Background Art A computer system comprises hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, a disk and an Ethernet controller. Notwithstanding, typical application program developers do not prepare firsthand programs for controlling such hardware in preparing special-purpose application programs.

An operating system in the computer system abstracts hardware into objects such as a process, a virtual memory, a file, a socket or the like, and provides application program developers with high-level abstractions that can control the abstracted objects.

Using such abstractions, the application program developers will prepare programs implementing desired functions.

Meanwhile, the International Standard Organization (ISO) uses a logical seven- layer model for a communication network system. A first layer that is a bottom layer of the seven layers is a physical medium. A seventh layer that is a top layer is an application.

Second to sixth layers that are standard format data available in data link layers and networks are called middleware.

The middleware defines high-level abstractions that are not defined at the operating system level, thereby providing program developers with a programming environment suitable for the implementation of particular application services that will be developed.

Middleware can be classified into several types according to technical elements.

Particularly, message-oriented middleware refers to the process of carrying out distribution on the basis of a record called a message. The message is composed of strings and also has control data information for message queueing. The middleware puts the message in a repeater called a queue to process it, provides a message management function by the queue, and transmits and receives the message based on a messaging technique, thereby allowing fast and reliable message delivery and asynchronous communication to be easily performed. The middleware may be a stable programming basis for system building, which enables resources to be optimally used to handle large capacity, real time tasks.

That is, the middleware allows systems to be easily built and business programs to be easily prepared without detailed knowledge about message routing, message queueing, communication interfaces, process failure management, or the like.

In addition, the middleware allows a variety of low-level services provided by operating systems to be indirectly utilized.

Message oriented middleware products include DECmessageQ available from Digital, MQSeries available from IBM, NetWeave available from NetWeave, Oracle Mobile Agents available from Oracle, Pipes available from PeerLogic, Enterprise Messaging Services (EMS) available from Sybase, Falcon available from Microsoft, NET24 available from ACI, and the like.

In the aforementioned conventional message oriented middleware, most of primary functions of the middleware, such as communication interfacing, message queueing, message routing, and process failure management, are performed by one particular process. Accordingly, there is a problem in that because of the overuse of such resources, the efficiency of the entire system is degraded and the entire system stops upon the occurrence of a bottleneck phenomenon and a particular function failure.

Disclosure of Invention The present invention is conceived to solve the aforementioned problem. An object of the present invention is to provide a stabilized and efficient computer system and a method for controlling the computer system in which primary functions thereof are independently distributed in making up a message oriented middleware, such that efficient utilization of resources is realized, and influence on an entire system upon failure of a particular process is minimized, and the failure is overcome without difficulty.

According to the present invention, there is provided a computer system including a plurality of servers for processing respective business applications under different operating systems, a plurality of clients for transmitting and receiving messages to and from one of the plurality o f servers which processes a particular business application, a network to which the plurality of servers and clients are connected, and a logical communication means between the business applications and operating system layers of a communication mechanism among the plurality of clients and servers, wherein the logical communication means includes an interface means operated with independent processes of reading a message sent from each of the plurality of clients, adding a header file including information on a destination server which processes a particular business application to the read message, converting the resultant message into a format which can be processed by the destination server, and storing the converted message in an interface queue so that the stored message can be transmitted, and of receiving a message to be sent to the plurality of clients, storing the received message in the interface queue, and then inverse-converting the stored message so that the converted message can be transmitted; a router means operated with independent processes of receiving the message from the interface means, storing the received message in a router queue, and then sending the message to the destination server, and of receiving a message from each of the plurality of servers, storing the received message in the router queue, and then sending the message to the interface means; and a monitor means operated with independent processes of causing the plurality of servers to be interlocked with the router means, and the router means to be interlocked with the interface means, and of monitoring the operating status of the plurality of servers, the router means and the interface mean which have been interlocked. At this time, the

interface means, the router means and the monitor means are operated by a computer comprising a parallel processor.

Thus, primary functions are independently distributed to efficiently utilize resources, influence on an entire system upon failure of a particular process is minimized, and the failure is overcome without difficulty.

