Today, office and even home printing devices have the ability to network printing due to the presence of several computers in the office. Why have network printers become so popular?

Let's look at the advantages and possible disadvantages of network printers. To put it correctly, there is a printer with a network interface, which means a printer that operates via a tcp/ip interface and does not require a computer for printing, since it is itself equipped with a print server. By the way, the print server can be purchased separately, but now this has become almost impossible, since it is built in and represents small fee dimensions 5x5 cm.

So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of a printer with a network interface:

1. Computer independence. There is no need to worry whether the computer to which the printer is connected is turned on. Since the printer is now a self-contained device, it does not require a computer connection. Many network printers also support printing directly from a memory card to pdf format and others.
2. Clear cost savings resulting from the first point, and the ability to install one large network printer instead of 3 small personal ones. Yes, large printer It costs more than one small one, but practically it can replace 3 small ones. In addition to this, we also get a significant reduction in the cost of printing, in other words, the price of a page will be several times cheaper. When printing volumes are large, organizations often purchase powerful printing systems and provide their employees with them. sharing over the network. This solution will allow you to save significant money on office printing.
3. Opportunity centralized management access. All network printers are installed on the server and managed by the administrator from one place. This also allows all users to automatically update drivers at the same time and connect new printing devices to their workstations.
4. Possibility of installation automated systems control and security. Availability of one common system allows you to install additional software systems, which are built into server software and allow you to conduct a print audit and make the necessary changes to the network printing process, for example, limit the number of prints per month or prohibit printing documents classified as secret.
5. Ergonomics. Network printer can be installed in a place convenient for you, without being limited by any distance to a personal computer.
6. And, of course, let’s not forget to mention the drawback – the rather high price compared to a “regular” printer. Let's consider the same printer model, equipped with and without a network interface. The price difference is 3%. Moreover, the price difference is constantly decreasing due to the increasing number of network printer models.

So, if you want to buy new printer, then it is definitely worth paying attention to a printer equipped with a network interface. If you already have a fleet of printing equipment, we are ready to audit it and find out the feasibility of replacing the fleet with a network printer. You can also take advantage of our No Cost Replacement solution.

What are the benefits of a network printer? How difficult is it to make a printer networkable? What ways are there for this?

What is a network printer? Such a printer is a device that is capable of performing print jobs from several different computers. But all this is possible provided that the computers are connected to the local network.

For network printers, it is very important that their software supports one to several protocols necessary for transmitting information. It’s not bad if we talk about IPP, since such a universal protocol makes it possible to print the necessary data even from a wide variety of operating systems. But the situation is completely different with USB and Bluetooth printers.

Today it is generally accepted that network printers are capable of displacing personal printers. It often happens that a more powerful and larger device in operation shows top scores in a shorter period of time than even several smaller ones. Also, if we talk about cost savings, it should be noted that one sheet printed using a network printer costs less than the same printed sheet coming out of a small device.

These days, there are many people who want to have a network printer. But not everyone knows how to solve this problem. We hope that our article will help you transform a simple printer into a network one. To do this, you can use one of the methods we propose:

1. The easiest way is through public access. This method has one drawback - the limited capabilities of such a network printer. So how should you install a network printer? This setup is quite standard method, for which the device must be connected to the computer.

The next step is to open “Printers and Faxes”, where you need to right-click on the printer icon and select the “Properties” line. A window will pop up on the screen in which you need to select “Access”. Stop at "Share" this printer" This inscription should be marked with a dot, and then written for shared resource network name. You must complete these steps by clicking “OK”.

But it is possible that instead of “Installed” you will see “No”. You can solve this problem by using a disk from your printer manufacturer. If you do not have such a disk, then you can download drivers for the device from the Internet. After all the steps described, you will become the proud owner of a shared network printer.

2. You can also connect using an external print server. It is worth noting that here we're talking about about a third party manufacturer. For this method, it is important to install the print server itself first. This is easy to do using the instructions included with it. Generally speaking, all actions are very similar to installing a shared printer.

But in in this case When installing, your choice should be made on the “ tab Local printer connected to this computer”, and then select the line “Create new port" In the proposed list, click on “Standard TCP/IP Port”.

