a line and subjected to a bandwidth limitation to a predetermined bandwidth, to another line as output data, includes setting an evaluation criterion that is arbitrarily set for evaluating the bandwidth limitation in advance; calculating a bandwidth limitation indicator based on the communication bandwidth of the input data and one of the predetermined bandwidth and a communication bandwidth of the output data after the bandwidth limitation; and evaluating the bandwidth limitation based on the bandwidth limitation indicator calculated in the calculating and the evaluation criterion set in advance in the setting.
According to still another aspect of the invention, in a computer-readable recording medium that stores therein a communication relay process program that causes a computer to perform a communication relay process of relaying input data that is input from one line to another line as output data, the communication relay process program causes the computer to execute setting an evaluation criterion that is arbitrarily set for evaluating a performance of the communication network in advance based on the input data and the output data; calculating a performance indicator of the communication network based on the input data and the output data; and evaluating the performance of the communication network based on the performance indicator calculated in the calculating and the evaluation criterion set in advance in the setting.
The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of this invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Exemplary embodiments of the communication relay device, the communication relay method, and the computer-readable recording medium storing the communication relay process program according to the present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In a first to a third embodiments to be explained below, a packet-dropping bandwidth related to a packet drop using a bandwidth limitation is adopted as a criterion to ensure the quality of traffic. Further, because a bandwidth indicates a volume of data transceiving per unit time, the bandwidth is equivalent to a communication speed. Because a packet drop rate is an amount of data drop per unit time, the packet drop rate is equivalent to a degradation amount of the communication speed. However, the criterion to ensure the quality of the traffic is not to be thus limited, and a break period of the traffic, certainty of data transmission, security level, and the like can also be used as the criterion.
A salient feature of the present invention will be first explained prior to an explanation of the first to the third embodiments.
The L2 switch device according to the present invention carries out the bandwidth limitation on an input packet and outputs the input packet ((2) of
An evaluation result at (4) is then output in real time from the L2 switch device to the input/output terminal such that the evaluation result can be displayed ((5) of
Due to this, when the bandwidth which is limited using the bandwidth limitation at (2) exceeds the maximum value of the admissible packet-dropping bandwidth that is set in advance at (1), the excess is notified to the user in real time and the user can take quick countermeasures.
The first embodiment of the present invention will be explained below with reference to
A structure of the L2 switch device according to the first embodiment will be explained first.
The bandwidth-data collecting unit 101 retrieves bandwidth data from the line interfaces 106 and 108. When the line interface 106 is an input interface to the L2 switch 107 and the line interface 108 is an output interface from the L2 switch 107, the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101 retrieves the bandwidth data of the input packet from the line interface 106 and retrieves the bandwidth data of an output packet after the bandwidth limitation from the line interface 108. Further, when the line interface 108 is the input interface to the L2 switch 107 and the line interface 106 is the output interface from the L2 switch 107, the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101 retrieves the bandwidth data of the input packet from the line interface 108.
The line interface 106 includes a packet receiver 106a that receives the input packet from an external device and a packet transmitter 106b that transmits to the external device, the packet that is supplied from the L2 switch 107. Similarly, the line interface 108 also includes a packet receiver 108a that receives the input packet from the external device and a packet transmitter 108b that transmits to the external device, the packet that is supplied from the L2 switch 107.
The L2 switch 107 which carries out the relay and transferring process of data in the layer 2 includes ingress function units 107a and 107d, egress function units 107b and 107c, and a bandwidth limitation processor 107e. The ingress function unit 107a receives an input of the input packet from the line interface 106, specifies a destination line based on a media access control (MAC) address, and transfers the packet to an egress function unit of the specified destination line. The ingress function unit 107d receives an input of the input packet from the line interface 108, specifies a destination line based on the MAC address, and transfers the packet to the egress function unit of the specified destination line. The bandwidth limitation processor 107e limits, to a predetermined bandwidth, the bandwidth of the packet before the packet is transferred to the egress function unit from the ingress function unit 107a or the ingress function unit 107d. The egress function units 107b and 107c output to the external device via the line interface 106 or the line interface 108, the packet that is subjected to the bandwidth limitation and that is output from the bandwidth limitation processor 107e.