In the computer system of the present invention, the router queue in the router means may comprise a destination queue for buffering a message to a server executing a particular business application interlocked by the monitor means; a group server queue for buffering a message to a plurality of servers executing a plurality of identical business applications; and a secondary queue for temporarily buffering a message when the capacity of the destination queue or the group server queue is insufficient or a failure occurs.

Thus, a load balancing function is provided to servers executing a plurality of business applications so that a plurality of processes can be supported by a single business.

Further, because a message of which the process has not been completed is stored in the queue, it prevents the loss of the message to assure safety for the message.

The computer system of the present invention may further comprise a control means for setting up environments of the interface means, the router means, and the business application server through the monitor means. The control means may be capable of executing control commands including start and stop. The control means may be operated by the computer comprising the parallel processor.

Thus, it is possible to perform control and management based on status while monitoring the plurality of processes.

In the computer system of the present invention, a plurality of router means and interface means may be provided. The computer system may further comprise a gateway means for exchanging messages between the plurality of router means.

Thus, a router busy is reduced using the plurality of router means, thereby improving the performance of the system and separately using environments for each business.

In the computer system of the present invention, the router means may further include a function of selectively sending messages to and from a server executing a

particular business application. The computer system may further comprise an audit means for writing the message selectively sent from the router means and searching for the written message.

In the computer system of the present invention, the computer comprising the parallel processor may be provided with hardware and an operating system having a backup function.

Thus, a non-stop function i s realized b y the b ackup process upon failure o f t he system.

A method of controlling a computer system according to the present invention comprises an independently operating step of independently operating, by a computer comprising a parallel processor, an interface means for receiving a message sent from each of a plurality of clients and servers, converting the message into a format which can be processed by the plurality of clients and servers and sending the converted message, a router means for selectively providing the converted message to the plurality of servers and selectively sending the provided message from the plurality of servers to the plurality of clients, and a monitor means for causing the plurality of servers to be interlocked with the router means, and the router means to be interlocked with the interface means; a header file preparing step of reading, by the interface means, the message sent from the client and adding a header file to the read message, the header file including information on a destination server which processes a particular business application; a message formatting step for converting, by the interface means, the message having the added header file into a format that can be processed by the destination server; an interface queue storing step of storing the converted message in an interface queue of the interface means; a formatted message sending step of sending, by the interface means, the message stored in the interface queue to the router means; a router queue storing step of storing, by the router means, the message sent from an interface means in the router queue; a router sending step of sending, by the router means, the message stored in the router queue to the destination server; a result message queue storing step of receiving, by the router means, a processing result message from the server to store the received message in the router queue; a result message routing step of sending, by the router means, the stored result message to the

interface means or another destination server; and a result message sending step of converting, by the interface means, the result message which is sent from the router means into a format that can be processed by the client to send the converted message to the client.

In the method of the present invention, the independently operating step may further comprise the step of independently operating a control means by the computer comprising the parallel processor. At this time, the control means may be capable of monitoring the operation status of the interface means, the router means and the monitor means, setting up the environment of the business application server, and executing control commands including start and stop.

In the method of the present invention, if the control command is a system error message during execution, the control means may re-execute each of the independent processes w hen t he c omputer sy stem i s i n a utomatic r ecovery m ode o r o utput t he e rror message when the computer system is in manual recovery mode.

In the method of the present invention, the interface queue storing step may store the converted messages according to priority information stored in the header file.

In the method of the present invention, the router sending step may further comprise the step of selectively sending a message to a server executing a particular business application, and the independently operating step may further comprise the step of operating, by a computer comprising a parallel processor, an audit means for writing the message selectively sent in the router sending step and searching for the written message.

In the method of the present invention, the router queue in the router queue sending step may comprise a destination queue for buffering a message to the server executing the particular business application; a group server queue for buffering messages to a plurality of servers executing a plurality of identical business applications; and a secondary queue for temporarily buffering messages when the capacity of the destination queue or group server queue is insufficient or a failure occurs.

The method of the present invention may further comprise, between the interface sending step and the router queue storing step, a response time setting-up step of setting up a 1 imit o f a r esponse t ime d uring w hich t he r outer m eans c an r espond; a r esponse t ime determining step of receiving the response signal from the router means to determine

whether it is within the set response time; and a message deleting step of outputting an error message when the response time excesses the set response time, and deleting the set response time and the message stored in the interface queue when it does not excess the set response time.

