JP2005303985A - Image processing apparatus, and image processing system comprising plural image processing apparatuses - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease the risk of dissappeared accumulated image data due to fault prediction of a storage device in an image processing apparatus, and to attain recovery of image data. <P>SOLUTION: In an image processing system comprising a host computer, a plurality of image processing apparatus each including a storage device, and a network, a transmission-side image processing apparatus diagnoses the storage situation of its storage device, acquires diagnostic information, and determines whether the storage device is close to breaking down, based on the diagnostic information; and if it is determined that the storage device is close to being broken down, a reception-side image processing apparatus, including a storage capacity having empty capacitance, is searched. If a storage device, having empty capacitance is present, as a result of the search, image data stored in the storage device inside the transmission-side image processing apparatus are transmitted to the transmission-side image processing apparatus. The reception-side image processing apparatus stores apparatus information specific to the transmission-side image processing apparatus, in addition to image data. If the storage device is repaired or replaced, the image data are recovered in the transmission-side image processing apparatus. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing system including a plurality of image processing apparatuses having a function of accumulating image data and distributing an image in response to a request from a host computer.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an image processing apparatus (hereinafter also referred to as a multi-function machine) having a plurality of functions such as a copy, a printer, and a facsimile is known. By using such a multi-function machine, it is not necessary to install each device separately, so that cost reduction and space saving can be achieved.

  Furthermore, the multi-function device has a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk, stores image data output by the above functions, and prints out the stored images directly when necessary, or from the host computer. In response to the above request, an image distribution function that transmits an accumulated image to a host computer is known. This image distribution function has the advantage that it is not necessary to prepare a special file server.

Further, as a conventional technique for storing image data in a hard disk built in an image processing apparatus, there is a technique for transferring image data stored in a hard disk to another storage device based on failure prediction information of the hard disk. It has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-10-240907

  However, when the hard disk is used for a long period of time, the disk surface and the head come into contact with each other and are scratched or worn at a high speed, resulting in a failure. . If the hard disk fails, it is very difficult or impossible to recover the stored image data.

  Therefore, it is necessary to take a backup in case of failure. However, when the backup is performed and the information is manually written back after the hard disk is repaired or replaced, a certain amount of knowledge and work time are required. There is a problem of being done.

  In addition, as a technique for improving the reliability of the storage contents of the hard disk, there is a technique of constructing a RAID by using a plurality of hard disks and performing mirroring. In addition, there is a problem that power consumption increases. In particular, when a plurality of apparatuses are used in a large scale office or the like, the influence becomes remarkable.

  Further, in the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, the concept of predicting a failure of a hard disk (HDD) and transferring data to another storage device is disclosed. However, control information with other storage devices is disclosed. There is a lack of specific disclosure about the exchange, and no consideration is given to the recovery of the transferred data.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to reduce the risk of losing stored image data due to a failure prediction of a storage device at a low cost without troublesome manpower in an image processing system comprising a plurality of image processing devices having an image distribution function. An object is to provide an image processing system capable of data recovery.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention mainly adopts the following configuration.
A host computer, a plurality of image processing devices having a storage device for writing or reading image data in response to a request from the host computer, and a network connecting the host computer and the plurality of image processing devices. In the image processing system, the one image processing device diagnoses a storage state of the storage device in the one image processing device to obtain diagnosis information, and the failure of the storage device is based on the diagnosis information. If it is determined whether or not there is a failure, it is determined whether another image processing apparatus having a storage device having a free capacity exists on the network, and as a result of the search, When there is another image processing apparatus having a storage device with a free capacity, the image data stored in the storage device in the one image processing apparatus is converted to the other image processing. Transmitted to location, the other image processing apparatus, in addition to the image data, and configured to store the unique device information of the one of the image processing apparatus.

  Further, in the image processing system, when the one image processing device determines that a failure is not near by the diagnosis information of the storage device after the storage device in the one image processing device is repaired or replaced, The result of the determination is notified to another image processing device on the network, and the other image processing device that has received the notification sends the image data back to the one image processing device based on the unique device information, The one image processing apparatus is configured to store the returned image data in a storage device and restore the original state before repair or replacement.

