Книга: Windows Server 2012 R2 Storage, Security, & Networking Pocket Consultant

Using print devices

Using print devices

Two types of print devices are used on a network:

? Local print device A print device that’s physically attached to a user’s computer and employed only by the user who’s logged on to that computer.

? Network print device A print device that’s set up for remote access over the network. This can be a print device attached directly to a print server or a print device attached directly to the network through a network interface card (NIC).

NOTE The key difference between a local printer and a network printer is that a local printer isn’t shared. You can easily make a local printer a network printer. To learn how to do this, see “Starting and stopping printer sharing” later in this chapter.

You install new network printers on print servers or as separate print devices attached to the network. A print server is a workstation or server configured to share one or more printers. These printers can be physically attached to the computer or connected to the network. The disadvantage of running a print server with a workstation operating system instead of a server operating system is the limited number of allowed connections. With Windows Server 2012 R2, you don’t have to worry about operating system-enforced connection limits.

You can configure any Windows Server 2012 R2 system as a print server. The print server’s primary job is to share print devices on the network and to handle print spooling. The main advantages of print servers are that printers have a centrally managed print queue and you don’t have to install printer drivers on client systems.

You don’t have to use a print server, however. You can connect users directly to a network-attached printer. When you do this, the network printer is handled much like a local printer attached directly to the user’s computer. The key differences are that multiple users can connect to the printer and that each user has a different print queue. Each individual print queue is managed separately, which can make administration and problem resolution difficult.

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