JP2012073949A - Management device, system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform monitoring of operation states of devices connected to a computer network without installing a special detector in the vicinity of respective devices.SOLUTION: A management device according to the invention includes: operation response request means for requesting an operation response that is a response showing operation of a device, to the device connected to a computer network; identification information request means for requesting identification information to the device during operation; time acquisition means for acquiring time; and operation state recording means for recording an operation state of the device on the basis of the operation response, the identification information, and the time.

Description

  The present invention relates to a management apparatus, system, and program.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a management device that receives operation information notification information from a detection device arranged in the vicinity of a fixed asset that is a management target device and determines whether the management target device is operating according to an operation schedule. Are listed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-280658

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to monitor the operating state of devices connected to a computer network without providing a special detection device in the vicinity of each device.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the management apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention requests an operation response that is a response indicating that the device is operating, to a device connected to a computer network. Based on the response requesting means, the identification information requesting means for requesting identification information to the operating device, the time acquiring means for acquiring time, the operation response, the identification information and the time, Operating state recording means for recording the operating state.

  Moreover, the management device according to claim 2 of the present invention is the management device according to claim 1, wherein an operation condition storage unit that stores an operation condition that is a condition for an operation state of the device, and the operation state record Warning notification means for notifying a warning based on a comparison result between the operating state of the device recorded in the means and the operating condition.

  The management device according to claim 3 of the present invention is the management device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation response request interval by the operation response request means can be set for each device. .

  A management device according to claim 4 of the present invention is the management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the operation response request interval by the operation response request means is a type of the device. Can be set for each.

  Moreover, the management apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention is the management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the operation condition includes a continuous operation time, an accumulated operation time of the device, and the device. These conditions are related to at least one of the number of simultaneous operations, the operation time zone of the device, and the new operation or operation end of the device.

  A system according to claim 6 of the present invention provides an operation response and identification information in response to an operation response request and an identification information request from the management apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 5 and the management apparatus, respectively. A computer network connectable device to be returned; and a computer network to which the management device and the computer network connectable device are connected.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the program includes: an operation response requesting unit that requests an operation response, which is a response indicating that the device is operating, to a device connected to the computer network. An identification information requesting unit that requests identification information from the operating device, a time acquisition unit that acquires time, and an operating state of the device is recorded based on the operation response, the identification information, and the time. And operating state recording means for operating as a management device.

  According to the management device of the first aspect, it is possible to monitor the operating state of the device connected to the computer network without providing a special detection device in the vicinity of each device.

  Further, according to the management device of the second aspect, it is possible to warn when there is a device in an operation state that matches the operation condition.

  In addition, according to the management device of the third aspect, it is possible to reduce the request for the operation response to the device and the communication amount due to the response as compared with the case where the configuration is not provided.

  According to the management device of the fourth aspect, the setting of the operation response request interval is simpler than in the case where the configuration is not provided.

  According to the management device of claim 5, at least one of the continuous operation time of the device, the cumulative operation time, the number of simultaneous operation of the device, the operation time zone of the device, and the new operation or the end of the operation of the device. Can be warned based on conditions.

  According to the system of the sixth aspect, monitoring of the operating state of the devices connected to the computer network is performed without providing a special detection device in the vicinity of each device.

  According to the program of claim 7, the management device can monitor the operating state of the device connected to the computer network without providing a special detection device in the vicinity of each device. Can function as.

It is a mimetic diagram of a system containing a management device concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of a management apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a management apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of GUI of the operation response request space | interval setting part. It is a figure which shows the example of GUI of an apparatus information registration part. It is a figure which shows the example of GUI of an operation condition setting part. It is an example which sets the operation condition regarding the continuous operation time of an apparatus. It is an example which sets the operating condition regarding the cumulative operating time of a device. It is an example which sets the operating condition regarding the number of simultaneous operation | movements of an apparatus. This is an example of conditionalizing a case where a specific device is newly operated after a specific device stops operating until a specific time.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system including a management apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Devices such as the management apparatus 1, office computer 2, and printing machine 3 are connected to the computer network 4 and can communicate with each other. Here, the computer network 4 is configured by changing the configuration of devices connected to the computer network 4 or arbitrarily changing the operation of each device, that is, the power source of each device or the on / off of communication. In addition, electronic communication between the devices is possible. Such a computer network 4 is not particularly limited, but in the present embodiment, a so-called LAN (Local Area Network) constructed based on TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) is used.

