Print server is basically a computer or device which is connected to one or more printers and to client computers over a network.It can accept print jobs from the client computers and allocate the jobs to the printers.
Print Server Advantages
Benefits of print server are enlisted as:
Print server lowers the administrative and management workload due to centralizing local and remote printer management. It allows prioritization of print jobs. It is known that priorities can be assigned to print jobs such that more important jobs are printed before those less important.
Print server allows an administrator to manage and control access to each printer. There are three level of printer permissions, print, manage documents and manage printer. Print permission allows a user to print documents, pause, resume, start and cancel his documents. This permission is granted to everyone in the group.
Manage documents permission is assigned by administrator to selected users when required. With this permission, user can control job settings for all documents. Manage printer permission allows the user to pause and restart the printer, share a printer, adjust printer permissions, change printer properties and change spooler settings.
With the use of print server, client computer jobs are quickly spooled to print server as compared to printer. The main point is that while printing large jobs from an own printer, user may have to leave his computer running until printing task gets completed. But with the use of print server, if any job has been spooled to it, then user can shutdown his system.
A system administrator can easily manage printers with the print server. If your own printer goes down, then you will not be able to print documents. But with the use of print server, when a printer goes down, then the printing job is transferred to other printer.
Print server manages workload on printers such that if one printer has lots of printing jobs, then it will assign some of the jobs to other printers in the network. It means if your printing job is spooled to print server, then it will get completed.
