How
to Create the Printer Queues
Now that you have properly configured the Spooler
resource with the necessary resources, you can create all of the print queues
for all of the physical printers. You can also use the Clustool utility from
the Resource Kit to migrate previously existing printer queues on a server to a
clustered server. After that, use the Print Migrate utility to migrate the
printer drivers. For best results, avoid having multiple servers configured to
communicate directly with the same printer.
1. From one of the nodes or a remote computer that has
administrative permissions to the cluster click Start, click Run, type
\\VirtualServer where VirtualServer is the name that is specified for the
Network Name resource on which the Spooler resource is dependent.
2. Double-click the Printers folder.
3. Double-click Add Printers to open the Add Printer
Wizard, and then click Next.
4. Select Create a new port, and then click Next.
Note: TCP/IP ports are the only supported port type on a
Windows Clustering. Use the Standard TCP/IP Port option unless the printing
clients need RFC-compliant LPR ports. If this is the case, follow these steps:
1. In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs,
and then click Add/Remove Windows Components to start the Windows Components
Wizard.
2. Under Components, scroll down and click to select the
Other Network File and Print Services check box.
3. Click Details to open the Other Network File and
Print Services window, click to select the Print Services for UNIX check box,
and then click OK to close the Other Network File and Print Services window.
4. Click Next to continue with the Windows Components
Wizard.
When you complete the wizard, the LPR port will be
available as a port type. By default, according to RFC 1179, LPR will use only
eleven TCP ports.
5. Type the IP address of the network printer that you
want to process the print jobs in the Printer Name or IP Address box.
You no longer have to create a locally-defined printer
port configuration for each node. In Windows 2000 (and later) the port
configuration is stored in the cluster registry and is therefore shared between
all cluster nodes, under the following key:
HKEY_Local_Machine\Cluster\Resources\%Spooler
GUID%\Parameters\Monitors\
6. Choose the appropriate driver for this printer, and
then click Next.
7. Give the printer a unique name on the cluster server.
8. Choose a share name for the printer; this name must
also be unique on this cluster. You do not want to have any other printers with
the same share name on this cluster, even if they are in a different group and
associated with a different Spooler resource.
9. Test the printing for this printer:
After you add all the desired print queues, use Cluster
Administrator to move the group that contains the Print Spooler resource to all
other nodes. This copies the printer drivers from the \PrinterDrivers folder on
the shared disk to the %SystemRoot%\System32\Spool\Drivers\%Spooler
GUID%\Drivers folder on that node.
For Detail Info: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278455
Benefits
of Print Server
Sunday, January 31, 2010 Labels: cheap print server,
network monitoring 0 comments
Print server can be a computer or any device which is
capable of connecting with one or more printers along with the client computers
over a network.
Print server has many benefits because it lowers the
administrative and management workload. A print server enables an administrator
to manage and control access to each printer. Three level of printer
permissions are available, print, manage documents and manage printer. Print
permission is granted to everyone in the group. It allows a user to print
documents, pause, resume, start and cancel his documents.
Manage documents permission is allocated by
administrator to some selected users for controlling job settings for all
documents. Manage printer permission enables the user to pause and restart the
printer, share a printer, adjust printer permissions, modify printer properties
and modify spooler settings.
Client computer jobs are quickly spooled to print server
when compared to printer. The main point to be noted is that while printing
large jobs from an own printer, resources of client computer are used and he
may have to leave his computer running until printing task gets completed. But
with the use of print server, if any job has been spooled to it, then user can
shutdown his system without any harm.
Print server can also work according to priority of
documents. The document with the highest priority will be printed first.
How
to Set Up a Di450 Print Server to Vista
Thursday, October 15, 2009 Labels: cheap print server,
file and print server monitoring, multifunction print server, network print
server, print server, print server software 0 comments
This post provides print server support for Microsoft
windows Vista operating system and provide steps by steps solution to fix
multifunction print server
The Minolta Di450 all-in-one machine is meant for
high-capacity printing applications such as printing multiple documents with
many pages in rapid succession for a home or office computer network. If you
want all of the computers on your network to be able to access the Minolta
printer individually, you can set up a print server by using the built-in
networking features of the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system.
Insert the software installation disc that came with the
Minolta Di450 printer into the computer on your network that is closest to the
router. Follow the instructions that will pop up on the computer screen to
install the Minolta printer software.
Take an Ethernet cable and connect one end into the
Ethernet port on the back of the Minolta Di450 printer. Connect the other end
into an open Ethernet port on the back of your network's router.
Open the "Start" menu on the computer where
you installed the Minolta software. Click on the icon labeled "Control
Panel." Scroll through the options and locate the icon labeled as
"Network and Sharing Center." Double click the icon to bring up a new
window. Click on the "View Computers and Devices" link at the left
side of the window.
