HP Universal Print Driver for Windows DIRECT IP PRINTING VS. CLIENT/SERVER PRINTING, Pros and cons of direct IP printing

DIRECT IP PRINTING VS. CLIENT/SERVER PRINTING

The following tables list some of the common pros and cons for direct IP printing compared to client/server printing. You might identify other pros and cons specific to your environment.

Pros and cons of direct IP printing

+/-	Features	Implications
+	Lower equipment costs	Savings on equipment costs such as servers and print
		servers
+	Easier setup	Setting up a direct IP print environment is easier than
		setting up a server-based print environment
		Offices that change locations frequently require less
		assistance from IT
+	More user control over print jobs	Users maintain control of their print jobs throughout
		the process, relieving IT of the responsibility of
		managing print jobs at the servers
+	Distributed print environment	Limited impact to an enterprise as a whole when a
		single printer fails
-	Increased training costs	Users are responsible for troubleshooting their print
		jobs
+	Potential for increased worker	Users don’t have to search for drivers or resend print
	productivity	jobs because they inadvertently tried to print to a
		printer that wasn’t available
		When Status Notification Prompts are enabled, users
		are aware of real-time print job status
-	Limited number of users who can	25 concurrent users per printer are recommended
	print in a given environment	depending on usage
+/-	Windows Point and Print	Driver update services are unnecessary since users
	unavailable, and not necessary, to	download new versions of HP UPD when they
	install printers and drivers	become available
-	Limited control over group printing	IT might not be able to prioritize print jobs
	priority
-	No support for printer pooling or	May add complexity and management requirements
	print clustering
-	Increased configuration complexity	A hostname change on a printer requires updating
		all client computers
-	Policy concerns	Cannot restrict printing to specific IP address (such as
		a server queue that only allows printing from select
		users)

+/- Different IT tools are required to manage the printing environment

MPA and HP Active Directory templates are available for managing printer access lists and access to printer features

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