11.1 The UNIX Printing Environment
11.1.2 The printing process
When you send a print request to a printer, you are actually sending it to a print queue. The print queue is a special directory that is stored on the hard disk of your workstation or on a remote network server. All requests or print jobs go to the queue first. If the printer is available, the request is serviced immediately. If the printer is busy, the request is queued until the printer is available. Every printer, whether attached to a computer or attached directly to the network, must be serviced by a print queue that is located on a computer. Printers do not have hard disks or the ability to store print requests. The Figure illustrates the process a print request goes through to be printed. In this case, the User at the UNIX workstation is printing a document directly to the attached network Printer2 whose print server is the UNIX server.