JP2009070213A - Information management system, relay server, and information management program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a device to be managed to quickly respond to command information of more serious emergency generated by a management device. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C and a plurality of management devices 3A and 3B are connected via the Internet N. A relay server 4 manages information communicated between the plurality of image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C and the plurality of management devices 3A and 3B. Also, the relay server 4 sets priorities by which image forming apparatuses 1A and the like respond to a plurality of command information received from the plurality of management devices 3A and 3B and has the image forming apparatuses 1A and the like respond to the command information by priorities. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a management technique for managing a managed device via the Internet.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a technique for managing an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer using a remote management apparatus is known. According to such a technique, there is an advantage that billing information regarding a plurality of image forming apparatuses can be managed by a remote management apparatus, and trouble information of the image forming apparatus can be quickly grasped by the management apparatus.

  As a system for managing an image forming apparatus by a remote management apparatus, for example, a system in which the image forming apparatus and the management apparatus are connected via the Internet and the management apparatus obtains necessary information from the image forming apparatus is conceivable. However, if both devices are connected via the Internet, unauthorized access from the outside to the image forming device and the management device becomes possible, which poses a security problem. Therefore, a firewall is installed to prevent unauthorized access to the image forming apparatus and the management apparatus.

In the technique described in Patent Document 1, the image forming apparatus and the management apparatus are connected to the Internet via firewalls, respectively, and a relay server is installed on the Internet, and communication is performed between the image forming apparatus and the management apparatus. This is a technique for managing information with a relay server. According to the technology, unauthorized access to an image forming apparatus can be prevented, and the state of the image forming apparatus can be accurately grasped by the management apparatus using the Internet, and a large amount of information can be smoothly transmitted and received. .
JP 2002-82792 A

  In a system using a relay server as in the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is conceivable to manage one image forming apparatus with a plurality of management apparatuses. For example, the update of the program stored in the image forming apparatus is managed by a predetermined management apparatus, and the charging information and trouble information of the image forming measure are managed by another management apparatus.

  As described above, in a system in which one image forming apparatus is managed by a plurality of management apparatuses, command information from each management apparatus to the image forming apparatus (for example, command information for executing a program update or a count value of the image forming apparatus). In some cases, command information for sending) is sent at the same time, and in this case, a plurality of command information is stocked in the relay server. The managed image forming apparatus accesses the relay server to acquire and respond to the command information one by one, but if the command information is processed in the order received by the relay server, the highly urgent command information is managed later. Even if it is transmitted from the apparatus, it does not respond to the image forming apparatus promptly, causing a disadvantage to the administrator or user of the image forming apparatus.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information management system, a relay server, and an information management program in which a managed device can quickly respond to highly urgent command information generated from a management device.

In order to achieve the above object, an information management system according to the present invention provides:
A managed device;
A plurality of management devices for managing the managed device;
A relay server that is connected to the managed device and the plurality of management devices via the Internet and manages information communicated between the managed device and the plurality of management devices;
An information management system comprising:
The management device includes a management communication unit that transmits command information for the managed device to the relay server and receives response information that the managed device responds to the command information from the relay server;
The relay server includes a control unit that gives priority to the managed device to respond to the plurality of command information received from the plurality of management devices, and the managed device in order from the command information having the highest priority. A server communication unit that communicates with the managed device so as to respond to
The managed device includes a managed communication unit that receives the command information from the relay server and transmits response information to the command information to the relay server.

The relay server according to the present invention is
A relay server that is connected to the managed device and a plurality of management devices that manage the managed device via the Internet and that manages information communicated between the managed device and the plurality of management devices,
A control unit that assigns a priority order to cause the managed device to respond to a plurality of command information received from the plurality of management devices;
A server communication unit that communicates with the managed device so as to cause the managed device to respond in order from the command information with the highest priority;
It is characterized by having.

The information management program according to the present invention is
A managed device;
A plurality of management devices for managing the managed device;
A relay server that is connected to the managed device and the plurality of management devices via the Internet and manages information communicated between the managed device and the plurality of management devices;
An information management program for executing a certain operation on an information management system comprising:
A priority order assigning step for giving a priority order for the managed device to respond to a plurality of command information received from the plurality of management devices;
A communication step of communicating with the managed device so as to cause the managed device to respond in order from the command information having the highest priority;
Is executed by the relay server.

  According to the information management system, the relay server, and the information management program according to the present invention, the managed device can quickly respond to highly urgent command information generated from the management device.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an information management system A.

  Image forming apparatuses (managed apparatuses) 1A, 1B, 1C such as copiers and printers are connected to an intranet Na built in the user's office, and are connected to the outside through a proxy server 2A having a firewall function. Internet N. A firewall prevents unauthorized access to the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C from the outside.

