Patent ID: 8195737

Claim:
A process management apparatus adapted to be connected to a network to which a plurality of processing devices are connected, each of the processing devices being capable of executing a requested task and transferring the executed result to a destination designated by the requester of the task, comprising: first management device operating to allow access to a predetermined memory in which the following are stored: (i) resource information representing task execution capability of the plurality of processing devices, (ii) communication setting information for enabling network communication with the plurality of processing devices, and (iii) a cluster list; and second management device operating to: generate the cluster list by grouping the processing devices into clusters based on: (i) sizes and kinds of tasks to be performed, and (ii) processing capability of each processing device obtained from the resource information representing the task execution capability of each processing device, receive a task demand from any of the processing devices through network communication, wherein the task demand includes requested content of a task, a process program for executing the task, and data for executing the task, specify a cluster containing at least one of the plurality of processing devices that is capable of executing the task by consulting the resource information and the cluster list stored in the memory and comparing the size and kind of the task with the processing capabilities of each processing device in the cluster list, set a data path designating a destination for a result of the task, and acquire the communication setting information for the at least one processing device within the selected cluster from the memory, and transfer, to the at least one processing device and the processing device that requested the task demand, the communication setting information for another processing device, thereby allowing direct transfer of the executed result between the processing devices through network communication.