Please help square this printer circle.

[SimpleSi]

I've got a school with the photcopier in the staff room (one end on linear building) connected to admin net (but 4 rooms away from office) so secretary/head can print to it.

 

They also share a HP2600 laser for quick prints.

 

Curric have one colour laser in the suite (mid point of all classes) and they hammer it. (26000 copies in less than 6 months!)

 

Now, its been suggested that photocopier is connected to curric network (it would need new net point due to topology issues so cost ££/time)

 

Now, I think teachers/pupils are not going to print to it due to distance.

 

Obviously, manglement could pull suite laser in a fit of pique/show whoes in charge but I try and avoid such things in order to help teachers teach

 

Hit me with possible solutions people

 

Simon

[ICT_GUY]

26K prints on a colour laser printer?

That's got to cost a bomb.

 

Making it less convenient to print would be a great way to cut down on costs, also the fact that others might see what they are printing will stop the holiday snaps being run off.

[RingOfFlame]

I would be inclined to go with the photocopier. Cheaper cost per print and the added distance will make staff think twice before printing. Also most copiers have added security for printing so jobs could only be processed after a code has been entered. This will reduce waste by those members of staff who send a print job and then never collect them. They can just be deleted from the cue at the end of the day.

[SimpleSi]

26K prints on a colour laser printer?

That's got to cost a bomb.

ABout 6.5p/copy (ignoring paper but inc capital costs) so far so its not horrendous but the printer is squeaking due to being overworked and it won't last much longer and then there'll be the downtime while a new is sourced

 

 

Making it less convenient to print would be a great way to cut down on costs,

Di I mention the square circle

 

A lot of teachers would say that printing out worksheets for pupils is a good way to help them learn

 

And the teachers are now fully aware that they are this years worst eco-champions and now put peer pressure on each other.

 

regards

 

Simon

[SimpleSi]

Cheaper cost per print and the added distance will make staff think twice before printing. Also most copiers have added security for printing so jobs could only be processed after a code has been entered. This will reduce waste by those members of staff who send a print job and then never collect them.

 

But drastically increase workload for teachers/ta's ;(

 

Looking for something inbetween.

 

(what I really need is a way to share photocopier between 2 nets but I've not found such a solution that doesn't involve a lot of geeky linux work )

[ICT_GUY]

ABout 6.5p/copy (ignoring paper but inc capital costs)

£3380 per year is a lot of money.

[john]

(what I really need is a way to share photocopier between 2 nets but I've not found such a solution that doesn't involve a lot of geeky linux work )

 

Is the copier Networkable Si? If so why not put it on a server that is on both LANs (IE 2 NICs in it one in each LAN) and that way you can share it to both networks?

[mac_shinobi]

Not sure what model of copier you said it was but when I have advised about connecting one copier to 2 networks ( could be wrong as it may be different with different manufacturers of copiers )

 

However I have used a USB Print server ( USB connector on one end ( the house shaped one, think its USB B but not sure ) and then ethernet connector ( RJ45 ) on the other end which will allow the curric to print to the copier and then the normal RJ45 or network connection to the admin network or the other way around depending on how you want it setup

 

Just as a side note people who use the usb to ethernet adaptor wont be able to scan but will be able to print ( again check specs for this ) and people who use the ethernet on the copier should be able to do everything

 

As stated above I could be wrong as it depends on how the manufacturer of the copier has made there copiers firmware as to whether it will allow to have more then 1 network interface enabled at the same time and what solutions they offer.

[SimpleSi]

£3380

It is but I believe photocopiers work out at about 4p copy (i know there'll be people around here who get the PC people to pay them per copy but ... ) thats what I meant by not being horrrendous.

 

@john

What we've got in my primaries is an admin machine just standard XP/Vista/Win 87 Pro with 1 or 2 others peer-peer networked to that and a separate curric network with a win2k3 server.

 

And our Dark Lords are not keen on network joining so it'd have to be done in a very deniable way (and they basically own the main admin machine)

 

So would I stick the 2 NICs in the curric server?

