Printer Servers versus Direct IP Printers: Which is Better?

Most businesses know the headaches associated with high printing costs and machine procurement. Aside from that, print maintenance and printing environment configuration are also part of the system administrators and business owners” struggles.

If you”re wondering which among Print Server Software and direct IP printers is a better choice, you have to weigh each option. Knowing the costs and benefits of each choice can help you come up with a sound and rational choice.

Image Source: Pixabay

What is direct IP printing?

The easiest way to set up and make a printer work is through a direct IP connection. The system administrator will need the model number and your system IP to connect the device manually to your machine.

What are the benefits of direct IP printing?

Some of the benefits of this particular option include the following:

• Since no central printer server is installed, there is also no single network failure point.
• The user will have full control of his printer drivers and printer settings.
• There will be less network traffic as printing jobs are individually spooled on separate local machines.
• Lower cost and maintenance

While direct IP printers are ideal for reducing printing downtime, you have to manage each printer and its driver manually. As a result, you won”t have control over printing permissions and profiles.

Printing with print servers

For personal use or use in smaller work environments, direct IP printing can work well. However, as your business scales up, you will find it hard to manage an increasing number of corporate printers.

If you use a dedicated print server software for your machine, you can enjoy many benefits, including the following:

• Centralize all printing tasks, allowing your system administrator to manage printers from a central console collectively.
• With lesser print-related issues, you can improve your employees” productivity.
• You can also keep track of certain information like users, files printed, date-specific files were printed, and so on. The system administrators can use these pieces of information in auditing.
• You can also take advantage of automated updates of your print servers.
• You can also easily manage queued printing tasks” names, sizes, and status in a centralized console.
• Printer servers can also increase network security as the administrator has full control in designating who can use the machine. They can also oversee what files can be printed, and where the printer can be connected.

Print Server is the way to go.

If you only have to manage one or two printing devices, then a direct IP printer will work best for you. However, if you need to maintain a wider desktop environment, print servers offer the best benefits.

It would be hard to keep up with your business if you spend most of your resources on your printing needs. To manage your printing tasks more efficiently, regardless of the number of users, go for print servers. Your system administrator can audit your monthly usage to determine which are unauthorized and authorized printing uses. Through this, you can eliminate costs that are not related to your business.