Sharing a printer on a Peer to Peer Network

[Edward W. Thompson]

Can anyone advise whether it is necessary to to 'share' a printer on a
peer to peer network? My understanding is that when a printer is
setup on such a network it is essentially standalone and is accessible
by all machines on the network, each machine having the appropriate
drivers installed, and therefore is not 'shared'.

I ask the question simply to better understand the subject. All posts
I read when I 'Google' the subject seem to suggest it is necessary to
'share' a printer regardless of how the network is configured.

 

[The Natural Philosopher]

If the printer is connected via the network, it shouldn't require "sharing" -
the concept is meaningless to a network printer.

If it is connected to a networked machine's port (parallel/USB/whatever) then it
will require sharing for other machines to access it.

And cheap print servers are so cheap and the performance gains so great
its not worth NOT fully networking it.

"share" is Microsfts way of saying 'lets make the computer this printer
is connected to, a print server'

But no one in their right mind would use a microsoft operating system as
a print server anyway.

Get a printserver off ebay or whatever..a second hand HP jetDirect is
usually a good bet. Though I had to upgrade the firmware on the one I got..

 

[qn]

Can anyone advise whether it is necessary to to 'share' a printer on a
peer to peer network? My understanding is that when a printer is
setup on such a network it is essentially standalone and is accessible
by all machines on the network, each machine having the appropriate
drivers installed, and therefore is not 'shared'.

I ask the question simply to better understand the subject. All posts
I read when I 'Google' the subject seem to suggest it is necessary to
'share' a printer regardless of how the network is configured.

If the printer is connected via the network, it shouldn't require "sharing" -
the concept is meaningless to a network printer.

If it is connected to a networked machine's port (parallel/USB/whatever) then it
will require sharing for other machines to access it.

 

[Edward W. Thompson]

If the printer is connected via the network, it shouldn't require "sharing" -
the concept is meaningless to a network printer.

If it is connected to a networked machine's port (parallel/USB/whatever) then it
will require sharing for other machines to access it

Thanks for the reply, exactly as I thought. My printer is the
Businessjet 2280tn, so is fully 'networkable'.

 

[eager]

If the printer is connected via the network, it shouldn't require "sharing" -
the concept is meaningless to a network printer.

If it is connected to a networked machine's port (parallel/USB/whatever) then it
will require sharing for other machines to access it.

Where is the printer plugged in?
If the printer is plugged into a router - the router can behave as a print
server

 

[qn]

Where is the printer plugged in?

Not sure why you're asking me. Maybe you should take more care when posting.

If the printer is plugged into a router - the router can behave as a print
server

For a printer to function properly plugged directly into a router, that printer
will need to have the server function integrated e.g. HP JetDirect.. Routers do
not intrinsically have the capability of acting as a print server.

 

[eager]

Not sure why you're asking me. Maybe you should take more care when

posting.


Sorry, did not have the message of the OP on my PC.
Thought posting in the thread, below the OP message, would be the same ....

For a printer to function properly plugged directly into a router, that printer
will need to have the server function integrated e.g. HP JetDirect.. Routers do
not intrinsically have the capability of acting as a print server.

agree - the router has to be configured ....