JP2021072016A - Image forming apparatus, method for controlling the same, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image forming apparatus that can perform writing control suitable for the type of a mounted storage, a method for controlling the same, and a program.SOLUTION: A multi-functional printer changes, based on information on the type of a storage, a writing command for writing meta data in a recording medium to any one of a speed priority writing command for putting the priority on a writing speed in the multi-functional printer and a short break countermeasure priority writing command for putting the priority on the countermeasure against a short break in the multi-functional printer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a control method thereof, and a program.

A multifunction device as an image forming apparatus including storage such as SSD and HDD is known. When the multifunction device stores data in the storage, metadata including the data (hereinafter referred to as "actual data") and management information of the actual data is written in the storage. The storage includes a volatile cache memory and a non-volatile recording medium. When the storage receives a write request from the control unit of the multifunction device, the storage holds the data in a cache memory whose writing speed is faster than that of the recording medium. As a result, the control unit can request the writing of the next data without waiting for the completion of writing to the recording medium having a relatively slow writing speed. In the storage, the data held in the cache memory is written at a predetermined timing to a non-volatile recording medium that can hold the data even when the multifunction device shifts to the power-off state. The storage controls the writing order to the recording medium in order to efficiently write the data. For example, the storage writes the data to the recording medium in an order different from the order in which the writing request is received.

In a multifunction device, if a momentary interruption occurs when writing to the storage, the actual data and the metadata become inconsistent, causing problems such as inaccessibility of the actual data. In order to avoid the occurrence of such a problem, the multifunction device uses a journaling file system. In the multifunction device, the journaling file system recovers the inconsistency between the actual data and the metadata caused by the momentary interruption in a short time. In the journaling file system, if the metadata held in the cache memory is written to the recording medium in an order different from the order in which the write requests are accepted, the success rate of recovery by the journaling file system decreases. On the other hand, conventionally, when writing important data that affects the system to the storage, momentary interruption countermeasure control is performed. In the momentary interruption countermeasure control, for example, the data is not held in the cache memory and is written directly to the recording medium according to the order in which the write requests are accepted (see, for example, Patent Document 1). As a result, for example, since it is necessary to make the next write request after completing writing to a recording medium having a relatively slow writing speed, the writing performance in the multifunction device deteriorates, but the success rate of recovery by the journaling file system is reduced. The decrease can be suppressed.

Special Table 2010-537309

However, the multifunction device may be equipped with a storage that does not need to perform the above-mentioned momentary interruption countermeasure control. For example, in a storage having a cache memory having a capacity smaller than a predetermined capacity, such as an HDD, the storage area required for controlling the writing order to the recording medium cannot be secured in the cache memory. Data are written to the recording medium in the same order. Since such storage does not reduce the success rate of recovery by the journaling file system, it is not necessary to perform the above-mentioned momentary interruption countermeasure control. Rather, if the above-mentioned momentary interruption countermeasure control is performed when writing data to such a storage, the write performance of the multifunction device is unnecessarily reduced. As described above, conventionally, it is not possible to perform write control suitable for the installed storage.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing write control suitable for an mounted storage, a control method thereof, and a program.

In order to achieve the above object, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus including a recording medium and a storage means including a holding means having a writing speed faster than that of the recording medium, and holds data in the holding means. The control means is provided with a control means for controlling the writing of the held data to the recording medium and an acquisition means for acquiring information about the storage means, and the control means is based on the information about the storage means. The write command for writing the metadata including the management information to the recording medium is a speed priority write command that prioritizes the writing speed in the image forming apparatus and a momentary interruption countermeasure priority writing that gives priority to the instantaneous interruption countermeasure in the image forming apparatus. It is characterized by switching to any of the commands.

According to the present invention, write control suitable for the installed storage can be performed.

It is an external view of the multifunction device as an image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the controller of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the software module of the multifunction device of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the registration process executed by the CPU of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the writing in the storage of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the write command switching process executed by the device driver of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen displayed on the operation part of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the modification of the writing command switching process of FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a multifunction device as an image forming apparatus will be described, but the present invention is not limited to the multifunction device. For example, the present invention may be applied to an information processing device including a recording medium such as a PC, a mobile terminal, a tablet terminal, or a server, and a storage having a cache memory having a writing speed faster than that of the recording medium.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a multifunction device 1 as an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the multifunction device 1 includes a controller 2, an operation unit 3, a scanning unit 4, and a printing unit 5. The multifunction device 1 receives a print execution instruction from an external device connected via a network, for example, a PC 9.