3.Usage network card when connecting a network printer. The vast majority of printing devices have a network card inside that is designed for certain models. If you have just such a printer, then you cannot do without installing a board on the internal system bus of the device. If you do this, the data transfer will occur as quickly as possible. But if network card was installed in your printer by the manufacturer, then, most likely, using the disk (it should come with the device) installing a network printer will be as easy as pie. You just have to insert the disk and indicate your desire to make the printer network-based, and the installation will begin immediately.

List the main steps for connection network device you can do the following:

Go to “Start” and open “Printers and Faxes”;

Click on “Install a printer”;

The Printer Installation Wizard will appear, we click on “Next”;

We stop on the “Network printer, or printer connected to another computer” tab and click “Next”;

We find the line “Find a printer in Active Directory", then click "Next";

Find your printer in the list provided and click “OK” when selecting it;

The line “Ready” confirms the completion of the process.

After these steps, the network printer you installed should appear in your list of printers.

Queues. When the PC sends data for printing, it is temporarily saved as a file in a special directory. This file is called a job, and the special directory is called a queue. In NetWare 3.x, the queue is a subdirectory of the SYSTEM directory of the SYS volume. The subdirectory name has a QDR extension, for example SYS:SYSTEM\09000001.QDR. This subdirectory contains files that define queue parameters (*.SRV, *.SYS) and files with print jobs (*.Q). The file with the SRV extension contains a link to the print servers that serve this queue. A file with the SYS extension stores information required by the server printing to support the queue: number of the station that sent the job, user identification number, file name of the print job, time of queuing it, specified time start printing, etc. Each queue has one file with the extension SRV and SYS. When new tasks are added, the information in these files is updated. A print job is stored as a file with a Q extension. The queue ID number and serial number jobs in it, for example, 00090001.Q, 00090002.Q, etc. In NetWare 4.x/5.x, queue subdirectories can be located on any file server volume (in NetWare 3.x, queue subdirectories are always created in the SYSTEM volume SYS). If at least one queue is saved on a volume, a QUEUES directory is automatically created in its root, the subdirectories of which are queues. Queue settings are stored in the NDS tree as properties of the Print Queue object. Print server. A print server is a program that constantly scans print queues and routes jobs from the queues to printers. In NetWare 3.x, the print server can run either as an NLM module on file server, or as an EXE file on a dedicated workstation (see Fig. 8.13). A subdirectory is created for each print server in the SYS:SYSTEM directory. Its name matches the hexadecimal identifier of the corresponding Print Server object from the Bindery database. It contains files with service information required for the operation of the server itself. The FILESERV file contains data about the supported file servers. This subdirectory also contains files named PRINT.* (information for each specific printer), QUEUE.* (information about print queues), and NOTIFY.* (lists of users to notify when problems occur with the printer). Information contained in files with the same extension (for example, PRINT.000, QUEUE.000, and NOTIFY.000) refers to the same printer. In NetWare 4.x/5.x, the print server is implemented as an NLM module, i.e. it can only be loaded on the file server.

