JP2007241384A - Fault prediction device, image forming device, fault prediction method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fault prediction device for predicting a fault of a storage device with higher accuracy. <P>SOLUTION: This fault prediction program acquires a time required for data access to the storage device, acquires a state of a device, and determines a fault factor on the basis of the acquired required time and the acquired state. In this example, an average access speed is less than a reference value when the states of an "output device" and an "input device" are respectively "ON" "ON" in an "operation state" field, and the average access speed is not less than the reference value in the other three states. The fault prediction program determines that the fault is caused by an external factor when the access speed is small in some states. On the contrary, when the access speed is small in all the states, the fault prediction program determines that the fault is caused by an internal factor such as a secular change or the like. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a failure prediction apparatus that performs failure prediction of a storage device.

In a storage device such as a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD), data access may be delayed due to secular change or the like. In an image forming apparatus including such a storage device, it is important to predict failure of the storage device and replace the storage device in advance.
In Patent Document 1, an operation failure parameter of a storage device is measured during a data write operation and a data read operation for a storage device capable of reading and writing data, and the measured operation failure parameter is compared with a reference value. A technique is disclosed in which when a malfunction parameter exceeds a reference value, a storage device life prediction notification is made.

JP 2004-348332 A

  However, the factors that slow down HDD access include internal factors such as secular change and external factors due to the influence of the surrounding environment such as vibration and temperature. The method disclosed in Patent Document 1 is based on the access speed. Failure prediction is performed based on the above, and no consideration is given to internal factors and external factors. Accordingly, there may be a case where there is a problem even though the HDD itself has no problem. In particular, in HDDs installed in multi-function peripherals, it is known that HDD access slows down due to vibrations of scanners and printers. Even in the same type of HDD, there are individual differences in access speed, and even if the degree of speed reduction is almost the same, it may be determined that the failure is immediate or may not be easily determined according to the unified standard.

  The present invention has been made from the above-described background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a failure prediction device that can perform failure prediction of a storage device with higher accuracy.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first failure prediction apparatus according to the present invention includes required time acquisition means for acquiring a time required for data access to a storage device that stores data in a readable / writable manner, and any one of a plurality of states. A state acquisition unit that acquires the state of the device device that takes a measure, a factor that determines a failure factor based on the required time acquired by the required time acquisition unit and the state of the device device acquired by the state acquisition unit Discriminating means.

Preferably, the state acquisition unit acquires the state of the device device when the required time is acquired by the required time acquisition unit.
Preferably, the factor determination means includes an access storage means for storing the required time acquired by the required time acquisition means and the status acquired by the status acquisition means for each access to the storage device, and the access storage Determining means for determining whether or not the required time stored by the means is greater than a predetermined value; and when the determination means determines that the required time is greater than the predetermined value, the access storage means stores And determining means for determining a failure factor based on statistics of required time and statistics for each state of the device apparatus.

  Preferably, the determining means determines that the failure factor is an internal factor when the required time is large in any state in the state statistics of the device apparatus, and the required time is large in some states. The failure factor is determined to be an external factor.

  The second failure prediction device according to the present invention includes a time required for data access to a storage device storing data and a required time acquisition unit for acquiring an access size in the data access, and any one of a plurality of states. Status acquisition means for acquiring the status of the device device to be taken, factor determination means for determining a failure factor based on the required time and access size acquired by the required time acquisition means and the status acquired by the status acquisition means; Have

  Preferably, the factor determination means stores an access storage means for storing the required time acquired by the required time acquisition means, the access size, and the status acquired by the status acquisition means for each access to the storage device, A determination unit that determines whether or not an access speed based on the required time and access size stored in the access storage unit is smaller than a predetermined value; and the determination unit that determines that the access speed is smaller than a predetermined value Determining means for determining a failure factor based on statistics of required time and access size stored in the access storage means for each state of the device apparatus.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus that includes a device device that takes one of a plurality of states, a storage device that stores data in a readable / writable manner, and a failure prediction device. A required time acquisition unit that acquires a time required for data access to the storage device, a state acquisition unit that acquires a state of the device device, a required time acquired by the required time acquisition unit, and the state acquisition unit. Factor determining means for determining a failure factor based on the acquired state.

