Print Server 1

[bonafide247]

I work for a small campus (45 users). There are 10 printers throughout this campus, all which are TCP/IP.

My question...would there be a significant advantage to using a print server vs. direct connections to the network printers? I understand some basics behind the idea (server takes the load of processing print jobs, and provides a central location for printer connection.)

The print load isn't particularly heavy.

 

[TopKatz]

The biggest thing is that you can find and manage the printers if they are installed on a server. This and the drivers can be installed for all clients on the server.

 

[bonafide247]

So...centrally managing the printer drivers and software, offloading CPU from print jobs from the client to the server. Makes sense to me.

Any suggestions on hardware, with an emphasis on RAM or CPU? I know of a location that uses a dinosaur to manage 40 printers (500 HMZ, 1 GB RAM)

 

[TopKatz]

It depends on how many printers. I have six that I serve from my SBS AD server. Ram is probably the most import thing as spool jobs can get big.

 

[bonafide247]

Much appreciated.