Now that you have installed computers in every room in your home, office or building, you should probably have thought of setting up a printer for each computer. Having a printer for each computer terminal in any workspace could well be as impractical as it is expensive. It would be far more sensible if a printer is stationed in a room or row of computers. Since the running cost of printers is something that can easily mount up over time, then wiring up a printer to a number of computer units by way of a network (wireless or otherwise) sounds a good way to go.
Similar to internet connection, printing utilities may also be shared in a network of computers. With a home computer network, residents can share broadband to facilitate convenient file sharing. This system is equally useful to sharing printers. Say, you have more than one printer for different purposes, like laser printers for text and inkjet printers for photos; you can arrange a setup in which all the computers in the room or office will have access to all printers. To do that, there are certain requirements that must be met.
If you wanted to setup a network to allow all your computers to gain access to your printers, you need to have a home network, printer units and print server if your printer is network-capable. In creating a home network, some chooses to create a workgroup, which basically is a local system of connection in which all the computers in your home or office are connected to one another. You may either use your Windows operating system setup or a network setup program disk in completing this step. Creating a workgroup, enables your computer to begin conveniently sharing files within the network.
Network printer application requires a print server. The print server will be responsible in managing the documents to be printed, which is transmitted via the network cable. In networking terms, the print server is a program that arbitrates the print data from a multiple computer units to the specified printer unit.
To connect the printer to the network, you can physically connect it to the main computer or the computer that actually runs the network operating system. All print jobs will be submitted by from the computer to the print server software on the network's file server. The printer must be located near the fileserver. This kind of setup is commonly used in small workgroup or small office networks.
The ease of enabling printer sharing would depend on the hardware you are using. If you have a network printer, then setting up tasks will be simpler. All you need to do is follow the instructions that came with the printer. If your printer is network-capable, using a print server to connect to your router's Ethernet port and your printer is highly recommended and extremely important to ensure smooth printer sharing and printing operations. If you happen to be unable to find a compatible print server, you can always use a third-party print server with any printer, provided that the devices share either a USB or parallel port connection. If you are using a WiFi network, you can also use a wireless print server, which usually connects via USB or parallel port to your printer and your router.
Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For a wide range of printers and products by brand, he recommends Printware Ltd, a leading provider of Colour Laser Multifunction Printers.
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