Patent ID: 8577964

Claim:
A network device management unit to manage a first network device connectable to and operable in a network environment, the first network device communicable with a second network device disposed on the network and managed by a counterpart network device management unit, the second network device used as a counterpart network device for the first network device, the network device management unit comprising: a device information storage to store network device management information set for the first network device; a communication-start information acquisition unit to obtain communication-start information when the first and second network devices start to communicate with each other; a network device management information operation unit to obtain network device management information of the second network device managed by the counterpart network device management unit, after the communication-start information is obtained; an available function information acquisition unit to obtain available function information, providable by the second network device managed by the counterpart network device management unit, based on the network device management information of the second network device obtained by the network device management information operation unit and the network device management information of the first network device managed by the network device management unit; and a display-information generator to generate networked-device-function information as displayable information based on the obtained available function information, the networked-device-function information corresponding to the obtained available function information, wherein the device information storage stores network device management information that includes at least service information and media type, corresponding to each of a plurality of different devices managed by the network device management unit, and in response to a media type of a device of the plurality of devices included in the network management information stored in the device information storage of the network device management unit and a media type of a counterpart device included in network device management information obtained from the counterpart network device management unit being a same type, the available function information acquisition unit determines that the device and the counterpart device can communicate with each other, and obtains service information of the counterpart device.