The controller 2 controls the entire multifunction device 1. The operation unit 3 receives various instructions from the user and displays information and the like related to the multifunction device 1. The scanning unit 4 converts the data optically read from the document into digital image data. The printing unit 5 includes a paper cassette 6, an electrophotographic process 7, and a paper ejection tray 8. The paper cassette 6 stores paper. The electrophotographic process 7 prints the digital image data converted by the scanning unit 4 on paper. The output tray 8 outputs printed paper.

For example, when the user instructs the operation unit 3 to start copying, the controller 2 controls the scanning unit 4 to sequentially read the placed documents and generate digital image data. Further, the controller 2 controls the printing unit 5, feeds the paper from the paper cassette 6 to the electrophotographic process 7, copies the digital image data on the paper by the electrophotographic process 7, fixes the paper, and prints the paper. The paper is output to the output tray 8.

When the multifunction device 1 receives the print data described in the page description language from the PC 9, the controller 2 analyzes the received print data and converts the print data into printable bitmap image data. .. Next, the controller 2 controls the printing unit 5 to feed the paper from the paper cassette 6 to the electrophotographic process 7, and the electrophotographic process 7 copies and fixes the image data on the paper to fix the printed paper. Is output to the output tray 8.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the controller 2 of FIG. In FIG. 2, the controller 2 includes a CPU 10, a memory 11, a storage controller 12, a storage 13 (storage means), a non-volatile memory 14, and a power switch 15. The CPU 10 is connected to a memory 11, a storage controller 12, a non-volatile memory 14, a power switch 15, and an operation unit 3. The storage 13 is connected to the storage controller 12.

The CPU 10 controls the execution of various processes in the multifunction device 1. The memory 11 is used as a work area of the CPU 10 and as a temporary storage area for each data. The storage controller 12 controls to read data from the storage 13 and to write data to the storage 13. The storage 13 is, for example, an SSD or an HDD. As shown in FIG. 3, which will be described later, the storage 13 includes a volatile cache memory 23 (holding means) and a non-volatile recording medium 24. The storage 13 stores various data such as image data and setting data. The non-volatile memory 14 stores a boot program, a control program, and the like. The power switch 15 is a button for the user to instruct the power on / off of the multifunction device 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the software module of the multifunction device 1 of FIG. The multifunction device 1 includes at least an application 16 and a kernel 17 as modules.

Application 16 is a general-purpose program that runs on kernel 17. The application 16 makes a read request for reading data from the storage 13 and a write request for writing data to the storage 13 to the file system 18 constituting the kernel 17. The kernel 17 is a program that runs on the CPU 10. The kernel 17 is composed of a file system 18, a device queue 21, and a device driver 22. The file system 18 generates the actual data 19 and the metadata 20 in response to the write request received from the application 16.

The actual data 19 is the data to be written (hereinafter, referred to as “write target data”) itself. The metadata 20 includes management information for managing the data to be written. The management information is, for example, the name of the data to be written, the information indicating the data size of the data to be written, and the information indicating the update date and time of the data to be written. In this embodiment, the actual data 19 is generated when the file system 18 receives a write request from the application 16. On the other hand, the metadata 20 is generated only when it is necessary to create or update the metadata 20 such as newly creating data or updating the data size accompanying data editing. Therefore, the metadata 20 may not be generated for one write request, while a plurality of metadata 20 may be generated.

The file system 18 puts a queue for writing the generated actual data 19 and metadata 20 into the storage 13 into the device queue 21. For example, the file system 18 has a queue for writing the actual data 19 to the storage 13 (hereinafter referred to as “real data queue”) and a queue for writing the metadata 20 to the storage 13 (hereinafter referred to as “metadata queue”). ) Are put into the device queue 21 in this order.

