PaperCut NG is a comprehensive print and Internet management system designed to seemlessly monitor and control your resources with easy to use administrative and user tools that can be securely accessed from anywhere on the network though a web browser.
This chapter provides an overview of print management functionality and concepts. Details of the Internet control module can be found in Chapter 15, Net Control in Detail.
Print management requirements vary from organization to organization, and often change dramatically within an organzation over time. PaperCut NG is designed for flexibility and scalability and can be configured to meet your print management needs now and in the future. It is used in a wide variety of environments ranging from universities with large printer fleets supporting over 100,000 users to smaller organizations that track printing for a fewer than 50 users on 3 or 4 printers. You can implement a basic system within a few minutes, or if you need more than simple monitoring and reporting, you can configure powerful features that include differential pricing, blocking filters and programatic control via APIs and scripting. No matter where you start, you can easily adjust parameters to implement changes as gradually or quickly as you wish.
Possible implementations can include:
Silent activity monitoring
Visible activity monitoring and expense tracking by work area, projects and departments
Quota/allowance enforcement
Charge per-print system
Combinations of all of the above to accommodate various user / group profiles
In addition PaperCut NG provides system administrators with a kit of tools to manage printers including:
Detailed logging and reporting
Notifications for printer errors and low toner
Job blocking filters and re-direction
Some of the key benefits of PaperCut NG are:
Transfers accountability to users or departments by individually tracking activity.
Creates environmental awareness by drawing users' attention to the impact of their specific usage.
Reduces overall printing cost through job filtering, enforcing flexible quotas, or direct cost recovery.
Discourages overuse of IT resources by establishing a managed print environment.
Improves efficiency by allowing administrators to create rules that can steer printing to designated printers for load balancing, to implement 'Find Me' printing, or to redirect print jobs based on criteria defined using advanced scripting tools.
Improves network reliability by implementing rules to prevent printer queue jams, queue hogging, and inappropriate printing types.
Some of the key features of PaperCut NG are:
Track all printing activity by user, client account, printer and document metadata.
Enforce per user quotas, or group account budgets
Differential print cost/charging allowing costs to be assigned on a per printer basis with advanced options to charge different amounts based on document type (e.g. color, grayscale or duplex), page size, user or group.
Hardware neutral solution supports all major printer types and operating systems. No hardware vendor lock-in!
Both cross-platform and multi-platform support. Run a mix of Windows and/or Linux print servers and support clients ranging from Windows, Mac, Linux, Unix and Novell OES.
User Web Tools allow end-users to track usage, transfer funds, request refunds and upload documents from unauthenticated (wireless) laptops.
Provides end-users with advanced options to allocate print jobs to shared accounts, cost centers, faculties or departments.
Single sign-on user authentication with native Active Directory integration or synchronization with LDAP user accounts. (no separate passwords to manage!)
Flexible hold/release queue support with Release Station software allowing administrators to implement management approved or secure user release printing environments.
Service Oriented Architecture utilizing the latest software design methods including, test driven development, XML Web Services and layered architecture. This ensures scalability and stability by design.
Advanced reporting and charts available in standard formats including PDF, Excel, and HTML. All reports accessible from anywhere on the network via a standard web browser.
Ability to run on top of leading 3rd party Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL and PostgreSQL Database.
Enterprise level security and encryption based on SSL.
Open architecture with a powerful scripting language, source code access and API documentation.
PaperCut NG supports the following server platforms:
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (any edition)
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (any edition)
Microsoft Windows 2000 (Pro and Server)
Microsoft Windows XP (Pro and Pro x64)
Microsoft Windows Vista (any edition except Home editions)
Microsoft Windows 7 (any edition except Home editions)
Mac OS X 10.4 - 10.7 (i.e. Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion) (both PowerPC and Intel supported)
Novell Open Enterprise Server 2 (OES2 SP1+)
Most modern Linux operating systems including:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (AS 3.0, ES 3.0, AS 4.0, ES 4.0)
Novell SuSE Linux (8.2, 9.0+)
Fedora Core
Debian (3.1+) and Ubuntu
With print queues hosted via:
Samba based print queues
CUPS based print queues
Servers and clients must use user ID/username based authentication (e.g. Active Directory, Windows NT, LDAP, or local system accounts).
Sites with more than 500 users should consider a server class system with more than 512MB of RAM and 500 MB of free disk space.
PaperCut NG supports approximately 90% of printers on the market. Where possible we recommend printers that support one of the two major printer language standards - Postscript or PCL. Up-to-date information on printer compatibility is covered on the PaperCut Software website knowledge base at: PaperCut Knowledge Base Printer Information
On workstation clients:
All supported Microsoft Windows platforms (Windows 95 and later)
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher recommended
Most modern Linux and Unix Operating Systems (Java 5.0+ required for optional client tool)