  The management device 1 is realized by using a general computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and an input / output interface, which is a general-purpose information processing device. And the management apparatus 1 is virtually implement | achieved by running the computer program for operating a computer as the management apparatus 1 on this computer. A computer program for operating the computer as the management apparatus 1 is provided by being recorded on an arbitrary information recording medium such as a DVD-ROM (DVD-Read Only Memory) or a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory). Alternatively, it may be provided as a computer-readable electrical signal via an electrical communication line such as a public line represented by the Internet. Of course, the information processing apparatus used for realizing the management apparatus 1 is not limited to a general-purpose computer, and a dedicated apparatus may be used. On the computer network 4, the management apparatus 1 may be a dedicated or shared server, an administrator terminal, or a general terminal. It is preferable to operate continuously for 24 hours since it monitors the operating state of other devices connected to the.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the management apparatus 1. The functional blocks of the management apparatus 1 shown in the figure are the management apparatus 1 realized by a computer program, for convenience of explanation, focusing on the functions, and each functional block must be physically present. There is no.

  The management apparatus 1 includes a communication interface 100, an operation response request unit 101, an operation response reception unit 102, an identification information request unit 103, an identification information reception unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, an operation state recording unit 106, an operation condition setting unit 107, An operation condition storage unit 108, a device information registration unit 109, a device information storage unit 110, a warning unit 111, an operation response request interval setting unit 112, and an operation response request instruction unit 113 are provided. Each functional block will be described below.

  The communication interface 100 is an interface for connecting the management apparatus 1 and the computer network 4 (see FIG. 1) so as to communicate with each other. In this embodiment, a communication connector based on the Ethernet (registered trademark) standard is used.

  The operation response request unit 101 functioning as an operation response request unit requests an operation response, which is a response indicating that the device is operating, to a device connected to the computer network 4 and connectable to the computer network. An operation response request is generated and transmitted via the communication interface 100. The operation response request unit is a unit that requests an operation response from a device connected to the computer network.

  This point will be described in more detail. Since various devices such as office equipment are connected to the computer network 4, the connection status of the devices such as which devices are connected and which devices are in operation is as follows. It changes every moment. In such a case, in order for each device connected to the computer network 4 to communicate with each other, it is necessary to know which device is connected and in operation at the time of communication. . For this reason, a device that can be connected to a computer network often has a function of accepting an inquiry about whether the device is in operation and being communicable and responding to the inquiry. As in this embodiment, if the device is compatible with TCP / IP, a query that requires an Echo message specified in ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol), that is, a response to a query that requires an Echo Reply message in response to an operation response request, That is, it corresponds to an operation response. In a computer that can communicate using TCP / IP, ping, which is a command for transmitting an Echo message, can be used in many cases. Therefore, the operation response request unit 101 of this embodiment executes ping. It has become.

  Note that the operation response request is not limited to the Echo message described above, but may be another one. The Echo message is sent to a specific address, which is the location information on the computer network 4 of the device to be queried, here an IP address, but to all or a plurality of devices on the computer network 4. It is also possible to use a so-called broadcast that is sent out to obtain a response. ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) described later is also an operation response request using broadcast.

  The operation response receiving unit 102 that functions as an operation response receiving unit receives an operation response that is a response to the operation response request transmitted from the operation response request unit 101. The operation response receiving means is means for receiving an operation response from a device connected to the computer network. When the operation response is received, the device that has transmitted the operation response is in operation at that time and can communicate.

  The identification information request unit 103 that functions as an identification information requesting unit generates an identification information request for requesting identification information of the device connected to the computer network 4 and connectable to the computer network 4, and the communication interface 100. To send through. The identification information request means is means for requesting identification information from a device connected to the computer network.

