Network : Print servers

In the (not so good, yet still quite) old days all computers had a printer attached. If you had several computers in a cluster you could share one printer among them using a 'data switch'. The echanical kind was error prone yet cheap. The electronic printer switches were more costly yet quite reliable (although they could end up in a non defined state quite easily).

Then, when networks were introduced, operating systems built in features to share one printer (attached to a computer with a non-network-cable) among all computers on the same network. This was a big advantage. Until the power companies started charging more and more for energy. Then, the 100 Watt consuming computer started to become rather expensive if it was only running to be a print server.
Network device companies (like Hewlett Packard) then started to come up with new devices: the dedicated print server. A small box equiped with a LAN connection, a printer port connector, a power connector and a reset button. Early models (and current models from cheap brands) cannot do without the latter button. So keep an eye on it.

This section will cover my experiences (and I really mean ONLY MY EXPERIENCES!) with some of the print servers.

To the right you see the Longshine LCS PS110 print server. This one is a single port, parallel port, print server in a small box. The box has a centronics compatible 36 pin micro ribbon cable in the top that mates with the input port of all parallel printers. It is small and light weight so it does not strain the mechanics of the printer port.

The print server comes in a box that contains:

The LCS PS110 in an antistatic bag
A switch mode wall wart power supply (3,3 Volt 2 Ampere max)
A small booklet with instructions
A CD-ROM with manuals and installation helps. Plus a wizard for installing the printserver on a Windows computer

On the website of the dutch dealer you can find a full installation example session: http://www.vedt.nl/longshine/ps110.html.

Below are some more pictures (all borrowed from the website of VEDT) from this print server. I've been using it now for quite some time and I really like it. Value for money at around €40.

You can download the settings with tftp, change things and then upload the file again and all relevant settings are done! Easy as pi.

To the right you see the Longshine LCS PS101-2 USB print server. It is intended for use with non-MFP (MFP = Multi Function Printer) devices. Longshine produce a dedicated USB MFP print server but it only runs with Windows. If at all. This 101-2 is sure to run with normal printers so I chose for clarity instead of possible functionality.

From experience I know that this USB print server runs with my USB MFP printer for printing jobs. The scanner is not recognized. But I knew that in advance. Still, this small yet mighty USB print server does it all for a small price.

The print server comes in a box that contains:

The LCS PS101-2 in an antistatic bag
A switch mode wall wart power supply (3,3 Volt 2 Ampere max)
A small booklet with instructions
A CD-ROM with manuals and installation helps. Plus a wizard for installing the printserver on a Windows computer (recommended since I could not get it running with Windows in any other way; for some reason Windows wants to 'see' it as a parallel printer!)

On the website of the dutch dealer you can find a full installation example session: http://www.vedt.nl/longshine/ps1012a.html.

Below are some more pictures (all borrowed from the website of VEDT) from this print server. We've been using it now for quite some time now and we really like it. Value for money at around €40.

On Ebay I found this LevelOne printserver. It was from a few years ago, but so am I. And the price was right.

I bought it from "Holzwurm Versand" (i.e. WoodWorm Mailorder) in Germany. It arrived quite soon and when I opened the box I saw a brand spanking new printserver, complete with booklets, power supply and CD-ROM, that never before saw the light of day. This was a good deal!

Installing was easy (when you know how to do it):

Connect Ethernet cable
Connect power
Go to the router to look for new entries in the DHCP table
Opened a browser and logged on to the LevelOne printserver (Hooray! NO JAVA!)
Changed the IP address to 192.168.56.96 and set some other goodies
Reboot the printserver

Now, THAT was easy! A lot friendlier than the HP JetDirect! And cheaper too (the newprice of the JetDirect is 4 times more than that of the LevelOne, yet the latter has more and better control options). Among others, the server has a printer status option via telnet. It has an FTP client. It can print via E-mails.

Time to see it it works!

Find a suitable wall socket for the power supply
Attach the printserver to the back of the printer (no wallnailing required!)
Connect the server to an Ethernet switch
Apply the power
Press the 'Testpage' button
Log on to the printserver and click the 'Testpage' button

And that was it! All in all, this print server is comparable to the Longshines, alas more expsensive and it offers a lot of things you will most likely never use.

The telnet server built into this printserver doesn't stand a chance compared to the Longsine print servers. Here is a full session showing what can be done:

jan@Beryllium:~/modula/lib$ telnet 192.168.56.96
Trying 192.168.56.96...
Connected to 192.168.56.96.
Escape character is '^]'.


Welcome to Print Server

PS>?
PS>help

Help
Monitor: show printer status
Exit: leave telnet
PS>monitor
(P1)STATE: Idle
TYPE: Parallel
PRINTER STATUS: On-Line


(P1)STATE: Idle
TYPE: Parallel
PRINTER STATUS: On-Line

Connection closed by foreign host.
jan@Beryllium:~/modula/lib$

You can log on and then you have just one command: printer status. Not very impressive if you have seen the Longshines!

To the right you see the first print server I owned. It opened my eyes with respect to these fine devices, instead of using electronic switch boxes (with many meters of ribbon cables cluttering up my desks).

As you can see by the nail, I nailed it to the wall... :o)

Some years ago I ran into a cheap buy on Ebay and aquired myself a JetDirect 170X printserver for a few euro's. I put it on a shelf and forgot about it for some years. Then I took it out of the box, skimmed through the manuals and configured the IP address to 192.168.56.97. Then I "nailed" it to the wall.

Getting into the integrated webbrowser of the JetDirect was a pain in my bottom. The hardware was state of the art when this 10 Mbps printserver was designed. And they wanted to reflect this in the user interface: 100% Java! I couldn't get it to work in Linux and had to lower myself in using the Toshiba laptop (running Vista). And even there, FireFox had difficulties. Only the Internet Exploder worked.
Things have changed quite a lot, at Hewlett Packard!

I quickly put the browser in the right modes

DHCP off
Fixed IP 192.168.56.97
Supply the internet gateway address

It has been running for over a year. It was replaced by the Longshine LCS PS110 because the latter

has more and better functions
is very easy to maintain and setup
is a lot smaller
does not require a cable between print server and printer

On the right you see an obsolete print server from Hewlett Packard. This is a very old beast. I never used it but kept it because it deserves a place in my home for the elderly equipment. This print server has

One 10 Mbps RJ45 connector
One 10Base2 BNC connector
One 25 pin SubD connector for the printer
One power connector
The power is supplied by the box on the right (which is placed in parallel with the printer)
The EX needs an IP address passed to it by BOOTP

It's kept for historical reasons. If you need or desire it, make me an offer.

Page created on 28 July 2009 and

Page equipped with FroogleBuster technology