JP2007076063A - Image forming apparatus and method of controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of carrying out a fragmentation eliminating process of a hard disk at adequate timing, and a method of controlling the same. <P>SOLUTION: A time period as an index for a writing speed of a hard disk is calculated when a print job is processed by using the hard disk (S602). When a value is greater than a predetermined threshold (S603), a request for performing a defragmentation process is sent to a management host (S604). When the host permits the performing, the defragmentation process is performed (S606). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a management technique for an image forming apparatus using a hard disk drive.

  In recent years, image forming apparatuses represented by copiers and printers have been enhanced in compatibility with high-performance computers and have increased compatibility with computers. For example, in the case of a copier, from a device for simply copying a document, “scan the document and convert it to image data”, “send the image data as an e-mail”, “host computer as a network printer” The printer has been changed to a device having functions such as “printing data from” and “storing and managing image data obtained by scanning”.

  Therefore, an image forming apparatus is required to process a large amount of print data at high speed and with high image quality, and a hard disk drive (hereinafter simply referred to as a hard disk) is a storage device capable of reading and writing a large amount of data at high speed. It came to be utilized (refer patent document 1). When such an image forming apparatus functions as a network printer, for example, all print data input from a host device such as a host computer is stored in a hard disk inside the image forming apparatus. This is executed based on the print data stored in the hard disk.

JP 2000-335019 A

  However, the hard disk has a characteristic that file fragmentation (fragmentation) occurs during repeated use, and the read / write speed gradually decreases. A decrease in the read / write speed of the hard disk leads to a decrease in the print processing speed inside the image forming apparatus using the hard disk.

  File fragmentation is caused by the fact that a continuously writable area decreases while file writing and erasing are repeated. If the number of areas that can be continuously written decreases, one file must be subdivided into a plurality of areas to be written, so the processing time for writing increases. In addition, the head moving time required for reading a plurality of areas and the waiting time until the head reaches the reading start position also increase during reading. As a result, the writing time and reading time are increased.

  In the image forming apparatus, writing time of input data and reading time when processing the written data are increased, and time required for printing processing is increased. In other words, the processing speed of the function that temporarily stores data on the hard disk, reads it, and executes it, such as print jobs received via the network, image data read by a scanner, and data received from a modem as a FAX received document, is slow. Become. For example, in a document copy function realized by a series of operations of writing scanned data to a hard disk and then printing by reading the hard disk, a decrease in the read / write speed of the hard disk due to fragmentation causes a decrease in the speed of the first print in particular. It becomes.

  In order to suppress the performance degradation of the hard disk due to fragmentation, software (so-called defragment tool) that rearranges files in the hard disk and eliminates fragmentation is known. However, since defragmentation requires a large number of reading and writing of the hard disk, if it is executed too frequently, the life of the hard disk is shortened. For this reason, it is desirable to determine the execution timing of efficient fragmentation elimination processing, but regarding the hard disk used in the image forming apparatus, it has not been studied under what conditions fragmentation should be eliminated. It was.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus capable of executing hard disk fragmentation elimination processing at an appropriate timing and a control method thereof.

  In the image forming apparatus that includes a hard disk drive and forms an image while performing data writing and reading with respect to the hard disk drive, a storage unit that stores in advance a threshold value of an index for determining an increase in writing and reading speed of the hard disk When the image forming process is executed, a calculation unit that calculates an index, and when the index value calculated by the calculation unit exceeds a threshold value stored in the storage unit, a defragmentation process of the hard disk is necessary. It is achieved by an image forming apparatus characterized by having a judging means for judging.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a control method for an image forming apparatus that includes a hard disk drive and forms an image while writing data to and reading data from the hard disk drive. A storage step for storing a threshold value in advance, a calculation step for calculating an index when executing image formation processing, and a hard disk fragment when the index value calculated by the calculation unit exceeds the threshold stored in the storage unit It is also achieved by a control method for an image forming apparatus, characterized in that it includes a determination step for determining that the de-resolution processing is necessary.

