Network Printing - Building Print Services on Heterogenous Networks

ISBN  0-596-00038-3   Price  approximately £27  UK
Todd Radermacher & Matthew Gast                12 Chapters 2 appendices and index in 269 pages
 

Chapter List

               ix    Preface
            1    Introduction, Architecture and History
            2    Printer Languages
            3    Exploring the Spooler
            4    Extending the Berkeley Spooler with Print Filters
            5    The Next Generation Berkeley Spooler: LPRng
            6    Connecting Windows to Unix Servers: Let's Samba
            7    Connecting Macintosh Networks to Unix Servers
            8    Connecting NetWare Networks to Linux Servers
            9    Using SNMP to Manage Networked Printers
            10  Using Boot Servers for Basic Printer Configuration
            11  Centralised Configuration with LDAP
            12  Accounting, Security, and Performance

           Appendix A
                Printcap reference
            Appendix B
                SNMP MIB Objects for Managing Printers
 

Synopsis

        Network printing and lpr can still cause a few problems for operators even when they know what to do.  Network printing sets out to help people to more easily understand some basic ideas..

Review

Network printing is probably one of those enormously useful books that sits on the shelf in the IT department for weeks on end until that day when someone has a panic when the printer server falls over.  It's usually an MS Windows machine anyway but there are times when someone does something strange to a Linux box.  On the back of the book it explains that the following is covered....
 

• Setting up print servers on Unix (BSD and SVR4) and Linux Systems
• Using filters to extend your printing system
• LPRng, the next generation spooler for Unix and Linux systems
• Opening up your Unix and Linux print servers to Windows, Macintosh, and Novell users by using SAMBA, netatalk and ncpfs
• Remote printer management using SNMP
• Using BOOTP and DHCP to configure printers at boot time
• Using LDAP to centralise configuration management
• Printer accounting, security and performance

The first chapter which gives a brief potted history makes for interesting reading.  Much nicer than the raw intro to Samba that is so much a part of other books.  If you just want a Samba book then there is O'Reilly's Using Samba which is brilliant.  You can download the complete book in PDF or HTML form from the O'Reilly site for free.

Exploring the spooler at chapter three is the one that most people don't get to know about.  Very useful and even I learned something.  The following chapters about about print filters and LPRng were not the kind of thing that I could find just anywhere.  Yes, I'm sure it's fine for someone with ten years experience of Unix to say "read the docs on the hard drive".  But, most people can't understand them at all and neither can I.  The middle part of the book which is about connecting MS WindowsTM, Macintosh and Netware networks to Linux and Unix servers is also very helpful.  The later chapters provide some helpful comments to point the would-be administrator in the appropriate direction.

" The animal on the cover of Network Printing is a steer.  The steer is a gelded male cow, a domesticated farm animal of the bovine species that is an important part of the agricultural industry.  The term "steer" refers to the young male cow; after it is a few years old, it is called an ox, which is frequently used as a draft animal.

The steer plays a central role in rodeos, which are an exhibition of riding and roping contests.  Steer wrestling, also known as "bulldogging", involves a mounted cowboy chasing down a steer, then diving from the horse's back and wrestling the steer to the ground.  In a steer roping contest, the cowboy lassos the steer by the horns, bringing it to the ground.  Then the cowboy dismounts and ties the steer's feet as quickly as possible.  The contests are judged by speed, and the fastest cowboy is the winner. "

O'Reilly like to breathe new life into boring old subjects :))

Review by Richard Ibbotson