Based on the bandwidth data before the bandwidth limitation and the bandwidth data of the fixed bandwidth that are retrieved by the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101, the bandwidth-limitation-indicator calculating unit 102 calculates a bandwidth limitation indicator that indicates a degree of the bandwidth limitation. In the first embodiment, the difference between the bandwidth data before the bandwidth limitation and the bandwidth data of the fixed bandwidth is treated as the bandwidth limitation indicator. However, the present invention is not to be thus limited, and a difference between the bandwidth data before the bandwidth limitation and the bandwidth data after the bandwidth limitation, or a ratio of the bandwidth data before the bandwidth limitation and the bandwidth data after the bandwidth limitation can also be treated as the bandwidth limitation indicator. Thus, any indicator which can indicate a relation between bandwidths of the bandwidth data before the bandwidth limitation and the bandwidth data after the bandwidth limitation can be used as the bandwidth limitation indicator.
Based on an evaluation criterion 104a stored in the storage unit 104, the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 carries out a process to evaluate the bandwidth limitation indicator calculated by the bandwidth-limitation-indicator calculating unit 102. To be specific, when the bandwidth limitation indicator is the difference between the bandwidth data before the bandwidth limitation and the bandwidth data of the fixed bandwidth, the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 determines whether the difference exceeds the evaluation criterion. The evaluation criterion 104a indicates at least one of the evaluation criterion which is stored by securing a storage area in a storage unit and the storage area.
The bandwidth-limitation-evaluation-result outputting unit 105 carries out a process to output and display, in an input/output interface 151 of an input/output terminal 150 that is externally connected to the L2 switch device 100, the evaluation result of the bandwidth limitation indicator by the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103. To be specific, the input/output interface 151 is a GUI that includes a data input function and a data display function, and a control program of the GUI.
A preset value set by selecting the evaluation criterion which is input from the input/output interface 151 of the input/output terminal 150 is stored in the evaluation criterion 104a of the storage unit 104. The preset value can be selected and set whenever required. The value read by the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 from the evaluation criterion 104a at the time of carrying out the evaluating process of the bandwidth limitation indicator is treated as the evaluation criterion of the bandwidth limitation indicator. In other words, based on the evaluation criterion that can be modified whenever required, the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 evaluates the bandwidth limitation indicator in real time. Thus, the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 carries out a timely evaluation.
A bandwidth limitation evaluating process according to the first embodiment will be explained next.
Next, the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101 retrieves the bandwidth of the input packet (step S102). The bandwidth-limitation-indicator calculating unit 102 calculates the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth (step S103).
Next, the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 determines whether the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth is less than or equal to the maximum drop rate that is the evaluation criterion 104a stored in the storage unit 104 (step S104). When the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 determines that the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth is less than or equal to the maximum drop rate (“Yes” at step S105), the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S106. When the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 determines that the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth is not less than or equal to the maximum drop rate (“No” at step S105), the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S107.
At step S106, the controller of the L2 switch device 100 determines whether to end the bandwidth limitation evaluation. When the controller determines to end the bandwidth limitation evaluation (“Yes” at step S106), the controller immediately ends the bandwidth limitation evaluating process. When the controller determines not to end the bandwidth limitation evaluation (“No” at step S106), the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S108.
At step S107, the bandwidth-limitation-evaluation-result outputting unit 105 outputs the evaluation result to the effect that the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth exceeds the maximum drop rate. Upon completion of step S107, the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S106.
At step S108, the controller of the L2 switch device 100 determines whether to modify the setting of the maximum drop rate. When the controller determines to modify the setting of the maximum drop rate (“Yes” at step S108), the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S101. When the controller determines not to modify the setting of the maximum drop rate (“No” at step S108), the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S102.
An example of an operation using the bandwidth limitation evaluating process according to the first embodiment will be explained next.
