IG ThinPrint Server ProLiant

installation guide

iss solutions

ActiveAnswers

september 2003

abstract: This installation guide presents the audited procedures for installing ThinPrint .print Server Engine on Microsoft® Windows® 2003 Terminal Services environment. ThinPrint provides value in traditional enterprise computing architecture and in sever based computing (SBC). With .print installed, organizations can utilize the ThinPrint architecture, which addresses many printing challenges of enterprise and server based computing thereby providing:

• Driverless printing in Microsoft Terminal Services or Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server environments

• Bandwidth management of print job data across LAN and WAN.

• Compression of print job data across the LAN and WAN

• Individual printer menu per user in Terminal Services and Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server environments

• Returning printer data back to the end user

ThinPrint .print Server Engine installation and architecture

contents

introduction..................... 3 SBC printing challenges....................... 3 enterprise computing printing challenges ........ 11 hardware and software requirements ... 12 installing the .print Server software ............. 13 installing the TPAutoConnect service ... 14 summary....................... 15 appendix ...................... 16

ThinPrint .print Server Engine installation and architecture 2

[september 2003 version 1]

notice

© 2003 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Microsoft, and Windows are US registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Intel is a US registered trademark of Intel Corporation.

september 2003 P/N [september 2003 version 1]



introduction This installation guide presents the necessary details to install and configure .print Server on an HP ProLiant DL360 G3 server running Terminal Services on Windows 2003, overcoming inherent printing challenges for typical enterprise computing architecture and, more commonly, for SBC (Server Based Computing). Included is a short review of these challenges and the resolution through the use of ThinPrint .print Server architecture.

A simple test environment was configured and reviewed during the preparation of this material and is documented in this installation guide. This document provides a proof point to the compatibility and value of ThinPrint – in both traditional enterprise and SBC architectures. The reader will be introduced to the architecture, providing best practices insight. ThinPrint ensures an elegant printing architecture providing efficiency and a reduced support cost for the enterprise IT spend.

Architectures specifically address:

• SBC printing challenges

• Enterprise computing printing challenges

SBC printing challenges SBC environments execute end-user applications on a server while a client machine is used to render data and essentially facilitate all communications. Server based computing systems include Microsoft Terminal Services on Windows 2003 and Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server. Clients connect to the servers via various access devices such as thin clients (diskless PCs) or standard desktops.

SBC printing requirements create challenges in several facets, including:

• Support of multiple client printers

• Printing process load on application servers

• WAN bandwidth utilization

• Returning print data to end-users client platform, (NAT and VPN) challenges

• Stand alone ThinPrint network printer support

Countless architectural options result depending on the specific challenges of each environment. The solutions architect will determine the best practices architecture resulting from the goals, priorities and challenges of the customer. Presented here is an introduction to the basic concepts. References in the appendix direct the reader to in-depth reviews and marketing documents for various products available to deploy a complete solution utilizing various ThinPrint, HP and other company’s products.



support of multiple client printers

While enterprises often have standardized on a small set of printers for the clients they support, due to mergers and acquisitions and for other reasons, many different specific printer drivers may be required in a SBC deployment. Companies are also extending the reach of client access to many employee-owned systems through virtual private networks (VPNs) and Internet access.

Traditionally, supporting this environment for printing becomes challenging in that each user connecting must have the appropriate printer -specific driver installed on the application server to support the local client printer.

NOTE: The term driver free printing conveys the idea that a printer-specific driver need only be loaded on one computer that connects the printer to the network. Typically, a printer-specific driver must be on every client and application server using a specific printer.

The ThinPrint architecture allows for driver free printing in that the application server need not have a printer-specific driver loaded but needs only a ThinPrint Output Gateway Printer attached to a ThinPrint .print Port installed. The printer-specific driver is loaded only on the local client where a printer is connected to the desktop computer.

Organizations can simplify the system configuration and reduce support costs because they no longer need to load printer specific drivers on application servers and client desktops. Figure 1 shows how every print driver must be loaded twice in traditional deployment.

Figure 1. Traditional multiple printer configuration



Loading and updating all required individual printer drivers is expensive and time consuming.

ThinPrint Architecture provides a driver free architecture shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Driver free printer architecture

By leveraging the ThinPrint architecture, users can print to any of the connected printers without loading printer-specific drivers for each required printer.



printing process load on application servers

SBC makes use of one or more processor(s) in the server to provide the computing cycles necessary for a common set of clients accessing the application server. In this manner, the relatively light load of the common tasks performed by the clients are averaged across the available processors. Some tasks, such as printing, are very processor intensive. By off-loading this task to a separate server, clients can print without concern for the impact on other users or their own productivity.

