Campus Printing Services - Support for Administrators

General Questions
Connectivity
PrintAnywhere® Server
The Campus Printing System Web Interface
The PrinterOn Directory
Print Management Systems
Using a Print Driver - PrintWhere®

General Questions

Does this work only for Wireless?
No. Any connection type is appropriate, and we have clients with CAT5 drops or even home dial-up connections. We focus our marketing message on wireless since the problems we solve are most commonly recognized once mobile connectivity is adopted.

Can Students Submit Print Jobs from Home?
Yes. Both the web service and the print driver solutions support printing from home or residence and picking up the documents in the labs or libraries.

How much does it Cost per Student?
We generally license Campus Printing Solutions based on the number of printers. There is no charge per student.

Is there an Entry-Level Solution?
If the number of students with 802.11 access and the number of printers you want to support is still very small, you might want to try starting with our hosted "PrintSpots" solution instead of the Campus Printing System.

Do Students Need PrinterOn Memberships?
No. Although authentication with PrinterOn Membership is an option, most customers choose to authenticate using their LDAP services and network login ID.

Do we Purchase the Solution from PrinterOn?
Wherever possible, we prefer to work closely with our business partners to sell and support the Campus Printing System. A short description of our partners can be found on our web site. Some of our distinguished CPS channel partners include ITS, Selah Solutions and Vendprint.

How is each Component Priced?
The Campus Printing Service is a package deal, including both an Intranet solution and a print driver solution. You may install and configure all components that you need, including client or server software, with no incremental costs.

Is Print Data Encryption Available?
Yes. Strong print data encryption is used wherever possible. RSA Key-Pair exchange is coordinated by the Directory service. 128 Bit AES symmetric encryption is applied to the print data.

Is an Evaluation Version Available?
Yes. Contact our sales or customer support groups to arrange for a free trial, with support for up to 5 printers and unlimited users.

Does it Work with Photocopiers?
If your photocopier is a multi-function device that can also be used as a printer, then it should be compatible with the Campus Printing System.

Is Inter-Campus Operation Supported?
Yes. Since communication between the technology components occurs using Internet protocols, you can install the core software at one location and service all your print requirements for all campuses.

Can I Integrate with our Custom System "X"?
PrinterOn provides programming interfaces at many points that allow customization of services. If you want to explore how you might integrate to diverse applications like Blackboard, PeopleSoft, or your proprietary solutions, feel free to contact us to explore the integration options.

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My Printers are Not Visible to the Wireless Network
Not a problem. Since we use Internet protocols between components, users can print using either the web service OR the print driver when connected to the 802.11 network.

How does Print Data from external users enter the system?
If your firewall will allow Print Delivery Station to be visible on a port of your choosing (typically 80 or 631), then everything will work. Otherwise, you can install an application called Print Delivery Hub in your DMZ to safely broker print conversations.

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What is it?
PrintAnywhere is the core technology that services print requests on behalf of users. It manages document types, external applications, print drivers and its own components to provide fast, reliable server-based printing. The programming interfaces are based on web protocols such as HTTP and XML.

Platform Requirements
PrintAnywhere MUST be run on a Microsoftreg; Windows® 2000, XP or 2003 platform. As a convenience, our install package can install all of the server components on this single CPU.

Do I Need a Dedicated Computer?
The PrinterOn server applications SHOULD be installed on a dedicated computer for two reasons. Firstly, document processing can be computationally expensive, which may interfere with other solutions expecting guaranteed response times. Secondly, for support reasons, we cannot easily provide assistance if there are problems that may be caused by interaction with applications beyond our control. Despite this advice, we do have customers that successfully deploy on shared resources.

Scalability and Performance
Throughput of a single PrintAnywhere server varies dramatically based on a wide range of factors, most notably the type of documents being printed. Typically, 700 documents or 3000 pages per hour is expected. If necessary, multiple PrintAnywhere Servers can be deployed using built in fault-tolerant schemes to provide higher throughput or availability. It is rare for more than a single server to be needed.

Supported File Types
PrintAnywhere supports most common file types, including: web pages; Microsoft Office documents; OpenOffice.org™ documents; raster graphics; Visio®; some CAD formats; and Acrobat® PDF. A more complete list can be found in the support section of our web site.

Can I Add Support for New File Types?
Yes. A toolkit is available that provides a simple framework for adding applications. This toolkit allows you to develop plug-ins for any application that runs on a Win32® platform to extend the list of supported file types. For more information about the toolkit, contact sales@printeron.com

Why Apache Tomcat™ instead of IIS?
Because we can control the installation and configuration of an Apache web server during install, we use it as the default web server even though Microsoft IIS is usually available on a Windows 2000/XP/2003 platform. Apache also provides a cleaner servlet container through Tomcat.

Are Print Jobs Lost if the System Crashes?
No. A copy of all work in progress is stored on disk. If power goes out or a Windows service dies, then when the system restarts, it can usually resume processing without losing a request.

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What is the Purpose of CPS?
Students or faculty can print to any supported printer without installing or configuring any print drivers. Simply authenticate, choose a printer, upload the document, and set print options. CPS will take care of preparing the document for printing and sending it to the printer. Ease of use for students, faster time to first print, and a dramatic reduction of costs for support and help staff.

