Patent ID: 8023129
Filing Date: 2011-09-20
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. An information processing device connected to a plurality of printing devices and at least one terminal device via a network, each of the plurality of printing devices being placed at a physical structural position to be connected to the network, the plurality of printing devices being divided into two groups, comprising: advice data creating means for creating advice data based on a performance and a previous frequency of usages of each of the plurality of printing devices, wherein the advice data creating means compares the performance and the previous frequency of usages of the plurality of printing devices to each other to prepare a message based on the comparison, wherein the advice data includes the message indicating that at least one of the plurality of printing devices in one of the two groups is required to be moved from a current physical structural position to another physical structural position in an other of the two groups to rearrange the plurality of printing devices in order to balance loads on the plurality of printing devices, wherein the message is displayed on the terminal device, or sent to a user; further comprising selecting criteria means for selecting criteria for creating advice data, wherein the advice data creating means creates the advice data based on the criteria for creating advice data selected by the criteria selecting means; wherein the advice data creating means includes: load calculating means for calculating a load on at least one of the plurality of printing devices based on the performance and the previous frequency of usages when a first criteria related to a load on at least one of the plurality of printing devices is selected; and data creating means for creating advice data to reduce the load of the at least one of the plurality of printing devices; wherein the previous frequency of usages includes a number of printed pages per unit time in each of the plurality of printing devices, and the load calculating means calculates the load based on the number of printed pages per unit time; and wherein the advice data creating means further includes upper limit establishing means for establishing an upper load limit value and comparing means for comparing the established upper load limit value with the calculated load, and the data creating means creates advice data when the calculated load exceeds the upper load limit value.