Management Device, Management Method, And Recording Medium

• US 20130117412A1
• Filed: 12/28/2012
• Published: 05/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Weibo Wang
• Original Assignee: Weibo Wang
• Inventors: WANG, Weibo
• Granted Patent: US 9,860,105 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5079 for maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/55 Self-diagnostics; Malfunction or lifetime display
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/553 Monitoring or warning means for exhaustion or lifetime end of consumables, e.g. indication of insufficient copy sheet quantity for a job
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00109 Remote control of apparatus, e.g. by a host
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols

Abstract

A first acquisition unit acquires an event notification from an MFP and updates first device-status information. A transmission unit transmits the event notification and first reference-destination information. A switching unit switches a first access to the first reference-destination information to a second access to second reference-destination information. A second acquisition unit issues an acquisition request at a first interval, issues an acquisition request at a second interval in response to the event notification, acquires the second device-status information, and update the first device-status information.

Claims

1. A device management system including a management system and a remote management system, both the management system and the remote management system managing status information about a device, the device management system comprising:

a storage unit that stores therein a correspondence relation between the status information about the device and a reference destination that is determined according to the status information;

a sending unit that sends a status notification to both the management system and the remote management system if the reference destination of the status notification indicates both the management system and the remote management system; and

a control unit configured to,

switch an access destination to one of the management system and the remote management system, if the status information is being accessed in another one of the management system and the remote management system,

maintain the access destination to one of the management system and the remote management system, if the status information is being updated, and

inhibit further access to one of the management system and the remote management system in which the status information is being accessed.

2. The device management system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an outputting unit that outputs inhibition information at an interval shorter than a communication interval so as to inhibit referring to one of the management system and the remote management system that is being accessed, if one of the management system and the remote management system is being accessed.

3. The device management system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an updating unit that updates the status information in the management system and the remote management system at an interval shorter than a communication interval.

4. The device management system according to claim 2, wherein when updating of the status information in accordance with the status notification has been completed in either the management system or the remote management system, the outputting unit stops outputting the inhibition information.

5. The device management system according to claim 2, further comprising:

a switching unit that switches the access destination to one of the management system and the remote management system which is not inhibited, if further access to either the management system or the remote management system is received before the outputting unit outputs the inhibition information.

6. The device management system according to claim 1, wherein information indicative of the reference destination includes a uniform resource locator (URL) of the management system and a URL of the remote management system, and

the management system is on a first network and the remote management system is on a second network that is a different network from the first network.

7. A device management method performed by a management system and a remote management system, both the management system and the remote management system managing status information about a device, the method comprising:

managing a correspondence relation between the status information about the device and a reference destination that is determined according to the status information;

sending a status notification to both the management system and the remote management system if the reference destination of the status notification indicates both the management system and the remote management system

controlling such that,

an access destination is switched to one of the management system and the remote management system, if the status information is being accessed in another one of the management system and the remote management system,

the access destination is maintained to one of management system and the remote management system, if the status information is being updated, and

further access to one of the management system and the remote management system in which the status information is being accessed is inhibited.

8. The device management method according to claim 7, further comprising:

outputting inhibition information at an interval shorter than a communication interval so as to inhibit referring to one of the management system and the remote management system that is being accessed, if one of the management system and the remote management system is being accessed.

9. The device management method according to claim 7, further comprising:

updating the status information in the management system and the remote management system at an interval shorter than a communication interval.

10. The device management method according to claim 8, wherein when updating of the status information in accordance with the status notification has completed in either the management system or the remote management system, the outputting inhibition information step stops outputting the inhibition information.

11. The device management method according to claim 7, further comprising:

switching the access destination to one of the management system and the remote management system which is not inhibited, if further access to either the management system or the remote management system is received before the outputting of the inhibition information.

12. The device management method according to claim 7, wherein information indicative of the reference destination includes a uniform resource locator (URL) of the management system and a URL of the remote management system, and

the management system is on a first network and the remote management system is on a second network that is a different network from the first network.