Studio Press

Now that you have properly configured the Spooler resource with the necessary resources, you can create all of the print queues for all of the physical printers. You can also use the Clustool utility from the Resource Kit to migrate previously existing printer queues on a server to a clustered server. After that, use the Print Migrate utility to migrate the printer drivers. For best results, avoid having multiple servers configured to communicate directly with the same printer.

1. From one of the nodes or a remote computer that has administrative permissions to the cluster click Start, click Run, type \\VirtualServer where VirtualServer is the name that is specified for the Network Name resource on which the Spooler resource is dependent.
2. Double-click the Printers folder.
3. Double-click Add Printers to open the Add Printer Wizard, and then click Next.
4. Select Create a new port, and then click Next.

Note: TCP/IP ports are the only supported port type on a Windows Clustering. Use the Standard TCP/IP Port option unless the printing clients need RFC-compliant LPR ports. If this is the case, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs, and then click Add/Remove Windows Components to start the Windows Components Wizard.
2. Under Components, scroll down and click to select the Other Network File and Print Services check box.
3. Click Details to open the Other Network File and Print Services window, click to select the Print Services for UNIX check box, and then click OK to close the Other Network File and Print Services window.
4. Click Next to continue with the Windows Components Wizard.

When you complete the wizard, the LPR port will be available as a port type. By default, according to RFC 1179, LPR will use only eleven TCP ports.
5. Type the IP address of the network printer that you want to process the print jobs in the Printer Name or IP Address box.

You no longer have to create a locally-defined printer port configuration for each node. In Windows 2000 (and later) the port configuration is stored in the cluster registry and is therefore shared between all cluster nodes, under the following key:
HKEY_Local_Machine\Cluster\Resources\%Spooler GUID%\Parameters\Monitors\

6. Choose the appropriate driver for this printer, and then click Next.
7. Give the printer a unique name on the cluster server.
8. Choose a share name for the printer; this name must also be unique on this cluster. You do not want to have any other printers with the same share name on this cluster, even if they are in a different group and associated with a different Spooler resource.

9. Test the printing for this printer:

After you add all the desired print queues, use Cluster Administrator to move the group that contains the Print Spooler resource to all other nodes. This copies the printer drivers from the \PrinterDrivers folder on the shared disk to the %SystemRoot%\System32\Spool\Drivers\%Spooler GUID%\Drivers folder on that node.

For Detail Info: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278455

with Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2003, a new feature called Access-Based Enumeration (ABE) has been added to how file sharing works on Windows platforms. By installing and enabling ABE on a Windows Server 2003 SP1 or R2 file server, users on Windows XP desktops will only be able to see files and folders if they actually have permission to access them. I recently wrote an article for Windows Networking.com that explains how to implement this feature and lists a few gotchas you need to be aware of.

Trouble is, ABE only works if your network shares are on an ABE-enabled Windows Server 2003 SP1 or R2 machine. What if you allow some of the "power users" in your company to share folders on their own Windows XP desktop computers? In that case, you're out of luck as ABE can't be enabled on XP. With Windows Vista however, this has now changed -- Vista has ABE built right into it, and this means that when a user shares a folder on her machine and other users browse that share over the network, they will only see files and folders that they have permissions to access.

Note however that ABE only works if Vista users share their files or folders from within their user profile. Yes that's right, I said files -- in Vista you can share individual files provided you do so from within your user profile. For example, if user Jane Doe shares the file EndOfQuarterPresentation.ppt from within her Documents folder on her computer desk22.mtit.com, then other users to whom she has granted permissions will be able to view and access this file over the network by using the path \\desk22.mtit.com\Users\JaneDoe\Documents\EndOfQuarterPresentation.ppt.

For Detail visit: http://www.itworld.com/nls_windows_tullochvista060925

Are you forever doomed to leaving a PC running 24-7 just to share the printer?

Not if you plug a print server into your router, then plug the printer into the server. Then all PCs on your network can tap that inkjet or laser.

This may not sound like a major deal, but trust me: Once you've sampled this kind of setup, you can't go back to old-school printer sharing.

Buy.com has the D-Link DP-301U Printer Server for $19.99 shipped. That's half the usual price and a bargain compared with buying a new, network-compatible printer.