The device queue 21 is a data queue having a FIFO structure configured on the memory 11. The device queue 21 creates a queue having a read / write size defined in the specifications of the storage 13, for example, a size that is an integral multiple of the sector size (4 kB, etc.). This queue includes, for example, write target data such as actual data 19 and metadata 20, and write position information indicating a physical write position on the recording medium 24 on which the write target data is written. The write position information is, for example, a write start address (LBA or the like) or a write size (sector size xn).

The device driver 22 is a software module for driving the storage controller 12. The device driver 22 sequentially takes out the inserted queue from the device queue 21, and transmits a write command using DMA to the storage controller 12 according to the header of the write target data corresponding to the taken out queue. Upon receiving the write command, the storage controller 12 converts the write target data into an electrical signal according to the packet standard of the predetermined interface, and outputs the converted write target data to the storage 13. The storage 13 holds the received data to be written in the volatile cache memory 23 having a writing speed faster than that of the recording medium 24. The data to be written stored in the cache memory 23 is written to the non-volatile recording medium 24 at a predetermined timing determined by the CPU (not shown) of the storage 13. As a result, even if the multifunction device 1 shifts to the power-off state, the data written in the storage 13 is retained.

In the present embodiment, when the device driver 22 can write to a continuous block in the recording medium 24 for two write requests, the device driver 22 performs an optimization process for combining the two write requests into one write request. Further, the device driver 22 controls whether or not to use the cache memory 23 of the storage 13 by properly using different types of write commands (see, for example, controls 25 to 27 in FIG. 3).

For example, when the cache memory 23 is used in the write process to the storage 13, the device driver 22 transmits a speed priority write command to the storage controller 12. The speed priority write command is a write command according to the ATA standard, for example, WriteDMAExt. The storage controller 12 transmits the write target data to the storage 13 based on the received speed priority write command. The storage 13 writes the received write target data to the cache memory 23. On the other hand, the device driver 22 transmits a speed priority write command for writing the next write target data to the storage controller 12 regardless of whether or not the write target data has been written to the recording medium 24. As described above, in the writing process using the speed priority writing command, the device driver 22 is instructed to write the next data to be written without waiting for the completion of writing to the recording medium 24 whose writing speed is slower than that of the cache memory 23. Will be done. As a result, the writing performance in the multifunction device 1 can be improved. In this way, the cache memory 23 holds a plurality of data to be written. The plurality of write target data held in the cache memory 23 are written to the recording medium 24 at a predetermined timing. At this time, each write target data is not in the order in which the device driver 22 receives the write request (in the order in which it was written in the cache memory 23), but in the write order determined by the CPU (not shown) of the storage 13, for example, data. Written according to an efficiently writable write order.

In the multifunction device 1, if a momentary interruption occurs when writing the data to be written to the storage 13, the actual data 19 and the metadata 20 become inconsistent, the actual data 19 cannot be accessed, or new data can be created. Problems such as disappearance occur. As a result, for example, the application 16 cannot operate normally, and a serious failure such as the multifunction device 1 hangs occurs. In order to prevent the occurrence of such a serious failure, it is necessary to carry out data repair processing by a dedicated repair software module such as fsck when the above-mentioned trouble occurs, but until this data repair processing is completed. It takes a few minutes to a few hours. Since it is not preferable that the data cannot be accessed until the data restoration process is completed, the multifunction device 1 uses a journaling file system when the above-mentioned problems occur. In the multifunction device 1, the journaling file system recovers the inconsistent state between the actual data 19 and the metadata 20 due to the momentary interruption in a short time. The success rate of recovery by the journaling file system depends on the specifications of the file system 18. For example, the write request is received in the order of the actual data A1, the metadata A2 including the management information of the actual data A1, the actual data B1, and the metadata B2 including the management information of the actual data B1, whereas the meta data B2 is followed by the meta. If the metadata A2 and B2 are written to the recording medium 24 in an order different from the order in which the write requests are received, such as when the data A2 is written, the success rate of recovery by the journaling file system decreases.

