Setting up a print server

[ilusv]

What kind of things do I need to take into consideration?

Using:

Dual Proc PII 300 Mhz w/ 384 RAM -- Promise ATA 100
Win2k Server or even Small business; thinking about setting up exchange later on

What do you guys think of the hardware? Do I need a better machine?

As for the printer can any printer be used? I have a HP laser Jet 3150 but it doesn’t seem to have the capability to connect to the hub, any work around?

Thanks in advance

 

[markdmac]

I'd have to say that both your CPU and RAM are weak no matter what you want to use the server for. But, to be objective tell us some more. How many users are on the network? What is the print volume expected to be. How many printers do you have? Do you have jetDirect cards for your printers or are they hooked directly to the server via COM or LPT ports?

 

[ilusv]

Hardware is not an issue I can always upgrade the reason I liked that machine is because it’s a Dual processor machine. We have 12 users on the network & Print Volume is not large at all (say 100 pages a day MAX) I previously setup a Peer-to-Peer network but we out grew it; currently running a DC with Visual Source safe & 11 Client Machines.

We have 3 printers HP DeskJet, Xerox & a HP LaserJet 3150 all of which are shared on the network while connected to PC’s via USB &/or LPT cables. I don't have any jet cards at all.

I want to setup a print server from scratch and network those printers if possible. I have never setup a printer server before; I am new to this as you can see.

 

[markdmac]

Hi ilusv,

Sounds like you have a little bit of budget available to you. Based on the volume of printing you have I don't think a dedicated print server is all that important. Why not purchase 3 external jetDirect cards and allow your 11 clients to connect directly to the printers via IP?

 

[ilusv]

I didn't know you could do that.. that sounds like an easy way to do it..I was planning to have that server be an ACT server also & maybe even set up exchange on it..

 

[markdmac]

It is easy to set up. After you have the jetDirect cards installed and running with IP addresses, all you need to do is go into the Add Printer Wizard and tell it to install a local printer. When it asks what port to use click Add. You then tell it that you hav jetDirect cards and add the IP address for your printer. The Add Port dialog will return you back to the Add Printer Wizard and you then select "use this port" and select the port you just created. finish up the Wizard like normal and you are done.

 

[ilusv]

Thanks mark for the info.. Do prefer any particular model? I looked on the HP site & its seems like some Jetdirect cars are not compatible with 2 or the 3 printers I have

hp jetdirect 170x series

• Compatible with any printer with a parallel port (except GDI printers, HP Deskjet 710, 720, 820, 1000 printers, HP LaserJet 3100xi, and Officejet PSC 500 non-networkable printers) or supported HP All-In-One peripherals (HP Officejet G series, LaserJet 3150, HP Officejet R Series, Pro Series and HP LaserJet 1100A xi).

 

[markdmac]

Sorry i do not have a recommendation for an external. You could also go with a more generic one that might be more flexible. So long as it supports IP you can configure it on your XP machines.

 

[ilusv]

Since I am in a domain environment, do I need to do the initial setup from the DC & publish the Printer in active directory?

I also have a share option, should I share the printer?
I will also need to modify login script to add the printer

I got a D-link pocket size print server DP-101P+ for 50 bucks.. thanks for the tip mark

 

[markdmac]

So long as you have configured the DLINK, you can handle this two ways. You can create a connection to the printer on the server and share that for your users to connect to, OR you can create local connections to the printer.

I can provide you with a script if you create the server share.

The main difference witht hese two options is that with the sare the server will be managing the print jobs but at the cost of CPU time.

Having direct connections on the clients to the IP of the printer means less work for your server to do.

If you enable she share, all you need to add to your login script (provided it is a VBS script) is:

Set WSHNetwork = CreateObject("WScript.Network&quot
WSHNetwork.AddWindowsPrinterConnection "\\Server\HP5si"