ospwd@EMORY.ARPA.UUCP (03/11/87)
Here are some responses I received to the following query: "I am looking for an ethernet-attached Postscript laser printer to serve VAX's running 4.3bsd and VMS, and an IBM 4381 running VM, all of which are attached to the same ethernet and support TCP/IP. The VMS machine also supports DECNET. "We would like a printer that has a higher duty cycle than a LaserWriter and can print faster than 8 pages per minute. The IBM, UNIX and VMS computers must all be able to send prints to it, either directly through the ethernet (preferred) or using one of the other machines as a server." We only found three printers with ethernet interfaces: Xerox 8700/4050, Imagen, and DEC PrintServer 40. Xerox wants Interpress via XNS. There is support for typesetter independent troff to interpress and XNS on 4.3bsd. If the Xerox is also channel attached, then print jobs sent via ethernet are queued on the printer's disk until the channel attach is switched offline. Interpress must be converted to IMG (bitmap) format before printing. This is done in the 4050 for all but graphics. A separate microvax can be purchased to act as a server for the 4050 and do the conversion to IMG for all jobs including graphics. Host software to do this is also planned. Imagen wants Impress via TCP/IP. It seems to be the only TCP/IP printer server. They showed us 5 different printers spanning duty cycles from 3000 pages/mo to 45,000 pages/mo and base prices from $9-33K. The top-of-the-line machine will automatically print on both sides of the page if desired. Spooling software is provided for the host running Berkeley Unix, or VMS and Wollongong TCP/IP. It uses the "transport1" protocol, polling the printer until it is available. Fonts can be downloaded from the host. PostScript is not supported and the salesman tried to play down its importance. They supply software to convert 4014, diablo 630, line printer, Impress, FX80, hostdump (hexdump) and screen dumps from a micro. Software is also available to convert device independent troff, TeX (DVI), MacDraw, MacWrite and MacPaint. The Mac product files are converted directly to Impress. Conversion of PostScript to Impress is in general not possible they say, because for example, Impress does not support arbitrarily scaled or rotated fonts. However, they will be releasing a new document description languale (DDL) around Feb 1988 which they claim will be faster than PostScript to process, and to which PostScript can be converted. The DEC PrintServer 40 wants PostScript via DECNET. VMS spooler software (print symbiont) is available which will also convert ANSI tex/sixels files, ReGIS files and Tektronix 4010/4014 files to PostScript before sending them to the printer. The printer is rated at 40 pages/min and 50,000 pages/mo. Date: Thu, 12 Feb 87 09:19:00 PST From: kevin%violet.Berkeley.EDU@BERKELEY.EDU (Kevin Baranski-Walker) Hello Peter, I think that the best bet for your server requirements would be the Digital LPS-40. Unfortunately it is TCP brain-damaged and will only talk DECnet on the ether. You did mention that you may be willing to drop it off of a host (in this case your VMS machine) but thier may be hope. If you can justify/afford a MicroVAX running Ultrix it can serve as an extremely efficient server host which is able to talk in DECnet (via DECnet-Ultrix) as well as native TCP. Use this beast to drive the LPS-40 and you will gain the ability to implement accounting and security features for the printer. I don't have the spec sheet in hand but the duty cycle was quite lenghty, almost justifying the hefty price; approx. $48,000 (U.S). Finally the 40 ppm rating is quite close to the truth for resident-font/non-compound documents. As for what happens when your users start dumping thier favorite scanned images via PostScript ... well it does have a uVAX-II processor on board ... Kevin Date: 12 Feb 87 1156 PST From: Les Earnest <LES@SAIL.STANFORD.EDU> Either the Imagen 3320 or 7320 might suit your needs. Both are 20 page/minute printers with ethernet option. They both use the Canon LBP-20 marking engine, which is a relatively heavy-duty machine. The principal difference between the two is that the 7320 does full duplexing (two-sided printing) and has some other useful paper handling features. Imagen sales people in Santa