HP ePrint is a portfolio of cloud printing technologies developed by Hewlett-Packard (HP) for mobile computing devices like smartphones, tablets, etc. This segment of the computing industry has experienced rapid growth and has transformed traditional cell phones into universal information access tools. As this data usage trend continues there becomes a greater need for printing and sharing data accessed by mobile devices. HP ePrint, as well as other print vendor mobile solutions, are technologies that have enabled printing from mobile devices.
HP ePrint Cloud Printing
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HP ePrint via eMail is an HP device that contains the enabling ePrint technology in firmware. To activate cloud-aware printing, devices must first register with HP’s public ePrint cloud print server (hpeprintcenter.com). This assigns a unique email address for the printer so that printing is as simple as emailing plain-format documents to the device. The printer eMail address can be customized. Plain-format documents are considered to be in native format like a Word document, a PowerPoint presentation, or a PDF document. The HP ePrint via eMail solution is considered a driver-less printing solution which basically means the native data is sent to HP’s ePrint public cloud where it is rendered into a suitable print data stream (PCL3,PCL 5 or PostScript) and subsequently forwarded to the HP ePrint enabled printer.
Any email client, including those used with smartphones, can be used to submit a print job. Users send an email message with one or more attachments and the HP ePrint public cloud print server will separate the attachments, render them individually and repackage the data into a print stream that prints the entire print job. Basically, if you can email you can print. The following “plain data” formats are currently supported:
Registered users can also log into the HP ePrint Center to check the status of previously submitted print jobs as well as configuring personal preferences like approved list of users for the ePrint printers or spam filters to prevent unwanted print requests. Users can also change an ePrint enabled printer’s email address by requesting a new one from HP. Figure 1 illustrates how data flows from the email client to the HP ePrint public cloud server(HP ePrint Center) to be rendered into an acceptable print stream format and then forwarded to the actual HP ePrint device.
HP ePrint Public Printing Locations is another cloud printing solution within the HP ePrint portfolio. This solution is specifically designed for mobile professionals who need to print while travelling. After installing a smartphone app users can see various public printing services offered at hotels, airports and print shops who have registered their public printing services. The free HP ePrint app is available for Apple iPhones and Android devices from the iTunes App store or the Android Market, respectively. The HP ePrint app is also available for Blackberry mobile devices from BlackBerry App World. Figure 2 shows the data flowchart for the HP ePrint Public Printing Locations solution.
Once installed, mobile users can easily access a list of public print services and submit print jobs accordingly. A notification email message is returned to the mobile user which also includes an authorization code which is required to actually print the documents at the service provider’s location. This process prevents unwanted documents from printing and allows paying for print jobs before they are actually printed. The cost of public printing services may vary from one provider to another. There is no practical limit to the number of copies printed. An example of this service is a presenter who prints handouts just in time at the destinations instead of carrying them everywhere they travel.
The HP ePrint app uses GPS coordinates to locate and map public printers nearby. Print providers can be found at FedEx office stores, Hilton hotels, Air Canada membership clubs and other locations. Regardless of location, mobile professionals can use smartphone navigation features for directions to the print service provider’s location.
Supported file formats for email attachments using HP ePrint Public Printing Locations include:
To submit print jobs, mobile users email attachments to the printer’s unique email address which routes the print request to a cloud printing service. The HP ePrint app simplifies this process by presenting the user a friendly user interface that includes an option to find public PrintSpots. Upon reception of the user’s email message (with attachments), the cloud printing service renders each attachment accordingly and sends the print data stream (PCL or Postscript) to the destination printer. To retrieve the actual print job, users arrive at the printer location and use a kiosk to enter an authorization code which releases the print job(s). Figure 3 is a screenshot of the HP ePrint App running on an iPhone device.
HP ePrint Enterprise is the third component of the HP ePrint cloud printing portfolio and is designed for SMB and large enterprise businesses who desire to manage their own private cloud printing service. This is important for businesses with a growing mobile community who require access to company network resources, like printing. The same HP ePrint app used for HP ePrint Public Printing Locations is used for HP ePrint Enterprise. Users submitting print jobs can send them to private company printers or public print services. For private printers to show up in the list of available devices they have to be registered with the company’s installed HP ePrint Enterprise server (purchased separately).
The HP ePrint Enterprise server is an ASP.NET application that is supported on Windows Server 2003/2008. The following are the system requirements for the HP ePrint Enterprise server software:
The method for sending data to the actual print devices depends on the type of mobile device used (i.e., Blackberry, Android or iPhone) to submit the print request. Blackberry devices typically access network resources using the Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) and Android mobile devices use a direct connection to the HP ePrint Enterprise server. Figure 4 illustrates the path taken by Blackberry print requests and Figure 5 shows the print path for Android and iPhone devices.
HP ePrint Enterprise is also a scalable solution that can adapt to varying workloads. A master/slave configuration can be employed where the primary workload is handled by slave HP ePrint Enterprise servers and backup or redundancy is provided by the one and only master HP Enterprise ePrint server. As the workload increases additional slave servers can be deployed. Large companies geographically dispersed can have the master HP ePrint Enterprise server at corporate headquarters and slave HP ePrint Enterprise servers implemented within geographical regions. The master server is the primary point of communication which subsequently dispatches print jobs to appropriate slave servers. These reliability and scalability features of the HP ePrint Enterprise server are essential for cloud computing architectures.
User experiences vary slightly depending on which mobile platforms are used to access the HP ePrint Enterprise server. Mobile platforms supported include BlackBerry devices, iPhones and Android powered mobile phones. iPhones and Androids communicate directly with the HP ePrint Enterprise server whereas Blackberry devices communicate indirectly through the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). The BES is not an additional requirement because if a company is using Blackberry devices it’s typically already installed. Blackberry devices communicate with the BES which in turn communicates with the HP ePrint Enterprise server. There are major security and performance advantages with the Blackberry solution because data does not travel outside the company's private network. In addition, the channels used to submit the print data are secured and encrypted. The following “plain data” formats are currently supported:
The HP ePrint Enterprise server communicates to external network resources using two primary protocols, HTTP and SMTP. HTTP is used for submitting print jobs and communicating job status messages to handheld devices. SMTP is used by Blackberry devices as a vehicle to collect incoming print job data into the HP ePrint Enterprise printer queues. For Blackberry devices, every HP ePrint Enterprise server print job must be an email first in order to enter into the workflow process. Once accepted by the private cloud printing service, the job is converted to the correct printer language (PCL or Postscript) via an internal rendering process and submitted to the actual print device via TCP port 9100. HP ePrint Enterprise server is capable of processing multiple print jobs simultaneously by using a message queue server that gives it the ability to track each print job’s progress individually.
HP ePrint Enterprise server does have administration requirements. To perform these tasks administrators can use the HP ePrint Enterprise server administration console. This console can be accessed from any authorized user with a supported web browser. Administrative tasks include adding and managing users and print devices, configuring server settings, simple diagnostics, and event tracking.
Businesses can implement one or all of the solutions within the HP ePrint portfolio to design a complete mobile printing strategy. HP ePrint enables printing from mobile devices to personal or home printers, company private printers, or publicly available print services while travelling.