The method of the present invention may further comprise, between the router queue storing step and the router sending step, a response time setting-up step of setting up a limit of a response time during which the server can respond; a response time determining step of receiving the response signal from the server to determine whether it is within the set response time; and a message deleting step of outputting an error message when the response time excesses the set response time and of deleting the set response time and the message stored in the router queue when it does not excess the set response time.

Brief Description of Drawings Fig. 1 schematically illustrates the position of a logical communication means for a computer system according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a control block diagram of the logical communication means of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a computer system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a monitor means according to the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating status control of the monitor means according to the present invention.

Figs. 7a and 7b are flowcharts illustrating operations of an interface means according to the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a router means according to the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a control flow diagram schematically showing an example in which the computer system of the present invention is applied to a computing system for a bank.

<Explanation of reference numerals for designating main components in the drawings> 10: Business application layer 20: Middleware 30: Network layer 110 : Monitor process 110 : Process configuration file 120: Control command 200: Router process 210: Destination queue 220: Group server queue 230: Secondary queue 300: Interface process 310 : Interface queue 400: Destination server 410: Group server 500: Network 600: Gateway 700: Audit log writer 800: Event Management System (EMS) 900: Area 950: Client/Server Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a computer system and a method for controlling the computer system of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates the position of a logical communication means for a computer system according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a control block diagram of the logical communication means of Fig. 2.

The computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Fig. 2, includes a plurality of servers 410,420 and 430 for processing respective business applications under different operating systems, a plurality of clients 510,520, 530 and 540 for transmitting and receiving messages to and from one of the plurality of servers 410,420 and 430 which processes a particular business application, a network 500 to which the plurality of servers 410,420 and 430 and the plurality of clients 510,520, 530 and 540 are connected, and a logical communication means between the business

applications and the operating system layers as a communication mechanism between the plurality of clients 510,520, 530 and 540 and the plurality of servers 410,420 and 430.

The plurality of servers 410,420 and 430 may include a transfer server, an approval serve or the like of banks, and may be connected to respective databases 425 and 435. Further, they may be a group server 410 performing a plurality of businesses in a single process.

Further, the plurality of clients 510,520, 530 and 540 are machines that perform particular businesses and receive particular results, such as Internet banking 510, an automatic teller machine, a bank, a financial supervisory service, and the like. The logical communication means 20 is a message oriented middleware that includes as shown in Figs.

1, 2 and 3, an interface process 300 for receiving a message sent from the plurality of clients 510,520, 530 and 540 and the plurality of servers 410,420 and 430 and for converting and sending the received message into a format which can be processed by the plurality of servers 410,420 and 430 and the plurality of clients 510,520, 530 and 540, a router process 200 for selectively providing the converted message to the plurality of servers 410,420 and 430 and selectively sending the message provided from the plurality of servers 410,420 and 430 to the plurality of clients 510,520, 530 and 540, and a monitor process 100 for causing the plurality of servers 410,420 and 430 to be interlocked with the router process 200, and the router process 200 to be interlocked with the interface process 300. At this time, the respective processes 100,200 and 300 always proceed as independent processes. Meanwhile, the logical communication means 20 is between the business application layer 10 and the operating system layer 30, and also refers to the second to seventh layers of the seven-layer model of the International Standard Organization (ISO) into which the communication network system is logically classified.

A process configuration file 110 is connected to the monitor process 100 in which various functions are defined to enable IPC (inter-process communication) with the respective processes 200 and 300. Functions of registration, deletion, inquiry, and initialization of various initial environments according to the respective processes and business features of the servers, and functions of start, stop, information, status, reset, add, delete and the like, which are various control commands 120, are connected through the monitor process 100 so that the functions are independently performed on the screen 130 in

the client. The control commands 120 play a communication role between a computer system according to the present invention and users, and perform functions such as registration, deletion, and inquiry of various initial environments on the client screen 130.

As for the control commands such as start, stop, information, status, reset, add and delete, a relevant control c ommand i s e xecuted b y i nputting a s ymbol n ame o r group n ame o f a relevant destination server or process. The symbol name or group name is predefined in the process configuration file 110.

