Central vs. distributed models in Enterprise Printing Press

The global economy, is for businesses that require increasing pressure on companies across multiple geographies. When a society begins to see the solutions available on the spool extended market research, will soon see that there are two different (if non-polar), schools of thought on strategy for implementing advanced software spooling.

The two strategies are to use is a central server to print or install software on the spoolingvarious application servers distributed throughout the enterprise. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages.

The model of central banks print server

In the model of central print server, the company would simply install the software print management on a single central server for the entire company.

One of the advantages of a central server is the ability to print a single point of control and supervision over all firmsJobs and queues. This model can be easier because there is a single standard solution is to claim that education and lower the bottom of the printer administrator definitions. Because it is a single standard solution and not as a solution to be installed on multiple servers, has the potential to save money for the company by reducing costs for software licenses.

But while this model provides the single point of control, a major drawback is that there is a singlePoint of failure. Not only means that this company downtime in the event of a crash the print server or otherwise go offline, but there are also serious concerns about disaster recovery. In the event of a disaster situation for the centralized management of the press, the printing business for an indefinite period would be in line until the situation could be recovered, or a different location of the server may be selected to re-install and re-implement the solution for the pressure.

This seems asignificant qualification enough in itself, but also the model of central print server also means a loss of autonomy at the local level, the printed page, where administrators can manage not possible to queue and print jobs. Furthermore, the implementation of the solution central print spooler requires multiple hops across the network and consume valuable bandwidth will always be associated with the latency of printed opinions recovered.

Distributed Print Server Model

Dispatch centersServer model, on the other side is installed in various locations throughout the company - both in the order of several regional print server to be installed on each client workstation throughout the enterprise.

The advantages of these print-server models is that the print jobs and queues can be controlled locally, the press, with less reliance on central support and IT administrators. Since the print jobs to be done at local level, the level of workTraffic and the bandwidth to the central server is used print exponentially reduced, resulting in improved performance and response time. Finally, the Distributed Print Server Model provides a degree of redundancy, because downtime in a position does not mean that the level of business-to-end print jobs.

However, the benefits of the model Distributed Print Server are verified by the biggest cost to the company. Several plants means that moreSoftware licenses, which multiplies the cost of initial installation and increased maintenance costs of software on the server over renewal fees for licenses. Increasing the number of separate systems also increases the cost of training and maintenance of staff competence in software.

In the distributed print-server, you lose control center, which is the centralized model so appealing. They also have multiple printersTo keep the definitions with the decentralized model.

Decisions, decisions

The benefits of these solutions seem to be largely mutually exclusive to each other. However, we can deduce the significant benefits that a company would enjoy if they deploy a blended solution of print management that could take advantage of central pressure will provide the server (taking less printer definitions, the possibility of any place in the company to print on each companyPrinter, which, together with lower licensing fees for the central management of print expect) in addition to the benefits of software Distributed Print Server (lower traffic and bandwidth requirements on a central server, print performance faster with low latency and local print jobs and manage print jobs).

To implement an integrated solution, an institution may groped to integrate two separate solutions for managing print - a central printing management solution and a decentralized solution.However, this may prove not only costly but difficult to execute effectively the functions you want.

Print management of existing software packages, which offer features hybrid, though. This solution enables customers to implement a truly distributed printing and uses a central plant. You received much less printer definitions, a vision of work / code, a single standard solution, less education and lower administrativeRoyalties.

Among these models is multifunctional Plus Technologies' OM Plus software V2. In a hybrid solution for the print version as the software installed on a server in each data center. Only local queues are defined in each center (requires minimal administration and maintenance). The software gives each server the ability to automatically "advertising" for its code in all other servers on the network with the same software installed. In this way, all queues are available for all systemseven if they are defined only once. The user interface of each installation, users can (with a view of security as appropriate) of all workstations and printers on the network status from a single screen. System administration permissions are set to limit the functions performed locally vs. Central provides administrators a centralized control, which is normally found only in a central server management program of the press.

When a print spooler, the printer definition soughtthe local server. If your printer is not located directly on the site, the software-enabled server scans the other enabled server software for the printer and provides the print job accordingly. This feature allows all printers are available for all systems. All the local jobs are printed directly on the ground to ensure efficient use of the low latency and high performance.

With this special software license fees are minimal, since the number of queues license based on the prices seteach server. Therefore, only small local licenses are required. That is, the number of queues and the associated price remained low. Print management tool like this a real solution to distributed management, print Printer redundant definitions across the company disposed of, while the ability to print on both local and remote print server.