The present invention relates generally to computer printers and, more particularly, to management of printer drivers in a large enterprise computer network.
Large business enterprises have struggled for years on managing a proliferation of computer printers from various vendors, versioned printer drivers and print servers. For more than a decade, the assignee of the present invention has struggled to manage its more than 5,000 network printers using approximately 350 drivers on 150 print servers. It is important for businesses with large computer networks to have an organized approach to printer driver management in order to avoid infrastructure problems caused by problematic drivers.
Thus, there is a need for software tools to provide centralized support and management of print servers and print drivers. To meet this need, the software tools must have the capability to condition print servers and to deploy printer drivers or replicate print servers.