Patent Publication Number: US-2011066720-A1

Title: Network connection status detecting system and method thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a detecting system and a method thereof, and more particularly to a detecting system and a method thereof for detecting a network connection of a server. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In recent years, various devices are integrated in major systems such as air-conditioning systems, door security systems, network systems, and electric power systems, etc. Related devices such as network equipments and servers are installed and distributed all over the places. To understand the operating status of these devices, various monitoring software are introduced to generate real-time report information of the status of each device to inform the monitoring staffs if the operation of a factory is normal or not. 
     However, most monitoring software can monitor devices of a single type only. For example, an air-conditioning system monitoring software or a network management software is used for a respective purpose only, but the software cannot monitor all servers and network equipments, and such software can provide data and report within a particular monitoring range only. 
     In other words, a company requires several monitoring software to monitor various different equipments, and the company cannot centralize the monitor or systematically integrate the monitoring data analysis and the central database. In some cases, the plurality of monitoring software may have conflicts with each other, and the server may break down due to the conflicts. 
     Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a system and method for detecting a network connection status to overcome the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a network connection status detecting system and a method thereof, which comprises the steps of: using a plurality of monitoring servers to detect a network connection status of a server; computing an offline time of the server; providing users an accurate offline warning signal timely; and allowing users to control a server status by a systematic data access. 
     The detecting system of the present invention comprises a plurality of monitoring servers and a central processing server. Each monitoring server is communicably coupled to the server, and each monitoring server continues detecting a network connection status of the server. If the network connection status of the server is normal, then each monitoring server will be able to detect the server. If the server is shut down or its network cable is unplugged, then the network connection status is abnormal, and all monitoring servers will be unable to detect the server. 
     The monitoring server comprises a detecting unit, a timer and a processor. The detecting unit is coupled to the server for detecting a network connection status of the server. The timer is coupled to the detecting unit, such that if the detecting unit detects the network connection status of the server being offline, the timer will immediately record the time of the occurrence of the offline as an offline starting time. The processor is coupled to the detecting unit and the timer for receiving the network connection status and the offline starting time of the server. If the network connection status of the server is offline, the processor will immediately generate offline information, and the offline information includes information such as an offline starting time, an offline ending time, and an IP address of the server or a media access control (MAC) of the monitoring server. 
     The central processing server pre-installs a selected time interval and is coupled to each monitoring server for receiving the offline information. The central processing server comprises a computing unit and a database, and the computing unit is provided for computing a time difference between the offline starting times and comparing each computed time difference with the selected time interval. If each time difference is smaller than the selected time interval, then the network connection status of the server will be determined as an offline status, and the earliest one among these offline starting time is recorded as an offline time, and the database is provided for storing the offline information and the offline time. 
     If the central processing server determines that the network connection status of the server is an offline status, then the central processing server will generate an offline warning signal and transmit the offline warning signal to a remote device. For example, the offline warning signal is transmitted to the remote device such as a mobile phone of a monitoring staff or a server at a security counter via a short message or an email, and the offline warning signal includes the offline information and the offline time. The monitoring staff can know about the occurrence of the network disconnection of the server by the offline warning signal or by viewing the information stored in the database. 
     With the network connection status detecting system and the method thereof provided for detecting a server in accordance with the present invention, the monitoring staff can control the offline time precisely. After each monitoring server detecting a network disconnection of the server, it is necessary to compare each offline starting time with the selected time interval. If the difference is greater than the selected time interval, then there may an unstable communication connection between the server and certain sets of monitoring servers only and the server is not really offline. Therefore, the time interval between offline occurrence times can be reduced to obtain a more accurate offline occurrence time. 
     The central processing server provides users a systematic way of collecting and organizing data and reports an offline to the central processing server, regardless of which server is offline, so that users can know about the status of each device at a glance, and the present invention is user-friendly and efficient. 
     The advantages and spirit of the present invention will become apparent with the detailed description of preferred embodiments and the illustration of related drawings as follows. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a network connection status detecting system for detecting a server in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view of a detailed structure of a detecting system in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a detecting system with a small number of offline monitoring servers in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIGS. 4A and 4B  show a flow chart of a detecting method applied to a detecting system in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to  FIG. 1  for a schematic view of a network connection status detecting system for detecting a server in accordance with the present invention, the detecting system  1  uses a plurality of monitoring servers  2 ,  2   a  and  2   b  to connect a server  3  through a network. The monitoring servers  2 ,  2   a  and  2   b  are coupled to a central processing server  4 . 
