Mac OS X Lion Server For Dummies®

Print Sharing Technology and Terminology

Centralizing printing with a server enables any client to print to any printer connected to the server. Without a server, the user's computer communicates directly with the printer, and the computer and the printer both need to support the same technology. When you throw a print server into the mix, here are the two steps of communication: client to server and server to printer. The two steps don't have to use the same technology.

It starts with the printer. Lion Server supports a variety of types of printers. But in printing parlance, printer type can mean different things: USB, LPR (Line Printer Remote), inkjet, Ethernet, PostScript, IPP (Internet Printing Protocol), or laser printer. These sometimes cryptic terms aren't equivalent, however. We're talking apples and oranges, with some cherries and pomegranates thrown in for good measure.

Communicating with the printer

Lion Server works with hundreds of new and old printer models. Here are the printer types that Mac OS X Server supports:

• Printer technology (laser, inkjet, others): Mac OS X Server doesn't care about how the ink's put on the paper. More exotic technologies may also work, depending on drivers and the other factors noted later in this list. Inkjet printers typically use USB to connect to the server.
• Physical connection (USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth): You can share a printer that's plugged into the server Mac or a printer that connects directly to the network with its ...