  In the image processing system, the one image processing apparatus transmits the image data to the other image processing apparatus, and the storage device in the one image processing apparatus is not repaired or replaced. When there is a distribution request from a host computer, the distribution request is transferred to the other image processing apparatus that has transmitted the image data, and the other image processing apparatus that has received the transfer receives the one image processing apparatus. The image data transmitted and stored from is stored in the host computer.

  In addition, in an image processing apparatus that writes or reads image data in response to a request from a host computer, a first storage unit that exemplifies a hard disk that stores application image data, and states of the first storage unit A diagnostic unit for diagnosing and a second storage unit taking NVRAM as an example to store parameters or various settings specific to the image processing apparatus, and the failure of the first storage unit as a result of the diagnosis by the diagnostic unit When it is determined that there is a storage device having a free space, it is searched whether another image processing device having a free space storage device exists on the network, and the other image processing device having a free space storage device is searched. When there are a plurality of image data, the image data stored in the first storage means is distributed to a plurality of other image processing devices, transmitted, and saved. A structure for storing information relating to information on the image processing apparatus of the transmission destination and transmission image data in the second storage means.

  An image processing apparatus that writes or reads image data in response to a request from a host computer includes a storage device that accumulates image data, and a diagnosis unit that diagnoses the state of the storage device, and the diagnosis device As a result of diagnosis, when it is determined that the failure of the storage device is close, if there is an image data storage request from the host computer, another image processing device having a storage device with free capacity is placed on the network. It is determined whether or not it exists, and when no other image processing apparatus having a storage device with a free capacity exists as a result of the search, image data is stored in its own storage device.

  When there is a possibility of failure due to the diagnosis of the storage device, it is searched whether there is another image processing device on the network that has free space in the storage device, and if it exists, it is stored in that image processing device. The destination device stores the image data and source device information, so the receiving device can identify the source device and send the data when the storage device is repaired or replaced Can be restored to the original state.

  When the storage device of the sending device is repaired or replaced and the diagnosis result is no problem, that fact is sent to the receiving device, and the receiving device receiving it has received and accumulated The device on the old transmission side that sent the image data and received it restores the image, and after repairing or exchanging the storage device of the transmission source device, restores the original state without bothering human hands. be able to.

  If there is a delivery request from the host computer when the storage device of the sending device has not been repaired or replaced, the receiving device that forwarded the image delivery request forwards the image delivery request to the destination that sent the image. Instead, since the image delivery is performed, the access to the hard disk near the failure is reduced, and the period until the failure can be extended.

  Embodiments according to the image processing system of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the image processing system of the present invention, in which a plurality of image processing apparatuses and a host computer are connected through a network.

  In FIG. 1, an image processing apparatus (also referred to as a multifunction machine because it has at least one function of copy, FAX, and printer) 10 includes a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk, and each application of copy, FAX, and printer. The image data output by the computer is stored, and the stored image is distributed in response to a request from the host computer. The host computer 20 is a terminal device such as a workstation or a personal computer, and issues a request for printing to the multifunction device and a request for distributing stored image data. The network 30 is a communication line for connecting each multifunction device and a host computer, and transmitting and receiving image data, other various data, and commands. Here, the image data is not limited to data about an image, but refers to data including data about a document or the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the image processing apparatus (multifunction machine) in the image processing system of the present invention. In FIG. 2, a scanner 100 scans a document, converts it into a digital image signal, and outputs RGB data. An image processing unit 200 is a unit that realizes a copy function, performs processing such as filtering and color correction on RGB data input from a scanner, and outputs signals of CMYK colors to a printer. The printer 300 forms an image according to output data from the image processing unit 200, the controller 400, and the FAX control unit 600.

  The controller 400 is a unit that mainly realizes a printer function and overall control, and includes a CPU, a ROM (or flash memory) storing a program, a memory used as a work area, a hard disk that stores image data, and interfaces thereof. The ASIC (Application Specified I.C.) or the like that performs the control is performed, and the operation of the entire apparatus is controlled according to a program stored in advance in the ROM. A detailed configuration example of the controller 400 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  An operation unit 500 is an input device for an operator to select a copy mode, set the number of copies, and the like, and a display device for displaying a setting state and giving a setting instruction to a user. Various keys and a touch panel on the display unit And a liquid crystal display for display. A FAX control unit 600 is a unit that realizes a FAX function, and performs transmission processing of an image read by a scanner and output of a received image to a printer.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the internal configuration of the controller 400 in the image processing apparatus of the present invention. The CPU 410 controls the controller and the entire image forming apparatus based on a program written in the ROM 440. The memory 420 is a work area for temporarily storing printer images. The hard disk 430 is a large-capacity storage device that is used to temporarily store image data, store it for a long time, and store distribution history. The ROM 440 is a storage device for a control program executed by the CPU. The NVRAM 450 is a nonvolatile memory for storing parameters unique to the image processing apparatus.

