2.6 Printer Management

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Establishing and maintaining printer support for network users can be a time-consuming part of LAN administration. Likewise, selecting from a long list of network printers and resetting print specifications can make requesting an output destination cumbersome to users, especially those who frequently visit other office locations. Maintaining central printer support can also significantly reduce the amount of time required for users to enter printer settings and select an output destination.

There are two tasks associated with providing network printer support. One is the print manager data viewer, which is used by the LAN administrator to establish and maintain printer support. The other is print manager queue management, which automates the process of printer setup and selection for all network users.

Before users can select a print destination, the LAN administrator must enter information about each network printer into the printer catalog. The printer catalog identifies all of the printers attached to the network, including specific information about each printer, such as server name, queue name, and print driver. Printer information is then saved in a console database. Maintaining a printer catalog at the console also allows the LAN administrator to restrict printer use based on such criteria as login ID and workstation ID. In addition, the printer catalog is the maintenance tool for updating printer settings whenever they change. Once the catalog is established, the LAN administrator has a single source for printer information. When printer support is established through a printer catalog, an icon can be assigned to each printer—a process that facilitates printer selection among users.

Through the print manager catalog, the LAN administrator can exercise full control over printer use. Printers can be made available to all users or assigned to specific users based on such criteria as hardware, station, users, or groups. Users select printers from a pull-down list or a set of icons that includes only those which the LAN administrator has authorized them to access. Since printer access is tied to a user’s group and user rights, users only see the printers they are authorized to use.

This kind of flexibility is helpful when a printer is used for only certain print jobs. For example, a printer might be used solely for printing accounting forms, and the paper tray is stocked with forms numbered sequentially. Submitting a print request for a document other than this form would disrupt the numbering system.

The LAN administrator can also manage printers to facilitate document distribution. For each report, a recipient profile can be created, which describes how it will be handled. A report can go to the sales department’s printer, for example, or be delivered to specific users via electronic mail. E-mail is useful when the report requires further manipulation or integration into another file. Since various recipients may need only a few pages of a large report, the specific pages or portions of pages can be selected for print or electronic delivery via page selection profiles. The printer management tools track report delivery and maintain an audit trail of all reports.

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