The first embodiment of the present invention is explained. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the relay and transferring process of a virtual local area network (VLAN) packet in a VLAN or a virtual private network (VPN) packet in a VPN. When carrying out the relay and transferring process of data, the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101 retrieves the bandwidth data of the input packet and the bandwidth data of the output packet after the bandwidth limitation from the L2 switch 107 that processes the packets in VLAN units or VPN units. For example, a fixed bandwidth rate of X Mbps is stipulated for each VLAN that is identified by a VLAN identification (ID) and shaping (bandwidth limitation) is used to limit an input rate of W Mbps to the fixed bandwidth rate of X Mbps. When Y Mbps is the maximum drop rate, and W-X becomes greater than Y, a warning of such an excess is notified to the user. Further, similarly as the VLAN, the fixed bandwidth rate of X Mbps is stipulated for each VPN that is identified by a VPN identifier and shaping (bandwidth limitation) is used to limit the input rate of W Mbps to the fixed bandwidth rate of X Mbps.
The input/output interface according to the first embodiment will be explained next.
The input/output interface includes an input screen 200 for selecting and setting the evaluation criterion 104a and a result screen 300 for displaying the evaluation result. The input screen 200 and the result screen 300 may be displayed in a single screen. The input screen 200 and the result screen 300 may otherwise be separated to single screens and displayed, respectively.
The input screen 200 includes a mode setting unit 201, an input-number setting unit 202, a VLAN ID setting unit 203, a fixed-bandwidth-rate setting unit 204, and a maximum-drop-rate setting unit 205.
The mode setting unit 201 is an entry that selects and sets any one of “WARNING OF FIXED BANDWIDTH EXCESS”, “NOTICE OF FIXED BANDWIDTH EXCESS”, and “BEST EFFORT”. In the guarantee type network according to the first embodiment, when a guaranteed minimum bandwidth cannot be maintained due to the packet drop, a warning is notified to the user. Therefore in
The input-number setting unit 202 is an entry that sets a number of the VLANs to be input. In the example shown in
In the VLAN ID setting unit 203, an ID of the VLAN that is subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation is set. In the fixed-bandwidth-rate setting unit 204, a minimum bandwidth, which is guaranteed for the VLAN that is subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation, is set. In the maximum-drop-rate setting unit 205, an upper limit of the admissible packet drop rate for the VLAN that is subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation is set. Thus, with such various setting values, each VLAN is subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation and is subjected to a traffic quality monitoring.
In the first embodiment, when the present invention is not applied to the VLAN, “1” is fixedly set in the input-number setting unit 202 and a set of “VLAN ID”, “FIXED BANDWIDTH RATE”, and “MAXIMUM DROP RATE” can be set in the setting unit. Moreover, in the first embodiment, when the present invention is not applied to the VLAN, the input-number setting unit 202 can be eliminated.
The result screen 300 includes an entire status displaying unit 301, an individual status displaying unit 302, a VLAN ID displaying unit 303, an input rate displaying unit 304, and a drop rate displaying unit 305. When the packet drop rate of any one of the VLANs exceeds the maximum drop rate, the entire status displaying unit 301 displays a warning. When the packet drop rate exceeds the maximum drop rate in the corresponding VLAN, the individual status displaying unit 302 displays a warning. Such warnings are displayed by changing an indicator from a green color display (normal display) to a red color display (warning display).
The VLAN ID displaying unit 303 displays the VLAN ID that is set in the VLAN ID setting unit 203. The input rate displaying unit 304 displays for each VLAN, the bandwidth of the packet input into the VLAN, that is, the bandwidth before the bandwidth limitation. The input rate is the data retrieved by the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101.
The drop rate displaying unit 305 displays for each VLAN, the bandwidth of the packet output from the VLAN, that is, the bandwidth after the bandwidth limitation. The drop rate is the difference between the bandwidths before and after the bandwidth limitation that are retrieved by the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101. When the drop rate exceeds the maximum drop rate of the VLAN that is set in the maximum-drop-rate setting unit 205, a background color in a frame of the drop rate displaying unit 305 of the corresponding VLAN is changed to red for displaying a warning.