  Here, the identification information is information for individually identifying each device connected to the computer network 4. This identification information is preferably information uniquely assigned to each device. In the present embodiment, a MAC (Media Access Control) address is used.

  By the way, since the Echo Reply message that is the operation response received by the operation response receiving unit 102 includes the IP address of the device that has transmitted the operation response, the IP address of the device in operation is determined from the operation response. . Here, when the computer network 4 uses a so-called fixed IP address in which an IP address is uniquely assigned to each device, each device is identified by the IP address. In this case, the operation response request is also an identification information request, and the operation response is also identification information. Therefore, the operation response request unit 101 and the operation response reception unit 102 use the identification information request unit 103 and the identification described later. The information receiving unit 104 may also be used. However, when DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is used and an IP address is dynamically assigned to each device, each device is not immediately identified depending on the IP address. In such a case, identification information other than the IP address such as a MAC address is required as in the present embodiment.

  The identification information request unit 103 transmits a request packet to the IP address of the device to be identified using ARP. The device to be identified transmits a response including its own MAC address to the request packet.

  The identification information receiving unit 104 that functions as the identification information receiving unit receives a response to the identification information request transmitted from the identification information request unit 103, and acquires a MAC address as identification information. The identification information receiving means is means for receiving identification information from a device connected to the computer network.

  The time acquisition unit 105 functioning as a time acquisition unit acquires the current time. The time acquisition means is means for acquiring time.

  The operation state recording unit 106 that functions as an operation state recording unit is derived from the operation response obtained from the operation response reception unit 102, the identification information obtained from the identification information reception unit 104, and the time obtained from the time acquisition unit 105. Record the operating status. Here, it is recorded that the device identified by the identification information is operating at the time when the operation response is obtained. The operating state recording unit is a unit that records the operating state of the device based on the operation response, the identification information, and the time. The operating state indicates a state indicating whether or not a device connected to the computer network 4 is operating with respect to time.

  Although the format of this recording is not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the time when the operation response is obtained from the device identified by the identification information is sequentially recorded together with the IP address identification information (MAC address) of the device. The recording medium is not particularly limited, and may be an arbitrary semiconductor memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or any other information recording medium.

  By the way, in this embodiment, as described above, whether or not the device is operating is detected based on the presence or absence of an operation response to the operation response request. Since the Echo message is used as the operation response request, strictly speaking, the operation response is Discrete information on whether or not the device is operating at the moment of reception is obtained. Here, if an operation response request is transmitted at an appropriate time interval, if there is an operation response at a certain point in time for a certain device and there is an operation response at the next point in time, the device It is estimated that it was operating continuously during the period. In addition, if there is no operation response at a certain time point and there is an operation response at the next time point, it means that the device has started operation, and vice versa.

  The operating condition setting unit 107 that functions as an operating condition setting unit is for setting operating conditions stored in the operating condition storage unit 108 that functions as an operating condition storage unit, and includes an appropriate UI (User Interface). Even if it is a thing, the electronic file which described the operating conditions may be read. The operating condition storage unit 108 stores the set operating conditions. The operating condition setting unit is a unit that sets the operating condition stored in the operating condition storage unit, and the operating condition storage unit is a unit that stores the operating condition.

  Here, the operating condition is a condition relating to an operating state of a device connected to the computer network 4. Various conditions may be appropriately determined as will be described later.

  The device information registration unit 109 functioning as device information registration means is for registering device information stored in the device information storage unit 110 functioning as device information storage means. The device information registration unit 109 may also include an appropriate UI, and may read an electronic file describing device information. The device information storage unit 109 stores device information. The device information registration means is means for registering device information, and the device information storage means is means for storing device information.

  Here, the device information is information related to a device that is connected to the computer network 4 and whose presence is known in advance. Although various information may be included in the device information, in the present embodiment, the device type, MAC address, and administrator are included.

