Server-less Printing

Server-less printing is a feature which allows the use of secure pull printing, but without any print server being required.

The solution requires that the Sentinel AP client application is installed on all PC's on the LAN. The printers will be paired with Sentinel controllers (either external touch-LCD controllers, or Sentinel embedded controllers), and pull printing is then facilitated through the use of packet broadcasts across the LAN.

Once a reply to a pull-print request has been received which matches the username of the authenticated user, the Sentinel client application is able to intelligently direct the job to the printer in question.

Requirements:
- Sentinel client application to be installed on each PC;
- Sentinel external touch or embedded controllers for each printer;
- No server required.

Besides secure pull-printing, which improves security and reduces waste and costs, the other features of Sentinel MPS are for the most part not supported under this configuration:

• No centralized logging of jobs
• No centralized administration dashboard

This configuration might be suitable for remote branches or small offices who require pull printing, but where a server is not feasible or practical, or where a VPN or internet connection is limited or non-existent. 

Server-less printing is ideally suited for environments where usually only push-printing would be supported, due to a lack of server infrastructure perhaps. Remote or isolated branch offices might be a good example. These would perhaps neither have readily available server hardware and associated technical support expertise on-site, nor a good enough broadband connection for a remote server to be feasible.

In such a case, server-less printing would allow push printing to be replaced with a feature-reduced form of secure pull-printing, without the infrastructure requirements usually associated with such.