The router process 2 00 performs an initial process, a message process, a group queue process, a secondary queue process, a fail process, or the like, and a routed message is buffered in the router queue and is transmitted and received. The router process 200 receives a request from a relevant processor and then receives an approval from the monitor process 100 to selectively accept the connection. Further, the router process selectively sends the message to a particular destination server or to a group server and prevents the loss of the message upon abnormal termination. That is, the router process buffers and sends the message to the router queue.

The router queue, as shown in Fig. 2, includes a destination queue 210 for buffering a message to a server 4 00 w hich executes a particular business application, a group server queue 220 for buffering a message to a plurality of servers 410 which execute a plurality of identical business applications, and a secondary queue 230 for temporarily buffering a message when the capacity of the destination queue 210 or the group server queue 220 is insufficient or failure occurs. The group server queue 220 supports a plurality of processes in a single business by supporting load balancing. That is, when a plurality of processes are required in a business accompanied by many transaction amounts, load balancing will be done for a plurality of processes. Further, because a message of which the process has been not completed is stored in the queue though it was sent to the process, it prevents the loss of the message to assure message safety. If the destination queue 210 is full or an error occurs, the relevant message is temporarily stored in a secondary queue 230 and when the destination queue 210 becomes available, the message will be sent. At this time, the operations of the destination queue 210 and the secondary queue 230 take a multi-thread manner. Additionally, when the hardware and the

operating system of the system are equipped with a backup function, they support a backup process upon failure of the process.

The interface process 300 receives a message from a communication line and sends the received message to the router process 200. The interface process 300 sends a message, sent by the router process 200, via the communication line. The communication line supports a variety of communication protocols such as TCP/IP, X. 25, SNA, ASYNC, or the like, and a message between the communication line and the router process 200 is buffered in the interface queue 310 for transmission and reception.

Further, there is included an audit process of auditing the status of an operation performed in the router process 200. The audit process further comprises an audit log writer 700 for writing the operation status of the router process 200 to a log database DB 710, and an audit log viewer 720 capable of reading a log file written in the log database 710 on a screen of the terminal 730. Further, an EMS (Event Management System) 800, which is a subsystem of the DSM (Distributed System Management) available from Compaq (which is a company name), further comprises an EMS viewer 820 capable of writing various events an EMS log file 810 and viewing the written events on a screen of the terminal 830 to provide a further expanded network tool.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a computer system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there are a plurality of router processes 200 and interface processes 300, and the computer system further includes a gateway 600 for exchanging messages between the plurality of router processes 200. In other words, when there are a plurality of areas 900 composed of the router process 200, the interface process 300 and the audit process, the gateway delivers business messages between r espective a reas 9 00, 910 a nd 9 20. That is, the gateway is in communication with the client/server 950 enrolled on several router processes 200 in an area managed by one monitor process 100, which provides maximum performance of the router process 200.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a monitor means according to the present invention, Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating status control of the monitor means according to the present invention, Figs. 7a and 7b are flowcharts illustrating operations of

an interface means according to the present invention, Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a router means according to the present invention, and Fig. 9 is a control flow diagram schematically showing an example in which the computer system of the present invention is applied to a computing system for a bank The operation and effect of the present invention configured as above will be described. A computer comprising a parallel processor independently operates an interface process 300 for receiving a message sent from one of the plurality of clients and servers, converting the received message into a format which can be processed by the plurality of servers and clients and sending the converted message, a router process 200 for selectively providing the converted message to the plurality of servers and selectively sending the message provided from the plurality of servers to the plurality of clients, and a monitor process 100 for causing the plurality of servers to be interlocked with the router process 200, and the router process 200 to be interlocked with the interface process 300.

Thereafter, the interface process 300 reads the message sent from the client and adds to the read message a header file including information on a destination server which processes a particular business application. The message to which the header file has been added is converted by the interface process 300 into a format which can be processed by the destination server.

The converted message is stored in the interface queue 310 of the interface process 300, and the message stored in the interface queue 310 is sent to the router process 200.

