HELP ME PLEASE!!!!

[jordantellier]

ok so im stuck with this problem and really not sure of a good valid solution to it to incorporate everythign they are asking. any suggestions?

As discussed, WFCU operates a Microsoft Windows 2003 Sever environment primarily relying on Dell workstations and IBM servers. Currently, each user at our Head Office (2800 Tecumseh Road) and our Administration Office (3290 Jefferson Blvd.) has access to their own local desktop printer. The inventory includes twenty five (25) HP LaserJet 1200, fifteen (15) HP LaserJet 1100 and ten (10) Lexmark E232 laser printers. With a planned move to our new head office, I am looking to implement some form of network printing for the majority of our users. Most of the effected users will all be located on the second floor of our new building. Each department (seven in total) needs designated printer(s) for use only by their specific staff. The design of the second floor provides a common workspace for each department. Each department has their own unique printing demands, for example Accounting has very heavy printing volumes where as Administration prints a couple pages per user per day. We must implement a solution that provides certain employees within each department priority over others when printing. There is no need for colour hardcopies. Having the ability to identify the owner of each hardcopy would be beneficial. In addition, users may want to schedule printing at a time that is most convenient to them. Furthermore, some users may want to password protect their print requests so the hardcopy is not printed until they are standing near the network printer(s). We do not have any budgeted funds available to purchase new equipment and/or software. Furthermore, the existing desktop printers are all in good working condition and some are not yet fully depreciated. Therefore, we are looking to rely on existing hardware and/or software as much as possible.

i have looked up stats for the printers

by standard options...no printers have any networking ports, yet i have e-mailed and asked to see if any options were purchased at the time to see networking capability was included.

the lexmark is the fastest printer, with the biggest buffer size

followed by the HP 1200

the 1100 is the slowest

i have e-mailed and asked the followign

-total employees

-printing demands from each dept

-if there were any spaare worksta
ion/desktop systems availible if needed

-if there was any availible hardware (such as print servers/hubs/swtiches with built in printing ports etc.)

so does anyone have any clue as to where i should start with this little problem i need to have answered by friday at 11am???

ill be researching and starting a logical design, if you have any suggestions, please feel free to let me know..

thank you all very much

whenever they reply to me about the questions that i have submitted, i will let you know

thank you all again

 

[Baredor]

Tried to think of anyway I can help, but I don't know of much. They're going to have to either fork out for Jetdirects, which are ridiculously expensive, or set up PCs to have shared local printers - which will be an inefficient pain. This, of course, you already know.

We have only a single 1200, but use a Jetdirect 175x on it. I map it by IP only through the port, not DNS.

Honestly, I wouldn't say any of those printers are good candidates for 'very heavy print volumes'. They would be better off imo to share out a few of them, but to buy a very good enterprise class printer and network it for use by the heaviest users.

 

[RyanL]

Best bet....setup each cluster "department" in a sub network by useing subnetting, and setup a high volume network printer in there subnet.

 

[MorfiusX]

In order to set this up properly, you are going to need to have a print server. You probably should invest in JetDirects or any other LTP > Ethernet bridge. Once you have that in place and all the printers are network printers, you can control permisions, que priority, etc from a central location.

 

[jordantellier]

yes...i know it would be easier to buy better printers....or even usb print servers...but the whole point is that i can't

my idea is what you guys listed out....split up the departments into printing demands...dlegegate the slower printers to the less demanding departments.

and then just share them through specific workstations. making sure that they can only print to the printers dedicated to their department



since accounting was labeled as high demand printing...so i can dedicate more printers to that deparment...so the user/printer ratio is lower...perhaps even give one printer per employee/




but what i am really stuck on is two things

how to identify each hard copy printed by users

and 2

password protect some print jobs?

 

[jordantellier]

BUMP

 

[jordantellier]

is anyone in here familiar with samba/cups servers


im wondering if i set up a CentOS server (since its free) to run a dedicated print server, if it will allow me to prioritze printing jobs...as well as password protect them?

 

[Axeldoomeyer]

First of all you do not have to have a "dedicated" print server. Any server can act as a print server. All a print server does is create a "direct ip connection" to the printer and then it is shared out. Then you can put permissions against the printer to allow disallow certain groups to print to that printer.

In order for a printer to be a network printer it needs a JetDirect or another brand of "printserver" <-- I use this term lightly. This is actually a media converter that converts LPT or USB to Ethernet. You must assign an IP to this print device.

In order to do "secure" or "confidential" print your printer must support this feature. This feature allows a user to send a print job to a printer and then the printer requires a PIN number to allow the job to be printed from the printers memory, so the print job cannot be printed unless the user types in the PIN number. The reason that "secure" and "confidential" are quoted is becuase they are registered trademarks of HP and Lexmark. This is done through the print driver.

If you have access to Funding you might look at HP's Print Server Appliance (PSA). This is a print server that installs in a rack. Keep in mind that all of the printers must be network capable to use this device.

I hope this helps.

If you need more info send me an email to my forum name @ gmail . com