What Client Browsers are Supported?
Windows, Linux®, Unix® and Macintosh® OS X users should all be able to use the CPS web service. If the browser supports JavaScript™, HTML and file browse/upload, then the user should be able to print their documents. CPS has been used successfully from browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer®, FireFox®, Opera, and Safari®.

Can the CPS Server be Installed on Linux?
Partly. The web presentation layer of CPS is a standard Java&trade WAR file. You should be able to deploy it on any platform with an appropriate Servlet container. This would include Unix and Linux with Apache, using Servlet containers such as Tomcat, Jetty or Weblogic®.

Can the Web Pages be Customized?
Yes. The web presentation layer is made available in source code form, and is comprised of HTML and JSP pages. You may modify the web interface to meet any special requirements you may have.

Can Students and Staff use Different Printers?
Yes. The easiest way to do this is simply deploy two Intranet print sites, one for staff and one for students - with different printers connected to each.

Is a Security Certificate Required?
No, but it is recommended. The most common configuration of CPS involves authenticating users through their network login credentials. These should be protected, and installing a security certificate will enable SSL for secure user communications.

How do Students Locate the Web Service?
The most common means are for the school web site to include links to the printing service from appropriate locations. Another simple method is to simply tape a piece of paper with the URL on it to the wall above the printer. If users are familiar with our web site, they can also locate the service through our search engine.

Can we Authenticate against Active Directory® or NDS®?
Yes. Although many clients use Linux and OpenLDAP®, Novell® and Microsoft Directory Servers both support LDAP, and are compatible with CPS.

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What is the Directory?
The Directory is a web service hosted by PrinterOn that provides select information about print destinations to users and applications on an as-needed basis. All PrinterOn software applications leverage the existence of the Directory to provide easy, secure, correct printing from any location to any device.

Why is the Directory Service External?
The Directory needs to be in a known location that can be accessed by all users, servers and applications with the least amount of configuration. Our hosted Directory facilitates printing across network segments, from home and residence, by hosted wireless carriers, and from handheld PDAs.

What Internet Bandwidth is Required?
Print data does NOT pass through PrinterOn web sites. The Directory provides the information needed to allow sources to communicate directly with destinations. The transactions made to the Directory service are small and fast. Various solutions may also cache transactions to further reduce the numbers of conversations. Typically, with SSL overhead, 2 Kbytes per print job.

What Information is in the Directory?
An entry in the Directory is termed a "Printer Listing". Listings describe several attributes of printers. Listings are self-managed, and you can update or remove them at any time. Technical information ensures that printers are used correctly and easily. Owner information allows a user to correctly and easily find printers. Additional configuration data allows restrictions to be placed on page limits, color use, duplexing, and so forth.

What if the Directory Service Fails?
It doesn't. With the exception of the blackout in the North East in the summer of 2003 (which took out major network hubs), the Directory service has been continuously available since 2000. It is clustered, fault tolerant, multi-site and multi-homed with standby power systems. A cache component is also available for locations that are subject to intermittent Internet connectivity. And although they don't compare, your existing printing methods will still work.

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Print Management Systems

How does PrinterOn Differ from Print Management Systems?
Print management is used near the tail end of the printing process to track usage and ensure that someone is paying for printing. PrinterOn is user-centric, designed to make the printing experience simple and easy. Print management recovers the cost of consumables, PrinterOn reduces the cost of support. Together, they form an end-to-end printing system.

Do I Need a Print Management System?
No. We have clients that have adopted our solution simply to make printing easier for students with notebooks and 802.11 access. These customers are currently not charging for print jobs.

Which Print Management Systems are compatible?
Almost any print management system will work with PrinterOn technology where basic printing is concerned. We have successfully installed our software in conjunction with applications such as Vendprint®, ITC, Pharos™, Equitrac®, PrintAudit™ and PCOUNTER. It is possible to configure some Print Management solutions so that they do not work well with PrinterOn. This usually occurs when the print management system is configured to REQUIRE a "pop up" challenge, and the Print Management pop-up then uses a proprietary communication method.

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Using a Print Driver - PrintWhere

Why is a Print Driver Necessary?
The server-based printing solution does not support every application ever created. If you have users that need to print from these applications, then PrintWhere is the ideal choice.

Is PrintWhere Installed for Every Printer?
No. PrintWhere is installed only once. As users select printers, it will reconfigure automatically without the need for the user to locate, install or configure other drivers.

What Extra Configuration is Required?
None. The print driver will access that exact same printer descriptions used by the web service to configure itself for correct printing.

Are the Same Restrictions Observed?
The print driver will adhere to most of the same rules that apply to the CPS web service. User login ID, pricing information, access control, duplexing, data encryption and page counting are all similar.

Is there a Macintosh Version?
No. Macintosh users can easily create PDF versions of anything they wish to print. These PDF files can then be submitted to the CPS web service for printing.

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Disclaimer
The contents of these FAQs are provided solely to help describe the PrinterOn Campus Printing System. The information is not guaranteed to be accurate or comprehensive. Statements regarding 3rd party applications are based on our best available understanding, but should be verified with the vendor. PrinterOn, PrintWhere and PrintAnywhere names and logos are the intellectual property of PrinterOn Corporation. Other names may be trademarked by their respective owners.