  The ASIC 460 includes an interface with each device of the controller and the outside. The clock unit (Clock Unit) 470 is a clock unit and has a timer function.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration example of the ASIC 460 in the controller of the image processing apparatus. The CPU I / F 461 is connected to the CPU, generates various control signals supplied to the CPU, and outputs signals output from the CPU to each module. A network I / F 462 is connected to the network, and exchanges data with a host computer and other multifunction peripherals.

  The operation unit I / F 463 is connected to the operation unit and exchanges data with the operation unit CPU. The local bus I / F 464 is an interface for exchanging data with the ROM 440 and the NVRAM 450 connected to the local bus. The memory I / F 465 is an interface for controlling data writing to the memory 420 and data reading from the memory 420. The image bus I / F 466 is an interface for transmitting and receiving image data.

  The hard disk I / F 467 is an interface for controlling data writing to the hard disk 430 and data reading from the hard disk 430. The clock unit (Clock Unit) I / F 468 is an interface for reading and setting the time from the Clock Unit 470.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a hierarchical structure of software in the multifunction machine shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the multifunction peripheral includes a scanner 100, a printer 300, and other hardware resources 800, and a software group 700 includes a platform 720 and an application 710.

  The platform 720 includes a general-purpose OS 721, a system resource manager (SRM) 723 having a system control service (SCS) 722, an engine control service (ECS) 724, and an MCS (memory control system). ) 726, FCS (FAX Control Service) 727, and NCS (Network Control Service) 728.

  The general-purpose OS 721 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes each software of the platform 720 and the application 710 in parallel as processes. The SCS 722 performs application management, operation unit control, system screen display (job list screen, counter display screen, etc.), LED display, resource management, and interrupt application control.

  The SRM 723, together with the SCS 722, controls the system and manages resources, and performs arbitration according to requests from higher layers that use hardware resources such as engines such as the scanner unit and printer unit, memory, and hard disk. Control execution.

  The ECS 724 controls engines such as the scanner 100, the printer 300, and other hardware resources 800, and performs image reading and printing operations, status notification, jam recovery, and the like. The MCS 725 performs memory control. Specifically, the MCS 725 acquires and releases an image memory, uses a hard disk, and the like. The OCS 726 is a module that controls an operation panel serving as information transmission means between the operator and the main body control, and provides a process for notifying the main body control of an operator's key operation event and a library function for each application to construct a GUI. Processing, processing for managing the constructed GUI information for each application, display reflection processing on the operation panel, and the like are performed.

  FCS 727 performs facsimile transmission / reception using the PSTN / ISDN network from each application layer of the system controller, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, and fusion transmission / reception. API (Application Program Interface). The NCS 728 is a module group for providing a service that can be commonly used for applications requiring network I / O. Data received from the network side by each protocol is distributed to each application, and data from the application is distributed. Mediates when sending to the network side.

  The application 710 includes a printer application 711 that is a printer application having a page description language (PDL), PCL, and postscript (PS), a copy application 712 that is a copy application, and a fax application 713 that is a facsimile application. A scanner application 714 that is a scanner application, a net file application 715 that is a net file application, and a process inspection application 716 that is a process inspection application. Since the applications 711 to 716 can execute operations using the processes on the platform 720, the screen display control program is the main component.

  FIG. 6 shows the flow of processing for diagnosis of the storage device and saving of image data to another device in the image processing apparatus. This process is executed by the controller 400. When the power is turned on or the image processing apparatus is in an idle state, diagnostic information of the hard disk 430 in the controller is acquired (S1). Some recent hard disks have a self-diagnosis function called SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology), and can acquire information such as a read error rate, a seek error rate, a seek time, and a temperature. In addition, a function for measuring the read / write time may be mounted on the hard disk I / F side.