  With the above configuration, according to the present invention, it is possible to execute hard disk fragmentation elimination processing at an appropriate timing in an image forming apparatus using a hard disk.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus integrated management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, this system includes a host-side management server 101, an image forming apparatus management host 107 implemented by an image forming apparatus integrated management utility software 106 installed in the server 101, and a multifunction machine 102 as an image forming apparatus. 103 and 104 and a LAN (Local Area Network) 105 connecting them.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the multifunction peripheral of FIG. Here, in order to facilitate explanation and understanding, the MFPs 102 to 104 have the same configuration, but they do not necessarily have the same configuration.

  In FIG. 2, a document feeder 201 conveys a single-sheet document placed on a document table to a reading position of the image reader 202. The image reader 202 reads an image of a document placed on the document table or a document conveyed to the document feeding unit 201 using an image sensor or the like. The image forming unit 203 converts data received from an external device via the LAN 105 into a print image and prints it.

  A paper discharge unit 204 discharges the paper printed by the printing unit 203 and performs processing such as sorting and stapling. A network I / F 205 is an interface for communicating with an external device such as the host 107 through the LAN 105. The print processing time measuring unit 206 measures a time serving as an index of writing and reading speed of the hard disk in the printing process using the hard disk 210. The CPU 207 executes the program stored in the ROM 208 to control each unit, thereby realizing the functions of the multifunction device including the following fragmentation elimination processing and conversion of PDL data into bitmap data.

  The ROM 208 stores programs and data related to each process of the multifunction machine. The RAM 209 stores temporary data related to each process of the multifunction peripheral, and is used as a work area for the CPU 207. A hard disk drive (HDD) 210 stores programs and data related to each process of the MFP, image data read by the image reader 202, print job data received from an external device, various setting values, and the like. The operation unit 211 is an input device for a user to give an instruction to the apparatus, and generally includes a plurality of keys, buttons, a touch panel, and the like. The display unit 212 is, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), and displays information related to the operation status of the apparatus and operations on the operation unit 211. The calendar timer 213 is a clock and outputs the current date and time. Each of the above-described constituent blocks is connected to each other via a system bus 214 and exchanges data.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an average print processing time table for each mode and for each sheet, which is stored in the HDD 210 by the MFP according to the present embodiment. The table shows combinations of parameters that affect the data size, such as data type, number of colors, and output paper size, such as PS (PostScript (trademark)) data: Color: A4 size, LIPS data: Monochrome: A3 size, etc. And a field 302 indicating an average print processing time for each mode.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation in which the print processing time calculation unit 206 obtains a print processing time as a time used as an index of writing and reading speed of the hard disk. In principle, this process is performed for each print job (for each printing process for one sheet of recording paper).

In S401, the time t ₁ obtained from the calendar timer 213 stored in the page description language in accordance with a certain print job (PDL) when the data has begun to receive (when the Network I / F 205 starts to receive). In S402, the received PDL data is written to the hard disk 210, acquires stores the time t ₂ at the time read all from the hard disk 210 in order to convert the subsequent bitmap file.

In step S403, the print processing time T is set to T = (t ₂ -t ₁ ) / total number of bytes of PDL data (Expression 1)
Calculated by From this calculation, the print processing time per byte of the PLD data is calculated.

Note that the times t ₁ and t ₂ can be set to arbitrary times that can be measured so that a time dependent on the read / write speed of the HDD 210, more specifically, a decrease in the read / write speed due to fragmentation can be detected. For example, the time at which PDL data starts to be written to the hard disk may be used as the time t ₁ , and the time at which the development of the PDL data read from the hard disk into bitmap data may be used as the time t _2. .

Further, there is also a multi-function peripheral having a configuration in which PDL data is first stored in the RAM 209 and then converted into bitmap data (or converted) and then written to the hard disk 210. In that case, the printing time T is
t ₃ : Time when bitmap data is started to be written to the hard disk 210
t _4: the bit map data as the time you have finished writing to the hard disk 210,
T = t ₃ −t ₃ / total number of bytes of PDL data (Formula 1 ′)
It can ask for.
In such a configuration, the print processing time T is calculated using the time required to write bitmap data having a larger amount of data than the PDL data, so the actual print processing content is more than the time required to read / write the PDL data. There is an advantage that the degree of fragmentation reflecting can be determined.

The CPU 207 may detect the times t ₁ and t ₂ and calculate the PDL data amount, and notify the print processing time calculation unit 206 of the detection.