Only one print server can be loaded on one file server (this also applies to NetWare 3.x). Print server settings are stored in the NDS tree as properties of the Print Server.Printers object. Printers on NetWare networks can be connected in three ways. 1. To the file server. Five printers can be connected to the file server (three parallel and two serial ports). Each print server can serve up to 16 printers in NetWare 3.x, and up to 256 printers in NetWare 4.x/5.x. 2. To any PC running DOS or OS/2. In this case, the PC can be used in normal mode. At this station, you must manually download the necessary network printer software (RPRINTER.EXE - for NetWare 3.x, NPRINTER.EXE - for NetWare 4.x/5.x). 3. Directly to the network bus, if the printer is equipped with a special network card. In NetWare 4.x/5.x, printer settings are stored in the NDS tree as properties of the Printer object. To organize network printing, you must complete the following steps. 1. If necessary, use the PRINTDEF.EXE utility (for 3.x) or NetWare Administrator (for 4.x and 5.x) to describe new printing modes (ESC-noc-sequences that must be completed before printing), new print forms (number of lines per page and number of characters per line). 2. Describe the objects of queues, print servers, and printers using the PCONSOLE.EXE utility (for 3.x) or NetWare Administrator (for 4.x and 5.x). 3. Use the PRINTCON.EXE utility (for 3.x) or NetWare Administrator (for 4.x and 5.x) to describe the Print Job Configuration: print header, number of copies, default queue, etc. d. 4. Start the print server on a file server (PSERVER.NLM) or on a dedicated workstation (PSERVER.EXE - NetWare 3.x only). Below is an example of organizing printing from WINDOWS. Start interception Start WINDOWS Data, sent to the LPT port, are intercepted and transferred to a network queue, and then printed on a network printer. Printing parameters are selected from the description of the print job configuration L Finish interception Restart WINDOWS The data is printed on a printer connected to the local LPT port 5. If necessary, using the PCONSOLE.EXE utility (for 3.x) or NetWare Administrator (for 4. x and 5.x) perform print control (change the priority of the queue and the location of the job in the queue, hold the job in the queue, prevent the client from sending the job to the queue, prevent the print server from servicing the queue, etc.). Printing on the network is carried out: from network applications. This is the name given to applications that use the Network Print Service API. Examples include the NPRINT.EXE utility and the WordPerfect and QuattroPro packages; from non-network applications. This is the name for applications in which printed data is sent to the LPT port of the PC. To capture this data and transfer it to a network queue, use the CAPTURE command line utility. Examples of non-network applications include WINDOWS, LEXICON, NORTON. 8.1.

Of all the specialized mini-servers, print servers are perhaps the most common. This is due to their relatively low cost, as well as the minimal involvement of a network administrator in supporting these devices.

Why do you need a print server?

In organizations with local network For small and medium-sized businesses, the most common shared network printing option is to use a personal printer connected to one of the PCs. The main advantage of this method is its cost-effectiveness.

However, printing requires additional resources from the PC to which the printer is connected. At the same time, the performance of such a computer decreases significantly (especially when connecting a printer via a parallel port), and with large volumes of network printing, it becomes simply impossible to work on such a PC. In addition, if a large number of different operating systems are used on the local network, getting such a printer to function correctly when sending a print job from each PC is not an easy task.

On the other hand, dedicating one PC only for network printing, as well as purchasing a special network printer, is very financially expensive, especially if the printing volumes do not exceed the capabilities of the printing device used. So-called print servers are designed to help solve this problem.

What is a print server?

A print server is a small network device, costing $130 or more, to which one or more (depending on the type of device) printers can be connected. There are two types of print servers: external and internal. The former can work with any printer, regardless of the manufacturer. Internal - only with print server developer printers. This is due to the fact that the internal circuitry of the printer and the network device must be consistent at the microinstruction level central processor printer. In any case, the device is “transparent” to the OS and only requires correct settings its parameters for transport protocols used in the network.

Technical characteristics of print servers

Different models of print servers differ mainly in the number of ports for connecting printers to them, network speed (10 or 100 Mbps), as well as the range of supported network protocols and, as a consequence, the ability to work in “multi-operational” networks (i.e., local networks that use PCs running various types of OS).

Each print server comes with a proprietary administration program that has advanced or not so advanced configuration and diagnostic tools. As a rule, such software only works with devices from one manufacturer. However, these may not only include print servers. For example, the PS Admin program supplied with products from D-Link correctly recognized and made it possible to diagnose and change some parameters of this manufacturer's Internet servers. In addition, in some cases, it is possible to configure devices via IP using the model's built-in Web server (to access it, you must enter the print server's IP address in address bar Web browser), as well as using telnet.

Depending on the model and manufacturer of the print server, there are several possible options for its “behavior” on the network. Some models become visible on the network as separate PCs with printers connected to them. In this case, to install a printing device on a work computer, the usual algorithm for connecting a network printer is used. At the same time, on client machine you do not have to install any additional software from the print server developer. The latter is administered from the PC on which the configuration software is installed.

In another case, to install a printer connected to a print server on the user’s PC, it is necessary to install and configure the client part of the included software, which emulates the local printer port on his machine.