Preferably, the device apparatus is an image input apparatus that inputs an image.
Preferably, the device apparatus is an image output apparatus that outputs an image.
Preferably, the storage device is a hard disk drive.

  Further, the failure prediction method according to the present invention acquires a time required for data access to a storage device that stores data in a readable / writable manner, acquires a state of a device device that takes one of a plurality of states, and acquires the time. The failure factor is determined based on the required time and the acquired state.

  Furthermore, the program according to the present invention takes any one of a plurality of states and a required time acquisition step of acquiring a time required for data access to a storage device that stores data in a readable and writable manner in a failure prediction apparatus having a computer. The computer of the failure prediction device is caused to execute a state acquisition step of acquiring the state of the device device and a factor determination step of determining a failure factor based on the acquired required time and the acquired state.

  According to the failure prediction apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to predict a failure of a storage device with higher accuracy.

First, an image forming apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a CPU 12, a memory 14, a storage device 16 such as a hard disk drive (HDD) that stores data in a readable / writable manner, and data transmission and reception with an external computer via a network. A communication interface (IF) 18 that performs reception, an image input device 20 such as a scanner that inputs images, a print engine, and the like, and outputs an image input via the communication IF 18 or image input device 20 onto a recording sheet. It includes an image output device 22, a timer 24 for outputting time, and a user interface (UI) device 26 including a touch panel or a liquid crystal display and a keyboard. These components are connected to each other via a bus 28.

  The image input device 20 and the image output device 22 take one of a plurality of states in, for example, power supply, vibration, temperature, and humidity. Specifically, a device device such as the image input device 20 is in either an on state or an off state with respect to a power source, and takes one of variable values regarding vibration, temperature, and humidity. The timer 24 operates as an internal clock of the image forming apparatus 10. Note that the timer 24 may be included in other components such as the CPU 12.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the failure prediction program 30 for realizing the failure prediction method of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the failure prediction program 30 includes a control unit 300, a time acquisition unit 304, and a device state acquisition. A unit 306, an access unit 308, a time calculation unit 310, a data storage unit 312, an access storage unit 314, a statistical storage unit 316, a determination unit 318, a determination unit 320, and a report request reception unit 302.

  The failure prediction program 30 acquires the time required for data access to the storage device 16 that stores data in a readable / writable manner by using these components, and acquires the state of the device devices (the image input device 20 and the image output device 22). Then, the failure factor is determined based on the acquired required time and the acquired state. The failure prediction program 30 is loaded into the memory 14 of the image forming apparatus 10 and is executed by the CPU 12 to constitute a failure prediction device. Note that all or some of the functions of the failure prediction program 30 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC provided in the image forming apparatus 10.

  In the failure prediction program 30, when receiving a data write request to the storage device 16 or a data read request (that is, an access request) from the storage device 16, the control unit 300 controls writing and reading of data to the storage device 16. Control other components and inputs / outputs between these components. In addition, the control unit 300 displays processing results and the like by other components on the UI device 26, and outputs inputs from the UI device 26 to other components.

The device state acquisition unit 306 acquires the states of the image input device 20 and the image output device 22 and outputs the states to the control unit 300. More specifically, the device status acquisition unit 306 acquires whether power is supplied to the image input device 20 or the like, that is, whether the image input device 20 or the like is on or off. The device state acquisition unit 306 may acquire the presence / absence of vibration of the image input device 20 or the like from a vibration measurement device (not shown), or may determine the temperature / humidity near the image input device 20 or the like from a temperature / humidity sensor (not shown). You may get it. The device status acquisition unit 306 acquires the status of the device device when the time required for access is acquired, that is, when an access operation is performed by the access unit 308 described later.
The access unit 308 performs a data writing operation on the storage device 16 and a data reading operation stored in the storage device 16.

The time acquisition unit 304 receives the current time from the timer 24 and outputs the time to the control unit 300.
The time calculation unit 310 receives a plurality of times from the control unit 300, calculates a time from these times, and outputs the time to the control unit 300. More specifically, the time calculation unit 310 receives the time when the access unit 308 starts accessing the storage device 16 and the time when the access ends from the control unit 300, and calculates the time required for data access.
Therefore, the time acquisition unit 304 and the time calculation unit 310 constitute a required time acquisition unit that acquires the time required for data access to the storage device 16.