Click on the blue button labeled "Add A
Printer" at the top of the window. Click on the "Add a Network
Printer" button, then click on the "Next" button at the bottom
of the window. Wait for the list of available printers to appear on the menu
screen. Click on the Minolta printer, then click on "Next." Click
"OK" to finish the process.
Close the "Network and Sharing Center" window.
Access the other computers on the network that will need to use the Minolta
printer and repeat the process of adding the printer in the "Network and
Sharing Center" menu.
How
To Troubleshoot a Print Server
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Labels: cheap print server,
multifunction print server, network print server, print server, print server
software, print server support 0 comments
This post provides print server support to fix print
server problems, If you have problem with your print server listed below you
can get troubleshooting via this post.
1) If the printer is printing "garbage"
characters, go to step 7b).
2) If there is a Windows error message when printing
then, consult Windows Server Support.
3) Try printing from another computer. If this is
successful, then there is a problem with your computer configuration, not the
print server. Consult the computer and operating system documentation.
4) Turn off the print server, then turn it on. Test
whether print server works.
5) Run the print server Setup Wizard. (Start >
Programs > NETGEAR Print Server > NETGEAR Print Server Setup Wizard.)
6) For PC users, In the "Network Protocols on this
PC" one of the three protocols must read "installed".
7) Click Next in the Wizard. If the print server is on
the list found then:
(Retest your printer if you make changes to any of the
following.)
7a) Check the print server's IP address. If it is
0.0.0.0, then the printer is not recognized. Unless you have a router, the
print server's IP must be on the same segment. To set the IP, click Next until
you see the TCP/IP screen. If you have a DHCP server on your network, select
Obtain IP Address Automatically. Otherwise, click Fixed IP Address, and Suggest
New Values. Click Next and Finish to exit the Wizard.
7b) If the printer does not match the printer driver in
the operating system then run the Add Printer Wizard. (As described in the
product manuals.)
7c) If the printer driver is PSName_Px, then run the Add
Printer Wizard, or change it to the print server port.
7d) Disable the printer's bidirectional feature, if it's
turned on.
8) Else, if the print server is not found:
8a) Click Refresh.
8b) Make sure you can access other places from your
computer. If you can't, then troubleshoot computer or Internet connectivity.
8c) If you are running a software firewall, disable it,
and use the NETGEAR firewall, instead. (It's almost certain to be faster.) This
includes the Windows XP firewall — which may have been turned on during Windows
upgrade or installation without you being aware of it. See Firewalls that
Conflict with NETGEAR Such as Windows XP — unless you know for certain this
feature isn't on.
Wireless
Print Servers
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Labels: print server, wireless
print server 0 comments
A wireless print server allows one or two printers to be
conveniently shared across a WiFi network. Wireless print servers for home
networks generally are available in both 802.11b and 802.11g varieties.
Wireless print servers offer the following advantages:
* Allows printers to be conveniently located anywhere
within wireless network range, not tied to the location of computers
* Does not require a computer be always turned on in
order to print
* Does not require a computer to manage all print jobs,
that can bog down its performance
* Allows administrators to change computer names and
other settings without having to re-configure the network printing settings.
A wireless print server must be connected to printers by
a network cable, normally USB 1.1 or USB 2.0. The print server itself can connect
to a wireless router over WiFi, or it can be joined using an Ethernet cable.
Most print server products include setup software on a
CD-ROM that must be installed on one computer to complete the initial
configuration of the device. As with network adapters, wireless print servers
must be configured with the correct network name (SSID) and encryption
settings. Additionally, a wireless print server requires client software be
installed on each computer needing to use a printer.
The Linksys WPS54G 802.11g USB wireless print server is
shown. Print servers are very compact devices that include a built-in wireless
antenna and LED lights to indicate status.
Source: compnetworking.about.com/
Print
Server Features
Monday, February 2, 2009 Labels: print server, Print
Server Features 0 comments
A print server helps reduce administrative and
management workload by centralizing local and remote printer management at the
print server. It also simplifies many of the labor intensive functions
experienced by users when using direct IP printer connections. This section
describes the key print server features and their benefits to both the
administrator and the end user.
Point and Print
Point and Print allows a user to create a new connection
to a shared printer without requiring the user to install any software for that
printer. Point and Print downloads the printer files and configuration
information automatically when a user installs the printer. Point and Print
will update the user’s printer software as the printer software is updated on
the server.
Point and Print also updates printer driver
configurations when they change. For example, the administrator might install a
new printer option such as a duplexer or a stapler. After the administrator
reconfigures the driver to use the new feature, Point and Print will update the
configuration for each user of that printer.
In contrast, those users with a direct IP connection to
a shared printer must have that printer’s current version of the printer
software available to them, as well as the permission to install and configure
that software on their computer. This process may be manageable and actually
quite reasonable in a small office, but as the number of users or printers
grows, distributing and updating this software for each potential printer user
can become a difficult task.
