Enabling Branch Office Direct Printing

Prior to Windows Server 2012, for clients to print, they would send all print traffic to the print server, which then sent the data to the appropriate printer. In main office environments, or environments with local print servers, this worked well since the print server was readily accessible to the clients and printers via high speed connections.

However, this model caused problems in branch offices, which traditionally utilized slower WAN links to the main office. When printing, the client would often send a print job to the print server at the main office, which would then process and send the job to the printer back at the branch office.

To resolve the bandwidth issues in branch offices, many solutions could be implemented. For example, the WAN links between the offices could be improved. Or a separate print server could be installed in the branch office itself. Alternatively, clients could bypass the print server and print directly to the local printer...