  The access storage unit 314 includes the time required for data access calculated and acquired by the time acquisition unit 304 and the time calculation unit 310, the size of data written / read during the data access (access size), and the device status The state of the device devices (image input device 20 and image output device 22) acquired by the acquisition unit 306 is stored every time the storage device 16 is accessed. The access storage unit 314 is realized by at least one of the memory 14 and the storage device 16. The contents stored in the access storage unit 314 will be described in detail later.

  The statistics storage unit 316 stores the required time and access size statistics stored in the access storage unit 314 for each state of the image input device 20 and the image output device 22. For example, when each of the image input device 20 and the image output device 22 can be in an on or off state, the statistical storage unit 316 includes a combination of the states of the image input device 20 and the image output device 22 (that is, off / off, Time / access size statistics are stored in each of the four combinations (off / on, on / off, on / on). The statistical storage unit 316 is realized by the memory 14 and the like, like the access storage unit 314. The contents stored in the statistics storage unit 316 will be described in detail later.

  The determination unit 318 determines whether or not the required time stored in the access storage unit 314 is greater than a predetermined reference value set in advance. The determination unit 318 calculates an access speed based on the required time and access size stored in the access storage unit 314, and determines whether the access speed is smaller than a predetermined reference value set in advance. Also good.

  Here, the reference value may be calculated based on an average value or the like of the acquired values by acquiring an access time or the like at the beginning of use. In addition, a multifunction device has a necessary access speed to satisfy the performance of the multifunction device. For example, the access speed is obtained from a criterion of how long it is necessary to access one page of data.

  When the determination unit 318 determines that the required time is greater than the predetermined value, the determination unit 320 is a statistic of the required time stored in the access storage unit 314 for each state of the device device such as the image input device 20. The failure factor is determined based on the statistics (that is, the statistics stored in the statistics storage unit 316). More specifically, when the required time is large in any state in the statistics of the state of the device device, the determination unit 320 determines that the factor is an internal factor, and the required time in some states. If so, determine that the factor is an external factor. When the determination unit 318 determines that the access speed is smaller than the predetermined value, the determination unit 320 is a statistic of required time and access size stored in the access storage unit 314 and is based on statistics for each state of the device apparatus. Thus, the failure factor may be determined.

The determined failure factor is displayed on the UI device 26 by the control unit 300. The factor may be printed on a recording sheet by the image output device 22.
As described above, the data storage unit 312, the access storage unit 314, the statistical storage unit 316, the determination unit 318, and the determination unit 320 include the required time acquired by the required time acquisition unit (the time acquisition unit 304 and the time calculation unit 310). Based on the state acquired by the device state acquisition unit 306, a factor determination unit that determines a failure factor is configured.

  The report request accepting unit 302 accepts a report request for performing failure prediction via the communication IF 18 or the UI device 26, and outputs a determination result by the factor determining means. The determination result may be displayed on the UI device 26, printed on recording paper by the image output device 22, or stored as a log in the storage device 16.

Next, data stored by the failure prediction program 30 will be described.
FIG. 3 illustrates data access information stored in the access storage unit 314 of the failure prediction program 30.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the access storage unit 314 stores an access number, an access time, a state of the image output device 22, a state of the image input device 20, and an access size for each data access. Here, the access storage unit 314 stores accesses from the latest access until a predetermined number of times.

FIG. 4 illustrates the statistical information stored in the statistical storage unit 316 of the failure prediction program 30.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the statistics storage unit 316 stores the state of the image output device 22, the state of the image input device 20, the total access time, and the total access size for each state of the image output device 22 and the image input device 20. Is remembered. For example, the data in a state where both the image output device 22 and the image input device 20 are off is the access time and access in the data corresponding to the state among the access data stored in the access storage unit 314 (FIG. 3). This indicates the total size.

Next, a failure prediction result by the failure prediction program 30 will be described.
FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are diagrams illustrating a report that outputs a result of determining a failure factor. FIG. 5 illustrates a report indicating a possibility of processing speed delay due to an external factor, and FIG. Exemplifies a report indicating the possibility of processing speed delay due to internal factors.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, in the report, the “latest access” column indicates the data stored in the access storage unit 314 of the failure prediction program 30, and the “by operation state” column indicates the statistical storage unit 316. The data stored in is shown. The average access speed in the “by operation state” column is a value obtained from the stored total access time and the total access size.