  After obtaining the diagnostic information, it is determined whether or not a hard disk failure is near based on the result (S2). This can be determined, for example, based on whether the error rate and the reading time are within a certain value. As a result of the determination, when it is determined that there is no near failure, the image data is not saved from the hard disk, and the process ends.

  If it is determined that the failure is close (S3), a flag indicating that the NVRAM failure is determined is referred to (S4). This is reset in the initial state, and is set when it is determined that the failure is near and image data is saved. If this flag is set (S5), it has already been saved, and the process is terminated without saving. If the flag is not set (S5), another image processing apparatus on the network is searched (S6). If another image processing apparatus exists and the storage device of the other image processing apparatus has free space (S7, S8), the image is transferred to the storage apparatus (S9). If there is not enough free space, another device is searched. When there are a plurality of image processing apparatuses excluding their own image processing apparatus on the network, they may be transferred as much as they can be transferred and stored in a distributed manner. When transmission to another storage device is completed, a flag indicating that a failure determination has been made on the storage device of the image processing apparatus is set in the NVRAM 450.

  On the other hand, the reception side stores the received image data and the device information of the transmission source (transmission side shown in FIG. 6). The device information includes a model, a MAC address (ID number as hardware), an IP address, and the like. Through the above processing, the save processing of the image data when the failure is near to the storage device of another image processing device is performed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a flow of diagnosis of the storage device in the image processing apparatus and restoration processing of the saved image data from another storage device. This process is executed by the controller 400 as a recovery process different from the above-described saving process. When the power is turned on or the image processing apparatus is in an idle state, hard disk diagnostic information is acquired (S11). After obtaining diagnostic information, it is determined whether or not a hard disk failure is near based on the result (S12, S13).

  If it is determined that the failure is near (S13), it can be determined that the hard disk has not been repaired or replaced (in the process of FIG. 6, it is determined that the failure is once near and data save processing is performed. After that, if it is determined that the failure is still near, this means that the HDD has not yet been repaired or replaced), and the process ends without restoring the image data from another storage device.

  As a result of the determination, when it is determined that the failure is not near, a flag indicating that the failure is determined in the NVRAM is referred to (S14). If this flag is not set, the process ends because there is no failure history and there is no need to restore image data.

  If the flag is set, it can be determined that the hard disk has been repaired or replaced (determining that there is no possibility that a failure is near and that the flag is set is the image data in the storage device. This means that the hard disk has been repaired or replaced at the present time, and that the hard disk has not been repaired and has been repaired or replaced.) Is notified that repair or replacement has been performed (S16).

  The other image processing apparatus that has received the notification searches whether or not the image data transmitted from the notification-source image processing apparatus exists in the storage device of its own image processing apparatus (S20). If no image exists, the process ends without doing anything. If it exists (S21), after transmitting the image data to the image processing apparatus as the notification source (S22), the stored image data is deleted (S23), and the process ends.

  The image processing apparatus that has received the image data that has been transmitted after being saved (S17) stores the image data in the storage device, and then resets a flag indicating that a failure has been determined (S18). To do. With the above processing, the restoration processing of the image data is completed, and the original state before the hard disk is repaired or replaced is returned.

  FIG. 8 shows the flow of processing when it is determined that the failure is near and the image data distribution request is received from the host computer after the image data is saved and transmitted to another image processing apparatus. This process is executed by the controller 400. When a distribution request is received from the host computer (S30), a flag indicating failure determination in the NVRAM is referenced (S31). If this flag is not set, the corresponding image data is searched in the hard disk, and the image data distribution process is executed (S33).

  When the failure determination flag is set, the distribution request is transferred to another device on the network (the image data requested by the host computer does not already exist in the image processing device, and the request is sent to the receiving side that has been saved. (S34). The image processing apparatus that has received the transfer of the distribution request searches the storage device for the image data that has received the distribution request of the transfer source (S35). Are distributed (S36, S37).

  As described above, the basic feature of the image processing system according to the present invention is that when there is a possibility that the storage device on the transmission side is diagnosed and there is a possibility of failure, there is a capacity on the receiving side where the storage device has free space on the network. If there is an image processing apparatus, the image stored in the transmission-side image processing apparatus is transmitted, and the storage device of the reception-side image processing apparatus stores the image data and the transmission-side apparatus information. It has a system configuration such as storing.

