Whether to use the Print Server in OS X Server will most likely depend on how many users and printers there are on your network. It can be as simple as having a printer connected directly to your OS X Server computer via USB, or numerous shared printers on a network.

The advantage of using a print server is that you can centrally monitor and control how printers are used in a network setting. You can set things like priority for print jobs as well as quotas to conserve paper and toner.

It’s most effective when used in conjunction with Open Directory since you can fine tune settings down to individual accounts.

When you set up a print server, users do not send documents directly to the printer. Instead, it gets sent to the print server’s Print Queue, and in turn the queue will send it to the printer. Generally, you would set up one Print Queue for each individual printer you have.

Print Queue supports the following protocols:

• LPR (Line Printer Daemon) for Unix, Mac, Windows 2k and NT
• AppleTalk for Macs
• SMB/CIFS (Server Message Blocks) for Windows
• IPP (Internet Printing Protocol), a relatively new protocol that supports Unix, Mac, and Windows

Let’s go set up a print queue. For this example, I’ll be adding a Xerox Phaser 6350 color laser for the marketing department by using the LPR protocol. Remember, we’re using the LPR protocol to connect the printer to the print queue on the server, not the clients.

• Open Server Admin, select your server and click Mail.
• Select Settings, then press the Queues tab. Click on the “+” button to add a print queue.

• Select LPR (default) for printer to use with new queue.
• Provide the printer’s IP or if you gave it a name via DNS, use that.
• Uncheck the “Use default queue on server”.
• Provide a queue name and press OK. For this example, I gave it a descriptive name, “Xerox 6350 Marketing Dept.”

Now you’ll set the protocol that your client will use to connect to the print queue.

• For Protocol, enable LPR and check “Show name in Bonjour.”
• If you want to enforce quotas, select “Enforce quotas for this queue.”
• Save your settings and press the Start Service button.

• Now, go to your OS X client machine and launch Printer Setup Utility in the Utilities folder. Press the Add button.

Your newly created Printer Queue should automatically appear in the Printer Browser via Bonjour.

• Select the queue. If the printer model is not automatically recognized, select your model from the “Print Using” drop down menu. Many printer drivers are already installed in OS X. Press Add and you’ll be asked to confirm the configuration of your printer.

Now you’ve added your printer to the Printer List.

• Go back to Server Admin and press the Jobs tab. This is where you’ll control print jobs that are in the queue. By selecting a print job, you can set its priority, pause and start jobs, and delete jobs.

If you have multiple printers that are the same or similar models, you can create a Printer Pool. By creating a Printer Pool, a print job will be routed to an available printer in case the first printer on the list is unable to print for whatever reasons.

• Select Settings and click on the Queus tab.

A list of Print Cues that were created will appear in the list. Select the printers that you want to include in the pool. You can make multiple selections by Command clicking the printers. For this example I’ll be selecting 2 Phaser 6350 printers to add to the pool.

• Press the Create Printer Pool button and confirm the list to create your pool.

Let’s open up Workgroup Manager so that we can set quotas. I hear John Doe’s been wasting alot of paper and toner. I wonder what he does all day?

• Select John Doe from the list of accounts. Press the Print Quota tab and click on All Queues. As the name implies, this will set a quota on whatever printer John Doe has access to. You can set your limit as you see fit and save your setting.

You can also set quotas Per Que for a particular printer queue.

• To add a queue, press the Add button.
• Provide the Queue Name, it’s IP or DNS name.
• Set you printing limits and save your setting.

That pretty much covers the basics of setting up a print server. Happy printing.

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