HP Distributed Print Service Administration Guide

Chapter 6 113
Configuring Spoolers, Queues, and Logical Printers
Creating and Configuring Queues
NOTE The smaller the interval you specify, the larger the chance for detection
of a backlogged queue. In general, if you specify a small value for the
interval, specify a wider gap in the values for the upper and lower
boundaries. Conversely, increase the interval value if you set the two
boundaries fairly close together.
To set the upper bound at 45 minutes, the lower bound at 30 minutes,
and the calculation interval at 10 minutes for the queue Queue1, enter:
pdset -c queue -x "backlog-upper-bound=00:45 \
backlog-lower-bound=00:30 \
backlog-update-interval=00:10" Queue1
About Controlling Queue Backlog Processing
HPDPS sends notification messages based on the value of the
queue-backlog attribute if the queue-backlogged event is specified in
the notification profile for a queue. The default notification profile for a
queue specifies this event.
The spooler calculates the value of the queue-backlog attribute by
determining how fast the physical printer or printers associated with the
queue have processed previous jobs. The spooler uses the value of the
total-job-octets job attribute to determine job size and the value of
the processing-time job attribute to determine how long the physical
printer took to process the job. The spooler then analyzes the jobs
currently in the queue and calculates the estimated amount of time
required to process those jobs.
If you configure the queue backlog attributes, HPDPS can alert you to
various problems with your print environment. A queue can be
backlogged because it is receiving a higher number of jobs than normal,
or the problem might be with the printer device. If the printer device is
out of service for a problem such as a paper jam, it cannot accept and
process jobs.
See Chapter 9 , “Managing Spoolers, Queues, and Logical Printers,” for
the procedures you can use to alleviate a backlogged queue.
Figure 6-3, “Queue Backlog Upper and Lower Bounds,” shows how the
values you set for the backlog-upper-bound and backlog-lower-bound
attributes alert you to a queue backlog condition. The solid line in the
figure shows the value of the queue-backlog attribute over time.