  In step S404, the print processing time T calculated in step S403 is stored in the HDD 210 in association with one of the above modes based on information in the PDL data.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation in which the print processing time calculation unit 206 calculates the average print processing time. In this specification, the average print processing time is an average value of print processing times for a specified number of times, and is used as a threshold value for determining an increase in print processing time.

In step S <b> 501, it is determined whether the number of printed sheets has reached the specified number after the image forming apparatus is installed or after the fragmentation elimination process (defragmentation process) is performed. If the number of printed sheets has not reached the specified number in S501, the print processing time calculation process described in FIG. 4 is executed in S502. If the number of prints reaches the specified number in S501, the print processing time Tn (n = 1, 2, 3,..., X) calculated by the above method (S401 to S403) is used in S503. The average print processing time Tave is calculated for each mode by Tave = ΣTn / number of printed sheets. The calculated average print processing time is stored in the field 302 of the table shown in FIG.

  Here, for the sake of simplicity of explanation and understanding, it has been described in S501 whether or not the total number of printed sheets regardless of the mode has reached the specified number, and only the calculation of the average print processing time is performed for each mode. However, the prescribed number may be set for each mode, and the processing of S501 to S503 may be performed for each mode.

  If the specified number of pages can be set after the mode, the time until the average print processing time for the less frequent mode is calculated becomes too long, or conversely, the average print processing time for the frequent mode is unnecessarily updated. It can be suppressed.

  By calculating the average print processing time even after execution of the defragmentation process, it is possible to always use a threshold value that reflects a decrease in performance of the HDD 210 due to a change over time.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the defragmentation operation of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment.
Here, the calculation processing of the print processing time and the average print processing time already described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 is performed, and the average print processing time for each mode (threshold for determining increase in processing time) is set. It shall be. That is, after the installation of the apparatus, the printing process for the specified number of sheets has already been executed, and during that time, it is not determined whether or not to perform the defragmentation process. This is because even if the fragmentation of the HDD 210 occurs for a while after the installation of the apparatus, it is considered that the extent is small, so defragmentation is not performed until the printing of the specified number of sheets for calculating the average print processing time is completed. This is because there is no problem even if the necessity of processing is not determined.

  In step S602, the print processing time of the print job sent to the image forming apparatus is calculated by the same processing as the processing shown in FIG. In step S603, the calculated print processing time is compared with a threshold value corresponding to the print job mode to determine whether the print processing time exceeds the threshold value.

  If the print processing time does not exceed the threshold value in S603, the process returns to S601 to wait for the next print job. If the print processing time exceeds the threshold value in S603, the image forming apparatus management host 107 is requested to execute defragmentation of the hard disk 210 in S604. In step S605, the image forming apparatus management host 107 determines whether defragmentation permission is notified. If it is notified in S605 that the defragmentation is not permitted, the process returns to S601. On the other hand, if the defragmentation permission is notified, the defragmentation process of the hard disk 210 is immediately executed in S606, and the process returns to S601.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the defragmentation request reception process of the image forming apparatus management host 107. As described above, the host 107 is realized by operating the image forming apparatus integrated management utility software 106 on the host-side management server 101 which is a general-purpose computer. The configuration of the host-side server 101 is not particularly described, but has a configuration provided in a general computer commercially available as a personal computer, such as a CPU, ROM, RAM, HDD, display, input device, and various interfaces.

  The image forming apparatus management host 107 monitors the statuses of a plurality of MFPs 102 to 104 that are management targets. In S1310, the reception of the defragmentation request is monitored, and when reception is detected, the process proceeds to S1320. In S1320, for example, an input dialog screen as shown in FIG. 12 is displayed on the display. In this embodiment, when the image forming apparatus side determines that defragmentation is necessary, the execution permission is requested from the host (FIG. 6, S606).

  The defragmentation process takes several minutes at the shortest and several hours at the longest, and it is highly possible that the work cannot be accepted during the process or even if it can be accepted. Therefore, when the image forming apparatus is used as a shared device on the network, there is a demerit caused by deferring execution of the defragmentation process only to the determination on the image forming apparatus side. In addition, it is considered undesirable to start the defragmentation process without the user's knowledge. Therefore, the defragmentation process is executed after permission from the host 107 is obtained. In addition, since execution of defragmentation processing can be instructed remotely from the host 107, it is not necessary to go to the actual machine.

