Network Printing Solutions and Scenarios

If a network printing environment is run successfully, it will be seamless. Jobs that users send will go effortlessly to the appropriate printer, clients on different operating systems will have no difficulty sending print requests to the same printer, and users in remote locations will be able to print as easily as if the printer were in the next room.

Of course, this ideal situation is easier to describe than to implement, but there are steps an organization can take to ensure a smooth-running network print environment.

TCP/IP Printing Protocols

TCPIP is a common (and recommended) method for various types of network printing, especially if your printer is "TCPIP addressable." TCPIP is a fast method for spooling print jobs directly to a printer. Please read more on TCP/IP Printing and other topics such as LPR/LPD, Telnet & JetDirect, IPDS - AFP, and Internet Printing Protocol.

Helpful Network Printing Links

• An Excellent book named "Network Printing" by O’Reilly, shows you how to set up a network printing architecture that supports all kinds of clients
• UIC set of documents describing several network printing options
• Brooks Internet Software develops network printing software that come with "hard-to-find" and "real-world" features
• The FreeBSD Corporate Networker’s Guide to various network printing issues

Network Printing Scenarios

Network printing environments, because of the many systems, users, and requirements involved, must be extremely flexible. Software print servers have been tested and proven in dealing with many important network printing scenarios.

Print Servers

The hub of a print environment is the print server. Choosing a capable, powerful print server is essential. A print server can be either hardware or software. Though both perform similar duties, software print servers are generally more flexible and allow users to perform various functions on incoming print jobs before they are passed to a printer or to file.

Brooks Internet Software has developed an affordable print sever that will run on any Windows platform. RPM adds flexibility to the printing process by allowing the end user to customize every print job, unlike other software packages with little flexibility or hardware solutions that cost much more and have far fewer options.

Network and Windows Printing Queues

Print queues are simply the folders where print jobs are stored until they are ready to be processed or printed; with the use of software print servers, functions can be performed on these jobs including formatting, translations, and third-party application transformations. Learn more about using print queues to transform print jobs.