  The warning unit 111 functioning as a warning unit compares the operation state recorded in the operation state recording unit 106 with the operation condition stored in the operation condition storage unit 108, and issues a warning based on the result. That is, it is determined whether or not the recorded operating state matches the operating condition, and a warning is issued when it is determined that the recorded operating state matches. The warning method is not particularly limited, and an e-mail notifying that the recorded operating state matches the operating condition is sent to the administrator of the management apparatus 1 or the computer network 4 and the user of the device, An arbitrary method such as displaying a warning on a GUI (Graphical User Interface) of the management apparatus 1 or emitting other sound or light may be used. The warning partner (warning destination) is preferably set arbitrarily according to the operating conditions. In this embodiment, the warning destination is included in the operating conditions. However, this is not essential, and as another example, a warning may always be given to the administrator.

  The operation response request interval setting unit 112 that functions as an operation response request interval setting unit sets an operation response request interval that is an interval at which the operation response request unit 101 transmits an operation response request to each device. It may be provided with an appropriate UI or may read an electronic file describing operating conditions. The set operation response request interval is referred to by the operation response request instruction unit 113 functioning as an operation response request instruction unit, and the operation response request instruction unit 113 sends an operation response request to the operation response request unit 101 at each set interval. Instruct to send. Thereby, the operation response request unit 101 transmits an operation response request to each device at set intervals.

  Here, the operation response request interval may be a constant value for all devices, but is preferably settable for each device connected to the computer network 4. This is because there are various devices connected to the computer network 4, and appropriate operation response request intervals differ for each device. As described above, since the operation response request is a discrete request, if the interval is long, the start and stop of the device (or vice versa) is performed between one operation response request and the next operation response request. Not detected. On the other hand, if the interval between the operation response requests is shortened, the operation state of the device can be obtained more accurately, but excessive transmission of the operation response request causes an increase in the communication amount of the computer network 4. The ideal interval for transmitting the operation response request depends on the time required to start and stop the target device and the usage mode of the device. For example, since it is difficult to assume that servers and network-related devices are frequently started and stopped from the viewpoint of usage, an operation response request interval is set to one hour, and an electrophotographic method requiring preheating such as an office PC or a Carlson process Since it takes a certain amount of time to start and stop the printer, etc., the operation response request interval is 10 minutes, and it is expected that portable electronic devices and measuring machines will start and stop frequently. For example, 30 seconds. When the operation response request interval is individually set for each device, the communication on the computer network 4 is compared with the case where the operation response request interval is uniformly set to the shortest device (for example, 30 seconds). The amount is reduced. Further, as described above, the operation response request interval often has an ideal value for each type of device. Therefore, it is also preferable that the operation response request interval can be set for each type of device connected to the computer network 4. In this case, it is not necessary to individually set the operation response request interval for each device, and labor is reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the operation response request interval can be set for each device and each device type. Therefore, the operation response request instructing unit 113 refers to the operation state and device information, and recognizes which device is assigned to which address and what type of the device is.

  Subsequently, the operation of the management apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the management apparatus 1. In the description of this operation, FIGS. 1 and 2 are appropriately referred to.

  The operation of the management apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 3 is executed at certain intervals, for example, every second. First, in step S1, one address (here, an IP address) assigned to a device connected to the computer network 4 is selected.

  In step S2, the operation response request instructing unit 113 determines whether it is time to make an operation response request to the device corresponding to the address. At that time, the operation response request instructing unit 113 refers to the operation state and device information, and makes an operation response request to the device at the address at an interval set by the operation response request interval setting unit 112. To instruct.

  If it is time to request an operation response, the operation response request unit 101 transmits an operation response request to step S3. In step S4, it is determined whether an operation response is received by the operation response receiving unit 102, that is, whether there is a response. If there is no response, it means that the device is not connected to the address or is not operating, and the process proceeds to step S8. Further, if it is not time to make an operation response request in step S2, the process proceeds to step S8.