  When the dialog screen of FIG. 12 is displayed, the user (administrator) of the host 107 determines whether to permit execution of the defragmentation process in consideration of the current system job reception status and the like. Then, an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard is operated, and either the “Yes” button 1210 or the “Later” button 1220 on the dialog screen is pressed.

  The host 107 detects this operation (S1330). When the “Yes” button 1210 is pressed, a notification indicating that the defragmentation process is permitted is executed. When the “Later” button 1220 is pressed, the host 107 executes the operation. A notification to the effect of not permitting is sent to the requesting multifunction peripherals 102 to 104 (S1340).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the image forming apparatus that includes the hard disk drive and forms an image while performing data writing to and reading from the hard disk drive, a threshold for processing speed reflecting the read / write speed of the hard disk is provided, When the actual processing speed falls below the threshold, it is determined that defragmentation processing is necessary. This makes it possible to execute the defragmentation process when an actual speed reduction occurs, and to perform the defragmentation process at an appropriate timing while preventing the life of the hard disk from being shortened unnecessarily. Possible.

In addition, by providing a threshold for the processing speed for each mode according to the type of page description language, the number of colors, the paper size, and the like, there is an effect that it is possible to detect the occurrence of a reduction in speed more accurately.
Specifically, for example, in the case of A4 monochrome printing, particularly printing with a small number of pages such as 1 to 3 pages, the amount of data is relatively small for both PDL data and expanded bitmap data. Therefore, even if the hard disk 210 is fragmented, there is a high possibility that data can be written in the continuous area.

Therefore, in such a mode with a small amount of data, the occurrence of unnecessary defragmentation processing can be suppressed by increasing the threshold value.
On the other hand, in a printing mode in which the amount of PDL data or bitmap data after development is large even if the number of pages is small, such as A3 color printing, the hard disk 210 is easily affected by fragmentation. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the threshold value and perform the defragmentation process at an appropriate timing.

<Second Embodiment>
In the first embodiment, only the increase in the print processing time is used as a material for determining whether or not defragmentation is necessary. In this embodiment, in addition to the print processing time, the fragmentation status in the hard disk of the image forming apparatus is used as a determination criterion to determine whether or not the defragmentation process needs to be performed.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the multifunction peripherals 102 to 104 as an example of the image forming apparatus in the present embodiment, and the same reference numerals are assigned to the same components as those in FIG.

  In FIG. 7, the multifunction peripherals 102, 103, and 104 of the present embodiment show how much of the hard disk occupies fragmented files, that is, non-consecutive file fragments, in the configuration of FIG. The fragmentation information acquisition unit 701 to be acquired is added. Such a fragmentation information acquisition unit 701 may be equivalent to that realized as a function of a defragmentation tool provided as, for example, hard disk management software or an OS system tool. The fragmentation information acquisition unit 701 stores the acquired fragmentation information in the hard disk 210 as a situation table.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a situation table generated by the fragmentation information acquisition unit 701. The status table includes a field 801 indicating the type of a file (fragmented file, continuous file, system file, free space, etc.) in the hard disk 210 of the image forming apparatus, and the ratio of each type of file to the hard disk area. It is constituted by a field 802 to represent.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the defragmentation processing operation of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 9, steps that perform the same processing as in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 6, and description thereof is omitted. In this embodiment as well, as in the first embodiment, the average print processing time for each mode (threshold for determining increase in processing time) is set in advance, and the fragmentation information threshold is set to fragmentation. It is assumed that a threshold (%) of the ratio of the recorded file to the hard disk 210 is set. The threshold value of the fragmentation information may be a fixed value, or may be changed by decreasing it by a predetermined value every time the defragmentation process is executed.

  As shown in FIG. 9, in the present embodiment, when the print processing time exceeds the threshold, it is not determined that the defragmentation process is necessary immediately, and the fragmentation information acquisition unit 701 further obtains the fragmentation information in S901. As a result of the acquisition, if the fragmentation information threshold value is exceeded (S903, Y), it is determined that defragmentation processing is necessary.

  If the acquired fragmentation information does not exceed the threshold (S903, N), the process returns to S601. Also in this embodiment, after executing the defragmentation process, the process of FIG. 5 is executed to reset the threshold value of the print process time.

