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By Baya Harrison

A USB print server might be one of the best ways to increase efficiency in your small office or your home, and it’s cheaper than a coffee machine.

Here’s a true story about my friends Peter and Sally.

Peter and Sally rent a small house together as an office. Peter uses the office upstairs, and Sally uses the office downstairs. They set up a network so they can share a printer. They agreed to put the printer upstairs, since Peter paid for it. Here are some of the problems they encounter on a daily basis:

• The printer must be connected to Peter’s computer;
• Peter’s computer must be on if Sally wants to print;
• If Peter’s computer crashes Sally can not print anything;
• When Peter is in confidential meetings Sally has to disturb the meeting to get her printing;
• Peter locks his office door at night when he leaves, which means Sally can’t retrieve any print jobs late at night;
• Peter often takes his computer with him for business meetings, during which time Sally can’t print anything;
• Sometimes the printer has an error, causing Peter’s computer to crash, inconveniencing both Peter and Sally;
• All of these problems would compound as more people join the office.

Now imagine how the scenario above would be different if this office used a USB print server:

• Peter and Sally can put the printer in a shared area, easily accessible to everyone;
• The printer only has to be connected to the print server, which connects to the network hub;
• Anyone on the network can print at any time;
• Peter doesn’t have to leave his computer on and in the office at all times just so the other users can print;
• Without the need to leave a computer on at all times, the business saves tons of money in energy savings;
• Peter’s computer crashes will never interrupt a print job, and a printing error will never slow down someone’s computer;
• Any number of users can share the same printer conveniently;
• Sally doesn’t have to interrupt Peter’s confidential meetings every time she wants to retrieve a print job;

Are you afraid a device that great is hard to use? Relax, it’s easy! Just connect the USB print server to your network hub with a network cable and to your printer with a USB cable. Next, install the included software, and you’re ready to go!

So which location would find use for this:

Peter and Sally aren’t the only ones who can benefit from a USB print server. In fact, anyone with a network of at least 2 computers and one printer can benefit from a USB print server. Other examples include: small or home offices, homes with several computers, dorms, and shared apartments

What’s more is that the print server works with more than just printers and you can hook up a hard-drive, webcam or other USB device on your wired or wireless network.

This means that you can print, scan, or fax with one multi-function printer from any computer on your network as well as sharing a hard drive to quickly and easily access files and media or let users on your network check a webcam feed as a simple, effective security system.

So, if you’re in a situation where you could pool your resources, why not check out the possibilities a print server presents you.

You could get everything your offices ever needed without actually putting down all of the capital and still getting all of the convenience. That’s a pretty big advantage.