  If there is a response in step S4, the process proceeds to step S5, where the identification information request unit 103 transmits an identification information request to the device at the address, and the identification information receiving unit 104 receives the identification information as a response. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the time is acquired by the time acquisition unit 105, and in the subsequent step S7, the address, identification information, and time are recorded in the operating state recording unit 106. When the above operations are completed, the process proceeds to step S8, and whether or not the processing of steps S1 to S7 is completed for all the addresses assigned to the devices connected to the computer network 4, that is, all the addresses are determined in step S1. It is determined whether or not it has been selected. If all the addresses have not been selected yet, the process returns to step S1, sequentially selects other addresses, and so on. If all addresses have been selected, the process proceeds to step S9.

  As described above, the ARP used as the identification information request in this embodiment can also be used as the operation response request. The reason why the management apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment does not use ARP as an operation response request is that ARP broadcasts, and the heavy use is due to an increase in the load on the entire computer network 4. However, when there is a margin in the communication capability of the computer network 4 or when a process with a small load is adopted as the identification information request, the operation response request and the identification information request may be combined.

  In step S9, the warning unit 111 compares the operating state with the operating condition. At this time, device information may be used as necessary in determining the operating conditions. In the subsequent step S10, it is determined whether or not a warning should be issued. If it is determined that the warning is necessary, the process proceeds to step S11 where a warning is given. When the warning ends or it is determined that it is unnecessary, the operation of the management apparatus 1 ends and waits until the next operation timing.

  Next, settings in the operation response request interval setting unit 112, the device information registration unit 109, and the operation condition setting unit 107 will be described using specific examples.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the GUI of the operation response request interval setting unit 112. The illustrated GUI is displayed on an arbitrary monitor, and is operated by an input means such as a keyboard and a mouse, and necessary items are input. In this example, setting No. Are set for the operation response request interval. The setting No. The button labeled “ADD” shown at the bottom of the column is for increasing the number of settings when more settings are required. There is no particular upper limit on the number of settings. For each setting, an input box for inputting a device type, a device name, and an operation response request interval is prepared, and the device type and the device name can be easily input from a pull-down menu. What is shown at the bottom of the device type is a list of candidates displayed in the pull-down menu. The device name is allowed to use a pull-down menu only when an individual device is selected as the device type. The pull-down menu that cannot be used is indicated by a white triangle on the right side of the input box.

  Each of the illustrated settings will be described. 1 is a setting for an unrecognized device, that is, a device newly connected to the computer network 4, and is set to 60 seconds. This is the setting used for addresses that are connected and not identified. Setting No. 2 sets an operation response request interval of 3600 seconds, that is, 1 hour for the server. 3 sets an operation response request interval of 600 seconds, that is, 10 minutes for a general terminal such as an office computer. Setting No. 4 sets an operation response request interval that is applied only to an individual device, that is, a specific device, and the target device has a device name “No. 42”, an operation response request interval Is 15 seconds. The device name is information included in device information registered in the device information registration unit 109 described below.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a GUI of the device information registration unit 109. In this example as well, setting No. 5 are set, and the number of settings increases by operating the “ADD” button. The identification information here is the part where the MAC address is registered, the device type is the part where the device type is registered from the pull-down menu, the device name is the part where the arbitrary name of the device is registered, and the user registers the user of the device It is a part to do.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the GUI of the operating condition setting unit 107. In this example, setting No. The three settings 1 to 3 are made, and the number of settings increases by operating the “ADD” button. Each setting sets a condition that the operating state should satisfy in order to notify a warning. The pull-down menu arranged in the logical column is used to select “AND” and “OR”, and the logical conditions that the settings before and after should be satisfied are logical product and logical sum, respectively. It is shown that. For example, setting No. 1 and setting No. When “AND” is input to the logic arranged between the two, the setting No. 1 and the setting No. When both of the conditions set in 2 are satisfied at the same time, a warning is notified. Similarly, when “OR” is input, the setting No. 1 and the setting No. When any of the conditions set in 2 is satisfied, a warning is notified.

  As described above, what is set as the operating condition and what logical conditions are used to combine the settings may be arbitrarily set by the user. Here, only logical product and logical sum are shown as the logical conditions between the settings, but other logical conditions such as negation and exclusive logical sum may be used. Furthermore, the setting that should satisfy a certain logical condition does not have to be limited to those adjacent to each other on the GUI, as shown here. The operation order between the logical conditions may be specified.

