Nowadays the number of printers that can be networked, i.e. the ones that have wired/wireless connections, are increasing with decreasing prices. If you already have a printer which you want connected to the print server, there are a few small configuration steps.
First, you have to have CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) installed on your server. You have two options to configure your printers: you can either go with the command-line interface, or you connect to the CUPS web interface with a web browser by typing http://192.168.1.1:631/admin to the address (replace 192.168.1.1 with your server’s IP address). I recommend the latter, which is to connect to the CUPS with a web browser, to save time from going through which device URI and PPD to use.
The web interface works with a wizard concept. When you open the web configuration, click on the “Add Printer” to add your printer to CUPS. Then follow the wizard to complete your printer registration to the system.
If you have not purchased a printer, decide on a couple of models and check the printer list in the Linux Printing Website and try to go with a supported printer. If you have a printer at hand, you can search for compatibility or go with a print server for a small investment. These print servers are small gadgets that have one USB or parallel port and one Ethernet port, enabling you to connect your USB/Parallel Port printer to the network. In this case you do not need to mess with the compatibility issues. But my recommendation is to be careful with multi-purpose printers. You will be able to use only the print function with the print server, not the other functions.
