ABSTRACT
DURING THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT STAGE of local area networking technology, the sharing of expensive laser printers was one of the primary reasons cited for using that relatively new technology. Although the price of laser printers has significantly declined over the past decade, network printing remains an important application supported by LANs. Thus, it is important to understand the different options available for installing network printers, as well as the advantages and disadvantages associated with each option. Doing so will provide data center managers with information necessary to satisfy organizational network printing requirements in a cost-efficient manner, while considering such key issues as the effect of printing on other network operations, as well as network security
CONNECTION METHOD
There are four basic methods that can be used to connect a printer to a local area network. Those methods are:
• File server connection • Print server connection • Remote printer via PC connection • Direct connection
They are presented in the order that network printing technology developed and do not represent an order of preference. The remainder of this chapter examines each connection method in detail to understand the advantages and disadvantages associated with each method.