     In this embodiment, three monitoring servers are taken as an example but not limited to. The monitoring servers  2 ,  2   a  and  2   b  are installed at different places respectively and communicably coupled to the server  3  via a cable or a wireless communication (not shown). The monitoring servers  2 ,  2   a  and  2   b  are provided for detecting a network connection status of the server  3 . If the detected network connection status of the server  3  is offline, then offline information M (shown in  FIG. 2 ) will be transmitted to the central processing server  4 , and the central processing server  4  will receive each offline information M, M 1  and M 2  from each monitoring server  2 ,  2   a  and  2   b  and compare an offline starting time T S  contained in each offline information M, M 1  and M 2  with a selected time interval to determine whether the current network connection status of the server  3  is offline or online. If the server  3  is offline, then an offline warning signal W (shown in  FIG. 2 ) will be transmitted to a monitoring staff and inform the monitoring staff that the server  3  cannot provide services at that moment. 
     The central processing server  4  can be coupled to a display screen  8 , thus users can read the detecting result through the display screen  8  and know about the time recorded by the monitoring servers  2 ,  2   a  and  2   b  installed at different locations. In addition, the central processing server  4  can record information such as the number of interrupts and the usability performance according to the offline information M. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2  for a schematic view of a detailed structure of a detecting system in accordance with the present invention, each monitoring server  2 ,  2   a  and  2   b  includes an address coding scheme such as the Internet Protocol Address (IP Address) or Media Access Control (MAC) for setting the monitoring server  2 . Each monitoring server  2 ,  2   a  and  2   b  further comprises a detecting unit  21 ,  21   a  and  21   b , a timer  22 ,  22   a  and  22   b  and a processor  23 ,  23   a  and  23   b . The detecting unit  21 ,  21   a  and  21   b  continue detecting the network connection status of the server  3 . It is assumed that the monitoring server  2  detects the network connection status of the server  3  being offline for illustrating. Once the server  3  cannot be detected, indicating that the network connection status of the server is offline, then the timer  22  will immediately record the time of the occurrence of the network disconnection as an offline starting time T S . The processor  23  is coupled to the detecting unit  21  and the timer  22 , such that if the server  3  is offline, the processor  23  will generate the offline information M. In the embodiment, the offline information M contains an offline starting time T S  recorded by the timer  22  and the address coding scheme of the monitoring server  2 . 
     The central processing server  4  comprises a computing unit  41  and a database  42 , and further comprises a communication module  43 . The monitoring server  2  produces the offline information M to be transmitted to the computing unit  41 . The computing unit  41  compares the offline starting time T S  detected by each monitoring server  2 , and computes a time difference D between the offline starting times T S  to determine whether or not the time difference D is smaller than the selected time interval. If each time difference D is smaller than the selected time interval, then the central processing server  4  will determine the network connection status of the server  3  as an offline status at that moment, and each offline information M is stored in the database  42 , and the earliest one of the stored offline starting times T S  is considered as the offline time. In addition, the communication module  43  is used for transmitting the offline warning signal W to a remote device such as a mobile phone  9  or a server  9   a  at a security counter to inform a monitoring staff. If any one of the time differences D is not smaller than the selected time interval, then the central processing server  4  will determine that the server is online, and each offline information M can be recorded or not recorded according to the user&#39;s setting. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 , the server  3  is disconnected from the network, and any monitoring servers  2 ,  2   a ,  2   b , etc. communicably coupled to the server  3  will be able to detect the network disconnection and generate offline information M, M 1 , M 2 , etc., so that the computing unit  41  will receive a plurality of offline information M, M 1 , M 2 , etc., and the computing unit  41  will compare each offline starting time T S , T S1 , T S2 , etc. contained in each offline information M, M 1 , M 2 , etc. to calculate a time difference Dn between the offline starting times T S . If |T S −T S1 |=D 1 , |T S −T S2 |=D 2 , |T S1 −T S2 |=D 3 , then D 1 , D 2 , D 3  are compared with the selected time interval. If D 1 , D 2 , D 3  are smaller than the selected time interval, then the earliest one of the offline starting times T S , T S1 , T S2 , etc. (assumed that the offline starting time T S1  is the earliest detected offline time) is recorded as the offline time T S1  and stored in the database  42 . T S1  is combined with the offline warning signal W to be transmitted to the remote device  9 . 
     Assumed that a user sets the selected time interval to 3 minutes, each monitoring server  2  keeps detecting the occurrence of a network disconnection of the server  3  within three minutes, provided that every time difference D is smaller than 3 minutes. In other words, the time of the occurrence of a network disconnection of the server  3  falls within the three minutes for sure. Users can adjust the selected time interval as needed for adjusting the precision of detecting the network disconnection of the server. 