Clara, CA could provide more information or could provide a local contact for you. Their phone is (408) 986-9400. For the record, though I am at Stanford, I am also an Imagen shareholder. Les Earnest, Stanford Computer Science Date: Mon, 16 Feb 87 20:21:42 pst From: ames!ll-xn!ames!uw-beaver!ssc-vax!bruce@cad.Berkeley.EDU (Bruce Stock) In-Reply-To: your article <8701291545.AA15539@emory.eu> Peter Your requirements are just about exactly what we have been searching for, in vain, for the last 6 months. Most Postscript printers on the market have no ethernet interface. The new DEC printer being the only exception that I know of, and it speaks only DecNet!. We have had in the QMS 2400, the DataProducts 2665, and the TI 2115. Compared to the lowly Apple Laserwriter, each printer printed too lightly or with lines that were too thin for good contrast. Boy were we disappointed! (And this was after having the vendors come in for final adjustment in each case). We are just about resigned to having multiple Apple Laserwriters running off a Bridge CS-100 (or similar TCP to RS-232 box). What a drag. Please advise if you find a better solution. Bruce Stock uw-beaver!ssc-vax!bruce Date: Mon 23 Feb 87 23:15:17-EST From: Chris Ryland <CPR@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU> The only printers in the world that speak Ethernet & TCP/IP are the Imagen printers. Perhaps you can get the VAX to gateway between TCP/IP and DECNET.
boyle@ANL-MCS.ARPA (James M. Boyle) (03/14/87)
Most any PostScript printer, such as the QMS 2400PS, can be attached to an Ethernet via a Bridge terminal concentrator or Encore Annex terminal concentrator. Of course, the transmission rate is a max of 19.2Kbaud between the concentrator and the printer, but this is adequate for many applications (perhaps not for lots of bitmaps). I'm not sure about what software is available to drive a printer in such a configuration. This is enough of a problem that we are running our QMS 2400PS on an RS232 line from our VAX 780 running 4.2bsd Unix. When delivered almost a year ago, our 2400 was very slow--ran the same speed as the Apple LaserWriter+; however, we just received and upgraded controller a few days ago that has corrected much of that problem. So this is a printer you may wish to consider if the DEC one is too pricey. Someone complained about QMS, Dataproducts, and some other printer producing lines that are too thin. I repeat something that has been said before--this is the "write-white engine" problem. If you are used to LW+ output (write-black engine), then the write-white output will look anemic in comparison. What to do? Get one of these fast printers for "routine" output and a couple of LW+s for final copies of papers, etc. No doubt all could share the same Ethernet box. Incidentally, one should not complain about buying an Ethernet concentrator for these printers when in fact DEC forces him to buy a micro-VAX to connect its printer to an Ethernet. Incidentally, does anyone know the transmission rate and medium between the micro-VAX and the DEC printer engine? Is it RS232? Jim Boyle Math and Computer Sci. Div. Argonne Nat'l Lab.
Chapman.ESM8@XEROX.COM.UUCP (03/19/87)
Re: the following quote: Xerox wants Interpress via XNS. There is support for typesetter independent troff to interpress and XNS on 4.3bsd. If the Xerox is also channel attached, then print jobs sent via ethernet are queued on the printer's disk until the channel attach is switched offline. Interpress must be converted to IMG (bitmap) format before printing. This is done in the 4050 for all but graphics. A separate microvax can be purchased to act as a server for the 4050 and do the conversion to IMG for all jobs including graphics. Host software to do this is also planned. (Message unsigned) The 9700, 8700, and 4050 all support the Commercial Set of Interpress. If you wish to use features of the Publication or Professional Graphics Sets, you can attach a Front End Printing Service (FEPS), which converts full Interpress to the Commercial Set by converting SOME of the document to bitmap. But most documents can be generated by Commercial Interpress. You need the FEPS to handle arbitrary rotations (90 degree rotations can be handled by Commercial Interpress), non-horizontal and non-vertical lines, curves, and colors. Cheryl