Configuring secondary print servers and locally attached printers

This section covers the setup of a secondary print serverA print server is a system responsible for hosting print queues and sharing printer resources to desktops. Users submit print jobs to a print server rather then directly to the printer itself. A print server can be a dedicated server but on many networks this server also performs other tasks, such as, file serving in "Quick Start" format. For a detailed explanation of the underlying technology and what's happening behind the scenes see the subsequent sections.

A secondary print server is a system that directly hosts a printer. In many situations it can be a dedicated server, however, a secondary serverA PaperCut secondary server is a system that directly hosts a printer, that is, a print server with a Print Provider installed. A secondary server can be a server style system hosting many printers, a desktop style system hosting printer(s) also shared to other network users, or a desktop style system with the printer used only for local users (not shared). can also be a desktop system hosting a directly attached USB printer. If this printer is to be controlled and tracked by PaperCut NG, a small monitoring component needs to be installed. The monitoring component intercepts the local printing and reports this use back to the primary Application ServerAn Application Server is the primary server program responsible for providing the PaperCut user interface, storing data, and providing services to users. PaperCut uses the Application Server to manage user and account information, manage printers, calculate print costs, provide a web browser interface to administrators and end users, and much more.. A secondary server can be either :

1. A server style system hosting many printers.

2. A desktop style system hosting printer(s) also shared to other network users.

3. A desktop style system with the printer used only for local users (not shared).

The monitoring service is also referred to as a Print ProviderA Print Provider is a monitoring service installed on a secondary print server to allow PaperCut to control and track printers. This monitoring component intercepts the local printing and reports the use back to the primary Application Server. as its task is to provide information back to the main Application Server.

The process of setting up a secondary print server, depends on the operating system. Read the section appropriate to the required operating system.

If you have a networked environment but do not have a print server, you can configure your computers to print directly to a printer. For more information, see Configuring Direct Printing.