  The device type is for setting the type of device to which the condition is applied, and the device name is for selecting an individual device when “individual device” is selected in the device type. The target is an index of an operating state that is a target of a condition described below. In this example, it is selected from among continuous operation time, cumulative operation time, number of simultaneous operations, operation time zone, new operation, and operation end. The continuous operation time is a cumulative value of the operation time when the target device is operating continuously without ending the operation. The cumulative operation time is a cumulative value of the time that the device is operating regardless of the start and end of the operation of the device. The number of simultaneous operations is the number of devices selected by device type that are operating simultaneously. The operation time zone indicates at which time the device is operating. The new operation is when the device is newly operated, and the end of operation is when the device is finished operating. The condition is for describing a condition that the object should satisfy. The application period specifies the period during which this setting is applied. This period may be specified by day or by time zone. Finally, the warning destination is for selecting a partner to be notified as a warning when the set condition is satisfied. Here, of the registered device information, a target included in the user is selected as a selection target. The option “user” refers to the user of the device that satisfies the condition. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a selection target of a warning destination may be set separately or may be arbitrarily input. In addition, an e-mail address of a warning destination may be input.

  The examples of the GUI have been described above with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6, but these are only examples, and any means may be used as long as it is a means for inputting equivalent information. Of course, the design and input method may be changed, and an electronic file in which each setting information is described, for example, a text file may be separately prepared without using the GUI.

  Next, an example of operating conditions that are specifically used by the management apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10.

  FIG. 7 is an example in which operating conditions relating to the continuous operating time of the device are set. This figure corresponds to FIG. 6 and shows a state when conditions are set using the GUI of the operating condition setting unit 107.

  Setting No. Regarding 1, this condition indicates a case where the continuous operation time of the general terminal exceeds 24 hours. The symbol “>” shown in the condition indicates that the object is larger than the value in the condition. Similarly, the symbol “<” indicates that the target is smaller than the value in the condition, and “=” indicates that the target is equal to the value in the condition. The warning destination when this condition is satisfied is the administrator and the user of the device that satisfies the condition.

  The same condition applies for the printer and unregistered device. 2 and 3 are set. Since the logic to be satisfied by these settings is “OR”, that is, the logical sum is designated, the continuous operation time of any one of the general terminal, the printer, and the unregistered device is eventually 24 hours in this example. The condition to warn the administrator and the user when exceeding the limit is set.

  FIG. 8 is an example in which operating conditions relating to the cumulative operating time of a device are set. This figure also shows a state when conditions are set using the GUI of the operating condition setting unit 107.

  In this example, setting No. 1, the case where the cumulative operating time of the unregistered device exceeds 30 minutes is set, and its application period is one week from April 1, 2010 to April 7, 2010. That is, it is a condition for giving a warning when the cumulative operating time of a certain unregistered device exceeds 30 minutes within the period. The warning destination is an administrator.

  FIG. 9 is an example of setting operation conditions related to the number of simultaneous operations of devices. This figure also shows a state when conditions are set using the GUI of the operating condition setting unit 107.

  In this example, setting No. 1, the case where the number of simultaneous operations of general terminals exceeds 100 is set, and the application period is from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. That is, this condition is a condition for giving a warning when a general terminal such as an office computer is simultaneously operated in excess of 100 within the normal working hours of the office. The warning destination is an administrator and a user.

  FIG. 10 is an example of a condition in which a case where a specific device is newly operated after a specific device has stopped operating and before a specific time. This figure also shows a state when conditions are set using the GUI of the operating condition setting unit 107.

