- CompTIA A+ 220-901 Exam Topics
- Key Topics
- Selecting a Printer
- Installing Printers
- Installing Multifunction Printers for SOHO
- Printer Drivers
- Configuring the Printer
- Local Connections
- Network Printer Installation
- Wireless Printing
- Cloud Printing/Remote Printing
- Apple Printing
- Secure Printing
- Study Resources
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Network Printer Installation
Network printers can reduce the cost of doing business by allowing multiple users to access a single device. Usually the printer will have a built-in Ethernet connection. Any locally connected printer can be turned into a networked printer by sharing it, or by creating a new TCP/IP port to connect. Wireless and Ethernet are the most commonly used network connections for printers. Each should have a specific logical IP address.
When installing a network printer, the Add Printer Wizard scans for available printers on the network. When the printer is selected, Windows automatically searches for drivers. If the printer is not found, Windows provides a method of browsing using the printer name or IP address in order to configure the printer manually.
Print Servers
A print server is responsible for controlling multiple printers, including the queues, spooling, sharing, pooling, and permissions. A Windows client can be configured as a print server, especially if it is sharing multiple devices. A print server also can be a device called an external print server that plugs into the network, and it can be a service on a server, dedicated to managing all network printing.
Figure 26-1 shows how a typical print server might be set up.
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Figure 26-1 Print Server Setup
Configuring a Network Printer in Windows
A Microsoft Windows shared printer is also known as a print server. A shared printer is similar to sharing a folder on a Windows machine. Be aware that Windows does not consider a printer as an actual device, but as a program that can provide services for more than one physical printer. It also considers both the drivers and the spooler as part of the printer.
Browsing and connecting to a printer on both workgroups and domains can be accomplished using the printer’s IP address or its name as a URL or by using its universal naming convention (UNC). A UNC name is assigned to a printer to provide users a method to access it. The UNC name is used in Windows OSes to identify both the computer and printer. It is important to know the syntax of the name:
Example: \\Win7\AdminInkJet
\\Win7 refers to the name of the computer controlling the printer.
\AdminInkJet refers to the name of the printer.
Sharing a printer using Microsoft’s OSes is done through the Devices and Printers applet. Support for other versions of OSes that use this printer can be provided by using the Additional Drivers button on the Sharing tab. This enables users to automatically download the correct driver when connecting. When an update to the driver is available, it only needs to be installed on the print server.
Authentication/Authorization
Network printers usually come with little or no default security. Most printers will allow full access unless specific steps are taken to control it—both physically and through the network. Setting rights for printer authorization and authentication occurs within the domain or workgroup level, not the printer level.
The Devices and Printers applet and Print Management console comprise the methods for managing printers in Microsoft OSes for both local and network printers. Either can be used to set printing authorization and permissions.
Share permissions can be used to secure locally shared printers. Share permissions affect only the printer being shared. Permission can be assigned to each person who uses the printer or to a group of users.
Windows provides four types of printer permissions:
Print—Each user can print, cancel, pause, or restart documents.
Manage documents—Manage all jobs for a printer waiting in the queue.
Manage printers—Rename, delete, share, and choose preferences for the printer; choose printer permissions for other users and manage all jobs for the printers (administrator group manage printers by default).
Special permissions—Used only by administrators to change the printer owner.
Printer Pooling
A printer pool uses two or more identical physical printers with a single logical printer showing on your computer. Printer pools have the following characteristics:
All printers in the pool are identical.
All printers must share the same print driver.
Printer ports can be mixed.
All printers are in one location, which makes it impossible to predict which will print.
The advantage of printer pooling is that one broken printer or one print error will not affect the print jobs coming in behind it. It will be redirected to another printer. It also allows more printers to share the print load, which is especially important for large print jobs that can tie up a printer. Figure 26-2 shows how to set printer pooling under the Ports section of a printer.
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Figure 26-2 Enable Printer Pooling
Network Connections
A shared printer can use PC ports. A network printer connection includes the most common network ports as well as the following:
Network connection—RJ-45 connector with unshielded twisted pair (UTP) is the most common.
Wireless—Connect using Wi-Fi - 802.11 (a, b, g, n, ac) standards or Bluetooth.
Others—Includes Apple AirPrint, Epson iPrint, and HPePrint.