Our review included external print servers as the most versatile. Evidence of such versatility can be seen in the fact that a laser was connected to each of the devices and tested in operation. Lexmark printer Optra E+ is a device from a company whose print servers did not participate in the review. Let us immediately note that all nine models from five manufacturers passed this test with honor.

Well, now we invite our readers to familiarize themselves with the features of specific devices.

Axis

Axis 150

The 150th print server model from Axis is perhaps the least functional of all the devices included in the review. On the other hand, to configure it correctly, we needed to make a minimum of effort. Axis 150 only supports NetBEUI protocols (for OS Windows family and OS/2), as well as IPX (for NetWare). As a result, the NetPilot control program does not have a wealth of settings. You can only change some parameters of the print port and the frame type for the selected OS.

To install a print server, the user only needs to install the software from the supplied floppy disks (and this must be done on each PC from which it is intended to print to a printer connected to the print server) and select the correct port in the printer settings. When installing the device on the user's PC, only the part necessary to operate in the environment used (Windows/OS/2 or NetWare) is installed.

Axis 560

By the way, the device fully justifies its purpose as a print server, and there should not be any problems with its functioning. The Axis 150 has two parallel ports for connecting printers. Its front panel has power and availability indicators. network connection, and on the side of the device there is a reset button.

Model Axis 560 appearance practically no different from the previous one. The differences are that the Axis 560, in addition to two parallel ones, has another serial port for connecting printers. In addition, for connecting to a local network, the print server has both an RJ-45 socket and a BNC connector. Axis 560 operates on 10/100 Mbps networks, while the younger model operates only on a 10 Mbps network.

The D-Link DP-100 print server is designed to operate in a 10 Mbps local network and is connected to it via RJ-45 or BNC connectors. To connect printers, the model has two parallel inputs and one serial input. There are 5 indicators on the front panel of the device: power availability, network connection, and the activation of input ports for connected printers.

The DP-301P model is single-port (LPT) and allows you to do without a connecting cable to connect it to the printer - the server is simply “put on” the input port of the latter. Unlike the previous model, the DP-301P operates in 100 Mbps networks (the required mode is selected automatically).

D-Link DP-301P

Otherwise specifications, as well as the delivery package of both models are identical. The devices are multi-protocol and allow you to work in networks with the simultaneous use of different operating systems. The supported network protocols are IP, IPX, NetBEUI, and even AppleTalk, which is exotic in our latitudes.

The devices come with fairly detailed documentation (for English language), including a lengthy manual for the PS Admin control program. The latter is located on two floppy disks and has enough intuitive interface and allows you to manage a wide range of device settings - from setting the parameters of a print server using a specific protocol to monitoring the status of a specific connected printer. Moreover, the control program is compatible with everything model range D-Link - other devices from this manufacturer (in particular, Internet servers) currently connected to the local network are correctly recognized and configured.

D-Link PS Admin

The disadvantages of PS Admin include the fact that this program is designed for use only in Windows operating systems, as well as the fact that it works exclusively using the IPX/SPX protocol and in the absence of its support on the PC from which PS Admin is launched, available on the network devices are simply not found by the program. Although the latter applies only to management - correctly configured print servers function adequately without using this protocol.

On the other hand, installing IPX/SPX only for the sake of administering D-Link print servers, thereby increasing network traffic, not very justified. This is where the ability to manage devices via telnet can come to the aid of a network administrator. And although this method is not so visual, it is available for use in almost all known network operating systems.

HP JetDirect 170X

Both devices from HP belong to the line of HP JetDirect print servers and in terms of functionality they differ only in the ability of the 300X model to operate in 100-megabit networks, and are also single-port (LPT) and use an RJ-45 port to connect to the network.

On the rear panel of the HP JetDirect 300X there are 3 switches designed to set the data transfer speed (10 or 100 Mbps) and the operating mode (full-duplex or half-duplex). Unless absolutely necessary, you should not change the position of these controls, since the device in most cases automatically determines the required operating mode without any problems.

HP JetDirect 300X

HP JetDirect 170X and 300X support full set popular network protocols - IP, IPX, NetBEUI, AppleTalk - and are configured using a fairly powerful software tool HP JetAdmin, which provides the ability to configure a wide range of network options, search the network for a device by its physical, IP or IPX address, as well as obtain a large amount of diagnostic information. In addition, you can manage HP print servers through the embedded Web server or using telnet.

