Peerless Custom NDPS Gateway

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Augusta Elliott
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1 Peerless Custom NDPS Gateway What is NDPS? NDPS is Novell's premier print solution. NDPS allows administrators to take advantage of built in printer intelligence, and reduces the hassles of network printing for end users. Printer manufacturers have two decisions today in regards to Novell Distributed Print Services (NDPS). First, is it worthwhile to have an NDPS Gateway? That decision is based on customer demand, competitive pressure (HP, Xerox and Lexmark among others have gateways), the large installed base of NetWare servers, the ability of NDPS to expose the advantages that their printer lines have compared to the competition, their corporate positioning and other factors. These are balanced against the costs of development and support. Currently many major printer manufacturers provide NDPS Gateways and millions of end users are appreciating the benefits. The second decision is, once you commit to providing your customers with a gateway and its advantages streamlined configuration, simplified administration, increased network performance you will need to choose where your gateway will come from. Novell has developed a utilitarian gateway that some vendors take advantage of, either through their own development or that of their print server card manufacturer. Peerless Systems provides gateway customization services that go beyond the Novell option for printer manufacturers who want a gateway solution that shows their product lines to the best advantage, that delivers extra benefits to the administrators and end users, that competes with those of the industry leaders. Peerless Customized Gateways: Support more protocols Have more features Provide more management functions Have more configuration alternatives NDPS Gateway NetWare Server Locally attached Printer NetWare client NWAdmin Snap-In Network Printer Contact us to find out how we can quickly and economically help you keep your devices fully integrated in the NetWare environment.

2 Comparison of NDPS Gateways Facts at a glance Text highlighted in blue denotes Peerless advantages over Novell s Standard Gateway. Gateway Feature Description Novell Peerless Directory-based (NDS) Print Server Yes Yes Bindery-based (NDS) Print Server Yes Remote Printer (NPRINTER) Yes Yes LPR Printing on IP Yes Yes LPT (Parallel Port) Limited Bi-directional Proprietary Data Path Protocols No Yes Printer MIB No Yes Proprietary MIB No Yes Printer MIB Alerts No Yes Proprietary MIB Traps and Alerts No Yes Event Notification Supports: 11 Errors 5 Warnings 4 Reporting Supports: 43 Errors 26 Warnings 18 Reporting Automatic Driver Download Yes Yes Server Based Configuration Program Yes Yes Windows based configuration program Limited Yes Automatic Driver Selection No Yes NWAdmin Snap-in Feature Description Novell Peerless 32 bit NWAdmin Snap-in Yes Yes Printer Snap-in Monitor Static Display Real time displays -- Event Driven Bit Maps No Yes -- Event Troubleshooting Help Text No Yes -- Printer Buffer LCD Display Yes Yes -- Printer Identification Dialog Yes Yes -- Printer Feature Dialog Yes Yes -- Printer Summary Dialog No Yes -- Printer Status Dialog Limited Yes -- Printer Job Manager Yes Yes -- Printer Spooling Configuration Yes Yes -- Printer Input and Output Dialogs No Yes Extended Printer Snap-in Monitor Feature Description (Optional) Novell Peerless -- Printer Medium Dialog No Yes -- Printer Marker, Colorant, Supplies Dialogs No Yes -- Printer Media Path Dialog No Yes -- Printer Cover Dialog No Yes -- Printer Channel Dialog No Yes -- Printer Interpreter Dialog No Yes

3 3 Detailed Description of Gateway Features Printing Describe the printing capabilities of NDPS Gateway products. Directory-based (NDS) Print Server Provide backward compatibility with legacy queued-based printing in directory-based IPX networks. When in QServer mode, the Print Server, the Printer and the Print Queue objects require to be link together. Bindery-based (NDS) Print Server Provide backward compatibility with legacy queued-based (QServer mode) printing in bindery-based NetWare server, i.e. NW3.x, which is running over IPX networks. Remote Printer (NPRINTER) Provide backward compatibility printing capability in RP mode (Novell s legacy Remote Printer protocol) over IPX networks. ***Important Note*** The above backward compatibility is essential to enterprises that already have a large and complex printing environment running on an IPX network. This allows them to use NDPS with minimum cost and effort. LPR Printing on IP Provide printing capabilities to LPR clients over TCP/IP. This is essential to IP-based systems that support LPR printing like Macintosh and UNIX devices. LPT (Parallel Port) Provide printing capability to locally attached workstations or NetWare servers. Printer Information and Status Printer information and status is obtained when querying information from a printer over SNMP. Information usually includes printer capability (e.g. printer language support, duplex unit existence, and maximum print speed), configuration options (e.g. number of trays available, type of trays) and status information (e.g. input tray paper level). This is to retrieve the printer information and status and present it to the end-user in the control snap-in module for printer management. Proprietary Data Path Protocols Allows querying for status with protocols other than SNMP. Printer MIB Query printer information, configuration options and status information using the Printer MIB, i.e. RFC 1759 Proprietary MIB Query printer information, configuration options and status information using the OEM MIB. This allows the printer to report vendor specific information that the Printer MIB doesn t support.