The router process 200 then stores the message sent from the interface process 300 in the router queue, and sends the message stored in the router queue to the destination server. The router means receives a processing result message from the server and stores the received result message in the router queue, and sends the stored result message to the interface process 300 or another destination server. The result message sent from the router process 200 is converted into a format which can be processed by the client and is sent to the client, such that message transmission and reception is realized.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the monitor process 100. First, the input message is analyzed (S10). If the input message is a start signal of each of the processes (S15), a start message is sent to each process (S20) and a memory table of a

relevant process is modified (S25).

If it is determined in step S15 that the input message is a control command rather than the process start signal (S30), the control command is executed (S35) and a result value is output onto a screen of the terminal 130 (S40). Further, if it is determined in step S15 that the input message is an operating system command (S45), it means that an arbitrary process has failed (S50), and information of a relevant process is searched for in the configuration file (S55). If the process is in system mode automatic recovery mode (S60), a relevant process restarts for recovery (S65). If it is in manual recovery mode, an error message is output (S70).

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating status control by which the monitor process 100 controls each process. If a start command (M15) is applied to a stopped process, the relevant p rocess i s s tarted (M20). When t he s tart o f t he relevant p rocess i s c ompleted (M25), the start process is terminated (M30).

If a stop command (M35) is input in a state where the start has been completed (M30), the process is stopped (M40). If the process is normally ended (M45), it is completely ended (SM10). Further, if an error occurs (M70) after the relevant process is started (M20), the process is switched to an abnormal state (M55), such that a start command (M65) is automatically or manually controlled according to a system mode.

Further, even when the error message (M50) is input in a normally started state (M30), the process is switched to the abnormal state (M55) and, if the abnormal state is not recovered, the process is completely ended (M10).

Fig. 7a is a flowchart illustrating an operating for sending a message to a router through an interface process 300. When the message is input (T10), a protocol used by a client is selected to receive the message (T15), information on a client and a destination server is prepared into the header file (T20). The message is then formatted (T25) and a response time is set up (T30).

The message is then stored in the interface queue (T35), and is sent to the router (T40).

Fig. 7b is a flowchart illustrating an operation for sending a message to a user. A message is received (T80) and a relevant timer is searched for (T82). If it is not within a

setup time, an error message is output (T86) while if it is within the setup time, the timer is reset (T88), the message is formatted by the relevant protocol (T90) and the formatted message is sent to the user (T92).

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the router process. A message is received (R10) and a header file of the message is analyzed (S15) to check a relevant destination queue status (R20). If the destination queue is available, the message is stored in the destination queue (R50) and is sent to the relevant destination (R55). When a received signal is input, the queue is deleted (R65). If it is determined in step R25 that the destination queue is not available, the message is stored in a secondary queue (R30) and the status of the destination queue is checked (R35). If the destination queue becomes available, the message is sent to the relevant destination queue (R45).

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a computing system of a bank to which the present invention is applied. An ARS application is made and is approved through a first router process 200. The transfer is made by a transfer server 460 via a gateway 600 through a second router process 250 and is notified to the relevant bank so that it is confirmed by a user.

The header file preferably stores message starter, message type, message priority, sender symbol name, receiver symbol name, initial message producer, sender type, receiver type, session information, message serial number, message receive time, fail code, message option, router index, variable header length, and data length information. The message type and the sender type may be selected from a data message, an internal message, and a boot up message, the receiver type may be selected from an interface, a server, a router, and a queue, and the fail code can be selected as destination non-existence, destination non-availability, message system error, or message length error. Further, the header preferably is fixed to 100 bytes in size and then used, but can manage the message length through use of'variable header length'.

Industrial Applicability As described above, XGM (Next Generation Middleware), which is a message oriented middleware in a distributed process system according to the present invention, is

configured so that a variety of messages which are, in common, dealt with by application programs are processed and sent in a systematic, flexible, extensible and effective manner, using an operating system having independent distributed primary functions and convenient GUI environment provided by a tandem platform as a HP NonStop Server type available from HP company, thereby providing convenience for users in building systems or in preparing application programs.

It is intended that the embodiments of the present invention described above and illustrated in the drawings should not be construed as limiting the technical spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims. Those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications thereto without departing from its true spirit. Therefore, various changes and modifications obvious to those skilled in the art will fall within the scope of the present invention.