Print server: software or hardware?

As soon as the first local network appeared (and printers appeared even earlier), a very sensible idea arose - it is possible to organize access to several or all computers belonging to the "local store" to a common printing device. But it is obvious that for this you need something that is located between the network and the printer. This "something" is the print server. You can, of course, immediately purchase a printer with the ability to directly connect to the local network, but for this option you will have to pay at least the equivalent of $ 50.

Like many network concepts, such as a firewall or a gateway, the print server can be software or hardware.

The software print server is implemented on the basis of a conventional computer, to which one or several printers are connected locally. The operating system means that all other computers and their users, given their respective access rights, are given the opportunity to work remotely with these printers. This principle of implementing a print server is most often used at home or in small offices.

Hardware print server outwardly is a small box (usually the size of a large ashtray) with multiple I / O ports. The minimum required set of ports is one standard RJ-45 network port and one USB connector (the device with an LPT port, due to its obsolescence, is already extremely difficult to find). More expensive models manufacturers equipped with several USB connectors, so that the server can serve several printers at once. Recently, many manufacturers are beginning to promote this type of device, such as a wireless print server. The Wi-Fi adapter of this device is designed to replace a wired network connection and eliminate the need to extend an additional network cable to the print server . How much such a decision is justified in a stationary office in the immediate vicinity of no less than a stationary printer - to solve the admin.

In addition, print servers are increasingly built into inexpensive Internet routers designed primarily for home use (market segment SOHO - small office, home office). Everything said above and below about hardware print servers is also true for these devices.

Now it's time to consider all the pros and cons of each method of implementing network access to the local printer.

The main advantage of the software print server is the lack of the need to purchase some new, highly specialized equipment, the cost of which can be from 40 to several hundred dollars. There is a computer, there is a printer, there is a cable that connects the printer and the computer, and there is a system administrator who knows how to make it work - that's it! Any modern operating system allows you to provide network access to any printer connected to the computer. But such a print server has one major disadvantage: for large volumes of printing (for example, in accounting one day before the deadline for submitting an annual report), the computer serving as the hardware base for the software print server will spend a lot of system resources on ensuring the operation of the printer . In case this computer is very outdated, which is not uncommon in the same accounting department, "slowing down" even routine routine tasks will be very appreciable. In addition, if it is not a conventional printer, but an MFP (multifunctional device), its additional capabilities in the form of a scanner, a copier or a fax machine can be used only on the computer to which it is connected locally.

The main advantage of a hardware print server is the lack of the need to allocate additional computing resources for servicing the print queue. Actually, this is the purpose of creating all the specialized devices - to transfer the implementation of the same tasks to specially "sharpened" equipment. Also, some advanced models of print-servers allow using, for example, fax or scanner functions, when connecting to them.

But, unfortunately, not every printer can work through a hardware print server. In the group of risk are primarily obsolete models, as well as inexpensive devices, of which in small offices the majority. Manufacturers of print servers publish on their sites and in the specifications of their devices a list of supported printers. But, if you already bought / borrowed / stolen a hardware print server, and only then got to know this list and did not find your printer in it, do not despair. This means that the manufacturer of the print server simply does not guarantee the trouble-free operation of the bundle of these two devices.