As an instantaneous interruption countermeasure control for suppressing the decrease in the success rate of recovery, the device driver 22 controls so that the metadata is not written to the recording medium 24 in an order different from the reception order of the write request. For example, the device driver 22 transmits a write command for writing the next data (for example, other metadata) to the recording medium 24 to the storage controller 12 after completing the writing of one metadata to the recording medium 24. To do. The momentary interruption countermeasure control is effective for the storage in which the success rate of the above recovery is likely to decrease. However, the multifunction device 1 may be equipped with a storage that does not need to perform the above-mentioned instantaneous interruption countermeasure control. For example, in a storage having a cache memory having a capacity smaller than a predetermined capacity, such as an HDD, the storage area required for controlling the writing order to the recording medium cannot be secured in the cache memory, and the writing request reception order and Data are written to the recording medium in the same order. In such a storage, since the success rate of the above recovery does not decrease, it is not necessary to perform momentary interruption countermeasure control. Rather, if momentary interruption countermeasure control is performed when writing data to such storage, the write performance of the multifunction device is unnecessarily reduced. As described above, conventionally, it is not possible to perform write control suitable for the installed storage.

In order to solve such a problem, in the present embodiment, the write command for writing the metadata 20 to the recording medium 24 gives priority to the write speed in the multifunction device 1 based on the information about the storage 13. It switches to either the write command or the instantaneous interruption countermeasure priority write command that gives priority to the instantaneous interruption countermeasure in the multifunction device 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of registration processing executed by the CPU 10 of FIG. The process of FIG. 4 is realized by the CPU 10 executing the control program stored in the non-volatile memory 14. The process of FIG. 4 is performed when the CPU 10 executes a boot program stored in the non-volatile memory 14 according to an on operation of the power switch 15 by the user. At this point, the storage 13 is not registered in the kernel 17, and the multifunction device 1 is in a state where the storage 13 cannot be used.

In FIG. 4, first, when the CPU 10 detects the storage 13 (YES in step S401), the CPU 10 acquires information about the storage 13 from the detected storage 13 (step S402). In step S402, the CPU 10 transmits, for example, an Identity command requesting information about the storage 13 to the detected storage 13. The storage 13 transmits information about the storage 13 to the CPU 10 in response to the received Identity command. The information regarding the storage 13 includes information indicating the type of the storage 13, for example, information indicating the model number of the storage 13 and information indicating the rotation speed of the recording medium 24. Next, the CPU 10 determines the type of the storage 13 based on the acquired information about the storage 13 (step S403). Specifically, the CPU 10 determines whether the storage 13 is an HDD or an SSD.

In the HDD, the capacity of the cache memory is generally smaller than a predetermined capacity, the storage area required for controlling the writing order to the recording medium cannot be secured in the cache memory, and the data is stored in the same order as the writing request acceptance order. Is written on the recording medium. Therefore, the success rate of the above recovery of the HDD does not decrease. Further, in the HDD, the writing speed for writing data to the platter, which is a recording medium, is slower than a predetermined speed. In such a write process for the storage, it is preferable to prioritize the improvement of the write performance in the multifunction device 1 rather than suppressing the decrease in the success rate of the recovery.

On the other hand, in the SSD, the capacity of the cache memory is generally larger than a predetermined capacity, and the storage area required for controlling the writing order to the recording medium can be secured in the cache memory, and the writing request reception order and the SSD The data is written to the recording medium in a different order. For this reason, SSD has a very high possibility that the success rate of the above recovery will decrease. Further, the SSD has a writing performance capable of satisfying the writing speed required as the specifications of the multifunction device 1 even if the writing speed in the SSD is lowered due to the momentary interruption countermeasure control. In the write process for such storage, it is preferable to prioritize the suppression of the decrease in the success rate of recovery rather than the improvement of write performance.

As a result of the determination in step S403, when the storage 13 is an HDD, the CPU 10 sets a write command for writing the actual data 19 and the metadata 20 to the recording medium 24 as the speed priority write command (step S404). As described above, in the writing process using the speed priority writing command, the device driver 22 can instruct the writing of the next data regardless of whether or not the data has been written to the recording medium 24 (for example, FIG. 5). (A). As a result, the device driver 22 can instruct the writing of the next data without waiting for the completion of writing to the recording medium 24 having a slow writing speed, and the writing performance can be improved. Further, in the HDD, as described above, the data is written to the recording medium in the same order as the reception order of the write request, and the success rate of the recovery does not decrease. Therefore, even if the write process using the speed priority write command is performed, the data is compounded. It is possible to improve the writing performance in the multifunction device 1 without lowering the momentary interruption resistance in the machine 1.

