Network terminal with a plurality of internal web servers

• US 20030055888A1
• Filed: 08/26/2002
• Published: 03/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Otsuka, Naoki, Matsumoto, Hideto
• Granted Patent: US 7,543,050 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00464 using browsers, i.e. interfaces based on mark-up languages
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0094 Multifunctional device, i.e. a device capable of all of reading, reproducing, copying, facsimile transception, file transception

Abstract

A multifunction peripheral (MFP) includes a control portion, a LAN interface portion, and web servers. The web server 10 manages information about components in the control portion 5, the user I/F portion 2, the printer 3, and the scanner 4. The web server 14 manages information about components in the LAN interface portion 12. The web servers 10, 14 are configured for mutual transmission. The web server 14 is connected to a LAN through a network control portion. When information that is managed by the web server 10 is requested from a terminal that is connected to the LAN, then the web server 14 functions as a proxy server to transfer the requested input from the LAN to the web server 10 and to transmit information transferred from the web server 10 to the requestor.

Claims

1. A network terminal connected to a network, comprising:

a plurality of process portions;

a plurality of hardware resources and software resources governed by the plurality of process portions; and

a plurality of web servers connected to form a web server network, that share the plurality of process portions and manage information available from shared process portions, information managed by one of the plurality of web servers being transmitted to at least a predetermined web server in the web server network, wherein the predetermined web server receives a request from a requester connected to the network for information available from a particular process portion in the plurality of process portions and transmits requested information to the requester.

2. The network terminal according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of web servers includes means for gathering information available from a shared process portion and producing a web page containing gathered information, a file representing the web page being transmitted to the requester when the request from the requestor is received.

3. The network terminal according to claim 2, wherein the file is produced using hyper text markup language and transmitted to the requester with HTTP.

4. The network terminal according to claim 1, wherein when the predetermined web server receives the request from the requestor, the predetermined web server first checks if information managed by the predetermined web server is requested.

5. The network terminal according to claim 4, wherein when the information managed by the predetermined web server is requested information by the requester, the predetermined web server transmits the information managed by the predetermined web server to the requestor.

6. The network terminal according to claim 5, wherein when the information managed by the predetermined web server is not requested information by the requester, the request is transferred to another web server connected to the predetermined web server.

7. The network terminal according to claim 5, wherein when the information managed by the predetermined web server is not requested information by the requester, the predetermined web server identifies a target web server that manages the requested information and transfers the request to the target web server.

8. The network terminal according to claim 1, wherein at least the predetermined web server is connected to the network and the plurality of web servers are connected in series.

9. The network terminal according to claim 1, wherein the web server network includes at least three web servers that are mutually connected to each other.

10. The network terminal according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of web servers stores not only items of information subject to manage but also items of information that rest of the plurality of web servers manage.

11. The network terminal according to claim 10, wherein when the predetermined web server receives the request from the requester, the predetermined web server first checks if information managed by the predetermined web server is requested.

12. The network terminal according to claim 11, wherein when the information managed by the predetermined web server is requested information by the requester, the predetermined web server transmits the information managed by the predetermined web server to the requestor.

13. The network terminal according to claim 11, wherein when the information managed by the predetermined web server is not requested information by the requester, the predetermined web server identifies a target web server that manages the requested information based on the items of information that the rest of the plurality of web servers manage and transfers the request to the target web server.

14. The network terminal according to claim 10, wherein the each of the plurality of web servers advises the rest of the plurality of web servers of added or removed items of information when an increase or a decrease in number of items of information subject to manage is detected.

15. The network terminal according to claim 1, wherein the particular web server provides, to the requestor, at least one of information about operation status of a designated process portion in the plurality of the process portions and information that the requester is allowed to change operation conditions of the designated process portion.

16. The network terminal according to claim 15, wherein information about the operation conditions changed based on the information provided to the requestor is sent back to the designated process portion, so that the operation conditions of the designated process portion are changed.