  The column “diagnosis result” indicates the failure factor determined by the determination unit 320 and indicates whether the failure factor is an external factor or an internal factor. If there is no abnormality, the fact may be displayed in the “diagnosis result” column. The “shipping data” column indicates an average access speed at the time of factory shipment, and the “reference value” column indicates a reference value used by the determination unit 318. The access time may be used as a reference value.

  In the report, the access (the arrow S in the figure) for which the required time is determined to be larger than the predetermined value is displayed in red, bold, or separately displayed as “NG”, for example. It may be highlighted and displayed. In addition, an access for which the access speed based on the required time and the access size is determined to be smaller than a predetermined value may be highlighted.

  In the “by operation state” column of the report shown in FIG. 5, when the states of “output device” and “input device” are “ON” and “ON”, respectively, the average access speed is less than the reference value. The access time is significantly longer than the value in other states. On the other hand, in the other three states in this column, the average access speed is not less than the reference value. Note that the average access speed is 0 when the states of the “output device” and the “input device” are “OFF” and “ON”, respectively. This is because there was no access in this state. Does not fall under “less than value”.

  The determination unit 320 of the failure prediction program 30 has a low access speed in a part of the state (in this example, the state of the device device indicated by the arrow T in the drawing is “ON” and “ON”) ( (If the required time is large), the failure factor is determined to be an external factor. Therefore, in the report of this example, the display of the “diagnosis result” column is “the possibility of a delay in HDD speed due to the external factor” Please check the input device. " In this way, the failure prediction program 30 can diagnose that the cause of the access delay is due to an external factor such as vibration in a device device such as the image input device 20 and perform appropriate failure prediction. Can do.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 6, as indicated by the arrow T in the figure, in the “by operation state” column, the average access speed is less than the reference value regardless of whether the “output device” or “input device” is And the total access time is increasing. As described above, when the access speed is low (or when the required time is large) in any state in the state statistics of the device apparatus, the determination unit 320 of the failure prediction program 30 determines that the failure factor is internal due to secular change or the like. Since it is determined that this is the cause, in the report of this example, the display in the column “Diagnosis Result” is “Replace HDD”. In this way, the failure prediction program 30 can diagnose that the cause of the access delay is due to internal factors such as aging of the HDD and the like, and can perform more appropriate failure prediction. Note that, as indicated by an arrow U in the figure, an access determined to have a required time greater than a predetermined value may be highlighted.

  Such a report may be generated when a report output request from the user is received via the UI device 26 or the like, or generated when it is determined that the data access does not satisfy a predetermined reference value. May be. The report may be displayed on the UI device 26 or the like, stored as a log on the memory 14 or the storage device 16, or printed on paper by the image output device 22.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing HDD access processing (S10) by the failure prediction program 30 for realizing the failure prediction method according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 7, in step 100 (S100), the control unit 300 of the failure prediction program 30 (FIG. 2) determines whether an access request to the storage device 16 such as an HDD has been accepted. If the access request is received, the control unit 300 proceeds to the process of S102, and otherwise returns to the process of S100.

In step 102 (S102), the time acquisition unit 304 acquires the access start time from the timer 24 and outputs it to the control unit 300 under the control of the control unit 300.
In step 104 (S104), the device state acquisition unit 306 acquires the states of the image input device 20 and the image output device 22 under the control of the control unit 300, and outputs them to the control unit 300.

In step 106 (S106), the access unit 308 performs a data access process to the storage device 16 under the control of the control unit 300, and outputs to the control unit 300 that the access process has been completed.
In step 108 (S108), the time acquisition unit 304 acquires the access end time from the timer 24 under the control of the control unit 300, and outputs the access end time to the control unit 300.
In step 110 (S110), the time calculation unit 310 receives the access start time and the access end time from the control unit 300, calculates the access time from these times, and outputs the access time to the control unit 300.

