Enable Remote Production Printers

Enable Remote Production Printers:  Overview

Traditionally, the term production printer was reserved for very large printers that were attached to the mainframe using thick Bus & Tag cables.  Today, we look at production printers as being any device that can generate more than 80 impressions per minute.  Such devices include older channel attached printers, newer Xerox EPS printers, and modern network-attached printers.  

Enable Remote Production Printers:  Challenges  

The main challenge with printing from the mainframe to any of the above devices lies in sending the data securely from the host to the printer, and then offering local control over the printing of the job at the printer site.  Similar needs occur during mainframe consolidation projects where the mainframe is going away from a location, yet the printers are staying and need to continue printing.

Enable Remote Production Printers:  Barr Systems' Solutions

We offer four different methods of receiving data from the mainframe into our Windows-based print server.  Each method has its advantages:

• NJE (Network Job Entry) - The mainframe treats us as a peer, and therefore provides us with all of the job's header fields, which can be used for routing.  Perfect for mainframe consolidation projects.  Usable over SNA or IP.
• RJE (Remote Job Entry) - The mainframe communicates with us via the 3770 protocol.  Usable over SNA or IP.
• TCP/IP - The mainframe sends us data over IP using LPR.  We also support input from LRS' VPS product.
• Mainframe Channel - Our Bus & Tag and ESCON boards enable direct connection to the mainframe.  We emulate printers or tape drives.  Most secure solution thanks to the physical connection.  Perfect for situations where an actual channel-attached device is being replaced or moved.

Once the print job arrives into our spooler, we can take full advantage of the comprehensive production print features of our product.  You may read more about them in our Production Print Management Application document.

Using Peer-to-Peer Connections to Drive Remote Printers

The first solution involves using the BARR/NJE module to provide the most sophisticated, versatile and feature-rich connection to the mainframe for your organization’s remote  printers. For example, suppose you have three OS/390 mainframes, each of which is located in and dedicated to servicing a specific geographic region. In each location, there are several channel-attached printers connected to the mainframe. After deciding to consolidate operations into a single mainframe and convert the other locations to regional print centers, you are faced with the task of supporting channel-attached printers without an adjacent mainframe at the remote locations.

Instead of purchasing channel extenders, you can implement a Barr Systems' Solution. In this solution, the central mainframe operates as if the BEPS is a peer host. Using the standard NJE protocols, the BARR/NJE module accepts mainframe print and job sets and feeds them to the Barr Server, which then routes the jobs to the appropriate local printer. Each job is transmitted without any translation, so the print jobs are the same as they were on the host. The Barr Server is configured to automatically send jobs to the channel-attached printers based on information contained in the header fields, such as JOBNAME, FORMNAME, FCBNAME, and CLASS. Finally, the BARR/PRINT390 module is added to drive the channel-attached printers. This module includes a hardware adapter and Bus & Tag cable that connects to the first printer. The remaining printers are daisy-chained.

Using Remote Job Entry (RJE) to Drive Remote Printers

The second solution is very similar to the solution mentioned above.  The BARR/RJE module provides control of the job flow between your mainframe and BEPS. You can use BARR/RJE to receive job output and setup messages (PDIR) from the mainframe and send commands and data files to the mainframe.

You can connect BARR/RJE to your mainframe in a variety of ways. First, BARR/RJE can connect to an IBM mainframe over an IP network using the EE Link, without the need for special routers or SNA gateways. Second, BARR/RJE can connect via an 802.2 network (Token Ring or Ethernet) using IBM 3174, 3725, and 3745 communications controllers. Third, BARR/RJE can connect via a modem (dial-up or dedicated line) using BARR/SYNC. Finally, BARR/RJE can connect via a MS/LUA connection through an SNA gateway (Microsoft SNA Server, SNA Workstation, or HIS).

Once the files are received, the BARR/PRINT390 can be added to drive the channel-attached printers. This module includes a hardware adapter and Bus & Tag cable that connects to the first printer. Again, the remaining printers are daisy-chained.

Using Your Mainframe’s TCP/IP Stack

Barr offers a third solution for organizations that have implemented TCP/IP on the mainframe, providing remote printing capability without changes to the host. In this case, the Barr Server receives data remotely from the host over your existing network connections via BARR/PRINT TCP/IP.  If you have channel-attached printers, they can be driven at rated speed via BARR/PRINT390. BARR/PRINT TCP/IP implements Line Printer Daemon (LPD) to service Line Print Requests (LPRs) from anywhere on the Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN).  We also support direct input from LRS' VPS product.

Connecting to the host via Bus & Tag or ESCON

This easy-to-configure solution involves channel-attaching a Barr Server to the host using either Bus & Tag or ESCON and configuring it to emulate 3211 printers, IPDS printers, or 3490 tape drives.  The modules providing this functionality are BARR/PRINT CHANNEL, BARR/PRINT CHANNEL for IPDS, or BARR/CHANNEl Offload.  

As in all the other cases, once the jobs reach the Barr server, you have full control over where they are printed.  If you have channel-attached printers you would like to drive at another location, this Barr server can encrypt and compress the data and send it to a remote Barr Server which receives the print files and drives the channel printers via BARR/PRINT390. This provides remote printing of host print jobs, eliminating the expense of channel extenders and cluster controllers.