  According to the present embodiment, the necessity of defragmentation processing is determined in consideration of hard disk fragmentation information in addition to the print processing time. Therefore, when the read / write speed temporarily decreases due to reasons other than hard disk fragmentation, etc. No longer requires defragmentation. Further, since it is determined whether defragmentation is necessary after determining how much fragmentation has actually progressed, the determination accuracy is improved as compared with the first embodiment.

<Third Embodiment>
In the first and second embodiments, the necessity of the defragmentation process using the time required for writing the PDL data, the print process time based on the time required for the process of developing to the bitmap while reading, and the degree of fragmentation. Was judged. However, the material for determining the necessity of defragmentation is not limited to these.

  The present embodiment is characterized in that as a simpler determination material, whether or not defragmentation is necessary is determined based on the number of sheets printed by the image forming apparatus (the number of times image forming processing has been performed).

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment may be the same as that of the image forming apparatuses according to the first and second embodiments, and does not include the printing time measurement unit 206 and the fragmentation information acquisition unit 701. Also good. In the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, for example, the CPU 207 counts the number of prints performed based on the received job data, and stores the accumulated print number (accumulated print number) in the hard disk 210. A predetermined number of threshold values are also stored in the hard disk 210. The threshold value of the number of sheets may be a periodic value such as every 5000 sheets, or may be a plurality of values such that the difference in the number of sheets gradually decreases, such as 5000 sheets, 10,000 sheets, 14000 sheets, or 13000 sheets. .

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the defragmentation operation of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment. In FIG. 10, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 6 are assigned to steps for performing the same processing as in the first embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted. Here, it is assumed that the threshold of the number of sheets is set in advance as described above.

In step S1001, the number of printed sheets is counted each time the image forming apparatus performs printing, and the cumulative value is increased. In step S1002, it is determined whether the cumulative number (total number) printed by the image forming apparatus exceeds a set threshold. If the accumulated number of printed sheets does not exceed the threshold value in S1002, the process returns to S601. If the cumulative number of printed sheets exceeds the threshold value, the hard disk defragmentation permission is requested to the image forming apparatus management host 107 in S604. Thereafter, the same processing as in the first embodiment is performed.
However, since the print processing time is not used in the present embodiment, it is not necessary to measure or update the print processing time.

  In the present embodiment, since the progress of fragmentation of the hard disk occurs due to repeated writing and reading of files, the idea is that fragmentation proceeds with an increase in the number of processes (printing) using the hard disk. Is based. Although it is inferior to the determination accuracy of whether or not the defragmentation process is necessary as compared with the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the printing time measuring unit 206 and the fragmentation information acquiring unit 701 can be implemented by a simpler method. The present invention can also be applied to an image forming apparatus that does not have an image. In addition, in an image forming apparatus with a limited print size or color, that is, an image forming apparatus dedicated to A4 monochrome printing, the configuration of this embodiment can determine the necessity of defragmentation processing at a sufficiently appropriate timing. Is possible.

<Fourth Embodiment>
In the third embodiment, the execution of defragmentation is determined only by the cumulative number of printed sheets. However, it is possible to combine the third embodiment with other embodiments. The present embodiment is characterized in that the necessity of defragmentation is determined using the cumulative number of printed sheets and the fragmentation status of the hard disk as a criterion.

  The configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment may be the same as that of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment. Further, a configuration in which the print processing time measuring unit 206 is removed from the configuration of the second embodiment may be used.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the defragmentation operation of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment. In FIG. 11, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 6, FIG. 9, or FIG. In addition, it is assumed that the setting of the threshold value for the cumulative number of printed sheets and the threshold value for the fragmentation information has been completed in advance.

  As is apparent from FIG. 11, in the present embodiment, instead of calculating the print processing time and comparing the threshold values with the threshold values (S602, S603) in the second embodiment, This can be realized by performing a comparison process (S1001, S1002) between the cumulative number of printed sheets and the threshold value.

  According to the present embodiment, the necessity of defragmentation processing is determined in consideration of the fragmentation information of the hard disk in addition to the cumulative number of printed sheets. Therefore, even if the cumulative number of printed sheets reaches the threshold, fragmentation actually proceeds. If not, it is not determined that defragmentation is necessary. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the defragmentation process is more suitable than the third embodiment.