  In step 112 (S112), the determination unit 318 determines whether or not the calculated access time is greater than the reference value under the control of the control unit 300. The control unit 300 proceeds to the process of S114 when the access time is greater than the reference value, and proceeds to the process of S116 otherwise.

In step 114 (S114), the control unit 300 displays a warning that the access time is longer than the reference value on the UI device 26. The control unit 300 may save that fact in the memory 14 and the storage device 16. The control unit 300 may control the determination unit 320 to create a report (FIGS. 5 and 6) including the diagnosis result, and display, print, or save the report. The report generation process will be described later in detail.
In step 116 (S116), the data storage unit 312 stores the time required for the access, the access size, and the state of the image input device 20 and the like under the control of the control unit 300. The data storage unit 312 updates the access statistical information.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a report output process (S20) by the failure prediction program 30.
As shown in FIG. 8, in step 200 (S200), when the report request receiving unit 302 of the failure prediction program 30 receives a report request, the determination unit 318 is stored in the access storage unit 314 under the control of the control unit 300. Refer to the processing time for each access.

  In step 202 (S202), the determination unit 318 determines whether or not the access speed is equal to or lower than a reference value. When it is determined that the access speed is equal to or lower than the reference value, the control unit 300 proceeds to the process of S204, and otherwise proceeds to the process of S210. Note that the determination unit 318 may determine whether the time required for access is greater than a reference value. In this case, the control unit 300 proceeds to the process of S204 when it is determined that the required time is larger than the reference value, and proceeds to the process of S210 otherwise.

  In step 204 (S204), the determination unit 320 refers to the statistical storage unit 316 under the control of the control unit 300, and the degradation of the access speed (or the degradation of the required time) depends on the state of any device apparatus. It is determined whether it is what to do. The determination unit 320 proceeds to the process of S206 when determining that the degradation of the access speed depends on any device state, and proceeds to the process of S208 otherwise.

  In step 206 (S206), the determination unit 320 determines that the degradation in access speed is due to an external factor such as the device apparatus being turned on. In this case, since the deterioration of the access speed is caused by the vibration or heat of the device apparatus, the diagnosis result indicates that the device apparatus is confirmed.

  In step 208 (S208), the determination unit 320 determines that the degradation in access speed is due to internal factors such as aging. In this case, since the degradation of the access speed occurs in any state, the diagnosis result indicates that the storage device 16 is to be replaced.

In step 210 (S210), the control unit 300 outputs a report (FIGS. 5 and 6) including a diagnosis result by the determination unit 320. Here, the control unit 300 may display the report result on the UI device 26, store it in the storage device 16, or print it on a sheet via the image output device 22.
The report output process may be executed in the warning display process (the process of S114) in the HDD access process shown in FIG.

  As described above, the failure prediction apparatus according to the present invention includes a required time acquisition unit that acquires a time required for data access to a storage device that stores data in a readable / writable manner, and a device device that takes one of a plurality of states. State acquisition means for acquiring the state of the device, and factor determination means for determining a failure factor based on the required time acquired by the required time acquisition means and the state of the device apparatus acquired by the state acquisition means. . As a result, the failure prediction of the storage device can be performed with higher accuracy.

  The failure prediction apparatus according to the present invention acquires the state of the device device when the required time is acquired by the required time acquisition means. Further, the failure prediction apparatus determines that the failure factor is an internal factor when the required time is large in any state in the state statistics of the device device, and when the required time is large in some states, The failure factor is determined to be an external factor. Therefore, the failure prediction apparatus according to the present invention can diagnose whether the failure factor is an internal factor or an external factor.

  Furthermore, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the failure prediction apparatus. Such an image forming apparatus includes an image input apparatus that inputs an image and an image output apparatus that outputs an image, and acquires on / off of these device apparatuses. Therefore, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention can more effectively predict the processing performance deterioration of the storage device caused by vibration or heat generated when the device device is on.

  The failure prediction apparatus according to the present invention may store the job type for each data access and store statistical information for each job type instead of the state of the device apparatus. In this case, the failure prediction apparatus according to the present invention determines whether the deterioration of the data access performance is due to an internal factor or an external factor based on the stored statistics for each job type. .

