Traffic less Printing

Use Sentinel Traffic-less printing for branch offices to take advantage of Sentinel without a local server.

For organizations with branch offices, Sentinel may be centralized and used in a traffic-less configuration. This method conserves Wide Area Network (WAN) bandwidth, which would otherwise be untenably high due to large-size print job traffic clogging it up.

Traffic-less technology saves cost and maintenance overheads by allowing any number of branch offices to connect to a centralised Sentinel server without requiring an individual Sentinel server at each site, whilst ensuring that organisations and their branch users are still able to take full advantage of all Sentinel features, including pull printing, centralised print management, print reporting and more.

How traffic-less printing works:

• The Sentinel server is configured at one central location;
• Branch client computers must have the Sentinel client application installed to support traffic-less printing;
• When an end user submits a print job at a branch office, the print job document itself is retained on the client PC, while the metadata (small unique summary information for each print job) is sent to and registered on the Sentinel server, much like an ordinary print job;
• The metadata is treated in the same way as a regular print job would be, by being held in the particular users print queue awaiting authentication;
• The user authenticates at a printer in their branch office, the Sentinel server releases the metadata, and the job itself is released by the client application from the PC and redirected to the printer in question, across the LAN,  for printing.

This technique ensures that print jobs, which can sometimes be hundreds of MB in size, do not leave the branch office Local Area Network (LAN), but rather just the metadata for each job. The metadata constitutes only a tiny amount of data compared to a full print job; this ensures that bandwidth across the WAN is preserved for other essential purposes.

Advantages of traffic-less printing:

• Allows branch offices to take advantage of Sentinel functionality without requiring a server on site;
• Centralized server administration means lower cost and fewer maintenance overheads;
• No requirement for branch site servers means less IT support resources are needed for remote offices;
• WAN bandwidth usage is preserved.

The only requirement for traffic-less printing is that the Sentinel client application must be installed on each remote branch client PC, and in most cases, a VPN connection will be required for full functionality. In certain cases, a VPN may not be required, though this may result in limited functionality.