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Chapter 5 Overview
Print Job Servers
In most larger networks, print jobs usually are managed by designating one
protocol and method for printing and then designating specific computers as
print job servers, rather than by directing any host running any protocol to the
networked printer resource. Computers designated as print job servers have
large hard disk space to store print data and spool management software. All
clients direct their print job to the computer designated as the print job server
rather than the printer; therefore, the client to print job server network protocol
used might not be the same as the print job server to NIC. Large network
environments today are generally TCP/IP or Novell network protocols or a
mixture of the two.
Common examples of larger networks utilizing the P5000LJ Series printers
and NIC:
• Many Windows 95/98 clients directing print jobs to an NT server. The
Windows 95/98 clients, NT server, and P5000LJ Series printer might or
might not be in the same physical location, building, or even country. The
printer is located based on where its output is needed, not where the jobs
originate. Remote printer management tools (PPM, SNMP, etc.) give the
same ability to the administrator today that networking provided in the
past.
• Windows 95/98, NT, Novell network client computers direct output to
a Unix
machine designated as the print job server which spools
and manages print jobs. The designated print server could be an
HP e3000, IBM AS/400, Unix (or Linux), or Novell machine.
Logical Printer Architecture
NIC implements a logical printer architecture which gives the system
administrator the possibility to configure the print server to handle and act
upon the print data in several ways. When a print job comes through the print
server, there is a certain logical print path that it follows before it gets to the
printer. Each logical print path consists of a sequence of logical steps where
extra processing may be performed on the print data before it is sent to the
printer. This ability to preprocess the print data before it is sent to the printer
allows elimination of printing problems, or implementation of printer
enhancements that may be difficult and time consuming to solve or introduce
at the system, spool or queue level, yet be simplistic to perform at the print
server level.
The logical print path for a print job going through NIC consist of three
different phases:
• Phase 1 - The host sends the job to a destination or queue on NIC
(e.g. d1prn).
• Phase 2 - The print job passes through the associated “model”
(e.g. model “m1”) on NIC for any extra processing associated with the
model.
• Phase 3 - The processed print job is directed to the printer for output.