HP JetAdmin

The advantages of HP devices include fairly detailed technical documentation and excellent support on the manufacturer’s website. In this case, it becomes possible to configure not only HP print servers located on the local network, but also devices from some other manufacturers (for example, Axis).

Note that HP print servers were the only ones participating in the review that included a control program with a Russian-language interface. In addition, the HP JetDirect 300X comes with documentation translated into Russian.

Intel

Intel NetportExpress 10/100

The Intel NetportExpress 10/100 print server, as the name suggests, is designed to operate in 100 Mbps networks and is a single-port model. On its rear panel there are two switches for selecting the required speed mode, but in most cases the device sets it correctly automatically. Unlike other print servers that took part in testing, this model has two buttons at once - for hard reset and output a test page to the connected printer.

Intel NetPort Manager

NetportExpress 10/100 supports all the most commonly used protocols and can be configured using both the included Intel NetPort Manager software and HP's JetAdmin. The Intel management program allows access to a large number of settings, as well as advanced diagnostic information. In this case, it is possible to group a number of devices currently connected to the network according to operating speed, redistribute print servers among different work groups, and much more.

In addition to control programs, administration of NetportExpress 10/100 is possible using the built-in Web server or via telnet.

Surecom

Surecom EP-901

Our review includes two models from this Taiwanese manufacturer - EP-901 and EP-903. Both of these devices differ only in the number of connectors for connecting printers: in the first case there is one parallel port, in the second there are three.

Surecom print servers have a similar design and delivery package, which includes a CD with documentation (in English) and related software. An RJ-45 port is used to connect to the local network.

Surecom EP-903

The devices operate in 10/100 Mbps networks and support a number of protocols - IP, IPX and NetBEUI. In this case, to install the device on the network, it is necessary to install the appropriate driver and control program on the PC from where the device will be administered, as well as the client part on each machine from which it is intended to print to a printer connected to the print server.

Interface control program It didn’t seem very intuitive to us, but you can configure the device from a Web browser window by typing the IP address of the print server in the address bar. By the way, the management options are not very rich: by and large, there is only configuration of IP parameters and options for working in the NetWare network, as well as monitoring the status of the device and printers connected to it.

Surecom PrintServer Configuration

Network printer

Connecting your printer directly to your network is beneficial for the following reasons:

• no need to allocate a separate workstation (computer) to manage the printer;
• the printer can be located in any convenient place.

To use the printer as a network printer, a NIC (Network Interface Carol) network interface card for printers must be installed in it, or an external unit of a hardware print server must be connected to it, one connector of which is connected to the parallel port of the printer.

Network printers are subject to increased requirements. First of all, this concerns the speed of the printing mechanism. For workgroups with up to 20 users, it is recommended to use printers with a print speed of 12...16 pages per minute. If there are more users, then it is better to use high-speed printers with a print speed of 20 to 30 pages per minute.

Main characteristics of printers

Print speed. Print speed units are:

• number of characters printed (characters) in one second(characters per second – cps). This indicator reflects the speed of text printing and is used for matrix and inkjet printers;
• number of pages printed(usually A4 format) in one minute. This indicator is used for laser printers, which, unlike dot matrix and inkjet printers, are designed to print full page, not individual characters (or strings). Due to the versatility of the indicator (it can be used for graphics), the printing speed jet Printers are also often measured in pages per minute.

The printer's print speed depends on a number of factors:

• on the quality of the prints, determined by the printing mode. Draft Mode provides more high speed printing than LQ (Letter Quality) mode for high quality printing. Printer manufacturers often indicate maximum speed printing speed as text printing speed in draft mode;
• depending on the type of material being printed. Text material is printed at a higher speed than graphic material, since when printing graphics, each printed point is calculated;
• from color palette imprint. Color images when printed are formed by sequential overlay of four colors. Therefore, the speed of color printers is much slower than black and white ones.

Memory size. All printers have internal memory (buffer) that receives data from the processor and stores it while a line or page is printed. Volume internal memory is important indicator printer, which determines its printing speed.