These are new units, not refurbs, and you don't have to deal with any rebates. The DP-301U is compatible with Windows and Mac networks; all you need is a printer that has a USB interface.

Make that a compatible printer. The DP-301U works with most Canon, Epson, HP, and Lexmark models--check D-Link's compatibility list (which to me looks a little out of date--I suspect there are newer printers that will also work) to make sure your model is supported.

A home file server is, in theory, a great convenience. In reality, setting up, configuring and running a home file server to link multiple personal computers has been a great pain in the neck. Now, manufacturers are putting out dedicated home file servers, but they can be confusing and complicated. You can build one - I promise you won't enjoy building a file server.

We wanted all our music, videos data, pictures, backups and other types of files on one computer so anyone in the house could access them without having to store duplicate and triplicate copies. Like this: I make a photograph and store it on my laptop. My daughter wants to send it to her friend. If we aren't sharing folders within a Windows home network, we have to figure out who has the file, then put the picture on a disk. Then port it over, name it, file it and then use it.

Even worse when we're talking home business - files have to be moved, shared, edited, and reedited. A home file server is a great home technology idea. If it's easy to set up. If users can configure it easily. If it's lean and quiet rather than bulky and buzzy.

A few weeks ago, CyberPower of California jumped into the home technology market with a dedicated home file server called Windows Home Server 100. They claim the product is a high-performance energy saver that makes storage easy and fast.

• It's got Intel inside with 2 gig of DDR memory.
• The server has a 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM hard drive - for those who just got bowled over by the string of numbers, that's a pretty nice hard drive. I'd say it's more storage than you'd ever need, but the way programs expand, who knows? Geeks will tell you you need a terabyte - you can add it for $50.
• The operating system is MS Windows 2003 Home Server - so you needn't learn another system.
• Home Server 100 can automatically backup your computers each evening, a nice plus.
• It appears Home Server is remotely accessible so you can grab home files when you're at work or school. Also nice.

Source: examiner.com

Even though small businesses don't have the budget or the sheer volume of files that some of the larger enterprises do, you still have to protect the data. Smaller shops have their own issues to overcome that are just as difficult and just as important as the big guys.

Most notably, many small businesses will have only one server for file storage. The major issue with this strategy is that all your eggs are in one basket, and you rely on that same basket to serve all of your other office needs. Therefore, it becomes even more important to properly protect this file server from a possible disaster. Since the bandwidth and hardware required for most off-site replication systems is out of the question here, your choices are limited, but there are options available for you.

RAID

Most servers now come with RAID systems already available with whatever disks you get when the server is built. In addition, you can set up very simple RAID systems via Windows and many other common operating systems. By using mirroring via RAID, you can create another copy of the data that can be used for the purposes of disaster recovery (DR) operations, and do so at a low price point. The main drawbacks are that you'll have to configure and manage the RAID systems, and RAID doesn't protect against virus attacks or other real-time damage.

Backup systems

To protect yourself from virus attacks and other threats, you'll want to develop an effective backup strategy. While you can use the NTBackup systems that come with Windows and the backup tools that come with other OSs, you may wish to invest in a third-party backup system. These offer a large number of additional features, especially for scheduling and dealing with open files that NTBackup simply doesn't offer.

You'll also need some form of removable media. For very small shops, this can be a DVD burner, but for most others, this will mean a tape drive of some type. Also remember that you should be removing the tapes from the physical location of the tape device on a regular basis, so that the loss of your office space doesn't destroy the backups too. It is wise to perform full backups on a weekly basis—on a day and time each week when there are the fewest users on the server—and incremental backups nightly. This gives you the ability to recover from data-loss outages.

For midsize offices, you may want to consider local replication. Many replication tools work great in a LAN environment, and also offer many-to-one capabilities. This means that you can keep a copy of all the data on the servers that you have replicated to a single server. That DR server may even be a small network-attached storage device (NAS), which can be economically more feasible for these purposes. Much like RAID, these systems tend to be real-time by default, so you'd either have to utilize backup tape to provide point-in-time copies, or use a third-party snapshot tool for that purpose. These tools often come standard with the NAS devices (yet another reason to investigate that avenue), but keep in mind that snapshots to the same physical location don't get your data off-site.

Source: http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5750072.html