Locally Attached Printer Sharing

With one network printing configuration, you do not have to attach print devices to computers; instead, you can connect them directly to the network.

Correct Answer: Network-attached Printing

Network-Attached Printing

The printing solutions discussed thus far involve print devices connected directly to a computer using a USB or other port. Print devices do not necessarily have to be attached to computers, however. You can connect a print device directly to the network, instead. Many print device models are
equipped with network interface adapters, enabling you to attach a standard network cable. Some print devices have expansion slots into which you can install a network printing adapter purchased separately. Finally, for print devices with no networking capabilities, standalone network print servers are available, which connect to the network and enable you to attach one or more print devices. Print devices so equipped have their own IP addresses and typically an embedded Web-based configuration interface. With network-attached print devices, the primary deployment decision that the
administrator must make is to decide which computer will function as the print server. One simple, but often less than practical, option is to let each print client function as its own print server, as shown in Figure 2-15. Each client processes and spools its own print jobs, connects to the print device using a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) port, and sends the jobs directly to the device for printing.

Figure 2-15. A network-attached print device with multiple print servers.

Even individual end users with no administrative assistance will find this arrangement simple to set up. However, the disadvantages are many, including the following:


Users examining the print queue see only their own jobs.
Users are oblivious of the other users accessing the print device. They have
no way of knowing what other jobs have been sent to the print device, or
how long it will be until the print device completes their jobs.
Administrators have no way of centrally managing the print queue because
each client has its own print queue.
Administrators cannot implement advanced printing features, such as printer
pools or remote administration.
Error messages appear only on the computer that originated the job the print
device is currently processing.
All print job processing is performed by the client computer, rather than
being partially offloaded to an external print server.
For these reasons, this arrangement is only suitable for small workgroup
networks that do not have dedicated administrators supporting them.


What printing configuration makes the computer with the locally attached print device function as a print server?

Correct Answer: Locally Attached Printer Sharing

"In addition to printing from an application running on that computer, you can also share the printer (and the print device) with other users on the same network. In this arrangement, the computer with the locally attached print device functions as a print server. Figure 2-14 shows the other computers on
the network, the print clients.

In the default Windows Server 2012 printer-sharing configuration, each client uses its own printer and printer driver. As before, the application running on the client computer sends the print job to the printer and the printer driver renders the job, based on the capabilities of the print device.
The main advantage of this printing arrangement is that multiple users, located anywhere on the network, can send jobs to a single print device, connected to a computer functioning as a print server. The downside is that processing the print jobs for many users can impose a significant burden on the print server. Although any Windows computer can function as a print server, you should use
a workstation for this purpose only when you have no more than a handful of print clients to support or a very light printing volume."

Exam Ref 70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server® 2012
Ian McLean