Q:
ABSTRACT: Can the 3900-DW2 support printing from multiple PSF/6000
machines over a token-ring LAN?
SEARCH ARG: 3900 tcp/ip
TOPIC THREAD: PRINT
AFP
PRINTER_HARDWARE
3900
..
My customer will be installing a 3900-DW2 on their token-ring LAN.
Initially, PSF/6000 on a single RISC System/6000 will be used to
print to the 3900-DW2. Because of the large volume of data that will
be printed, we plan to use the enq -c command to queue print jobs
without physically copying them into the AIX spool queue. Next, we
will add a second RISC System/6000 that will also need to print to
the 3900-DW2 over the same token-ring LAN. We would like to use the
same scheme for printing as I just described; i.e., enq -c. We are
NOT planning on designating one of the RISC System/6000's as a print
server for the 3900-DW2 because we don't want the large volumes of print
data moving from one system to another; we don't even want to move it
to AIX print queue˘
1. Can the 3900-DW2 support printing from MULTIPLE PSF/6000 systems?
2. If not, given our constraints of not moving data to a server, can
you suggest an alternative?
Thanks.
A:
Only one PSF can "own" a printer at a single time because of the two
way conversation that takes place between the PSF software and the
microcode in the printer. However, you can achieve the same objective
with a combination of timers in the PSF/6000 printer configuration.
First is the Job Interval SHUTDOWN Timer in each PSF/6000 (Tuning
Options); that sets the number of seconds for PSF/6000 to wait for AIX
spool data to become available before releasing the printer. The default
value is 9999, which says "never release". In your case, you would set
it to a lower value. (Note: the value for NPRO should be less than the
value set for Job Interval SHUTDOWN.)
Then, for both of the PSF/6000 printer definitions under Device Options,
you would set the Connection TIMEOUT to 9999, so that each PSF/6000 will
wait indefinitely to acquire the printer.
Note that each time the printer is released by one PSF/6000 and acquired
by another, all resources that had been stored in printer memory are
deleted, and the acquiring PSF will have to send the required resources
to the 3900. So there will be some additional overhead.
Or you can manually drain one PSF/6000 using the psfctl -dt command,
and start the other (psfctl -u); you would have the same issue with
resource reloading.
Note that the enq command defaults to queueing (no copy of the file
made); the -c flag you mentioned DOES spool (i.e., make a copy of the
file). qprt and lp also default to queueing; only lpr defaults to
spooling. Based on your description, I think you want enq *without*
the -c flag.
Thanks for using ViewBlue.
S e a r c h - k e y w o r d s:
AIX PSF/6000 SHARING TIMER psf/aix job interval shutdown multiple
ipds
WWQA: ITEM: RTA000088834 ITEM: RTA000088834
Dated: 05/1999 Category: XPSF6000
This HTML file was generated 2000/11/30~13:34:03
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