  In addition, when the storage device of the transmission side device is repaired or exchanged and the diagnosis result of the storage device is no problem, this image processing system transmits a message to that effect to the reception side device. The transmission-side device that has received and stored the received image data has a system configuration in which the image is restored by storing the image in the storage device that has no problem.

  The image processing system also distributes an image to the apparatus that transmitted the image when a request for distribution is received from the host computer in a state where the storage device of the transmission side apparatus is not repaired or replaced after the image data saving process. This is a system configuration in which a request is transferred, and the receiving device that receives the transfer distributes the image instead.

  Next, an operation example in the image processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing for diagnosis of the storage device and saving of image data to another device in the image processing apparatus. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the storage device diagnosis and the saving image data restoration processing from another device in the image processing device. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of processing when a distribution request for image data is received from the host computer after the image data is saved and transmitted to another device in the image processing device.

   In FIG. 9, for the diagnosis of the storage device in the image processing apparatus, the explanation regarding steps S1 and S2 shown in FIG. 6 is cited. As a result of the determination in step 41, when it is determined that the failure is close (S42), a flag indicating that the NVRAM failure is determined is referred to (S43). This is reset in the initial state, and is set when it is determined that the failure is near and image data is saved. If this flag is set (S44), the data is already saved, and the process is terminated without saving.

  If the flag is not set (if the data has not been saved), a storage device information transmission request is issued (S45), and another image processing device on the network is searched. On the receiving side, information is transmitted after checking the free capacity of the storage device. If there is another image processing device and there is free space in the storage device (S46, S47), the document and image to be transmitted to the destination device are determined according to the collected free space information (S48), and the result Then, the image is transferred to the corresponding device (S49). When there are a plurality of apparatuses having free capacity, the distribution of the file capacity to be transmitted is determined according to the free capacity so that the storage capacity of the specific apparatus is not compressed.

  When the transmission is completed, a flag indicating that the NVRAM failure has been determined is set (S50), and then the destination device information and the transmitted document information are saved in the NVRAM and the process ends. The device information includes a model, a MAC address, an IP address, and the like. The transmitted document information includes the number of documents transmitted, the capacity of each file, a checksum, and the like. On the receiving side, the received document image data is stored and the process ends. With the above processing, the document image data is saved when the failure is almost complete.

  As described above, when it is determined that the failure of the first storage means is close as a result of the diagnosis of the first storage device (document image data storage device) such as an HDD in the image processing apparatus, To search whether there is another image processing device having a free space in the storage device. If there are a plurality of corresponding devices, the image data stored in the first storage means is distributed to the plurality of devices. By transmitting and evacuating in this way, it is possible to reduce pressure on the capacity of the storage device included in each destination device. Further, by storing the information on the transmission destination and the transmitted document in the second storage means such as NVRAM, the information on the transmission destination can be held even if the first storage means is replaced.

  In FIG. 10, hard disk diagnostic information is acquired when the power is turned on or when the image processing apparatus is in an idle state (S60). After obtaining diagnostic information, it is determined whether or not a hard disk failure is near based on the result (S61). If it is determined that the failure is close (S62), it can be determined that the hard disk has not been repaired or replaced (even after the determination that the failure is close and the data saving process is performed) If it is determined that the failure is near, this means that the HDD has not yet been repaired or replaced), and the process ends without performing recovery.

  As a result of the determination, when it is determined that the failure is not near (S62), a flag indicating that the NVRAM failure is determined is referred to (S63). If this flag is not set, the process ends because there is no failure history and no recovery is required.

  If the flag is set (S64), it can be determined that the hard disk has been repaired or replaced (after determining that there is no possibility of a failure, the flag is set in the storage device). This means that the image data saving process has been performed and that there is no failure at this moment, so that the hard disk has been repaired or replaced, and other image processing on the network. The apparatus is notified that the hard disk has been repaired or replaced (S65).

  Upon receiving the notification, the other image processing apparatus transmits the document image data to the notification source image processing apparatus, deletes the stored document image data, and ends the process.

  The notification source device that has received the transmitted document image data (S66) stores the received image data in the storage device (S67), and then updates the transmitted document information stored in the NVRAM (S68). ). After the update, if there remains a device with an unreceived document (S69), the corresponding device is notified that the hard disk has been repaired or replaced, and the reception and storage processes are repeated. If there is no device with an unreceived document, it can be determined that the restoration of all the image data is complete, so the failure determination flag is reset (S70) and the process ends. The processing by the controller described above returns to the original state before repairing or replacing the hard disk.

