Print Spooling means to send jobs to a print queue for processing so the printer and CPU can process other tasking before printing the data being held in the spooler. A print spooler manages the print process and can have a variety of duties managing printing pools, tracking which job went to what printer, shared and network printers, keeping track of what device is connected to what port.

Spooling prepares a file (usually a data file) for printing, emailing, faxing, or sending to a device or system that is currently occupied with another task. Spooling can also be called a "print scheduler", the boss of all printing functions within a device or PC. Maintaining current readiness to printers, which printers are located on the network, IP address, sending jobs to the LPD line printer daemon, etc.

Print spooler software will print the document to the actual device (or printer) when the printer is ready. This allows the PC / printer to concentrate on more important tasks. In addition, system resources on your network servers are freed up, allowing your server to concentrate on other tasks and letting your LPR print spooler do all the work! Click on the link for more information on spooling.

Sharing printers in a network printing environment requires a print server. A print server is the hardware or software that is responsible for sending the jobs from multiple clients to a printer in the right order and at the right time.

To be effective in today’s network printing environments, print servers must be able to accept print requests from multiple platforms (for example, AS/400®, Windows®-based PCs, UNIX, Linux, Mac®, and so on) independent of whether a client is local or remote, using TCP/IP or LAN/WAN.

A capable, flexible print server is the key to running an efficient network printing environment.

Software or Hardware Print Servers

The question needs to be asked before pursuing a new print server solution; do I want to buy hardware or software? We always recommend going the software route. Whenever possible, stay away from buying new hardware vs. software.

Hardware print servers will add extra maintenance and costs and most hardware print servers are hard to upgrade in comparison to a software print server. Software is more economical, offers more features, and provides more upgradeability than any other hardware print server. Plus there are not shipping requirements, added space needed, or “return nightmares” through the mail.

What are you trying to accomplish?

RPM Print Server Software installs on ANY Windows PC, server or client. Once RPM is installed, the PC can be used as a print server and can perform many print server type tasks. RPM print server can receive files from ANY host system (UNIX, AS400, Windows, AIX, Linux, and more), printing them to your local or networked printers, or print to file. Print Server software usually includes more features than hardware print servers such as Insert & Append Bytes, Remove PCL Codes, Convert LF to CRLF, Character translations, ASA Carriage Control, EBCDIC to ASCII Conversion, Convert SCS to ASCII, and the list goes on.

Affordable Software Solutions

The best thing about a software Print Server solution is you can easily download a trial copy, install, set it up, and purchase. The key is the ability to test the print server software when needed, not having to wait for someone to ship hardware to you. Most software solutions can do anything the hardware counterpart can do, usually for half the price. RPM Print Server software can be downloaded and tested for 21 days free! There are no commitments or purchasing hardware. Download RPM and try it for FREE. If you have questions, contact tech support and they will have you up and running in minutes! RPM is extremely affordable and backed by excellent personalized tech support.

Print Queues

Print queues have long been the key to stable UNIX printing environments and at the heart of network printing. Print queues are simply places for print jobs to line up and wait to be printed, either to a network printer or to a folder. This type of repository allows multiple users to send jobs to the same printer without conflict: the jobs enter the queue and wait their turn to be printed or archived. Read more about print queues and their functions, or learn more about the scenarios where software print servers can provide solutions.

The most flexible type of queuing system involves print server software (for example, Brooks Internet Software’s RPM Remote Print Manager® solution). With the use of such software, various print queues can be configured, each with its own set of formatting options. Jobs can be sent to specific queues depending on the desired output format.

Managing Print Jobs in Queues

Print Queues can also be set up to pass print data through untouched to the local or network printer. This type of queue behaves as if the printer were attached locally to the mainframe. Translations can also be performed in this type of queue; for example, EBCDIC can be converted to ASCII or line feeds (LF) can be converted to carriage returns (CR) and line feeds (LF to CR/LF) when printing from UNIX.

One of the more powerful options available with software print servers is the ability to customize processing of print jobs, often by incorporating third-party software in the process. After the print file is saved to disk, other applications are called to perform operations on the data.

Print server software, like Brooks Internet Software’s RPM Remote Print Manager®, can make the job of dealing with customized print jobs almost effortless. ExcelliPrint software allows you to print IPDS AFP documents to ANY printer, now you do not have to purchase special & expensive IPDS printers.

Common Customization Requests

Translations

• EBCDIC to ASCII
• SCS to ASCII
• ASA Carriage Control formatted data into commands that the printer can interpret
• Custom character translations by creating translation tables that define one-to-one single byte translations
• Convert LF to CR/LF for UNIX printing on Windows-based printer

Transformations

• PCL code removal
• Character output reduction to print AS/400 spool files configured to print on 14 7/8 x 11 7/8 green bar paper on standard paper sizes
• Appending and inserting bytes

Network Printing Challenges

• Write to disk AND print to a printing device at the same time with flexible file name and file saving options
• Code page support for text printing
• Custom printer finishing options
• Adding a banner page containing control file information
• Watermark and print overlays and merging overlays to documents: output to PDF
• Specifying page ranges to print for an ASCII text file

Resource Management Issues

• Broadcast printing for printing a single file on multiple printers
• Service Location Protocol (SLP) support for easier user/resource interaction
• Failover printing to ensure that jobs are printed successfully
• RPM and Dymo Label Printers for Healthcare Systems
• Command line printing using INTELLIscribe
• Print job archiving to easily view your print history
• Easy reprinting with one click of the mouse
• Round-robin printing for use with multiple, similar printers for predictable printer utilization
• Print job destination balancing to ensure balanced job loads between multiple printers

LPD software can receive files from host systems such as an AS/400, UNIX system, mainframe systems, or a Windows system. Once the LPD receives the file, it can print to a local printer, write to disk (print to file) for archiving or editing purposes, or do both at the same time.

A printer that supports the LPD/LPR protocol can be referred to as a “TCP/IP printer”. The TCP/IP protocol is used when printers and devices need to connect to each other, or workstations, or a network. RPM Remote Print Manager® is LPD software that receives spool files from the print spooler, allowing the user to print to their locally attached printer.

An advantage of the LPR/LPD Protocol is simplicity to implement, which implies it’s a good approach. The control file contains information that can be used for various implementations.

External LPD Links

• LPD Software by Brooks Internet Software
• LPR Software (with broadcast printing)
• WikiPedia definition of an LPD
• Computing Library reference to LPD Line Printer Daemon

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IHS Systems offers udk2pcl Print Converter which converts XES to PCL for one printer and the udkServe Print Conversion Software converts XES to PCL for many printers. The savings in maintenance and printing costs will pay for the new udk2pcl conversion solution quickly. Request a spreadsheet of Operation Costs for your new printer. Additional savings are possible if the old connectivity method can be replaced by existing newer technology, such as Local Area Networks [UDK/XES print streams]