Hardware & Networking...

Printer's Plus is easy to set-up and administer on a Windows network. Within just a few minutes at each workstation you will have Printer's Plus up and going. First, if you will have only one workstation then there is no need for a network and you can install Printer's Plus on a PC with the following minimal requirements:

Printer's Plus Single-User Workstation

· At least a Pentium 4 or equivalent
· Windows XP/2000
· 1GB RAM
· 500MB free on Hard Drive
· CD ROM Drive
· Internet Access to this computer for support
· Some method of backing up (tape, disk, CD, ZIP, or JAZZ)
· Uninterruptible Power Supply

If you want to connect only a few workstations together (less that six), the easiest way would be with a Windows peer-to-peer network. This type of network is quick and easy to set up and administer.

Printer's Plus Multi-User Peer-to-Peer Workstation

· At least a Pentium 4 or equivalent
· Windows XP/2000/Vista
· 512MB - 1GB RAM
· 500MB free on Hard Drive with the database, otherwise 100MB free
· CD ROM Drive
· Internet Access to the computer with the database for support
· Some method of backing up, tape or disk, required on workstation with database
· Uninterruptible Power Supply (required on workstation with database)
· 100Mbit Network Interface Card
· All network cabling/equipment should be rated CAT5/100Mbit or higher

If you will have a larger network (about six workstations and above) you should consider an Windows 2000/2003 network. For this network setup you would need the following:

Printer's Plus Windows 2000/2003 Server

· At least a Pentium 4 or equivalent
· 1GB RAM
· 500 MB free on  Hard Drive
· CD ROM Drive
· Internet Access for support
· Some method of backing up, tape or disk
· Uninterruptible Power Supply
· 100Mbit Network Interface Card
· All network cabling/equipment should be rated CAT5/100Mbit or higher

Printer's Plus Windows Workstations

· At least a Pentium 4 or equivalent 
· Windows XP/2000/Vista
· 512MB - 1GB RAM
· 100MB free on Hard Drive
· CD ROM Drive
· Network Interface Card (100Mbit)

 

Experience has shown us that sometimes the networking may get a little complicated for someone that is not familiar with Windows. While Printer's Plus will certainly assist with the set-up of the network as far as answering questions, the bulk of the work needs to be done by someone knowledgeable on-site. If you do not feel comfortable setting up the network, may we suggest that a third party be contracted to do the set-up. The TCP/IP protocol is required for running the Printer's Plus application.

Once your hardware is in place and the networking is complete and tested, the Printer's Plus system can then be installed. There are two major components to the Printer's Plus software, the executable and the database. The executable is the set of instructions that allows the program to perform the calculations and requests that the user requires. The database is the stored information regarding all sorts of things from customers to order history to paper pricing and much more. The executable is loaded on each computer that will be running Printer's Plus. The database is loaded only once on the server in a Windows 2000/2003 environment or the computer that will store the database in a Windows Peer-to Peer environment. This is done to maximize network and system performance. With this set-up, only changes to the database need to be sent across the network, thereby increasing system speed. Printer's Plus spends considerable time and energy finding ways to increase performance. This has resulted in a super fast system that will get things done quickly and with less frustration for you, your employees, and most of all your customers! 

Many owners have more than one location and want to connect them all together so that one database is used. Printer's Plus handles this situation with no problem. Usually all locations connect to the Internet via DSL with a transfer rate of at least 256K. Your local networking professional should be able to tell you which option would be most economical for your location. Printer's Plus would also be happy to answer questions regarding this issue.

Note regarding Windows Vista: We are not recommending a switch to Windows Vista at this point.  Many industry experts are encouraging business users to stay with Windows XP Professional for now.  We have tested Printer's Plus on Windows Vista and it will run as a workstation just fine.  If you need to install our server version on Vista - we have an alternate version of our database that is compatible, but it will need to be installed manually.