We're a school and have the age-old conundrum of whether to use centralized print servers or IP printers.
Print servers allow for centralized management, simple driver installs, and user-based print tracking, but do not work well for a multi-user workstation, as in a student computer lab. Each new user that logs into a lab system must have the printer installed individually.
IP Printers allow you to install the printer as a local device and make it available to anyone who logs onto the system, but must also be managed as a local printer - requiring desktop visits for any changes in drivers or print devices.
Is there a happy middle ground? What I'm looking for is a way to manage installs and drivers centrally like a print server, but have the print device available to all users who log into a shared workstation, like an IP printer....