<Other embodiments>
In the above-described embodiment, the elimination of fragmentation attributed to the printing process that received a print job using PDL data has been described. However, as described above, some image apparatuses equipped with a hard disk perform writing and reading to the hard disk even in the process of copying a scanned document image. In such an image processing apparatus, for example, the necessity of defragmentation processing can be determined by replacing the cumulative number of prints in the third embodiment with the cumulative number of copies.

  Further, the same defragmentation operation is performed by regarding the time when the scanned document image is started to be written to the hard disk and the time when the writing is finished and the time when reading for printing is finished as the printing processing time in the first embodiment. Is possible. In this case as well, it is possible to set a threshold for the print processing time according to the mode such as the size of the output paper.

  It is also possible to add fragmentation information to the defragmentation process as a decision material and perform the same process as in the second and fourth embodiments.

  In the above-described embodiment, when it is determined that the defragmentation process is necessary, the process is executed after obtaining permission from the host 107. However, for example, if the image processing apparatus is used without being connected to a network, it is possible to display a warning message on the display unit 212 and execute it after obtaining permission from the user.

  In addition to the configuration for obtaining permission from the host or the user, it is also possible to perform the configuration automatically at a time when printing processing is not normally performed, such as at midnight. In the latter case, it is desirable to store, as a log, date / time information on the automatic defragmentation process.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus integrated management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the multifunction peripheral of FIG. 1. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an average print processing time table for each mode and for each sheet that is stored in the HDD 210 by the multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an operation in which a print processing time calculation unit 206 obtains a print processing time as a time used as an index of writing and reading speed of a hard disk. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation in which a print processing time calculation unit 206 calculates an average print processing time. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a defragmentation operation of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of a multifunction machine according to a second embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the situation table which the fragmentation information acquisition part 701 produces | generates. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a defragmentation operation of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a defragmentation operation of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a defragmentation operation of an image forming apparatus according to a fourth embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a dialog screen displayed by the image forming apparatus management host according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a defragmentation request reception process of an image forming apparatus management host according to the embodiment.

Claims (7)

In an image forming apparatus that includes a hard disk drive and forms an image while performing data writing to and reading from the hard disk drive,
Storage means for preliminarily storing an index threshold for determining an increase in writing and reading speed of the hard disk;
A calculating means for calculating the index when executing the image forming process;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines that the hard disk fragmentation elimination processing is necessary when a value of the index calculated by the calculation unit exceeds a threshold value stored in the storage unit . Further, when the determination unit determines that the fragmentation elimination process is necessary, a request unit that requests permission to execute the fragmentation elimination process;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an execution unit that executes the fragmentation elimination processing for the hard disk only when execution permission is obtained in response to the request. The image forming process includes a step of writing an image forming job described in a page description language to the hard disk, and a step of reading the written page description language to develop bitmap data;
The index for determining the increase in the writing and reading speed of the hard disk is the time per unit data of the image forming job from the time when the image forming job is received until the reading step is completed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2.   After executing the defragmentation process, the increase of the writing and reading speed of the hard disk stored in the storage unit is determined using the value of the index calculated at the time of executing the image forming process a predetermined number of times. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an updating unit that updates a threshold value of an index for the purpose. The index for determining an increase in writing and reading speed of the hard disk is a cumulative value of the number of times the image forming apparatus has formed an image,
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the calculating unit adds the number of times of image formation performed by the image forming process every time the image forming process is executed. Furthermore, it has fragmentation information acquisition means for acquiring fragmentation information of the hard disk,
The storage means further stores a threshold of the fragmentation information;
The determination means has the index value calculated by the calculation means exceeding the threshold stored in the storage means, and the fragmentation information acquired by the fragmentation information acquisition means exceeds the threshold stored in the storage means. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus determines that defragmentation processing of the hard disk is necessary. A control method of an image forming apparatus comprising a hard disk drive and forming an image while performing data writing to and reading from the hard disk drive,
A storage step of preliminarily storing an index threshold for determining an increase in writing and reading speed of the hard disk;
A calculation step of calculating the index when executing the image forming process;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a determination step of determining that the fragmentation elimination processing of the hard disk is necessary when an index value calculated by the calculation unit exceeds a threshold stored in the storage unit Control method.

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