Network printer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A network printer is generally referred to as a printer that is not directly connected to a computer , but is addressed like an independent server in the computer network . In particular, the term is used under Windows for every printer in the computer network that can be addressed via the network; even those that are not stand-alone devices but are addressed via other computers.

If a printer is not connected locally to a workstation ( e.g. via a USB cable), but only accessible via a LAN , WAN or the Internet , print jobs must be sent over the network. This printing method differs from local printing in a few ways:

  • The print data is usually sent via one or more computers . These are mostly print servers .
  • If several computers are involved in the transfer of print jobs, differences in their operating systems may have to be taken into account. In particular, printer drivers specific to each platform are provided (e.g. 32 bit, 64 bit, Linux , Windows 7 , Windows Server 2008 ). And not every system supports all printing protocols .
  • Bulky print jobs can be responsible for bandwidth bottlenecks in the network - especially in wireless LANs or WANs. Print jobs can easily be ten times the file size.
  • The transmission of print data over the network is usually not encrypted and therefore not secure. This means that they can be "read" or - possibly unnoticed - changed by every network participant.
  • The (remote) printer on the network is usually referred to as the network printer. This can either be a physical printer with its own network card or a logical printer installed on a print server (under Windows as file and printer sharing ).

Areas of application

Print data is sent from various application servers to a print server, which then distributes it in the network

With the introduction of network printers instead of workstation printers, the number of printers in a company can be drastically reduced because several users share one printer. If print servers are used at the same time, printer administration is also centralized and thus simplified. In server-based computing , print jobs have to be sent in the network even if the printer is connected locally to the workstation computer because the applications run on remote servers.

Logs

Different printing protocols and methods are used depending on the respective circumstances . In the Linux or Unix area, print data are delivered via LPR or IPP . Both work on Windows too; however, other techniques are primarily used here, namely printer sharing and standard TCP / IP ports . In server-based computing, print jobs are also sent to the workstation computers using the RDP ( Microsoft ) and ICA ( Citrix ) session protocols . However, with LPR and standard TCP / IP ports it is not possible to encrypt print data.

A large number of printer drivers naturally accumulate in large environments. In order to limit these and to increase system stability, drivers are often used that can be used for several printer types or classes. The following table shows some examples:

Driver name File format company
Universal printer drivers from platform providers:
Microsoft XPS Document Writer XPS Microsoft
Terminal Services Easy Print XPS Microsoft
Citrix Universal Printer EMF Citrix
Citrix XPS Universal Printer XPS Citrix
Universal printer drivers from printer manufacturers:
HP Universal Printing PCL PCL Hewlett-Packard
HP Universal Printing PS PostScript Hewlett-Packard
PCL6 Driver for Universal Print PCL Ricoh
PS Driver for Universal Print PostScript Ricoh
Xerox Global Print Driver PCL6 PCL Xerox
Xerox Global Print Driver PS PostScript Xerox
PCL6 Universal Print Driver (WHQL) PCL Konica Minolta
PS Universal Print Driver (WHQL) PostScript Konica Minolta
Independent universal printer drivers:
TP output gateway EMF ThinPrint
TP output gateway PS PostScript ThinPrint

literature

  • Klaus Dembowski: Networks. Compact - complete - competent, Verlag Markt + Technik, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-8272-6739-0 .
  • Peter Klau: Wireless LAN in practice. Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn Verlag, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 978-3-5280-5827-2 .
  • Jens Banning: Linux network administration. Addison-Wesley Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-8273-1855-6 .
  • Stefan Hagenbuch, Gabriel Weber: Server and system administration. Compendio Bildungsmedien AG, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-7155-9449-1 .
  • Peter Stelzhammer: Energy efficiency and cost optimization in IT. 1st edition, Norderstedt 2009, ISBN 978-3-8391-0092-9 .

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: network printer  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations