AS400 Printing
A Twinax printer is usually very expensive, and there are numerous alternatives to using a true Twinax printer to print data from your AS400 or System 3X.
The most simplistic alternative is to attach a PC printer to a 5250 terminal or to a PC attached to the AS400. You will be limited to the printer emulations supported by your terminal or your emulation software, but you will be able to print to your printer from anywhere on you AS400.
Twinax Printer Interfaces
Attaching a Twinax printer interface to a standard PC printer will convert it to a Twinax printer. You can choose an internal Twinax printer interface made specifically for your printer or an external printer interface. The advantage of choosing an external printer interface is that the same interface will work with virtually any printer, so your interface will not need to be replaced when you replace your printers. These interfaces typically attach to the parallel or serial printer port. Specialty Twinax interfaces that support IPDS or native barcode languages are also available.
AS400 LAN Printer Interfaces
For AS400 printing over a Local Area Network, you can select either a hardware or software solution. These interfaces combine the functionality of Ethernet print servers with the added benefit of reliable, full-function AS400 LAN printing support. This gives everyone on your network (local or remote) access to the printers, and allows you to print from your AS400. Specialty interfaces that support IPDS or native barcode languages are available.
Why use an AS400 LAN printer interface over a standard LAN printer interface?
When an AS400 outputs to an IP based printer without Advanced Function Printer (AFP) functionality, the print jobs are "dumped" to the Ethernet. If the printer is off-line or out of paper, there is no communication sent back to the AS400. The print job is lost and the user is unaware. An AS400 LAN printer interface such as I-O Corporation's 5430e gives you the added benefit of reliable, full-function AS400 LAN printing support and printer error reporting back to the AS400.
AS400 Software
If you need to print barcode labels from your AS400 data, there are label design software packages that load onto your AS400 and allow you to design labels without any programming. This software allows you to design barcode labels and print to your non-Twinax printers directly from your AS400. For more information on Barcode Printing from your AS400 click here.
Barcode, IPDS and Specialty Printing
Call us at (888)397-9783 to discuss your specialty printing needs. There are numerous ways to print IPDS (Intelligent Printer Data Stream) without IPDS printers or to print from your AS400 directly to your barcode printers. We can help you determine which option is best for your environment.
Reverse Protocol Converter
If you already have already made an investment in true Twinax or IPDS printers, and need to give your non-AS400 users access to these printers, we have Reverse Protocol Converters. These interfaces extend the life of legacy printers by giving printer access to virtually any host on the Ethernet network. Even if you are migrating completely away from Twinax you will be able to continue to use your legacy printers.
