Information processing apparatus, control method, and computer-readable medium for distributed processing of print jobs

A method of controlling an information processing apparatus connected to a computer network, the method comprising:

• receiving a print job from a client computer via the computer network, the print job including information indicating an image processing apparatus to perform printing for the received print job and a numeral indicating a security level of data included in the print job;
• obtaining resource information from a plurality of information processing devices;
• determining a processing method of the received print job processing based on the numeral indicating the security level and the obtained resource information, wherein, in a first case that the numeral corresponds to a low security level, a plurality of target resources of distributed processing of the received print job is determined from the plurality of information processing devices having subnet addresses corresponding to a network segment to which the image processing apparatus belongs and, in a second case that the numeral corresponds to a medium security level, the plurality of target resources of distributed processing is determined from the plurality of information processing devices having the subnet addresses and an encryption function and, in a third case that the numeral corresponds to a high security level, a determination is made that the received print job is to be processed using the image processing apparatus and that the distributed processing is not to be performed;
• dividing the received print job into a plurality of divided jobs based on a division unit and the resource information of the plurality of target resources of distributed processing in the first or second cases;
• and
• transmitting the plurality of divided jobs to the plurality of target resources of distributed processing via the computer network in the first or second cases, and transmitting the received print job to the image processing apparatus via the computer network to perform printing for the received print job in the third case,
• wherein the plurality of divided jobs is processed by the plurality of target resources of distributed processing, the plurality of divided jobs is gathered to the image processing apparatus after the distributed processing, and the plurality of divided jobs is combined to perform printing for the received print job by the image processing apparatus.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer-executable program for causing a computer to perform a method of controlling an information processing apparatus connected to a computer network, the method comprising:

• receiving a print job from a client computer via the computer network, the print job including information indicating an image processing apparatus to perform printing for the received print job and a numeral indicating a security level of data included in the print job;
• obtaining resource information from a plurality of information processing devices;
• determining a processing method of the received print job based on the numeral indicating the security level and the obtained resource information, wherein, in a first case that the numeral corresponds to a low security level, a plurality of target resources of distributed processing of the received print job is determined from the plurality of information processing devices having subnet addresses corresponding to a network segment to which the image processing apparatus belongs and, in a second case that the numeral corresponds to a medium security level, a plurality of target resources of distributed processing is determined from the plurality of information processing devices having the subnet addresses and an encryption function and, in a third case that the numeral corresponds to a high security level, a determination is made that the received print job is to be processed using the image processing apparatus and that the distributed processing is not to be performed;
• and
• dividing the received print job into a plurality of divided jobs based on a division unit and the resource information of the plurality of target resources of distributed processing in the first or second cases;
• and
• transmitting the plurality of divided jobs to the plurality of target resources of distributed processing via the computer network in the first and second cases, and transmitting the received print job to the image processing apparatus via the computer network to perform printing for the received print job in the third case,
• wherein the plurality of divided jobs is processed by the plurality of target resources of distributed processing, the plurality of divided jobs is gathered to the image processing apparatus after the distributed processing, and the plurality of divided jobs is combined to perform printing for the received print job by the image processing apparatus.