  As described above, when the storage device diagnosis unit in the image processing apparatus detects that the first storage device such as the HDD of the device has been repaired or replaced, the second storage such as NVRAM that stores various settings. By restoring the image data based on the information of the transmission destination (other image processing apparatus) stored in the means, it is possible to restore the original state without bothering manpower. In addition, when restoring image data, the device information of the transmission destination and the transmitted document information are updated, and it is reliably restored by determining whether or not restoration of all the image data has been completed. be able to.

  In FIG. 11 (an example of processing when an image data distribution request is received from the host computer after the image data is saved and transmitted), when a distribution request is received (S80), a flag indicating that the NVRAM failure has been determined is referred to. (S81). If this flag is not set, the corresponding image data is searched in the hard disk, and the distribution process of the image data to the host computer is executed (S83).

  When the failure determination flag is set (S82), the device information of the transmission destination and the transmitted document information stored in the NVRAM are checked (S84), and the distribution request from the host computer is transferred to the transmission destination device (S85). ) And finish. Upon receiving the transfer of the distribution request, the destination image processing apparatus distributes the document image data received in the storage device to the host computer (S86) and ends.

  As described above, the storage device diagnosis unit in the image processing apparatus determines that the failure of the first storage device such as the HDD of the device is near, and the image data is saved in the storage unit of another image processing device. In the state, when the document distribution request accumulated from the host is received, the device information of the transmission destination (other image processing device) stored in the second storage means such as NVRAM for storing various settings and transmitted By examining the document information and transferring the document distribution request to the transmission destination apparatus, it is possible to respond to the document distribution request from the user or the host even when the image data is saved.

  Next, an operation example in the image processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another example of processing for diagnosis of the storage device and saving of image data to another device in the image processing apparatus. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating another example of the storage device diagnosis and the saving image data restoration processing from another device in the image processing device.

  In FIG. 12, when an image data storage request is received during execution of each application (S100), hard disk diagnostic information is acquired (S101). Some recent hard disks have a self-diagnosis function called SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology), and can acquire information such as a read error rate, a seek error rate, a seek time, and a temperature. In addition, a function for measuring the read / write time may be mounted on the hard disk I / F side.

  After obtaining the diagnostic information, it is determined whether or not a hard disk failure is near based on the result (S102). This can be determined, for example, based on whether the error rate and the reading time are within a certain value. As a result of the determination, if it is determined that the failure is not near, image data is stored (S104) and the process is terminated.

  As a result of the determination, if it is determined that the failure is close (S103), a storage device information transmission request (S105) is issued, and another image processing device having a storage device free capacity on the network and not near the failure (S106). If there is another image processing device that satisfies the conditions (S107), the user cannot store the image data in the own device without storing it in the own hard disk in order to reduce hard disk access. (S108) and the process ends.

  If there is no other image processing apparatus that meets the condition due to a power failure of the other image processing apparatus (S107), image data is stored in the own apparatus (S109). After executing the accumulation, after waiting for a predetermined time (S110), the storage device information transmission request (S111) is issued again, and another image processing apparatus having a free capacity of the storage device on the network and having no near failure Search (S112). If there is no other image processing apparatus that satisfies the condition, the operation of issuing a transmission request after waiting for a predetermined time is repeated. If a device that meets the conditions is found, the image is transferred to the device (S114).

  When the transmission is completed, a data transmission flag indicating that the NVRAM data has been transmitted is set (S115). On the receiving side, the received image data and device information of the transmission source are stored. The device information includes a model, a MAC address, an IP address, and the like. Through the processing by the execution of the controller as described above, image data is accumulated and image data is saved when a failure is almost occurring.

  As described above, when it is determined that the failure of the storage device is close as a result of the diagnosis of the storage device, and there is an image data accumulation request, another image processing device having a free space in the storage device on the network If there is no corresponding device, the image data is accumulated, thereby reducing the access to the disk near the failure and extending the time until failure. Can meet the demands of data storage by users.