IN matrix And jet printers implement line-by-line printing, which does not require large volumes memory. Therefore, their memory capacity is tens to hundreds of kilobytes.

Laser Printers process entire pages while performing large numbers of calculations. The amount of calculation required depends on the total number of points on the page. At 1200x1200 resolution dpi There are more than 140 million dots on an A4 page. Since printing speed depends on this indicator, the memory capacity of laser printers for black and white printing amounts to units of megabytes, for color printing – tens of megabytes. Laser printers can additionally be installed:

• boards with DRAM or SIMM memory modules;
• flash memory for storing various fonts, templates, some programs and other printing support tools. For example, a 1 MB flash memory allows you to store up to two dozen Cyrillic fonts;
• font cartridges.

Printers equipped with these tools gain speed due to the fact that time is not wasted on loading them from the computer's memory. Network Printers often also have external memory (hard drive).

Noise characteristics. Job matrix(needle) printer, like any mechanical device, is always accompanied by noise. To reduce noise levels, various technical solutions. Some printers have a so-called Quiet Mode. However, in this mode, the printing speed is reduced by half.

IN jet In printers, only the motor that controls the printer head makes a slight hum. The noise level is about 40 dB, which is 15 dB less than dot matrix printers.

They have approximately the same noise level laser printers. Print quality. An indicator for assessing the print quality of a printer is resolution, or permission. Resolution is measured by the number of dots printed on one inch (dots per inch). dpi).

Resolution matrix The printer is determined by many factors:

• diameter needles, their number and location in the matrix, size matrices and quality of coloring ribbons,
• printing speed, which is limited by the maximum firing frequency of the needles. As the speed increases, the points become “smeared”;
• displacement value the print head (possibly also the paper) left-right, up-down (this increases the number of passes along the print line).

Dot matrix printers are capable of operating in different resolution modes - from low resolution for fast printing of drafts (Draft) to high resolution(NLQ - Near Line Quality), quality close to the smooth letters of typewriters), which is 360x360 dpi.

Permission inkjet printer(similar to matrix) determined by diameter sniffled, their number and location in writing head. Thanks to the ability to use a large number of nozzles, inkjet printers achieve resolution close to that of laser printers. Great importance have the quality and thickness of the paper. The paper is heated to dry the ink quickly. The resolution of inkjet printers when printing graphics is 300×300 – 720×720 dpi.

For laser printers are characterized by the following:

• horizontal resolution is determined by the number of dots in one line and is limited by the accuracy of pointing the laser beam using a deflecting mirror;
• vertical resolution corresponds to drum pitch.

Many printer models have "asymmetrical resolution". For example, with a laser beam pointing accuracy of 1/1200 inch and a drum pitch of 1/600 inch, the resolution is 1200x600 dpi. Laser printers have the highest resolution.

For matrix or jet printers, the finite thickness of the needles or nozzles causes the uneven arrangement of individual points. As a result, when printing inclined lines, a so-called “staircase effect” occurs, which appears when printing graphic images And large text. The same problem for laser printers was first solved by Hewlett-Packard, using RET technology(Resolution Enhancement Technology), which improves the output quality of text, line and halftone images. The essence RET technology consists of using a special microcircuit to control the intensity of the laser beam, due to which different charge levels are created on the surface of the drum. The charge of each raster point varies in five gradations, which ensure the elimination of the “staircase effect”.

Color print. Only a relatively small number matrix printers have a color printing option. The color print quality of a 24-pin printer, realized using a multi-color ink ribbon, is significantly inferior to the print quality jet printer.

In color laser The printer has four toner tanks for each color (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) and two to four development units, which provides better print quality compared to other printers. However, even expensive models of color laser printers do not provide ideal photographic quality. For this purpose they are used thermal printers.

Fonts. Many manufacturers equip their printers with a large number of built-in fonts. These fonts are written to the printer's ROM memory and can only be read from there. In this regard, you should pay attention to the following:

• Usually word processing programs do not "know" the fonts built into the printer and always use the standard font, so the built-in fonts can only be used by the software if the appropriate printer driver is installed;
• When working on a Windows system, the abundance of TrueType fonts depreciates the large number of fonts built into the printer.