The ThinPrint architecture allows for a dedicated print server. Organizations benefit from both the off-loading of the CPU-intensive printing process and also from the ability to separate the management of the print server from the application server. Figure 3 shows the ThinPrint Server Engine architecture. When using a dedicated print server the application server requires a Virtual Channel Gateway license.

Figure 3. Dedicated print server architecture

The .print Client on the desktop is only required if printing from locally executed applications is required. Both the application server and the client platform can print driver free. A set of application servers can share a single ThinPrint .print Server Engine as required.



WAN bandwidth utilization

Enterprises may use SBC to serve clients at remote offices connected by a Wide Area Network or WAN connection. The speed of these connections may be as low as 64K bits per second to any single site. Printing an invoice may be acceptable, though larger jobs such as month-end reports fail or take an unreasonably long length of time to complete. Regardless of the time required for printing, the communication channel between the application server and the remote office will be degraded during the time required for the print job to complete.

ThinPrint compresses print jobs, averaging 70 percent compression ratio, reducing the amount of data required to be delivered to the remote office. For an illustration of the compression ratio, consider a 1 megabyte data stream to be delivered to the printer; this will only require 300K bits of WAN-connection bandwidth by utilizing ThinPrint compression. ThinPrint also provides for granular bandwidth control to the client. Bandwidth can be tuned to an arbitrary bit rate or may be set without any limit on which print data is transferred to the connected printer.

Enterprises can now optimize and manage the bandwidth utilized per port to print at remote locations from terminal services by adopting the ThinPrint architecture.



returning print data to end-user's client platform, (NAT and VPN challenges)

Note: RDP or Remote Desktop Protocol is Microsoft’s Terminal Services Protocol. ICA: Citrix ICA stands for Citrix® Independent Computing Architecture. RDP and ICA are used in this installation guide as terms to describe the communications protocol with which the client communicates with the application server of the respective SBC vendor.

Clients connecting to application servers often utilize RDP or ICA to connect to the application server. This TCP connection may originate from a desktop on a network segment that is partitioned from the application server by a router, firewall or a virtual private network (VPN) service. Often a combination of these apply. A user that connects through a VPN from a laptop computer, connected via a small firewall device and a broadband Internet connection, provides an example.

This may create a challenge for the system administrator in that the printer available to the client desktop may not be accessible by the application server without a great deal of network configuration. Depending on the extensibility of the networking equipment deployed, the communication from the application server back to the client network printer (or client printer) share may be impossible.

ThinPrint Virtual Channel enables printing from the application server through an RDP or ICA Virtual Channel back to the connecting client, even when an external dedicated print server is employed.



stand alone ThinPrint network printer support

Many HP printers have support for a broad set of extended features through the JetCAPS partnership program. ThinPrint has worked in conjunction with EuroForm to provide a ThinPrint Client embedded into the newer families of HP LaserJet printers. Printers can be connected directly to the Ethernet network and support ThinPrint compressed and bandwidth-controlled data delivery by purchasing a DIMM ROM with the EuroForm ThinPrint Client. A 16MB memory expansion and a Jetdirect 615N card were tested for the support on the HP LaserJet 2300 tested. The ThinPrint Client was configured using a web browser.

Figure 4 shows the simple remote printer configuration providing standalone support for the ThinPrint Client.

Figure 4. Standalone ThinPrint Client support on LaserJet 2300

Deployment of standalone, network-connected printers may reduce support costs when compared to printers directly attached to desktops that must be managed separately. This method of providing ThinPrint support improves the availability of printers on the network.

Current HP Laserjet printers supporting EuroForm JetCAPS ThinPrint Client include:

HP LaserJet 2300 series


HP LaserJet 4100 MFP series






HP LaserJet 9000 MFP series

HP Color LaserJet 4600 series

HP Color LaserJet 5500 series

A list of HP certified Printers supported in Citrix MetaFrame can be found via: HP LaserJet Printers Supported in MetaFrame, http://h71019.www7.hp.com/6464-6-100-225-1-00.htm.

http://h71019.www7.hp.com/ActiveAnswers/Render/1,1027,6464-6-100-225-1,00.htm

http://h71019.www7.hp.com/ActiveAnswers/Render/1,1027,6464-6-100-225-1,00.htm



enterprise computing printing challenges Enterprise printing challenges commonly addressed by ThinPrint include deployment of driver free printing for desktops, laptops, tablets and iPaq Pocket PCs. Thinprint provides .print Clients that support a wide range of access devices and operating systems. Driver free printing reduces the system resources required and greatly increases the options for support of printers while reducing the number of drivers required to be loaded on the access device. Some small memory and processor access devices do not have broad printer support in the common OS that they may use. By supporting driver free printing, access devices can support a broad range of printing devices that cannot be supported on the common OS.



hardware and software requirements

hardware requirements

HP and ThinPrint tested the ProLiant DL360 G3 server. The specific server tested was equipped with two (2) Intel® Xeon processors operating at 2.8 GHz, two 36GB Ultra 320 hard drives and 1GB of RAM. he specific part numbers are shown below.