As a result of the determination in step S403, when the storage 13 is an SSD, the CPU 10 sets a write command for writing the actual data 19 to the recording medium 24 as a speed priority write command. Further, the CPU 10 sets a write command for writing the metadata 20 to the recording medium 24 as a priority write command for measures against momentary interruption (step S405). As described above, in the present embodiment, when the storage 13 is an SSD, priority is given to measures against momentary interruption only in the writing process of the metadata 20 which causes the success rate of recovery to decrease among the actual data 19 and the metadata 20. A write command is used.

The momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command is a write command according to the ATA standard, for example, WriteDMA FUA Ext. In the writing process using the momentary interruption countermeasure priority writing command, the device driver 22 waits until the data to be written, that is, the metadata 20 is written to the recording medium 24. When the writing of the metadata 20 to the recording medium 24 is completed, the device driver 22 transmits a write command for writing the next data to be written to the recording medium 24 to the storage controller 12. As a result, for example, when a write request is received in the order of the actual data A1, the metadata A2 including the management information of the actual data A1, the actual data B1, and the metadata B2 including the management information of the actual data B1, FIG. 5 (b) ), The metadata A2 and B2 are written to the recording medium 24 in the order of accepting the write request. As a result, it is possible to suppress the decrease in the success rate of the restoration. Further, the SSD is capable of satisfying the writing speed required as the specification of the multifunction device 1 even if the writing processing in the SSD is reduced by performing the writing process using the instantaneous interruption countermeasure priority writing command as described above. It has performance. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the momentary interruption resistance in the multifunction device 1 without deteriorating the writing performance in the multifunction device 1.

Next, the CPU 10 creates a Strage Context based on the specifications of the kernel 17 (step S406), and determines the DeviceName and DeviceSize (step S407). Next, the CPU 10 registers the Strage Context, DeviceName, and DeviceSize in the kernel 17 (step S408). As a result, in the storage 13, the write process using the write command set in steps S404 and 405 is performed. Next, the CPU 10 ends this process.

According to the above-described embodiment, the write command for writing the metadata 20 to the recording medium 24 is switched to either a speed priority write command or a momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command based on the information about the storage 13. As a result, it is possible to switch to a write command suitable for the mounted storage 13, and thus it is possible to perform write control suitable for the mounted storage 13.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the information regarding the storage 13 includes information indicating the type of the storage 13. As a result, write control suitable for the type of storage 13 can be performed.

In the above-described embodiment, when the storage 13 is an HDD, a speed priority write command is used as a write command for writing the metadata 20 to the recording medium 24. As a result, in the multifunction device 1 provided with the HDD, the writing performance can be improved without lowering the momentary interruption resistance.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the storage 13 is an SSD, a momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command is used as a write command for writing the metadata 20 to the recording medium 24. As a result, in the multifunction device 1 provided with the SSD, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the momentary interruption resistance without deteriorating the writing performance.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the above-described embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, the capacity of the cache memory 23 is specified from the information indicating the model number of the storage 13 included in the information about the storage 13 acquired in step S402, and the metadata 20 is transferred to the recording medium 24 based on the capacity of the specified cache memory 23. The write command for writing may be switched to either a speed priority write command or a momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the actual data 19 and the metadata 20 have separate configurations has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and for example, the metadata 20 may include the actual data 19.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the actual data 19 may include information other than the data specified in the application 16. For example, as a packet data type configuration, the header of the actual data 19 includes an LBA indicating a write position in the storage 13, a data size indicating the amount to be written, information specifying whether or not to use a cache at the time of writing, and the like. You may.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention may be applied to a process in which the actual data 19 is data constituting a part of the file and the file composed of the plurality of actual data 19 is written to the recording medium 24. ..

