Considerations for Enterprise Technologies
2-13
Considerations for Enterprise Technologies
Large organizations, or organizations with specialized requirements for security, reliability, or remote
access frequently employ technologies that impact the installation process. This section briefly describes
two technologies that CentreWare printer drivers support—clusters and Citrix MetaFrame—and the role
of the Add Printer Driver Wizard in preparing these environments for successful printer definition.
Clustering
Clustering is a technology that configures two or more servers ("nodes") to behave as one, from a user
perspective. Each node has access to a storage medium (the "cluster") that houses the supported
application or data.
Clustering is usually employed to improve fault tolerance or to implement load balancing. Typical
applications of clustering are applications or functions that require virtually uninterrupted service, such
as production report generation in many manufacturing environments, where one server failure could
have repercussions throughout the supply chain.
Print servers are one of many possible applications of clustering. Others include Web services, ftp
services, file management, and even managing some aspects of Active Directory.
When a cluster houses a print server, only the print spooler folder resides on the cluster. The printer
drivers reside on the nodes in their standard locations. When one node fails, printing continues using the
drivers that are present on a surviving node. Should that node lack the appropriate drivers, consequences
range from a lack of access to advanced driver features to a complete inability to print.
To ensure consistent printer availability in a cluster, use the Add Printer Driver Wizard (see
Add Printer
Driver Wizard
on page 2-14) to install the same printer drivers on all nodes in a cluster before adding the
printer to the cluster itself.
Citrix MetaFrame
Citrix MetaFrame provides centralized application management and distribution to an enterprise.
Applications that are published to users from a Citrix server have a single point of installation and
maintenance, simplifying administration. Desktop hosting capabilities offer access to current operating
platforms and applications to users running a wide range of hardware and operating systems, while
providing administrators increased control.
A Citrix server can be configured to "auto-create" a printer or printers when a Windows client logs in.
This procedure makes the client’s Windows printers available within a Citrix session. If the appropriate
drivers do not reside on the Citrix server, the Citrix server substitutes a "universal" driver. The user can
still print, but many of the features associated with CentreWare printer drivers, such as accounting or
booklet creation, are unavailable.
To prevent this, install the CentreWare drivers (See
Add Printer Driver Wizard
on page 2-14) on a Citrix
server (or on all members of a Citrix server farm) before clients that use local printers based on these
drivers log in.
N
OTE
:
Xerox recommends this practice even on the Windows Server 2003 cluster management
products that have an "Automatic Quorum Feature." This is to ensure that damaged or corrupt driver
files are not passed from one node to another should failover occur.
