Networking > SOHO

Although sharing printers is one of the primary reasons for installing networks, networks didn’t manage this chore very well until the print server was developed. A print server is a specialized network device that enables network users to share one or more printers. It accepts print jobs from users and manages these jobs on each printer. Print servers are easy to install, use, and maintain.

Typically a print server is a freestanding device that’s connected between the network and the printer; some print servers are so tiny they sit directly on the parallel port of the printer. And some newer printers are even equipped with embedded or internal print servers, so you don’t need to purchase a separate print server at all—just connect the printer to the network. Most print servers support multiple protocols and operating systems. You can also get print servers with multiple ports to connect more than one printer.

When a print job arrives at a print server, it’s entered into a queue where it waits until the desired printer becomes available. Print jobs are normally served in a first-in, first-out order, however many print servers enable users to prioritize print jobs so important jobs can be moved to the front of the queue.

For a print server to manage this entire lineup of print jobs, it must have a place to store them—either in memory (a buffer) or, if the buffer isn’t large enough, sometimes on a hard disk. When a print job arrives at the print server, it sends the job to the printer immediately if the printer is free. Because the print job usually arrives faster than the printer can handle it, data waiting to be printed is stored temporarily in the buffer. If the print job is very large or if multiple print jobs start arriving, the buffer fills up. In this case, the print job is often spooled to a hard disk.