     With reference to  FIG. 3  for a schematic view of a detecting system with a small number of offline monitoring servers in accordance with the present invention, if the monitoring server  2   a  is disconnected with the network of the server  3 , offline information M 1  will also be produced. If a small number of monitoring servers  2  produce the offline information M, the central processing server  4  will be unable to compare all offline starting times T S , so that the offline information M will not be recorded, so as to prevent any misjudgment made by the central processing server  4 . Alternatively, the computing unit  41  can be set to compare the offline information M, if a specific quantity of offline information M is received. 
     Further, an offline ending time T E  is recorded, if the monitoring server  2  detects the time when the server resumes its online status from an offline status, and the time from the offline starting time T S  to the offline ending time T E  is defined as an interrupt period. Similarly, the interrupt period can be compared with the selected time interval. If each interrupt period is smaller than the selected time interval, it indicates a normal detected status of each monitoring server  2 . If the interrupt period is not smaller than the selected time interval, it indicates that a certain monitoring server may be broken down. The foregoing determination mechanism can confirm detecting results made by the detecting system  1 . 
     For example, if the selected time interval is set to 3 minutes, and the interrupt starting time T S  of the monitoring server  2  is 08:22, and the interrupt ending time T E  is 08:23, the interrupt period is 1 minute; if the interrupt starting time T S  of the monitoring server  2   a  is 08:21, and the interrupt ending time T E  is 09:53, the interrupt period is 1 hour and 32 minutes; and if the interrupt starting time T S  of the monitoring server  2   b  is 08:22, and the interrupt ending time T E  is 08:25, the interrupt period is 3 minutes. The time differences D are 1 minute, 0 minute, and 1 minute, which are smaller than the selected time interval (3 minutes), so that the central processing server  3  will determine that the network connection status of the server  3  is an offline status. If the interrupt period of the monitoring server  2   a  is much greater than the selected time interval, it indicates that the monitoring server  2   a  may be abnormal, so that users can know the exact location of the offline monitoring server  2   a  through the address coding scheme contained in the offline information M in order to repair the monitoring server  2   a.    
     The monitoring server  2  can be a standalone computer or installed in the server  3 . In other words, the detecting system  1  of the present invention may have a plurality of servers  3  for detecting and monitoring each other. For example, a server A can be used for monitoring an air-conditioning system, as well as serving as a monitoring server for another server B; and the server B can be used for monitoring a door security system as well as serving as a monitoring server of the server A. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 4A and 4B  for a flow chart of a detecting method applied to the present invention, a clearer description of the detecting system is given, and the procedure of the detecting method comprises the following steps. 
     Step (S 101 ): Each monitoring server detects a network connection status of a server. 
     Step (S 102 ): The monitoring server detects whether or not a network connection of the server is offline, and the procedure returns to Step (S 101 ) if the server is offline. 
     Step (S 103 ): if the monitoring server detects an offline status in Step (S 102 ), offline information will be produced, wherein the offline information includes an offline starting time of the detected network disconnection. 
     Step (S 104 ): The central processing server receives the offline information and calculates a time difference between the offline starting times. 
     Step (S 105 ): The central processing server determines whether or not each time difference is smaller than a selected time interval, and if the determination is negative, then the procedure returns to Step (S 101 ). 
     Step (S 106 ): if the determination is affirmative in Step (S 105 ), then the central processing server will record each offline starting time, and will also record the earliest offline starting time as an offline time. 
     Step (S 107 ): The central processing server determines that the network connection status of the server is an offline status. 
     Step S 103  further comprises a step (S 1031 ): If the monitoring server detects the network connection status of the server that resumes its online status from an offline status, such time is recorded as an offline ending time. 
     Step (S 106 ) further comprises a step (S 1061 ): The central processing server calculates an interrupt period, which is the time period from the offline starting time to the offline ending time. 
     The following Step (S 1071 ) takes place, after Step S 107  ends. 
     Step (S 1071 ): An offline warning signal including an offline time is transmitted to a remote device. 
     With the network connection status detecting system and the method thereof in accordance with the present invention, the network connection status of the server is provided for users to detect the server, and the time difference is compared with the selected time interval to control the actual offline time of the server more precisely, and prevent a misjudgment of the monitoring server. In addition, users can know whether or not the status of each monitoring server is good, and the network connection statuses of the servers can be monitored by each other, so as to achieve the effects of maximizing the utility and saving the cost of purchasing additional monitoring servers.