ScriptServer PAN Press Release
GrayMatter Software Introduces New Generation of
Print Management Software for Enterprise Printing
ScriptServer PAN Extends GrayMatter Software's Powerful
Printing Software to Cross-Platform Networks
Seattle, (October 26, 1999) - GrayMatter Software Corporation, which has produced printing software for large-scale environments for over ten years, today announced ScriptServerŽ Print Area Network, the next generation of print management software for heterogeneous networks.
Based on a three-tiered architecture, ScriptServer PAN provides a scalable printing environment for UNIX- and Windows NT-based networks in organizations of any size. Providing cross-platform support for virtually all PCL and PostScript language printers, ScriptServer PAN includes a browser-based user interface with centralized management. All features in the product can be accessed through a version 4 or later web browser on any platform supporting browsers, or through a command line interface in both Windows NT and UNIX
"By and large, printing software in the industry is platform- or printer-centric," said GrayMatter Software president and founder Timothy Brunson, "ScriptServer PAN is designed with system administrators in mind, without sacrificing any functionality for end-users. By combining a universal printer driver model with centralized network queues, this product delivers mainframe-class printing capabilities in a distributed environment, accessible by the definitive universal client, the web browser."
Unprecedented Flexibility in Queue Management
Each printer in ScriptServer PAN is served by a single network-wide queue, eliminating host contention for network printers and simplifying management. Traditional enterprise printing environments may have as many queues as one per host and desktop computer, all competing for the same printing resources on an ad hoc basis. When a particular host wants to print, it attempts to connect. If unsuccessful, it simply waits for some period of time and retries the connection. There is no coordinated effort to arbitrate between printing requests network-wide on a true first-in-first-out basis, much less to provide priority scheduling between print requests.
ScriptServer PAN not only restores order to network printing through centralized queues, it helps reduce hardware costs with its load balancing feature, which allows printers to be grouped in "areas" that provide their own queues serving the printer queues within the area. This feature also allows printers to be grouped geographically, so that end-users can choose to work with the subset of printers in the PAN network that are physically nearby.
For the system administrator, print queue creation and maintenance is a one-step process. Once a queue has been created or modified, those changes are immediately visible to all users of the system. In addition, all printer activities are logged by end user, department, printer, and page count for resource management and chargeback purposes.
Exceptional Printing Capabilities for End Users
With powerful tools for printing both preformatted files and flat text files, ScriptServer PAN affords end users extraordinary control, including n-up printing, electronic "soft forms", job flag pages, whether the job is submitted through the web browser interface, command line interface, or the interface accessed through an application's print menu.
By centralizing queues, print job visibility improves significantly, allowing the PAN system to predict completion times for print jobs based on printer throughput history. Furthermore, the system includes a dyanamic, real-time display capability for viewing the current status of print queues and the jobs in them.
To provide support for the widest spectrum of clients, ScriptServer PAN includes an LPD Gateway, allowing print job entry into the system from any network computer that provides LPR/LPD printing, such as Macintosh running Mac OS 8 or later.
Pricing and Availability
ScriptServer PAN for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 (client only), and various implementations of UNIX (including Linux) is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2000. Entry level ScriptServer PAN network licenses are expected to sell at a price of US $995. Client software licenses are free of charge.
About GrayMatter Software Corporation
Founded in 1985, GrayMatter Software has been providing print management software for large environments to users around the world since 1988. The privately held company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and its web site is located at www.graysoft.com.
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The GrayMatter logo, GrayMatter Software, ScriptServer, Print Area Network and ScriptServer PAN are trademarks or registered trademarks of GrayMatter Software Corporation. PostScript is a trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc., and is registered in the USA and other countries. PCL is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard which is registered in the USA and other countries. Microsoft and Windows is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the USA and other countries. Macintosh and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., which is registered in the USA and other countries.