  Each of the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a hard disk, and the like, and a predetermined program stored in the ROM or the hard disk. An operation of forming an image on the sheet is executed. In addition, information on troubles occurring in the image forming apparatus, information on the number of times the image forming operation has been executed, and the like are stored, and such information is transmitted in response to a request from the management apparatus 3B.

  Management devices 3A and 3B that manage the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C are connected to an intranet Nb that is built in the service company, and are connected to an external Internet via a proxy server 2B having a firewall function. N is connected.

  The management devices 3A and 3B have a CPU, RAM, ROM, hard disk, and the like. The management apparatus 3A updates the program for the image forming apparatus 1A and the like, and rewrites various data used in the image forming apparatus 1A and the like. The management apparatus 3B maintains and manages the image forming apparatus 1A and the like, and periodically relays information necessary for maintenance and management (for example, information on the number of times the image forming operation has been performed) from the image forming apparatus 1A and the like. Get through 4.

  The relay server 4 is connected to an external Internet N, and information is exchanged between the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C and the management apparatuses 3A and 3B via the relay server 4. The relay server 4 is connected to the Internet N outside the firewall when viewed from the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C and the management apparatuses 3A and 3B. The relay server 4 has a CPU, RAM, ROM, hard disk, and the like, and an information management program is stored in the hard disk. In the present embodiment, the control unit is configured by the CPU cooperating with the ROM and RAM.

  In the information management system shown in FIG. 1, three image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C are connected to the intranet Na, and two management apparatuses 3A and 3B are connected to the intranet Nb. The number of devices and management devices may be other numbers.

  In the information management system shown in FIG. 1, the relay server 4 manages information between the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C and the management apparatuses 3A and 3B. Certain command information from the management devices 3A, 3B to the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, 1C (for example, command information for executing a program update and command information for transmitting the value of the number of times that an image forming operation has been executed) Is transmitted to the relay server 4 once. When the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C access the relay server 4, the stored command information is acquired by the corresponding image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus that has acquired the command information includes the command information. Respond based on (for example, respond to update program). Response information for the command information is sent from the responding image forming apparatus to the relay server 4, and the response information is temporarily stored in the relay server 4 and sent to the management apparatuses 3 </ b> A and 3 </ b> B that have accessed the relay server 4.

  Although not shown in FIG. 1, the management devices 3A and 3B include management communication units that transmit command information to the relay server 4 and receive response information from the relay server 4 in response to the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C. is set up. The relay server 4 is provided with server communication units that communicate with the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C and the management apparatuses 3A and 3B. The image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C are provided with managed communication units that receive command information from the relay server 4 and transmit response information to the relay server 4.

  Since information is exchanged between the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, 1C and the management apparatuses 3A, 3B via the relay server 4 in this way, the proxy server 2A, The image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C can be managed from the management apparatuses 3A and 3B by simple settings in 2B. Further, since the relay server 4 organizes the command information from the management apparatuses 3A and 3B, the load on the image forming apparatus side is reduced.

  The image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C periodically access the relay server 4 to make the relay server 4 recognize the state of the image forming apparatus itself (for example, whether the power is turned on). The timing at which the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C access the relay server 4 is, for example, when the power of the image forming apparatus is turned on or off.

  Further, while the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C are activated, the relay server 4 is accessed at a specified time interval, or is accessed once a day at a specified time. When the designated time comes while the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C are forming an image on the sheet, the relay server 4 is not accessed while the image is being formed on the sheet. The access is performed when the operation of forming the image is completed.

  Further, when the state of the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C changes (for example, when image formation is started, when image formation is completed, or when a paper jam occurs), the relay server 4 is accessed. Also good.

  Next, the exchange of information between the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C and the management apparatuses 3A and 3B will be specifically described.

  As described above, the management apparatus 3A receives command information for updating the program via the relay server 4 for the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C and various data used in the image forming apparatus. Send out command information to rewrite.

  When the command information from the management apparatus 3A is transmitted to the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C, the CPUs of the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C update the program stored in the hard disk based on the acquired command information. Or rewrite data.

  The updated program is, for example, a control program used in the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C. The rewritten data includes, for example, image control parameter data (image quality, density, etc.), adjustment data for adjusting the machine, parameter data for FAX communication control, setting data individually set by the user, user recognition password Data, etc.

  On the other hand, the management apparatus 3B transmits command information to the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C via the relay server 4 so as to provide information necessary for maintenance and management. When the command information from the management apparatus 3B is transmitted to the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C, the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C, for example, information on the number of times the image forming operation has been performed based on the acquired command information. Or trouble occurrence information in the image forming apparatus is sent to the relay server 4.

  Note that the image forming apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C and the management apparatuses 3A and 3B are assigned ID information (for example, serial numbers), and the models are distinguished by the ID information.