4 Event Reporting Several events, like Input Tray Missing, Printer Offline, Toner Low or Paper Jam, need to be reported as soon as possible for immediate correction to ensure high availability of printing services to end-users. Printer MIB Alerts Allow general events and alerts to be reported, according to Printer MIB. Proprietary MIB Traps and Alerts Allow OEM specific events and alerts to be reported, according to OEM MIB. In addition, the SNMP Trap will be listened to allow for real-time reporting of critical events. Event Notification Convert printer alerts to NDPS notifications and allow them to be sent to an NDS user at the time an event occurs using the following notification mechanisms: , pop-up notification, log file and so on. This functionality will help the administrator or end-user to be alerted when the event occurs and will immediately perform the corresponding adjustment. Peerless implementation supports many more events when compared to Novell s Gateway. Printer Configuration Steps required to configure NDPS: 1. Creation of Printer Agent allows printing using LPR, Queue-based and Remote port handler a. Printer Discovery (specify printer to be configured) b. Printer Agent creation for the specified printer For Queue-based port handler, appropriate NDS objects have to be created and linked properly c. Configuration of parameters (Queue-based and Remote printing) in the proprietary MIB for printing d. Printer Driver selection (available in Windows based platforms only) 2. Installation of Printer Driver to end-user workstation Automatic Driver Download The printer driver must be installed once into the NDPS Broker object, which is a centralized data repository for drivers. This Broker object automatically provides the appropriate printer driver to the end-user as required at installation time. Server Based Configuration Program Creation of Printer Agent in NetWare s Server Console. Windows Based Configuration Program Creation of PRINTER AGENT remotely from a Windows based platform, i.e. NWAdmin, and automatic driver selection. 4

5 Automatic Driver Selection Allows NDPS to automatically select a driver that resemble the target device without enduser intervention. This simplifies the process of configuring the printer, and avoids future driver-related problems on the user workstation. This feature, when used in conjunction with the automatic driver download, simplifies the time-consuming process of configuring the printer driver. Summary of configuration work for printing The Peerless NDPS Gateway custom features support several automatic printer discovery mechanisms, Printer Agent creation for different port handlers, smart configuration of parameters and automatic printer driver selection. These features simplify the administration of printers on the network and outperform Novell, HP and Xerox solutions in these areas. 5 Detailed Description of NWAdmin Snap-in 32-bit NWAdmin Snap-in Refer to the Printer Control Snap-in program that runs on top of NWAdmin. This program enables printer monitoring and management at your fingertips. Printer Snap-in Monitor Printer Control Snap-in works as a monitoring and management tool for the printers. By using the snap-in, Network Administrators can view extensive product information, monitor the printer and job status. In addition, they can control (pause/resume) the input/output of the printer. This remote approach of printer monitoring and management prevents the use of a Server Console locally that requires administrators to sit in front of the NetWare server. Additionally, NWAdmin provides more features than the Server Console does. In fact, some of the tasks (such as printer driver selection, access control configuration, event notification and others) can only be achieved when using NWAdmin. Event Driven Bit Maps Allow bitmap images to be loaded dynamically according to event changes (bit maps of configuration options can be loaded dynamically as well, according to the printer status information retrieved from the printer). This provides an interactive and user-friendly interface in event reporting when comparing with static bitmaps. Event Troubleshooting Help Text Allow troubleshooting message to be displayed according to event happening. (The message is supposed to be retrieved from the printer directly or indirectly). This helps the administrator solve the problems efficiently and effectively. Printer Buffer LCD Display Allow the front panel message (like Online, Offline, Paper Jam, etc) of the printer to be shown in a snap-in and display exactly what shows on the printer front panel.

6 Printer Identification Dialog Describe basic information about the printer. Some information is retrieved from the Printer MIB, such as the printer's physical location, printer s manufacturer, printer model, etc. Other information is retrieved from the NDPS Manager. Printer Feature Dialog Shows printer capability information, including supported printer language, print speed, installed memory, existence of duplex unit, type of printer, etc... Printer Summary Dialog An overview of different printer components (Input, Output, and more) provided in the Printer MIB. This summary dialog provides a complete status of the different components. Printer Status Dialog Shows a list of all the events taking place at the printer at a certain point. Printer Job Manager Shows a listing of jobs and enables NDPS job management, such as job reordering, job priority and others. Printer Spooling Configuration Allow viewing and modifying printer spooling configuration like scheduling and spooling location. Printer Input and Output Dialogs Shows detailed input and output tray information, such as tray name, paper level, paper size, paper type, orientation, and so on (RFC 1759). Printer Medium Dialog Shows media type, media weight (RFC 1759). Printer Marker, Colorant, Supplies Dialogs Shows marker (marking mechanism), colorant and supplies (toner type) information like marker technology, marker status, colorant role, colorant value, supplies type, supplies level and others (RFC 1759). Printer Media Path Dialog Shows media path type, max speed and others (RFC 1759). Printer Cover Dialog Shows cover information like description and status (RFC 1759). Printer Channel Dialog Shows channel information like channel state and channel status (RFC 1759). Printer Interpreter Dialog Shows interpreter information including Page Description Language (PDL) and Control Language Interpreter (RFC 1759). 6

7 7 Summary of NWAdmin snap-in feature The Peerless NDPS Gateway custom features provide critical product information through the printer control snap-in and allow administrators to manage the printing services from the convenience of their workstations. Conclusion The Peerless Customized NDPS Gateway provides the OEM with an enhanced NDPS printing solution that no other competitor can match. On the server side, Peerless supports a wide variety of printing protocols, including an excellent backward compatibility with Novell s legacy printing systems. On the client side, Peerless provides a simple but extremely powerful user interface that simplifies printer configuration as well as device monitoring and administration. Additionally, Peerless has several NDPS Gateway customized solutions already shipping in the market. In conclusion, the Peerless NDPS Gateway outperforms the standard Novell NDPS Gateway and other vendors NDPS Gateways in regards to features, performance, and stability.

NDPS Gateway PS012-02

NDPS Gateway PS012-02 NDPS Gateway 2.5 4343-PS012-02 Foreword Welcome NDPS Gateway is software that controls printers and print jobs and checks their status in an NDPS (Novell Distributed Print Services) environment, the newest