Dear Listers,
 
Once again I seek the knowledge of this venerable group.
My quest is to find a way to share numerous printers
between my HPs and our corporate network.  The question,
in its most elemental form is:  Can the HP print through
the network to a printer which is attached to a PC?
 
My situation:  I am installing 25 networked PCs running
Windows for Workgroups on the manufacturing floor in 25
different locations (stations).  Each station needs to
have a printer to print documents residing on the
corporate network (Windows NT server);  And each station
needs a printer to print documents coming from one of the
HP3000s which are also on the corporate network.  The PCs
at each station can run IPX/Netbios and/or TCP/IP
protocols.  Currently, in limited situations we share
printers between the corporate network and our HP3000s by
using HP JetDirect cards and Netbase.  Unfortunately, the
cost of 25 JetDirect cards is prohibitive, as is the cost
of buying two separate printers.  It seems the only way
we can do this economically (if it is at all possible) is
to attach each printer to the PC at its station, and then
print to it from the HP3000.  Of course, in this
situation the printers will not have their own IP
addresses, so the solution would work by resolving the
printers network name.  Hence the difficulty (I presume).
Also, in the cobwebs of my memory, I seem to remember
someone talking to me about setting up a PC on the
network as a Print Server.  And it is my vague
recollection that the HP would send jobs to this PC,
which in turn would dish them out to network printers.
Is this possible?  Or was I hallucinating about a network
printing nirvana? (Which would be sad, given that there
are better things to be hallucinating if one is given to
such tendencies!)
 
I'll be glad to provide any other specifics if required.
 
I greatly appreciate any thoughts/ideas/solutions you may
have on this topic.
 
Sincerely,
Billy Rowland
 
Manager of IS
Sumitomo Electric Lightwave Corp.
Research Triangle Park, NC