  By the way, command information from the management apparatus 3A and command information from the management apparatus 3B may be simultaneously transmitted to one image forming apparatus 1A. In that case, a plurality of command information is temporarily stored in the relay server 4. The managed image forming apparatus 1A accesses the relay server 4 to acquire command information one by one and responds. However, when the command information is acquired by the image forming apparatus 1A in the order received by the relay server 4, the image forming apparatus 1A receives the command information. Even when highly urgent command information (for example, command information for updating to a program with improved bugs) is transmitted from the management device 3A, the image forming devices 1A, 1B, 1C are not responded promptly, and the image forming devices 1A, 1B 1C managers and users will be disadvantaged.

  Therefore, priority is given to the command information transmitted from the management devices 3A and 3B, and the image forming devices 1A, 1B, and 1C are made to respond in order from the command information having the highest priority.

  Hereinafter, a case where command information such as program update is transmitted from the two management apparatuses 3A and 3B to the image forming apparatus 1A connected to the intranet Na will be described in detail.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation in which information is exchanged between the image forming apparatus 1A and the plurality of management apparatuses 3A and 3B via the relay server 4.

  Although not shown in FIG. 2, when the image forming apparatus 1 </ b> A is turned on (step S <b> 1), the image forming apparatus 1 </ b> A periodically accesses the relay server 4 to check its own state (for example, whether the power is turned on). The relay server 4 is made to recognize.

  When a command such as a program update is generated in the management device 3A (step S2), command information is sent from the management device 3A to the relay server 4, and the command information is stored in the folder of the management device 3A in the relay server 4 (step S2). S3). When a command for acquiring management information or the like is generated in the management device 3B (step S4), the command information is sent from the management device 3B to the relay server 4, and the command information is stored in the folder of the management device 3B in the relay server 4. (Step S5).

  The relay server 4 temporarily stores a plurality of command information received from the management device 3A or the like. In order to cause the image forming apparatus 1A to promptly respond to highly urgent command information, the priority order of the plurality of command information is determined in order to give priority to the plurality of stored command information (step S6: priority order). Application step). A method for determining the priority order will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of assigning priority to the instruction information.

  The operation in FIG. 3 is executed based on the attribute given to the command information with reference to the table stored in the ROM of the relay server 4.

  First, the priority order is determined based on the type of instruction information (step S21). In this embodiment, the command information from the management device 3A or the like includes command information related to program update, command information related to data rewriting, command information related to the number of executions of the image forming operation (the command information is the value of the number of times the image forming operation has been executed) 3 types) are assumed. In addition, the priority order of the instruction information related to data rewriting is made higher than the order information about the number of execution times of the image forming operation, and the priority order of instruction information related to program update is made higher than the instruction information related to data rewriting. This is because program updating and data rewriting are important for the operation of the image forming apparatus 1A.

  When the determination in step S21 is completed, the priority order is determined based on the execution time limit information among the same type of instruction information (step S22). The image forming apparatus 1A is preferentially made to respond to the one whose execution deadline is approaching. For example, if there are a plurality of pieces of instruction information for program update, a higher priority is given to instruction information whose execution deadline is approaching.

  For those without execution time limit information, the priority order is determined based on the date and time information when the relay server 4 receives the command information (step S23). That is, a higher priority is given to command information received by the relay server 4 that has an earlier date and time.

  Although not clearly shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, a plurality of pieces of instruction information may be combined into a single piece of instruction information for certain pieces of instruction information of the same type. By doing so, the response operation in the image forming apparatus 1A can be reduced.

  A specific example in which the priority order is determined by the operation shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to Tables 1 and 2.

  Table 1 shows the command information stored in the relay server 4, and a plurality of command information are arranged from the top of Table 1 in the order received by the relay server 4.

  The command information A, B, D, E is command information transmitted from the management device 3A, and the command information C is command information transmitted from the management device 3B. When the priority order is determined by the operation shown in FIG. 3 for a plurality of instruction information shown in Table 1, the priority order shown in Table 2 is obtained. In Table 2, the instruction information at the top has a higher priority.

  The instruction information E, B, and D related to program update has a higher priority than the instruction information A and C, and the instruction information A related to data rewriting has a higher priority than the instruction information C. When comparing the same type of instruction information of program update, the instruction information E has a higher execution priority than the instruction information B and C because the execution time limit is given to the instruction information E. In addition, in the same type of instruction information B and D to which no execution deadline is given, the instruction information B is earlier than the instruction information D because the date and time when the relay server 4 received the instruction information B is earlier than the instruction information D. Is expensive.

  Accordingly, since the command information E has the highest priority among the plurality of command information, the command information E is promptly associated with the image forming apparatus 1A. The determination of the priority order shown in FIG. 3 is an example, and the priority order may be determined based on other determination criteria.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the description of the operation related to the exchange of information will be continued.