1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the failure prediction program 30 which implement | achieves the failure prediction method of this invention. The data access information memorize | stored in the access memory | storage part 314 of the failure prediction program 30 is illustrated. The statistical information memorize | stored in the statistics memory | storage part 316 of the failure prediction program 30 is illustrated. It is a figure which illustrates the report which outputs the result by which the failure factor was discriminate | determined, Comprising: The report which shows the possibility of the processing speed delay by an external factor is illustrated. It is a figure which illustrates the report which outputs the result by which the failure factor was discriminate | determined, Comprising: The report which shows the possibility of the processing speed delay by an internal factor is illustrated. It is a flowchart which shows the HDD access process (S10) by the failure prediction program 30 which implement | achieves the failure prediction method which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the report output process (S20) by the failure prediction program 30.

Explanation of symbols

10 Image forming apparatus 12 CPU
14 Memory 16 Storage device 18 Communication IF
20 Image input device 22 Image output device 24 Timer 26 UI device 30 Failure prediction program 300 Control unit 302 Report request reception unit 304 Time acquisition unit 306 Device state acquisition unit 308 Access unit 310 Time calculation unit 312 Data storage unit 314 Access storage unit 316 Statistics storage unit 318 determination unit 320 determination unit

Claims (12)

Required time acquisition means for acquiring time required for data access to a storage device that stores data in a readable and writable manner;
State acquisition means for acquiring the state of the device device taking any one of a plurality of states;
A failure prediction apparatus comprising: a factor determination unit that determines a failure factor based on the required time acquired by the required time acquisition unit and the state of the device apparatus acquired by the state acquisition unit. The failure prediction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the state acquisition unit acquires the state of the device device when the required time is acquired by the required time acquisition unit. The factor determining means includes
An access storage means for storing the required time acquired by the required time acquisition means and the status acquired by the status acquisition means for each access to the storage device;
Determination means for determining whether the required time stored in the access storage means is greater than a predetermined value;
If the determination unit determines that the required time is greater than a predetermined value, the failure factor is determined based on the required time statistics stored in the access storage unit and for each state of the device device. The failure prediction apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a determination unit that performs determination. The determination means determines that the failure factor is an internal factor if the required time is large in any state in the state statistics of the device apparatus, and if the required time is large in some states, the failure factor The failure prediction apparatus according to claim 3, wherein is determined to be an external factor. Time required for data access to a storage device for storing data and required time acquisition means for acquiring an access size in the data access; and
State acquisition means for acquiring the state of the device device taking any one of a plurality of states;
A failure prediction apparatus comprising: a factor determination unit that determines a failure factor based on a required time acquired by the required time acquisition unit, an access size, and a state acquired by the state acquisition unit. The factor determining means includes
Access storage means for storing the required time and access size acquired by the required time acquisition means and the status acquired by the status acquisition means for each access to the storage device;
Determination means for determining whether or not the access speed based on the required time and access size stored by the access storage means is smaller than a predetermined value;
When it is determined by the determination means that the access speed is smaller than a predetermined value, the failure is based on the required time and access size statistics stored in the access storage means, and the statistics for each state of the device apparatus. The failure prediction apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a determination unit that determines a factor. An image forming apparatus having a device device that takes one of a plurality of states, a storage device that stores data in a readable and writable manner, and a failure prediction device,
The failure prediction apparatus is
Required time acquisition means for acquiring time required for data access to the storage device;
Status acquisition means for acquiring the status of the device device;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a factor determining unit that determines a failure factor based on the required time acquired by the required time acquiring unit and the state acquired by the state acquiring unit. The failure prediction apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the device apparatus is an image input apparatus that inputs an image. The failure prediction apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the device apparatus is an image output apparatus that outputs an image. The failure prediction apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the storage device is a hard disk drive. Get the time required to access data to a storage device that stores data readable and writable,
Get the status of the device that takes one of multiple states,
A failure prediction method for determining a failure factor based on the acquired required time and the acquired state. In a failure prediction apparatus having a computer,
A required time acquisition step of acquiring a time required for data access to a storage device that stores data in a readable and writable manner;
A state acquisition step of acquiring a state of the device device taking any one of a plurality of states;
A program for causing a computer of the failure prediction apparatus to execute a factor determination step of determining a failure factor based on the acquired required time and the acquired state.

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