Print Server Appliances that Spool?

man_ls asks: "I have recently run across the need for a network print server appliance, that can spool the data it is given and send it slower than 10 mbps to the printer. A client of mine has an Intermec label printer, with an internal processor too slow to accept data directly from the network without being buffered. Due to the system the client is running (OpenVMS) it must be connected to the network, it can't be local on one of the servers. Any ideas of a small print server box that can act like a spooler?"

Comments

Trying to answer your question

[bill_mcgonigle]

I think most of the respondents here are missing the point when they recommend a cheap COTS print spooler - they rarely have the rate limiting feature you need.

Why not just setup a simple print spooler (samba/netatalk) which will deliver files to a queue. Then you can write a little perl script to read the file in at a known data rate (while ... read buffer size ... sleep ... print) out to the printer device. Delete the spooled file when it's done. You'll probably need to set binmode on your filehandles.