In the above-described embodiment, when the storage 13 is an SSD and the device driver 22 or the storage controller 12 does not support a FUA command such as WriteDMA FUA Ext, a cache flash command is used as a priority write command for measures against momentary interruption. You may. In this case, in step S405, WriteDMAExt or the like is set as a write command for writing the metadata 20 to the recording medium 24, and in step S406, it is set that FUA is not supported in the Strage Context. As a result, when the writing of the actual data 19 and the metadata 20 to the cache memory 23 is completed, the device driver 22 sends a cache flush command to the storage controller 12. Upon receiving the cache flush command, the storage controller 12 instructs the storage 13 to write the data stored in the cache memory 23 that has not been written to the recording medium 24 to the recording medium 24. The cache flush command is transmitted to the storage controller 12 every time the writing of the metadata 20 to the cache memory 23 is completed. Therefore, for example, when the write request is received in the order of the actual data A1, the metadata A2 including the management information of the actual data A1, the actual data B1, and the metadata B2 including the management information of the actual data B1, FIG. 5 (c). ), The metadata A2 and B2 are written to the recording medium 24 in the order of accepting the write request. By using the cache flash command, even if the device driver 22 or the storage controller 12 does not support the FUA command, write control suitable for the storage 13 mounted on the multifunction device 1 can be performed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the storage 13 is an SSD, it may be possible to switch whether to use the Write DMA FUAExt or the cache flash command as the priority write command for measures against momentary interruption.

In the above-described embodiment, when the kernel 17 does not support the switching control of the write command by the Strage Context, the device driver 22 that has taken out the queue from the device queue 21 records the metadata 20 based on the information about the storage 13. The write command for writing to the medium 24 may be switched to either a speed priority write command or a momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the write command switching process executed by the device driver 22 of FIG. The process of FIG. 6 is executed when the multifunction device 1 executes a job including a process of storing data in the storage 13. For example, in the process of FIG. 6, the application 16 makes a write request to the file system 18 for writing the image data read and generated by the scan unit 4 to the storage 13 in accordance with the pressing of the copy button of the operation unit 3. Will be executed when. The file system 18 generates actual data 19 and metadata 20 based on the image data acquired from the application 16, and sequentially inputs a plurality of queues for writing the generated data to the device queue 21.

In FIG. 6, when one queue is acquired from the device queue 21 (step S601), the device driver 22 determines the type of the storage 13 from the information about the storage 13 acquired by the CPU 10 at the time of startup (step S602).

As a result of the determination in step S602, when the storage 13 is an HDD, the device driver 22 transmits a speed priority write command to the storage controller 12 as a write command corresponding to the queue acquired in step S601 (step S603). As a result, in the storage 13 of the HDD, the writing process using the speed priority writing command is performed in writing the actual data 19 and the metadata 20. Next, the CPU 10 performs the process of step S606 described later.

As a result of the determination in step S602, when the storage 13 is an SSD, the CPU 10 determines whether the write target data indicated by the queue acquired in step S601 is the actual data 19 or the metadata 20 (step S604). ..

As a result of the determination in step S604, when the write target data indicated by the queue acquired in step S601 is the actual data 19, the CPU 10 performs the process of step S603. As a result, in the SSD storage 13, when writing the actual data 19, a writing process using the speed priority writing command is performed.

As a result of the determination in step S604, when the write target data indicated by the queue acquired in step S601 is the metadata 20, the CPU 10 issues a momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command as a write command corresponding to the queue acquired in step S601. It is transmitted to the storage controller 12 (step S605). As a result, in the SSD storage 13, when writing the metadata 20, a writing process using the momentary interruption countermeasure priority writing command is performed. Next, when the CPU 10 completes writing the write target data indicated by the queue acquired in step S601 to the storage 13 (YES in step S606), the CPU 10 returns to the process of step S601 and performs the process for the next queue.

As described above, even when the kernel 17 does not support the switching control of the write command by the Strage Context, the write control suitable for the storage 13 mounted on the multifunction device 1 can be performed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the write command for writing the metadata 20 to the recording medium 24 based on the operation setting of the storage 13 set by the user is either a speed priority write command or a momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command. You may switch to.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the setting screen 700 displayed on the operation unit 3 of FIG. The setting screen 700 is a screen for setting the operation setting of the storage 13, and includes a speed priority button 701 and a failure avoidance priority button 702.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a modification of the write command switching process of FIG. Similar to the process of FIG. 6, the process of FIG. 8 is also executed when the multifunction device 1 executes a job including a process of storing data in the storage 13. In the process of FIG. 8, it is assumed that the user has already selected either the speed priority button 701 or the failure avoidance priority button 702 on the setting screen 700.