In addition, Point and Print can help you avoid security
issues because users do not need Administrator access to their machines in
order to install the software for a new printer. Point and Print installs the
software on the user’s machine automatically in a limited system context, which
protects against security issues that take advantage of a user running with
Administrator access.
Users connecting to shared printers using direct IP
connections must have Administrator or Power User access to their system in
order to install the necessary printer software. These elevated levels of
access may allow virus software running on the machine to cause severe damage
to users’ systems and, in the worst case, to other computers on the network.
File
& Print Server Monitoring
The Sentry-go Quick File & Print Monitor allows you
to quickly & easily monitor your Windows File & Print server, including
local printers & print queues, changes made to both local and remote files,
the contents of those files, directory changes & structure modifications,
entries written to local Event Logs.
If problems are detected, it can either take automatic
action, or alert you before end-users are affected. Using it's in-built
web-based reporting, you also have immediate access to monitored information
direct from your web browser.
Monitoring Features
Monitor key
services
You can
monitor key Windows & Print Spooler services running on the local server
out of the box. In addition, custom services can also be added, monitored &
automatically restarted.
Check the
status of local printers
Print
monitoring allows you to check for & be alerted to errors on local printers
such as paper jams, out of paper errors, attention required etc.
Check the
status of local print queues
Printer queue
monitoring & print monitoring allows you to check for & be alerted to
problems associated with a local print queue - e.g. excessively high queue
length, print job size (higher than expected no. pages or job size) etc.
Changes made
to files & directories
By monitoring
files & monitoring directories, you can be alerted to changes in files,
directory structure or the underlying file system. For example, files added,
deleted, when files have been updated or not updated, directory/file count,
directory/file sizes etc.
Monitor Server
& Print Spooler performance
Out of the box
you can monitor the threshold of important Windows & Print Spooler
performance counters such as CPU usage, queue lengths, print job errors etc.
Monitor errors
written to the Windows Event Log
Sentry-go
allows you to monitor messages written to the Windows Event Logs based on error
type, event ID, source or keywords & phrases within the text.
Monitor
messages written to custom log files
In addition to
Event Logs, log file monitoring can easily be performed using Sentry-go. Using
this, you can also monitor the entries written to text-based log files such as
those used for custom applications, based on keywords or phrases within the
text.
Ensure
sufficient disk space is available
To print, the
print spooler needs adequate free disk space. Sentry-go can check this for you,
clearing down temporary files automatically if free space becomes limited.
Respond Automatically or Alert
Quick Monitors allow you to respond in a number of ways,
in the event a fault is detected ...
Respond
automatically by running a command, application, batch file or script
Automatically
restart a failed Windows Service or reboot the server
Alert you via
network messaging, standard or custom e-mails
Different
alerting methods based on day of week and time of day
Alert you via
the Quick Monitor Console
Alert you via
your SMS pager gateway provider Interface with external systems via SMTP, HTTP,
or scripting
Log details to
a SysLog Server, database or text file
Web-based Reporting
The built-in web server provides access to the following
information direct from your desktop browser ...
Standard
reports - for recent alerts, current status & performance history
Real-time
Printer & Print Queue Summary
Real-time
Printer & Queue Status
Source:sentry-go.com/qm-file-print-server-monitoring.aspx
Print
Server Features
Monday, February 2, 2009 Labels: print server, Print
Server Features 0 comments
A print server helps reduce administrative and
management workload by centralizing local and remote printer management at the
print server. It also simplifies many of the labor intensive functions
experienced by users when using direct IP printer connections. This section
describes the key print server features and their benefits to both the administrator
and the end user.
Point and Print
Point and Print allows a user to create a new connection
to a shared printer without requiring the user to install any software for that
printer. Point and Print downloads the printer files and configuration information
automatically when a user installs the printer. Point and Print will update the
user’s printer software as the printer software is updated on the server.
Point and Print also updates printer driver
configurations when they change. For example, the administrator might install a
new printer option such as a duplexer or a stapler. After the administrator
reconfigures the driver to use the new feature, Point and Print will update the
configuration for each user of that printer.
In contrast, those users with a direct IP connection to
a shared printer must have that printer’s current version of the printer
software available to them, as well as the permission to install and configure
that software on their computer. This process may be manageable and actually quite
reasonable in a small office, but as the number of users or printers grows,
distributing and updating this software for each potential printer user can
become a difficult task.
In addition, Point and Print can help you avoid security
issues because users do not need Administrator access to their machines in
order to install the software for a new printer. Point and Print installs the
software on the user’s machine automatically in a limited system context, which
protects against security issues that take advantage of a user running with
Administrator access.
