Patent ID: 7721300

Claim:
A network-based management system for managing a plurality of network devices, said system comprising: a database; and a computer coupled to the database and the plurality of network devices, said computer comprising: a user interface for controlling operation of the plurality of network devices, the plurality of network devices having corresponding device drivers to configure each of the plurality of network devices to allow queuing operations to be performed in connection with the plurality of network devices, said user interface configured to communicate with the plurality of network devices to identify and control jobs in a queue relating to each of the plurality of network devices, said user interface configured to at least one of pause, reset, resume, cancel, resend, and redirect jobs, said user interface further configured to search for jobs within the plurality of network devices based on user defined search criteria, said user interface further configured to limit access to control operations for controlling the plurality of network devices based upon user login information; a monitoring system for monitoring the plurality of network devices, said monitoring system configured to access the database to retrieve stored queue limits relating to each of the plurality of network devices, to poll each of the plurality of network devices to determine a number of jobs in each queue, and to provide notification to said user interface when the stored queue limit for at least one of the plurality of network devices is exceeded, wherein the stored queue limit comprises at least one value, defined based on a user input, representing a job limit for the associated network device; and a device interface for interfacing with the plurality of network devices to allow communication between said user interface and the plurality of network devices, said device interface configured to communicate with the corresponding device drivers for each of the plurality of network devices.