Tricerat's suite of software is all designed with one reason in mind: to simplify the IT professional’s life by creating products that are easy to use and functional. With so many pitfalls with printing, we cover all the bases with a wide range of solutions for the IT administrator that reduce time spent managing printing. Two of Tricerat's most popular printing solutions are ScrewDrivers and Simplify Printing. But which one works for you?
ScrewDrivers allows users to take local connected printers (USB, Direct-IP, Network, etc.) with them into remote sessions like a virtual desktop or hosted application. The software is used in an environment with an RDP (Microsoft), ICA (Citrix), or PCoIP (VMWare) connection between a client to a server. The terminal server or application server will have the SD Server component installed, and the client computer will have the SD Client plugin installed. An application on the server can then be used to print a document from the server to a printer back on the client. ScrewDrivers accomplishes this by creating a printer queue with a ScrewDrivers driver on the server. When printed to, this printer streams the print job data to the SD Client plugin, which then prints it to the actual printer installed on the client.
The Simplify Printing software contained in the Simplify Suite is used similarly to ScrewDrivers, but in an environment where the printer is neither on the client nor the server, but on a separate machine like a print server that the server can communicate with by using a TCP connection. The terminal server or application server will have the Simplify Suite agent installed, and the print server will have the Print Server Agent installed. An application on the server can then be used to print a document from the server to a printer on the print server.
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Simplify Printing accomplishes this by creating a printer queue on the server with a ScrewDrivers driver. When printed to, this printer streams the print job data to the Print Server service, which then prints it to the actual printer installed on the print server. Simplify Printing contains ScrewDrivers, so if a client computer with the SD Client plugin installed logs into a server with Simplify Printing installed, the user will be able to print to ScrewDrivers printers as well as Print Server printers.
ScrewDrivers thrives in environments where you have a local machine with local connected printers that are needed in remote sessions, while Simplify Printing excels in environments with devices connected to a print server that may house a multitude of printers across locations or throughout the physical office. And since ScrewDrivers is included within Simplify Printing, it can also accomplish the task of redirecting those locally connected printers.
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Simplify Printing also has some significant features not found with ScrewDrivers. The primary benefit of Simplify Printing is the Simplify Console; a central Admin UI that provides a single pane view into your printing environment. Through the Simplify Console, administrators can decide which users get which printer and where, how those printers are named on the end points, and how those printers interact with users regarding advance print features like badge release or watermarking. Simplify Printing also includes advance features like:
Admins can use maps to show printer locations to user via floor plans or office layouts. Perfect for those environments that want to provide a quick and easy way for to self-service their own printers based on where they are.
Stored Printer Settings – User defined printer settings are now store and saved between sessions. Now users don’t have to setup printers every new session.
IT people accessing the Simplify Console will only see the organizational units (and sub OUs) they belong to. With this feature, we had MSPs in mind so that they can provide their clients the Simplify Console without giving access to an entire Active Directory tree.
Users can set different default printers for different session locations and types. This is particularly useful for those that travel to different sites; now these users can set and save a default printer for each location they travel to.
And since all this information and data is store in a database, the Simplify Console and it tools can be installed on any number of machines, removing the need of a centralized ‘Simplify Printer Server’ in the classical sense.
Schedule a demo with one of our solutions engineers to discover which solution is right for your unique needs.
