Chapter 41. Print Servers
SOME OF THE MAIN TOPICS IN THIS CHAPTER ARE
Unix/Linux Printing 758 Configuring Windows Print Servers 773 Installing and Configuring Printers on Windows Servers 775 Printing Under NetWare 799 Hardware-Based Print ServersPrint Server Appliances 803
In the preceding chapter, several protocols that typically are used for printing on a network were discussed. In this chapter, you'll examine some of the ways in which printers can be configured, deployed on the network, and made available to users. This function traditionally has been accomplished by using a computer that has a printer directly attached to it. It is now commonplace in large networks to connect printers directly to the network so that any computer can access the printer. You should be sure to determine the mechanisms that your operating system uses to grant/deny access to networked printers.
It is also easy to attach multiple printers to a network directly, yet still manage them from a central print server computer. A print server can take the load off of individual workstations by storing local copies of the files to be printed, as well as giving the network administrator a central point for administrating printing services. By routing the print traffic through a computer that acts as a print server (or hardware print server device), the network administrator is better able to control access to these printers and gather statistics that can be used to improve network performance. In addition, small network devices (usually described as network printer appliances) are small hub-like devices that attach to the network. These devices provide several ports, such as the traditional parallel and serial ports and Ethernet ports (for printers that come network ready), as well as newer ports, such as USB and FireWire, so you can connect multiple printers to the network using a single connection.
This chapter looks at managing print servers using Unix/Linux, Windows NT, 2000, XP, and Server 2003, and NetWare operating systems, and it takes a quick look at network print server appliances.
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