In FIG. 8, the device driver 22 performs the process of step S601. Next, the device driver 22 determines which of the speed priority button 701 and the failure avoidance priority button 702 is selected on the setting screen 700 (step S801).

As a result of the determination in step S801, when the speed priority button 701 is selected on the setting screen 700, the device driver 22 performs the processes after step S603. As a result of the determination in step S801, when the failure avoidance priority button 702 is selected on the setting screen 700, the device driver 22 performs the processes after step S604.

In the above-described embodiment, the write command for writing the metadata 20 to the recording medium 24 based on the operation setting of the storage 13 set by the user is switched to either the speed priority write command or the instantaneous interruption countermeasure priority write command. .. This makes it possible to reflect the user's intention regarding the write control of the storage 13.

The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read the program. It can also be realized by the processing to be executed. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

1 Multifunction device 10 CPU
12 Storage controller 13 Storage 22 Device driver 23 Cache memory 24 Recording medium 700 Setting screen

Claims (10)

An image forming apparatus including a recording medium and a storage means including a holding means having a writing speed faster than that of the recording medium.
A control means that holds data in the holding means and controls the writing of the held data to the recording medium.
It is provided with an acquisition means for acquiring information about the storage means.
Based on the information about the storage means, the control means sends a write command for writing metadata including management information of the data to the recording medium, a speed priority write command for giving priority to the write speed in the image forming apparatus, and a speed priority write command. An image forming apparatus characterized in that the image forming apparatus is switched to any of the instantaneous interruption countermeasure priority writing commands that prioritize the countermeasures against the momentary interruption in the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information regarding the storage means includes information indicating the type of the storage means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the storage means is an HDD, the control means uses the speed priority write command as a write command for writing the metadata to the recording medium. The image according to claim 2 or 3, wherein when the storage means is an SSD, the control means uses the momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command as a write command for writing the metadata to the recording medium. Forming device. The information regarding the storage means includes information regarding the operation setting of the storage means.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information regarding the operation setting of the storage means is set by the user. The speed priority write command is a write command capable of instructing the writing of the next write target data regardless of whether or not the write target data indicated by the speed priority write command has been written to the recording medium. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command is a write command capable of instructing the writing of the next write target data according to the writing target data indicated by the momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command being written to the recording medium. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the momentary interruption countermeasure priority write command is a write command for instructing the recording medium to write data that has not been written to the recording medium among the retained data. The image forming apparatus according to item 1. A control method for an image forming apparatus including a recording medium and a storage means including a holding means having a writing speed faster than that of the recording medium.
A control step in which data is held in the holding means and control is performed to write the held data to the recording medium.
It has an acquisition step of acquiring information about the storage means.
In the control step, a write command for writing metadata including management information of the data to the recording medium based on the information about the storage means, a speed priority write command for giving priority to the write speed in the image forming apparatus, and a speed priority write command for writing the metadata including the management information of the data to the recording medium. A control method for an image forming apparatus, which comprises switching to any of the instantaneous interruption countermeasure priority writing commands that prioritize countermeasures for momentary interruptions in the image forming apparatus. A program that causes a computer to execute a control method of a recording medium and an image forming apparatus including a storage means including a holding means having a writing speed faster than that of the recording medium.
The control method of the image forming apparatus is
A control step in which data is held in the holding means and control is performed to write the held data to the recording medium.
It has an acquisition step of acquiring information about the storage means.
In the control step, a write command for writing metadata including management information of the data to the recording medium based on the information about the storage means, a speed priority write command for giving priority to the write speed in the image forming apparatus, and a speed priority write command for writing the metadata including the management information of the data to the recording medium. A program characterized by switching to one of the instantaneous interruption countermeasure priority write commands that prioritize the instantaneous interruption countermeasures in the image forming apparatus.

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