  When the determination of the priority order is completed in step S6, the instruction information with the higher priority order (in the example of Table 2, first, instruction information E) is moved to the instruction execution folder (step S7) and periodically transmitted to the relay server 4. The image forming apparatus 1A to access acquires the command information in the command execution folder (communication process), and executes an operation based on the command information (step S8).

  Next, the image forming apparatus 1A creates response information for the command information (for example, information that the program has been updated) (step S9), and sends the response information to the relay server 4. The image forming apparatus 1A determines whether or not there is next command information by periodically accessing the relay server 4 (step S10), and if there is command information, repeats the operations of steps S8 and S9.

The relay server 4 that has received the response information stores the response information in the instruction execution folder (step S11), and then moves the response information to the folder of the corresponding management device (step S12).
Then, the management devices 3A and 3B can acquire the response information from the respective folders (steps S13 and S14), and can grasp the information from the image forming apparatus 1A such as updating the program.

  The relay server 4 repeats the operations of steps S7, S11, and S12 in descending order of priority determined in step S6.

  As described above, if priority is given to a plurality of command information and the image forming apparatus 1A responds in order from the command information with the highest priority, the command information with high urgency generated from the management devices 3A and 3B. Can respond quickly.

  In addition, unlike FIG. 3, another mode in which information is exchanged between the image forming apparatus 1A and the management apparatuses 3A and 3B via the relay server 4 as shown in FIG. 4 is also conceivable.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the relay server 4 receives and stores the command information transmitted from the management devices 3A and 3B in one communication folder (steps S33 and S35).

  Then, as described with reference to FIG. 3, the priority order is determined for a plurality of instruction information (step S36), the names are sequentially executed from the instruction information having the highest priority order, and moved to the instruction execution folder (step S37). .

  The image forming apparatus 1A sends response information to the renamed command information to the relay server 4, and after storing the response information in the command execution folder (step S41), the response information is renamed to the name of the corresponding management device. And move to the communication folder (step S42).

  Then, the management devices 3A and 3B are renamed from the communication folder, acquire the corresponding response information, and can grasp information from the image forming apparatus 1A such as updating the program. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, information may be exchanged by renaming command information and response information.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Even if it is a change and addition in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it is included in this invention.

It is a schematic diagram of an information management system. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation in which information is exchanged between an image forming apparatus and a plurality of management apparatuses via a relay server. It is a flowchart figure which shows the operation | movement which gives a priority with respect to command information. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation in which information is exchanged between an image forming apparatus and a plurality of management apparatuses via a relay server.

Explanation of symbols

A Information management system 1A, 1B, 1C Image forming apparatus 2A, 2B Proxy server 3A, 3B Management apparatus 4 Relay server Na, Nb Intranet N Internet

Claims (6)

A managed device;
A plurality of management devices for managing the managed device;
A relay server that is connected to the managed device and the plurality of management devices via the Internet and manages information communicated between the managed device and the plurality of management devices;
An information management system comprising:
The management device includes a management communication unit that transmits command information for the managed device to the relay server and receives response information that the managed device responds to the command information from the relay server;
The relay server includes a control unit that gives priority to the managed device to respond to the plurality of command information received from the plurality of management devices, and the managed device in order from the command information having the highest priority. A server communication unit that communicates with the managed device so as to respond to
The information management system comprising: a managed communication unit that receives the command information from the relay server and transmits response information to the command information to the relay server. The information management system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit gives a priority order based on an attribute of the command information with reference to a table in which a priority order is defined. A relay server that is connected to the managed device and a plurality of management devices that manage the managed device via the Internet and that manages information communicated between the managed device and the plurality of management devices,
A control unit that assigns a priority order to cause the managed device to respond to a plurality of command information received from the plurality of management devices;
A server communication unit that communicates with the managed device so as to cause the managed device to respond in order from the command information with the highest priority;
A relay server comprising: The relay server according to claim 3, wherein the control unit refers to a table in which priorities are defined, and assigns priorities based on attributes of command information received from the plurality of management devices. A managed device;
A plurality of management devices for managing the managed device;
A relay server that is connected to the managed device and the plurality of management devices via the Internet and manages information communicated between the managed device and the plurality of management devices;
An information management program for executing a certain operation on an information management system comprising:
A priority order assigning step for giving a priority order for the managed device to respond to a plurality of command information received from the plurality of management devices;
A communication step of communicating with the managed device so as to cause the managed device to respond in order from the command information having the highest priority;
An information management program for causing the relay server to execute The information management program according to claim 5, wherein in the priority order assigning step, a priority order is assigned based on an attribute of command information received from the plurality of management devices with reference to a table in which the priority order is defined.

Images