Ricoh AP1400/AP2000 manual Windows IPX Peer-to-Peer Printing, Introduction and Preparation

Chapter 5

Windows Peer-to-Peer Printing

5.1Windows IPX Peer-to-Peer Printing

Windows Peer-to-Peer printing allows Windows-95/98 workstations and Windows NT 4.0 workstations and servers to print to Network Interface Board printers without an intervening file server and without using IP. The main features of the Windows IPX Peer-to-Peer printing are as follows:

ŸRuns on Windows 95/98 workstations and on Windows NT 4.0 workstations or servers "out of the box".

ŸRuns on networks which do not have a NetWare file server, as well as those that do.

ŸImplements IPX Peer-to-Peer bi-directional printing between Windows workstations and Network Interface Board printers.

5.1.1Introduction and Preparation

The Peer-to-Peer implementation uses the IPX/SPX stacks for Windows 95/98 and Widows NT 4.0 that are provided by Microsoft and Novell. The redirector software provided will establish a connection with the printers supporting IPX Peer-to-Peer, without using an intermediate file server, whether or not your network uses Novell NetWare.

When configuring the network capabilities for the Windows computer, you must include the "IPX/SPX Compatible Protocol". If you are not using NetWare, you do not need to activate any NetWare Client application.

This inclusion of IPX/SPX can also be done after initial Windows installation by going to the Network setup function under Control Panel. To do this, you will need the Windows installation disk(s).

Note: Because Peer-to-Peer uses the IPX/SPX Protocol, Novell operation must remain enabled on the Network Interface Board, even if traditional Novell printing facilities are not being used. The name of the Peer-to-Peer printer, as it appears in the Windows Port List, is the same as the Novell Print Server name, and may be changed by changing the Novell Print Server name using the Web-based management or MAP utilities.

On power up, the Network Interface Board sniffs the network to see if there is Novell server activity. If there is, it will use the same frame type and the local network number that it senses. If, in addition, the NIB can log on to a file server, it will assume that Novell is normally used and will store this frame type and new number in NV RAM so that, when it comes up again, it will not have to spend the time sensing (which can take some time). However, if the NIB cannot attach to a file server, it will use the sensed values, but will not store them.

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