Thus, according to the first embodiment, “FIXED BANDWIDTH RATE” and “MAXIMUM DROP RATE” are set for each VLAN, and “INDIVIDUAL STATUS”, “INPUT RATE”, and “DROP RATE” according to the settings mentioned above are displayed for each VLAN. Due to this, an occurrence of a defect in any VLAN that the drop rate exceeds the maximum drop rate can be clearly detected in real time, thus enabling the user to take quick countermeasures.
According to the first embodiment, the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth is the bandwidth-limitation indicator which is to be evaluated, but is not limited thereto. For example, the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the bandwidth of the output packet, in other words, the difference between the bandwidths before and after the bandwidth limitation, may be the bandwidth-limitation indicator to be evaluated. In this case, when the line interface 106 is an input interface to the L2 switch 107 and the line interface 108 is an output interface from the L2 switch 107, the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101 retrieves the bandwidth data of the input packet from the line interface 106 and retrieves the bandwidth data of an output packet after the bandwidth limitation from the line interface 108. Further, when the line interface 108 is the input interface to the L2 switch 107 and the line interface 106 is the output interface from the L2 switch 107, the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101 retrieves the bandwidth data of the input packet from the line interface 108 and retrieves the bandwidth data of an output packet after the bandwidth limitation from the line interface 106.
A second embodiment of the present invention will be explained below with reference to
A structure of the L2 switch device 100 according to the second embodiment is basically the same as the structure of the L2 switch device 100 according to the first embodiment. The bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 carries out a process to evaluate, based on the evaluation criterion 104a that is stored in the storage unit 104, the bandwidth limitation indicator calculated by the bandwidth-limitation-indicator calculating unit 102. To be specific, when the bandwidth limitation indicator is the difference between the bandwidth data before the bandwidth limitation and the bandwidth data of the fixed bandwidth, the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 determines whether the difference falls below the margin bandwidth (input margin rate) as the evaluation criterion. The evaluation criterion 104a indicates the evaluation criterion which is stored by securing a storage area in a storage unit, and the storage area.
A bandwidth limitation evaluating process according to the second embodiment will be explained next.
Next, the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101 retrieves the bandwidth of the input packet (step S112). The bandwidth-limitation-indicator calculating unit 102 calculates the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth (step S113).
Next, the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 determines whether the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth is greater than or equal to the input margin rate as the evaluation criterion 104a stored in the storage unit 104 (step S114). When the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 determines that the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth is greater than or equal to the input margin rate (“Yes” at step S115), the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S116. When the bandwidth-limitation-indicator evaluating unit 103 determines that the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth is not greater than or equal to the input margin rate (“No” at step S115), the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S117.
At step S116, the controller of the L2 switch device 100 determines whether to end the bandwidth limitation evaluation. When the controller determines to end the bandwidth limitation evaluation (“Yes” at step S116), the controller immediately ends the bandwidth limitation evaluating process. When the controller determines not to end the bandwidth limitation evaluation (“No” at step S116), the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S118.
At step S117, the bandwidth-limitation-evaluation-result outputting unit 105 outputs the evaluation result to the effect that the difference between the bandwidth of the input packet and the fixed bandwidth falls below the input margin rate. Upon completion of step S117, the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S116.
At step S118, the controller of the L2 switch device 100 determines whether to modify the setting of the input margin rate. When the controller determines to modify the setting of the input margin rate (“Yes” at step S118), the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S111. When the controller determines not to modify the setting of the input margin rate (“No” at step S118), the bandwidth limitation evaluating process moves to step S112.
An example of an operation using the bandwidth limitation evaluating process according to the second embodiment will be explained next.
The second embodiment of the invention is explained above. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the relay and transferring process of the VLAN packet in the VLAN or the VPN packet in the VPN. When carrying out the relay and transferring process of data, the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101 retrieves the bandwidth data of the input packet and the bandwidth data of the output packet after the bandwidth limitation from the L2 switch 107 that processes the packets in VLAN units or VPN units. For example, the fixed bandwidth rate of X Mbps is stipulated for each VLAN that is identified by the VLAN ID and shaping (bandwidth limitation) is used to limit the input rate of W Mbps to the fixed bandwidth rate of X Mbps. When Z Mbps is the input margin rate, and X-W becomes less than Z, a notice is notified to the user. Further, similarly to the VLAN, the fixed bandwidth rate of X Mbps is stipulated for each VPN that is identified by a VPN identifier and shaping (bandwidth limitation) is used to limit the input rate of W Mbps to the fixed bandwidth rate of X Mbps.