  In addition, after a certain period of time after accumulation, it is searched again whether there is another image processing device having a free space in the storage device on the network. If an image processing apparatus exists, the possibility that data can be transmitted and protected can be increased by transmitting the stored image to the corresponding apparatus.

  In FIG. 13, hard disk diagnostic information is acquired when the power is turned on or when the apparatus is in an idle state (S120). After obtaining diagnostic information, it is determined whether or not a hard disk failure is near based on the result (S121). As a result of the determination, if it is determined that the failure is near, it can be determined that the hard disk has not been repaired or replaced, and the process ends without performing recovery.

  As a result of the determination, if it is determined that the failure is not near (S122), the NVRAM data transmission flag is referred to (S123). If this flag is not set, the process ends because there is no failure history and no recovery is required. If the flag is set (S124), it can be determined that the hard disk has been repaired or replaced (after determining that there is no possibility of a failure, the flag is set in the storage device). This means that the image data saving process has been performed and that there is no failure at this moment, so that the hard disk has been repaired or replaced, and other image processing on the network. The apparatus is notified that the hard disk has been repaired or replaced (S125).

  Upon receiving the notification, the other image processing apparatus searches whether or not the image data transmitted from the notification source image processing apparatus exists in its own storage device, and responds with the result. If there is no response (S126) due to a cause such as the power of the corresponding device being turned off, the operation of issuing a transmission request after waiting for a certain time (S127) is repeated.

  If a response is received (S126), the transmitted image data is received (S128) and stored again in the storage device (S129), and then the data transmission flag is reset (S130) and the process is terminated. Through the above processing, the original state before repairing or replacing the hard disk can be restored.

  As described above, after the transmission, when the storage device of the sending device is repaired or replaced, and the diagnosis result of the storage device is no problem, a repair completion notification is sent to the receiving device and there is no response In this case, since a repair completion notification is transmitted again after waiting for a certain period of time, data recovery can be reliably performed after repair or replacement.

1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an image processing system that is an embodiment of the image processing system of the present invention and connects a plurality of image processing apparatuses and a host computer through a network. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an image processing apparatus (multifunction machine) in an image processing system of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure in the controller in the image processing apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of ASIC in the controller of this image processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the hierarchical structure of the software in the image processing apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flow of a process about the failure diagnosis of the memory | storage device in this image processing apparatus, and the save to other apparatuses of image data. It is a figure which shows the flow of the diagnosis process of the memory | storage device in this image processing apparatus, and the restoration process of the evacuation image data from another memory | storage device. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow when a distribution request for image data is received from a host computer after image data is saved and transmitted to another image processing apparatus in the image processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the process about the diagnosis of the memory | storage device in this image processing apparatus, and the save to other apparatuses of image data. It is a figure which shows an example of the diagnosis of the memory | storage device in this image processing apparatus, and the restoration process of the evacuation image data from another apparatus. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing when a distribution request for image data is received from a host computer after image data is saved and transmitted to another device in the image processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the other example of the process about the diagnosis of the memory | storage device in this image processing apparatus, and saving of the image data to the other apparatus. It is a figure which shows the other example of the diagnosis of the memory | storage device in this image processing apparatus, and the restoration process of the evacuation image data from another apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

10 Image processing device (multifunction machine)
20 Host Computer 30 Network 100 Scanner 200 Image Processing Unit 300 Printer 400 Controller 410 CPU
420 Memory 430 Hard disk 440 ROM
450 NVRAM
460 ASIC
470 clock unit 500 operation unit 600 FAX control unit 700 software group

Claims (13)