What could I do to mitigate any "its your fault SIMs doesn't print

 

regards

 

Simon

[SimpleSi]

However I have used a USB Print server ( USB connector on one end ( the house shaped one, think its USB B but not sure ) and then ethernet connector ( RJ45 ) on the other end which will allow the curric to print to the copier and then the normal RJ45 or network connection to the admin network or the other way around depending on how you want it setup

 

Ah - I hadn't thought of that approach

 

One school I know has connected the admin machine through a whole in the wall via USB and curric via network and say it works fine. (This school is too far from admin machines to USB to it direct)

 

The only time I tried a net to USB device was about 3 years ago and it failed miserably so I didn't bother again (Ended up having to front end HP1000 inkjets with tatty ex-Win98 machines running Breezy Badger headless but couldn't get the reliability and ended up moving printers around and connecting it direct to server via USB )

 

Anyway, can you remember what Net-USB convertor you used?

 

Or is someone else using on that's worth trying? (Can't spend too much money experimenting - need to do usual rabbit out of box trick )

regards

 

Simon

[mac_shinobi]

Ah - I hadn't thought of that approach

 

One school I know has connected the admin machine through a whole in the wall via USB and curric via network and say it works fine. (This school is too far from admin machines to USB to it direct)

 

The only time I tried a net to USB device was about 3 years ago and it failed miserably so I didn't bother again (Ended up having to front end HP1000 inkjets with tatty ex-Win98 machines running Breezy Badger headless but couldn't get the reliability and ended up moving printers around and connecting it direct to server via USB )

 

Anyway, can you remember what Net-USB convertor you used?

 

Or is someone else using on that's worth trying? (Can't spend too much money experimenting - need to do usual rabbit out of box trick )

regards

 

Simon

 

am not sure to be honest, I was thinking netgear or hp but am not sure on your price requirements so you would have to look into reviews and see what prices are like - maybe see if one of the people on here can quote you ie WDAN and all the other edu suppliers on here

 

Short of that if you have a small form factor pc that had xp on it with all the GUI dumbed down etc you could connect the copier via usb to said pc and share it off of there ??

Edited September 24, 2010 by mac_shinobi

[srochford]

Amazon.co.uk: usb print server: Computers & Accessories

 

Quite a few USB print servers from about £20

 

If you've got a spare PC then you could use that as a print server but it feels like overkill (KISS applies :-))

[john]

It is but I believe photocopiers work out at about 4p copy (i know there'll be people around here who get the PC people to pay them per copy but ... ) thats what I meant by not being horrrendous.

 

@john

What we've got in my primaries is an admin machine just standard XP/Vista/Win 87 Pro with 1 or 2 others peer-peer networked to that and a separate curric network with a win2k3 server.

 

And our Dark Lords are not keen on network joining so it'd have to be done in a very deniable way (and they basically own the main admin machine)

 

So would I stick the 2 NICs in the curric server?

What could I do to mitigate any "its your fault SIMs doesn't print

 

regards

 

Simon

 

Is your curric server a DHCP box if so best not go there, if you have a box you could sit on both LANs just put 2 cards in it one in each LAN, use the printer on the LAN its on now and it will all be fine

[SimpleSi]

Short of that if you have a small form factor pc that had xp on it

 

I'll come up against 10 client connection limit of XP Pro :9

Quite a few USB print servers from about £20

 

That's what I did last time (D-link) and it certainly didn't work with an HP1100 inkjet even with bi-direct switch off

 

Im thinking of getting a new curric net point installed and running it off curric net work and risk a few quid on trying another USB convertor.

 

Also, going to suggest that we run down the Brother laser supplies and get a small B/W laser instead.

 

That way, if the teachers need/want quick print - they can have B/W in the suite but Colour will need a File- Print - Photocopier sequence.

 

regards

 

Simon

[SYNACK]

We used a linksys one quite successfully with an old hp that cooked its jetdirect card. The usb + network way is the only way to keep it fully seporate as with the two NIC method they are still tecnically connected via a compromisable GP box. In order to comp one network from the other in the USB setup they would need to write and upload completely new firmware and possibly drivers remotely to do it so there is a much higher barrier to network leakage.

[mac_shinobi]

We used a linksys one quite successfully with an old hp that cooked its jetdirect card. The usb + network way is the only way to keep it fully seporate as with the two NIC method they are still tecnically connected via a compromisable GP box. In order to comp one network from the other in the USB setup they would need to write and upload completely new firmware and possibly drivers remotely to do it so there is a much higher barrier to network leakage.

 

linksys it is then - I've only had experience of netgear & hp jet directs, I have always been anti D Link and anti belkin as I have always had lots of issues with there hardware / equipment and have never gone with names I have not heard of unless they come highly recommended and have good reviews ( always checking out reviews online and in magazines )