Product Reviews

HP's Print Server Appliance 4200 can release network servers from the resource-sapping task of print queue servicing by taking over all spooling duties. It's not to be confused with standard external print server devices, as you can't attach printers directly to the 4200. It's designed to take over all network print-queue management and direct print requests to the relevant networked printer. The only connections at the rear are a 10/100BaseTX Ethernet port and DB-9 serial port for connecting to an APC UPS for status monitoring.

The 4200 is well designed with a smart, backlit LCD status panel teamed up with a numeric keypad for swift manual configuration. The compact motherboard holds a Cyrix processor and a single 128Mb stick of PC100 SDRAM, while a 10.2Gb

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Quantum hard disk is connected to the single IDE connector. The Linux OS leaves space on the hard disk for spooling over 6Gb of print jobs and the 4200 can handle up to 500 active clients and 50 printers.

Installation starts by providing an IP address and then moving over to the browser-based management interface. Security is good, as the front panel and administration account can be password protected and the 4200 also supports NT domain authentication. The appliance comes with a wide range of pre-installed printer drivers, although these are all for HP printers. You can load other drivers on to the appliance, but you have to create a new printer and link it with one of the supplied HP drivers. The printer must then be accessed via the Network Neighborhood on a Windows NT or 2000 system and the correct drivers associated with the printer.

Active and waiting print jobs can be viewed and deleted, but you can't put any on hold and the 4200 doesn't provide any job history. All appliance settings can be backed up in a single file and downloaded to a PC, and the file can be restored if there's a failure.

Overall, this is a simple solution that can take the printing overheads from overworked servers. Another advantage of the 4200 is that it centralises all printer management and a network server failure won't affect printing services.