The input/output interface according to the second embodiment will be explained next.
The input/output interface includes the input screen 200 for selecting and setting the evaluation criterion 104a and the result screen 300 for displaying the evaluation result. The input screen 200 includes the mode setting unit 201, the input-number setting unit 202, the VLAN ID setting unit 203, the fixed-bandwidth-rate setting unit 204, and an input-margin-rate setting unit 206.
The mode setting unit 201 is the entry that selects and sets any one of “WARNING OF FIXED BANDWIDTH EXCESS”, “NOTICE OF FIXED BANDWIDTH EXCESS”, and “BEST EFFORT”. In the second embodiment, when the bandwidth of the input packet approximates the fixed bandwidth as the maximum bandwidth of the admissible input packet, a notice is notified to the user. Therefore in
The input-number setting unit 202 is the entry that sets a number of the VLANs to be input. In the example shown in
In the VLAN ID setting unit 203, the ID of the VLAN subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation is set. In the fixed-bandwidth-rate setting unit 204, the minimum bandwidth, which is guaranteed to the VLAN subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation, is set. In the input-margin-rate setting unit 206, the lower limit of the admissible input margin rate, for the VLAN subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation, is set. Thus, with the various setting values, each VLAN is subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation and is subjected to the traffic quality monitoring.
In the second embodiment, when the present invention is not applied to the VLAN, “1” is fixedly set in the input-number setting unit 202 and the set of “VLAN ID”, “FIXED BANDWIDTH RATE”, and “INPUT MARGIN RATE” can be set in the setting unit. Moreover, in the second embodiment, when the present invention is not applied to the VLAN, the input-number setting unit 202 can be eliminated.
The result screen 300 includes the entire status displaying unit 301, the individual status displaying unit 302, the VLAN ID displaying unit 303, the input rate displaying unit 304, and a margin rate displaying unit 306. When a margin rate of the packet in any of the VLANs falls below the input margin rate, the entire status displaying unit 301 displays a notice. When the fixed bandwidth rate is X Mbps and the input rate is W Mbps, the margin rate is represented by X-W.
When the margin rate falls below the input margin rate in the corresponding VLAN, the individual status displaying unit 302 displays a notice. Such notices are displayed by changing the indicator from the green color display (normal display) to the red color display (noticing display).
The VLAN ID displaying unit 303 displays the VLAN ID that is set in the VLAN ID setting unit 203. The input rate displaying unit 304 displays for each VLAN, the bandwidth of the packet input into the VLAN, that is, the bandwidth before the bandwidth limitation. The input rate is the data retrieved by the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101.
The margin rate displaying unit 306 displays for each VLAN the margin rate, which is the difference between the bandwidth of the packet input from the VLAN and the fixed bandwidth. In other words, the margin rate is the difference between the input rate and the fixed rate that are retrieved by the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101. When the margin rate falls below the input margin rate of the VLAN that is set in the input-margin-rate setting unit 206, the background color in the frame of the margin rate displaying unit 306 of the corresponding VLAN is changed to red for displaying a notice.
Thus, according to the second embodiment, “FIXED BANDWIDTH RATE” and “INPUT MARGIN RATE” are set for each VLAN and “INDIVIDUAL STATUS”, “INPUT RATE”, and “MARGIN RATE” according to the settings mentioned above are displayed for each VLAN. Due to this, an occurrence of a defect in any VLAN that the margin rate falls below the input margin rate can be clearly detected in real time, thus enabling the user to take quick countermeasures.
The third embodiment of the present invention will be explained below with reference to
An example of an operation using the bandwidth limitation evaluating process according to the third embodiment will be explained first.
The input/output interface according to the third embodiment will be explained next.