  Setting No. 1 shows a case where the number of simultaneous operations of general terminals becomes 0 between 5 pm and 8 am. This is based on the assumption that all power to general terminals such as office computers will be turned off between the end of working hours and the start of work hours. Are all going home from the office, and the office is expected to be unattended until the next opening hours. And the setting No. 2 shows a case where the general terminal is newly operated between 5 pm and 8 am, for example, when the power is turned on. Note that the setting No. This is because the condition column is blank in 2, but the description of the condition is not necessary when the target is a new operation. And the setting No. 1 and setting No. Since the logic between 2 is “AND”, ie, logical product, the setting No. 1 and setting No. According to the setting of 2, the number of simultaneous operation of general terminals becomes 0 between 5:00 pm and 8:00 am, and any of the general terminals newly operates by 8:00 am after that is conditioned. become. This condition assumes a case in which someone enters an office where an employee has gone home and is unattended and operates a general terminal. In this case, the administrator and the user of the general terminal that has been operated, that is, started operation are set to be warned.

  Further, in this example, the setting No. is set with a relationship of “OR” as the logic, that is, a logical sum. Three conditions are set. This setting shows a case where the number of simultaneous operations of general terminals does not become 0 between 5 pm and 8 am. There is a description of “NOTEXIST [= 0]” in the condition column, where “NOTEXIST []” indicates that the condition described in the square brackets is never satisfied within the application period. . In this case, the warning destination is the administrator and the user.

  In summary, in this example, if the number of simultaneous operation of the general terminal does not become 0 between 5 pm and 8 am, the administrator and the user of the general terminal are warned, and from 5 pm If the number of simultaneous operation of general terminals reaches 0 by 8:00 am, warn the administrator and the user of the general terminal when a new general terminal is operated by 8:00 am The condition to perform is set.

  The conditions described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10 described above are examples to show that various conditions are set, and are not limited to these. In addition, the method of setting the conditions is not limited to the ones exemplified here, but is related to the continuous operation time, the cumulative operation time, the number of simultaneous operations, the operation time zone, the new operation and the operation end exemplified as the target of the condition. It is not limited.

  If a plurality of operating conditions can be set and a logical relationship between the operating conditions can be set as in this embodiment, various complicated conditions can be freely constructed.

  The functional block shown in the embodiment described above is an example for implementing the embodiment, and is not limited to the configuration and arrangement of the functional block.

  In addition, the flowchart shown in the embodiment shows an example of an operation for realizing the function of the embodiment, and any operation different from that shown is performed as long as an equivalent operation is realized. May be.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Management apparatus 2 Office computer 3 Printing machine 4 Computer network 100 Communication interface 101 Operation response request part 102 Operation response reception part 103 Identification information request part 104 Identification information reception part 105 Time acquisition part 106 operation state recording unit 107 operation condition setting unit 108 operation condition storage unit 109 device information registration unit 110 device information storage unit 111 warning unit 112 operation response request interval setting unit 113 operation response request instruction unit

Claims (7)

An operation response requesting unit that requests an operation response that is a response indicating that the device is operating, to a device connected to the computer network;
Identification information requesting means for requesting identification information from the device in operation;
Time acquisition means for acquiring time;
Based on the operation response, the identification information, and the time, an operation state recording unit that records an operation state of the device;
A management device. An operation condition storage unit that stores an operation condition that is a condition for the operation state of the device;
Warning notification means for notifying a warning based on a comparison result between the operating state of the device recorded in the operating state recording means and the operating condition;
The management device according to claim 1.   The management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a request interval of the operation response by the operation response request unit can be set for each device.   The management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a request interval of the operation response by the operation response request unit can be set for each type of the device.   The operating condition is a condition regarding at least one of continuous operation time of the device, cumulative operation time, number of simultaneous operations of the device, operation time zone of the device, and new operation or operation end of the device. The management apparatus in any one of thru | or 4. A management device according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
A computer network connectable device that returns an operation response and identification information in response to an operation response request and an identification information request from the management device, respectively;
A computer network to which the management device and the computer network connectable device are connected;
Having a system. Computer
An operation response requesting unit that requests an operation response that is a response indicating that the device is operating, to a device connected to the computer network;
Identification information requesting means for requesting identification information from the device in operation;
Time acquisition means for acquiring time;
Based on the operation response, the identification information, and the time, an operation state recording unit that records an operation state of the device;
A program for operating as a management device.

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