Patent ID: 8659778

Claim:
An image forming apparatus comprising: a plurality of storage devices each comprising a plurality of storage sections for storing a job data to be input; an image forming section for performing an image formation operation based on the job data stored in the plurality of storage devices; and a control section configured to control a first mode in which all of the plurality of storage devices are used by striping with respect to an independent job data, and a second mode in which different storage devices from among the plurality of storage devices are used for each of a plurality of job data; wherein each of the plurality of storage devices comprises at least a storage section for the first mode and a storage section for the second mode; and wherein the control section is configured to (i) use the first mode in which all of the plurality of storage sections are used by striping with respect to the independent job data, in a case in which accesses to the storage devices, via processing of the job data, do not conflict with each other, and (ii) use the second mode in which different storage devices from among the plurality of storage devices are used for each of the plurality of job data, in a case in which accesses to the storage devices, via processing of the job data, conflict with each other.