Module 13: Designing Print Services in Windows Server 2008

Lesson: Windows Server 2008 Printing Features Printer Pools XPS-based Printing Internet Printing Protocol

Printer Pools Printer pools: Allow additional printers to be added to increase availability  Prevent outages due to printer failure Require at least two physical printers  Printers must be the same model and use the same driver Increase print services availability and scalability  Printers must be placed in the same location

XPS-based Printing XPS-based printing: Is a new printing process in Windows Server® 2008 and Windows Vista® Requires an XPS printer driver Is used only by WPF applications Generates a spool file in XPS format XPS-based printing improvements: Better print quality Better color information Smaller spool files Easier print job and device configuration information for applications to access

Internet Printing Protocol Internet Printing Protocol: Uses only TCP port 80 or 443 for printing Can be used to install printers and drivers on clients Client link to printer can be UNC or URL Requires IIS on the server Is supported by Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista clients Allows remote management over HTTP, but is not preferred

Lesson: Designing Print Services Failover Clustering for Print Services Recommendations for Simplifying User Access to Printers Recommendations for Simplifying Print Services Administration Monitoring Print Services

Failover Clustering for Print Services Failover clustering: Does not increase print services scalability Prevents outages due to server failure Requires at least two servers Increases print services availability

Recommendations for Simplifying User Access to Printers Consider the following to simplify user access to printers: Use intuitive printer names Use printer location tracking Deploy printers and preferences by using Group Policy Publish printers in Active Directory Use IPP for remote printing Use Web-based maps for manual printer installation

Recommendations for Simplifying Print Services Administration Considerations to simplify administration of print services: Use Print Management to migrate printers between print servers  Standardize printers to reduce the number of printer drivers Avoid the use of inexpensive desktop printers Use Print Management to centrally manage printers

Monitoring Print Services To monitor print services: Use Performance Monitor Use Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Use Print Management notifications