A host computer, a plurality of image processing devices having a storage device for writing or reading image data in response to a request from the host computer, and a network connecting the host computer and the plurality of image processing devices. An image processing system,
The one image processing device diagnoses the storage status of the storage device in the one image processing device to obtain diagnostic information,
Determine whether the storage device is close to failure based on the diagnostic information,
When it is determined that the failure is near, search for whether another image processing apparatus having a storage device with a free capacity exists on the network,
As a result of the search, when there is another image processing apparatus having a storage device having a free space, the image data stored in the storage device in the one image processing apparatus is transferred to the other image processing apparatus. Send
The other image processing device stores device information unique to the one image processing device in addition to the image data. In claim 1,
If the storage device in the one image processing device is repaired or replaced and the diagnostic information of the storage device determines that the failure is not near, the one image processing device displays the determination result on the network. Notify other image processing devices,
The other image processing apparatus that has received the notification sends the image data back to the one image processing apparatus based on the unique apparatus information.
The one image processing apparatus stores the returned image data in a storage device and restores the original state before repair or replacement. In claim 1,
After the one image processing apparatus transmits the image data to the other image processing apparatus, the distribution request from the host computer is made in a state where the storage device in the one image processing apparatus is not repaired or replaced. If there is, transfer the distribution request to the other image processing apparatus that transmitted the image data,
The other image processing apparatus having received the transfer distributes the image data transmitted and stored from the one image processing apparatus to the host computer. In an image processing apparatus having a storage device for writing or reading image data in response to a request from a host computer,
Diagnose the storage status of the storage device to obtain diagnostic information,
Determine whether the storage device is close to failure based on the diagnostic information,
If it is determined that the failure is near, search for whether there is another image processing device having a storage device with free space,
As a result of the search, when there is another image processing apparatus having a storage device having a free space, image data stored in the storage device in the image processing apparatus and device information unique to the image processing apparatus Is transmitted to the other image processing apparatus. In claim 4,
When the storage device in the image processing device is repaired or replaced and it is determined that there is no failure in the diagnostic information of the storage device, the result of the determination is notified to another image processing device,
Image data sent back from another image processing device that has received the notification based on the unique device information is stored in the storage device and restored to the original state before repair or replacement. apparatus. In claim 4,
After transmitting image data to the other image processing apparatus, when there is a distribution request from the host computer when the storage device in the image processing apparatus is not repaired or replaced, the image data is transmitted. The distribution request is transferred to the other image processing apparatus. In an image processing apparatus that writes or reads image data in response to a request from a host computer,
An example of a first storage unit taking a hard disk for storing image data of an application as an example, a diagnostic unit for diagnosing the state of the first storage unit, and an NVRAM storing parameters or various settings specific to the image processing apparatus A second storage means,
As a result of the diagnosis by the diagnosis means, if it is determined that the failure of the first storage means is near, a search is made as to whether another image processing apparatus having a storage device with free capacity exists on the network. And
When there are a plurality of other image processing apparatuses having a storage device with a free capacity, the image data stored in the first storage means is distributed to a plurality of other image processing apparatuses and saved. In addition, the information processing apparatus stores information related to the destination image processing apparatus and information related to the transmitted image data in the second storage unit. In claim 7,
When it is detected by the diagnostic means that the first storage device has been repaired or replaced, based on information relating to the destination image processing device and information relating to the transmitted image data stored in the second storage means An image processing apparatus that performs image data restoration processing. In claim 8,
When performing the restoration processing of the image data, the information about the destination image processing apparatus and the information about the transmitted image data stored in the second storage unit are updated, and the restoration processing of all the image data is performed. An image processing apparatus for determining whether or not the image processing has been completed. In claim 7, 8 or 9,
When it is determined that the failure of the first storage device is near by the diagnostic unit, and the image data is saved in another image processing device, and an image data distribution request stored from the host computer is received, The information on the transmission destination image processing apparatus and the information on the transmitted image data stored in the second storage means are checked, and the image data distribution request is transferred to the transmission destination image processing apparatus. Image processing device. In an image processing apparatus that writes or reads image data in response to a request from a host computer,
A storage device for accumulating image data; and diagnostic means for diagnosing the state of the storage device,
As a result of the diagnosis by the diagnostic device, when there is a request for storing image data from the host computer in a state where it is determined that the storage device is almost faulty, another image processing device having a storage device with free space Search for whether or not exists on the network,
As a result of the search, if there is no other image processing apparatus having a storage device with free space, the image processing apparatus stores image data in its own storage device. In claim 11,
After a certain time after storing image data in the storage device, search again whether another image processing device having a storage device with a free space exists on the network,
If there is another image processing apparatus that has free space and that the storage device is not nearly faulty, the stored image data is transmitted to the other existing image processing apparatus. apparatus. In claim 12,
When the storage device is repaired or replaced after transmitting the stored image data, and the diagnosis result of the storage device is determined not to be close to failure, a repair or replacement completion notification is sent to another image process. To the device,
When no response is received from the other image processing apparatus, a repair or replacement completion notification is transmitted again after waiting for a predetermined time.

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