Low-power, minimal XP box as print server?

[Frank O'Donnell]

Hi all, I'm interested in using a minimal PC running Windows XP as a
print server on our home network. For a variety of reasons I don't
want to hang the printers off the network with their own adapters or
run them through a box sold as a dedicated print server.

The criteria I'm looking at are these:

-- Low power consumption, since this will be left on all the time.

-- Has to support USB connection to one printer, and Firewire
connection to a second printer, plus a 10/100 Ethernet card for the
network.

-- Minimal system to support Windows XP, but not so minimal that its
function as a print server is compromised.

-- Preferably as dirt-cheap as possible.

Offhand it would seem that a laptop would be ahead
power-consumption-wise, but would be more expensive to buy initially
than a low-end desktop-type unit.

Is there a way to cobble together something both cheap and that won't
eat a lot of power? A build-it-yourself approach from components
would be fine with me. Thanks for any input on this.

[Alvin A Brown]

Hello

Well buying a few different parts for a low-end pc would be good
but if your concered about power just so you know, your monitor
burns much more power than your low end pc or desktop will.

alvin
So why the big concern about power


Frank O'Donnell wrote:

> Hi all, I'm interested in using a minimal PC running Windows XP as a
> print server on our home network. For a variety of reasons I don't
> want to hang the printers off the network with their own adapters or
> run them through a box sold as a dedicated print server.
>
> The criteria I'm looking at are these:
>
> -- Low power consumption, since this will be left on all the time.
>
> -- Has to support USB connection to one printer, and Firewire
> connection to a second printer, plus a 10/100 Ethernet card for the
> network.
>
> -- Minimal system to support Windows XP, but not so minimal that its
> function as a print server is compromised.
>
> -- Preferably as dirt-cheap as possible.
>
> Offhand it would seem that a laptop would be ahead
> power-consumption-wise, but would be more expensive to buy initially
> than a low-end desktop-type unit.
>
> Is there a way to cobble together something both cheap and that won't
> eat a lot of power? A build-it-yourself approach from components
> would be fine with me. Thanks for any input on this.

[Frank O'Donnell]

Alvin A Brown > writes:

>Well buying a few different parts for a low-end pc would be good
>but if your concered about power just so you know, your monitor
>burns much more power than your low end pc or desktop will.

Valid point. I wasn't going to run it with a monitor plugged in,
however.

[CJT]

Xref: 127.0.0.1 microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware:119689 comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc:40419 comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.systems:20235

Frank O'Donnell wrote:
> Hi all, I'm interested in using a minimal PC running Windows XP as a
> print server on our home network. For a variety of reasons I don't
> want to hang the printers off the network with their own adapters or
> run them through a box sold as a dedicated print server.
<snip>

I can't think of even a _single_ reason -- satisfy my curiosity.

[Frank O'Donnell]

CJT > writes:

>> For a variety of reasons I don't
>> want to hang the printers off the network with their own adapters or
>> run them through a box sold as a dedicated print server.
><snip>
>
>I can't think of even a _single_ reason -- satisfy my curiosity.

Well, here are four:

-- I'm dealing with two printers, whereas most network access boxes
that include a print server are set up for one.

-- We want the faster speed of USB and Firewire as opposed to
parallel.

-- Some friends report that network print server hardware often do not
pass back full error messages correctly.

-- Finally, several friends who have networked the specific printers
I'm dealing with have strongly urged me to run them through a
networked PC, not through print servers.

Mostly I'm interested in any advice on the feasibility of putting
together a build-it-yourself PC with an emphasis on low power usage
(for example, do any case-mounted motherboards support low-power
versions of CPUs?).

[CJT]

Xref: 127.0.0.1 microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware:119691 comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc:40423 comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.systems:20237

Frank O'Donnell wrote:
> CJT > writes:
>
>
>>>For a variety of reasons I don't
>>>want to hang the printers off the network with their own adapters or
>>>run them through a box sold as a dedicated print server.
>>
>><snip>
>>
>>I can't think of even a _single_ reason -- satisfy my curiosity.
>
>
> Well, here are four:
>
> -- I'm dealing with two printers, whereas most network access boxes
> that include a print server are set up for one.
>
> -- We want the faster speed of USB and Firewire as opposed to
> parallel.
>
> -- Some friends report that network print server hardware often do not
> pass back full error messages correctly.
>
> -- Finally, several friends who have networked the specific printers
> I'm dealing with have strongly urged me to run them through a
> networked PC, not through print servers.
>
> Mostly I'm interested in any advice on the feasibility of putting
> together a build-it-yourself PC with an emphasis on low power usage
> (for example, do any case-mounted motherboards support low-power
> versions of CPUs?).
>

Well, FWIW I had a related discussion in a different context (fan-free
PCs) recently, and somebody suggested the following:

http://www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/msg.gsp?msgid=18761864

[Al Dykes]

>Frank O'Donnell wrote:
>> CJT > writes:
>>
>>
>>>>For a variety of reasons I don't
>>>>want to hang the printers off the network with their own adapters or
>>>>run them through a box sold as a dedicated print server.
>>>
>>><snip>
>>>
>>>I can't think of even a _single_ reason -- satisfy my curiosity.
>>
>>
>> Well, here are four:
>>
>> -- I'm dealing with two printers, whereas most network access boxes
>> that include a print server are set up for one.
>>
>> -- We want the faster speed of USB and Firewire as opposed to
>> parallel.
>>
>> -- Some friends report that network print server hardware often do not
>> pass back full error messages correctly.
>>
>> -- Finally, several friends who have networked the specific printers
>> I'm dealing with have strongly urged me to run them through a
>> networked PC, not through print servers.
>>
>> Mostly I'm interested in any advice on the feasibility of putting
>> together a build-it-yourself PC with an emphasis on low power usage
>> (for example, do any case-mounted motherboards support low-power
>> versions of CPUs?).
>>

Look at systems built on the mini-itx motherboards.
(see http://mini-itx.com/ for starters).

Ethernet, video, USB, and a printer port are on the mobo.
These motherboards have one PCI slot and one PCMCIA slot
for expansion. You could put your second printer and a firewire
card there.

There are several models, the high-end card has a fan. I'd
avoid using that one.
--
Al Dykes
-----------

[RDKirk]

In article >,
says...
> Hi all, I'm interested in using a minimal PC running Windows XP as a
> print server on our home network. For a variety of reasons I don't
> want to hang the printers off the network with their own adapters or
> run them through a box sold as a dedicated print server.
>

Well, I set up one as an XP file server and discovered that a 300
megahertz AMD K5 with 128megs of memory couldn't haul XP well enough to
say conscious. A 466 Celeraon with 256 megs of memory does well enough
just spinning disks.

When I found 120 gig Maxtors for only $114 dollars, I sprung for four of
them. My file server has a total of nearly half a terabyte of memory.
Ye gods.


--
RDKirk

"Men occasionally stumble on the truth, but most of them pick themselves
up
and hurry off as if nothing had happened." - Winston Churchill