Printer head. The main disadvantage jet printer, there is a relatively high probability of ink drying inside the nozzle. Therefore, the printer cannot be turned off during operation, because in this case the head will remain in an intermediate position, which will lead to faster drying of the nozzles. Most printers have a mode parking, in which the print head returns to initial position inside the printer, which prevents the ink from drying out. Some inkjet printers equipped with a nozzle cleaning device. To do this, press the corresponding key on the printer panel.

Interface. To connect printers, a parallel interface and a USB serial bus interface can be used. For more expensive laser printers have developed a parallel port connector with a tight pin arrangement, called a C-connector (C-port). At the same time, it is possible to use the standard Centronics connector. The advantage of the C-connector is that, unlike a conventional Centronics connector, the cable length can be up to 10 m. In addition, it copes better with bidirectional high-speed data transfer.

Far Point Communication was developed by special card F/Port Plus ECP to further improve print speed. This card has additional buffers and other enhancements that improve printer performance by 25 to 40%.

Some printer models are equipped wireless interface; infrared transceivers (Infrared Data Association - IrDA). This allows you to transfer files using infrared radiation, making it unnecessary cable connection, which is convenient for laptop computer users who constantly have to connect and disconnect cables when they need to print a document. Naturally, the laptop must also be equipped with IrDA.

Working with paper. Matrix printers can print on almost any paper - sheet, roll, fan-fold. Sheets are fed manually or placed in special trays for automatic feeding paper from a pack. The sheets are fed by rotating the roller, to which the sheet is pressed tightly with a rubber-coated roller. To print from a roll or stack of fanfold paper with perforations along the edges, the paper feed mechanism has tracks in the form of rubber or plastic tracks with teeth. The tracks are located on a common axis and ensure paper feeding without distortion. Narrow printers allow you to print on paper up to A4 wide (vertically folded sheet), wide ones - up to A3 (horizontally folded sheet). Printers have guides that are adjustable to the width of the sheet, and for models with tracks, the guides move along with the tracks. Additionally, specially designed dot matrix printers can print simultaneously several copies document. Such printers are designed for use in industrial environments and can print on cards, passbooks and other media made of thick material.

Jet And laser(most models) printers cannot use roll paper and print multiple copies of a document at the same time.

For some network printers provide for the selection of sheets from several trays and the layout of printed sheets in several receiving pockets.

Consumables. In addition to paper, we use:

• For matrix printers - cartridge with ink ribbon. Its service life is estimated by the maximum number of printed characters, which is 2...3 million. Due to the low cost of cartridges, dot matrix printers have the lowest operating costs;
• For jet printers - a cartridge, which is a printer head with an ink reservoir. The cartridge has a relatively high cost and a short service life. Therefore, many users prefer to refill ink cartridges themselves;
• For laser printers - toner cartridge. The cartridge resource is estimated by the number of printed pages (format A) and is 3000...20,000 pages. The cost of a toner cartridge is many times higher than the cost of a ribbon cartridge. Therefore, many users use the services of service companies to restore and recharge toner cartridges.

Service life and operational reliability. IN matrix The printer is based on a mechanical operating principle. During the printing process, the main load is on the needles, so the service life of the printer is determined by the print head.

IN jet The printer uses a head with ink to print, which is supplied through nozzles, so main reason failure to operate is a high probability of ink drying inside the nozzle. Such a failure leads to forced replacement of the print head. To increase operational reliability, the printers have a parking mode. This mode returns the print head to its original position, which prevents the ink from drying out. Some inkjet printers are equipped with a nozzle cleaner.

IN laser Many printer components operate under extreme conditions. One of the main components that determines the quality of work and service life laser printer, is removable drum. A dirty drum does not provide good print quality due to poor toner adherence to it. Therefore, it is not recommended to print on the reverse side of an already printed sheet or expose the drum to prolonged light (more than 3 minutes). The drum life of a laser printer depends on the model and is 40,000–60,000 pages for inexpensive printers. To increase the service life of the laser printer, it is recommended to adhere to the design loads established by the manufacturers. Design loads are estimated by the number of pages printed per month for specific model printer. For example, for an HP Laser 5P printer, the estimated load is 12,000 pages/month.