Users connecting to shared printers using direct IP
connections must have Administrator or Power User access to their system in
order to install the necessary printer software. These elevated levels of
access may allow virus software running on the machine to cause severe damage
to users’ systems and, in the worst case, to other computers on the network.
Build a Print Server From an Old Computer
Monday, December 22, 2008 Labels: install print server,
print server 0 comments
How to Build a Print Server From an Old Computer?? Below
are the tips, follow and save your money as well as time:
Make sure your
computer is up to snuff. It doesn't take a lot to build a print server. All you
need is a machine with a 386 processor or faster, 8 megs of RAM, a parallel
port and a floppy drive.
Install an ethernet network adapter card. If the machine
doesn't already have an ethernet port, you'll need to install one. It doesn't
have to be up-to-date either, an old 10 Mbps PCI card ought to do the trick.
Install winzip
and winimage. You'll need these programs to unpack the printer server software.
Visit the Winzip and Winimage websites and read how to download and install it
(
Download the
print server software. We'll be using a free print server from Pigtail.net. See
the link below in Resources to download.
Download a
network card driver. You'll need a file called modules.lrp. There are many
different versions of it, however, so follow the link for a modules.lrp list in
the Resources section.
Open winimage.
If you installed it to the default directory, you'll need to click
"Run" and then type C:\winimage\winimage.exe.
Create a disk
image. Drag and drop the printsrv image into the winimage window. This is the
file you downloaded in Step 3. Next, drag and drop the modules.lrp file in.
Save the image
onto a disk. Insert a blank disk into your A drive and click Disk | Write.
Connect your
printer and power up. Connect the print server to the network. Connect a
printer to the print server with a parallel printer cable, insert the disk you
just wrote and boot it up. It will beep 3 times to indicate that it is ready.
Set up client
printers. In XP, click Start | Control Panel | Printers and Faxes | Add a
printer | Local Printer. Uncheck "Auto Detect PnP." Click
"Create new port" and then "Standard TCP/IP port." Type in
the IP address as 192.168.1.252, the port name as PrintSrv and under Custom |
Settings | Raw | Port, type in 9100.
File
Server Migration to Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 has been out for a while and has
proven to be a stable operating system. Now that Microsoft has released the
first "real" service pack (SP2), more companies are looking at the
possibility of upgrading to Windows Server 2008. Although the coexistence of
Windows Server 2008 and Windows 2003 shouldn't pose a problem, the actual
server migration process can be a bit tricky. In this article, I want to talk
about some of the issues that you may encounter when migrating file servers.
The file server migration process can be deceptively
simple. In fact, Microsoft offers a free utility to assist you with the
migration process. Even so, there is usually a lot more to performing a
migration than just running a migration utility.
Hardware considerations
One of the first things to consider is whether or not
you will be reusing your existing file server hardware. Keep in mind that if
you deploy new server hardware, then the migration process will likely be
easier -- especially if you are using the Windows Distributed File System (DFS)
on your current file servers. One of the primary advantages to using new
hardware is that you can leave your existing server in its current state. That
way, if something goes wrong during the migration process, you can still fall
back on your old server.
If you choose to reuse your existing hardware, it's
important to carefully plan the operating system upgrade. This is especially
true if you are using DFS or a clustering solution.
How long will the migration take?
Another major consideration is the amount of time it
takes to complete the file server migration process. For instance, suppose you
are not using DFS, and you want to use new hardware to host the new file
server. In that situation, you can install and configure Windows Server 2008 on
the new server without disrupting the users.
The File Server Migration Toolkit
Microsoft has created a free download called the File
Server Migration Toolkit that you can use to get around the UNC path issue for
migrations to Windows Server 2003 or 2008.
PRINTBRM.exe
Print queue
Backup/Recovery/Migration.
Syntax
PRINTBRM -b -s \\server_name -f file_name
options
PRINTBRM -r -s \\server_name
-f file_name options
PRINTBRM -q options
Key
-s server_name
The unc path to the print server.
-b Back up the server to the
specified file.
-r Restore the configuration in the
file to the server.
-q Query the server or the backup
file.
-f file_name The backup file.
-d directory Unpack the backup file to the directory
(with -r),
or
repack a backup file from the directory (with -b).
-o force Forces overwriting of existing objects.
-p all Publish all printers in the directory,
or
-p org Publish the printers that were
originally published.
-nobin Omit binary files from the backup.
-lpr2tcp Convert LPR ports to standard TCP/IP
ports on restore.
-c file_name Use the specified configuration file.
-noacl Remove ACLs from print queues on
restore.
In Windows 2008 PrintBRM replaces
the old Win 2003 PrintMig utility, it is backwards compatible with 2003.
Get a list of all printer share
names for a print server: net view \\printserv1
Full detail available here: http://searchwindowsserver.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid68_gci1353653,00.html
No comments:
Post a Comment