The input/output interface includes the input screen 200 for selecting and setting the evaluation criterion 104a and the result screen 300 for displaying the evaluation result. The input screen 200 and the result screen 300 may be displayed in a single screen. The input screen 200 and the result screen 300 may otherwise be separated to single screens and displayed, respectively.
The input screen 200 includes the mode setting unit 201, the input-number setting unit 202, a user setting unit 207, and the maximum-drop-rate setting unit 205.
The mode setting unit 201 is the entry that selects and sets any one of “WARNING OF FIXED BANDWIDTH EXCESS”, “NOTICE OF FIXED BANDWIDTH EXCESS”, and “BEST EFFORT”. In the best effort type network according to the third embodiment, when the drop rate due to the packet drop exceeds the maximum drop rate that is allowed for the packet drop, a warning is notified to the user. Therefore in
The input-number setting unit 202 is the entry that sets a number of the users to be input. In the example shown in
In the user setting unit 207, the ID of the user who is subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation is set. In the maximum-drop-rate setting unit 205, the upper limit of the admissible packet drop rate for the user who is subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation is set. Thus, with the various setting values, each user is subjected to the bandwidth limitation evaluation and is subjected to the traffic quality monitoring.
The result screen 300 includes the entire status displaying unit 301, the individual status displaying unit 302, a user displaying unit 307, and the drop rate displaying unit 305. When the packet drop rate of the bandwidth of any user exceeds the maximum drop rate, the entire status displaying unit 301 displays a warning. When the packet drop rate exceeds the maximum drop rate in the bandwidth of the corresponding user, the individual status displaying unit 302 displays a warning. Such warnings are displayed by changing the indicator from the green color display (normal display) to the red color display (warning display).
The user displaying unit 307 displays the user ID that is set in the user setting unit 207. The drop rate displaying unit 305 displays for each user, the bandwidth of each user, that is, the bandwidth after the bandwidth limitation. The drop rate is the difference between the bandwidths before and after the bandwidth limitation that are retrieved by the bandwidth-data collecting unit 101. When the drop rate exceeds the maximum drop rate of the user that is set in the maximum-drop-rate setting unit 205, the background color in the frame of the drop rate displaying unit 305 of the corresponding user is changed to red for displaying a warning.
Thus, according to the third embodiment, “MAXIMUM DROP RATE” is set for each user and “INDIVIDUAL STATUS” and “DROP RATE” according to the setting mentioned above are displayed for each user. Due to this, an occurrence of a defect in any user that the drop rate exceeds the maximum drop rate, can be clearly detected in real time, thus enabling the user to take quick countermeasures.
The first to the third embodiments of the present invention are explained above. However, the present invention is not to be thus limited, and various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. Further, the effects described in the first to the third embodiments are not to be thus limited.
Using the communication relay device according to the present invention in a network structure enables to construct a network monitoring system that has easiness in use and high maintainability without necessitating a complex structure, setup of specific steps, or settings etc.
All the automatic processes explained in the first to the third embodiments can be, entirely or in part, carried out manually. Similarly, all the manual processes explained in the embodiments can be, entirely or in part, carried out automatically by a known method. The sequence of processes, the sequence of controls, specific names, and data including various parameters explained in the first to the third embodiments can be changed as required unless otherwise specified.
The constituent elements of the device illustrated in the drawings are merely conceptual and may not necessarily physically resemble the shown structures. In other words, the device, as a whole or in part, can be broken down or integrated either functionally or physically in accordance with the load or how the device is to be used.
The process functions performed by the device are entirely or partially realized by a central processing unit (CPU) and a computer program executed by the CPU. Instead of the CPU, a micro computer such as a micro processing unit (MPU) and a micro controller unit (MCU) may be used. Otherwise, the process functions may, entirely or partially, be realized by a hardware using a wired logic.
According to one aspect of the invention, a performance deterioration of a communication network can be quickly detected and immediate countermeasures against the performance deterioration can be taken.
According to another aspect of the invention, a quality deterioration of the communication network due to a bandwidth limitation can be quickly detected and immediate countermeasures against the quality deterioration can be taken.
According to still another aspect of the invention, quick countermeasures can be taken according to an evaluation result.
Although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-301802 | Nov 2006 | JP | national |
