Patent ID: 8380889

Claim:
A method for controlling by a manager server, use by a user of a peripheral device, said peripheral device being one of a plurality of peripheral devices which are directly connected to the manager server via a network or are connected to the manager server via a workstation which is connected to the manager server via the network, the method comprising the steps of: periodically receiving in the manager server, accounting data specific to the user from each one of the peripheral devices for which the user has access rights, wherein each of the peripheral devices for which the user has access rights generates the accounting data specific to the user and periodically transmits the generated accounting data specific to the user to the manager server without receiving a request from the manager server, said manager server totaling the accounting data received from each of the peripheral devices to determine a usage by the user of the peripheral devices for a predetermined time period; storing in the manager server, account information specific to the user, the account information including at least one of a quota for the user to use a peripheral device, one or more services of the peripheral device for the predetermined period, the usage of the user for the predetermined time period, and permissions to use one or more of the services of the peripheral device; and periodically transmitting by the manager server to a workstation at which the user has logged-in, the account information specific to the user, wherein the periodic transmitting is performed without the manager server receiving a request for the account information specific to the user from the workstation at which the user has logged-in; wherein if the account information received by the workstation at which the user has logged in indicates that the user's usage exceeds the user's quota at the time that the user's account information is received by the workstation, print queues of the workstation at which the user has logged-in are paused for the balance of the predetermined time period or any pending jobs in the print queue are deleted from the print queue.