User manual

Introduction

4 Manual Connection Service.fm

Introduction

The change from expensive leased or dedicated lines to inexpensive VPN connections

– usually based on the economical DSL norm – is today a must for every IT manager.

Printing across VPN connections, however, creates quite a few challenges for admi-

nistrators. Aborted print data transfer at even the slightest instability in the VPN

connection, inadequate addressability for printers in masked networks

, or the need

for central provision of printer drivers for remote offices are just a few of the difficul-

ties that face administrators. Moreover, the very high data volume involved in printing

can quickly skyrocket the charges for VPN connections with by-volume tariffs.

ThinPrint Connection Service is the optimal solution for all of these issues. It sta-

bilizes transmission for print data, even in case the connection is broken for up to 90

seconds. In contrast to the otherwise normal direction of communication, connec-

tions can be established from remote locations to a central server, thereby making it

possible to address network printers via TCP/IP even in masked networks or with

firewalls.

Furthermore the Connection Service is the perfect DMZ component for printing.

TCP ports must only be opened towards the Connection Service (Illus. 2), and no

data is stored or spooled locally.

Adaptive compression for Citrix or Microsoft terminal servers reduces print data

90% and more. What’s more, the patented Driver Free Printing technology makes

central administration of printer drivers unnecessary. For all other application servers

and host systems, the standard compression of ThinPrint is available.

Connection Service as a supplemental component to the ThinPrint Engine is the-

refore an ideal solution for easy, fast, and inexpensive connection of remote offices.

The example illustrates a test installation of the Connection Service (Page 7

). Once

you are convinced of the software's functionality, the installation can be adapted to

your requirements.

Connection Service scenarios

Standard ThinPrint scenario

In a normal scenario, ThinPrint Engine is installed on a terminal server, a other appli-

cation server, or a central (dedicated) print server. When a user initiates a print job,

ThinPrint Engine compresses and encrypts the print data and streams it (in packets

of some KB) across a preset amount of bandwidth to the ThinPrint Client (Illus. 1).

ThinPrint Client decompresses and decrypts the print data and forwards it to the cor-

rect print interface. If ThinPrint Output Gateway (Driver Free Printing) is used on the

server instead of and original printer driver, ThinPrint Client Windows feeds the print

1 Network with network address translation (NAT)