Quantity Description Part Number

1 DL360 G3 X2.80GHz 512KB 1024MB 1P RCK US 308724-001

1 2.8GHz Xeon Processor kit 292892-B21

2 36GB 10K U320 Pluggable Hard Drive 286713-B22

Other ProLiant servers might also be considered, depending on the requirements. Popular units that might also be considered include the HP ProLiant DL380 G3 and the ProLiant DL320 G2 servers. While these servers were not tested for this audit, one would expect similar results.

server software requirements

The following software is required for the installation described in this guide:

• Microsoft Windows .NET Server 2003 Standard Edition

• ThinPrint .print V5.5 downloaded from (www.ThinPrint.com)

• ThinPrint .print hotfix for ThinPrint AutoConnect on Windows 2003 Server

(contact ThinPrint support and request access for download)

Note: ThinPrint does not offer distributed software on a CDROM. The Software distribution is achieved through customer-initiated downloads from their website. The downloaded software is stored on the server hard drive and expanded into a subdirectory. A required license key is provided in the form of a string of text.

http://www.thinprint.com/



installing the .print Server software This section describes the installation of ThinPrint .print Server. It is assumed that the HP ProLiant DL 360 G3 server is configured as described in the hardware and software requirements section above and that Microsoft Windows .NET Server 2003 Standard Edition have been installed with Terminal services.

To install the ThinPrint .print Server, follow these steps:

1. Choose Start / All Programs / Accessories / Windows Explorer.

2. Navigate to the downloaded ThinPrint directory tree and expand if necessary.

3. Double click Setup.exe.

4. Select English.

5. Click OK.

6. Review license and ACCEPT.

7. Click Install .print Server.

8. A message will be displayed asking for you to have the appropriate license keys available.

Click OK.

A new window will open; this is the ThinPrint License Manager.

9. Click License / New.

Enter the license key provided in all capitals just as it appears in the provided e-mail. A cut-and-paste procedure works well.

10. Click License / Exit.

11. Click on the Hardware Installation program on the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen.

12. A notice is displayed indicating that the software has not passed Microsoft certification.

13. Click Continue Anyway.

14. Click OK.

15. Click Close.

16. Click Next.

17. Click Finish.



installing the TPAutoConnect service 1. Choose Start / All Programs / ThinPrint Server/ ThinPrint Setup.

2. Review and Accept the License agreement.

3. Choose Install AutoConnect.

4. Click OK, once displayed.

5. Click OK.

6. Click Close.

Note: To complete the installation the ThinPrint AutoConnect service, apply the hotfix for ThinPrint AutoConnect on Windows 2003 Server.

applying hotfix for ThinPrint AutoConnect on Windows 2003 Server

1. Choose Start / Administrative Tools / Services.

2. Navigate to the Print Spooler, right click, and select Stop.

3. Select File / Exit.

4. Navigate to the TPAutoconnect Service, right click, and select Stop.

5. Using the Windows Explorer, copy the following three files contained in the ThinPrint 2003 Hot Fix directory to into the %SYSTEMROOT%\system32 directory

TPICAW32.dll

TPRDPW32.dll

TPAutoConnSvc.exe

6. Choose Start / Administrative Tools / Services.

7. Navigate to the Print Spooler; right click and select Start.

8. Navigate to the TPAutoconnect Service; right click and select Start.

9. Select File / Exit.



summary Both general enterprise and SBC-specific printing challenges are addressed by utilizing the ThinPrint architecture. The specific configurations and requirements vary greatly depending on the individual architecture, goals, and the unique combination of access devices, application servers, printers, and print servers. ThinPrint provides many whitepapers and suggests that system architects contact them for verbal consultations should guidance be required.



appendix

JetCAPS ThinPrint - http://h40041.www4.hp.com/jetcaps/solutions/thinprint.html

ThinPrint - www.ThinPrint.com

ThinPrint White Papers - http://www.thinprint.com/view.php?page=sup_white&lc=uk

HP SBC - http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/html/3916-0-0-0-121.html

http://h40041.www4.hp.com/jetcaps/solutions/thinprint.html

http://www.thinprint.com/

http://www.thinprint.com/view.php?page=sup_white&lc=uk

http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/html/3916-0-0-0-121.html

IG ThinPrint Server ProLiant

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