About Sharing Printers over the Internet

There are many things you can do using the Internet, which has become a powerful tool for communication, but do you know that you can actually share printers over the World Wide Web, as well?

A few years ago, a limited network of computers can readily connect to a printer through a file and printer sharing application. Today, the same can be done online, through the so-called Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), a standard network protocol for remote printing and managing of print jobs.

IPP is a type of Internet Protocol (IP); it runs locally or over the Internet to connect to printers that are situated several miles away. It does not invent new security features if it can use existing protocols. For instance, the Request For Comments (RFC) may suggest for the authorisation to take place via other authentication mechanism. Furthermore, IPP does not do encryption, but uses it at the SSL/TLS protocol-layer or Secure Sockets Layer or Transport Layer Security protocol-layer, a type of cryptographic protocols that offer security for networking communications. IPP supports access control, authentication, and encryption, so it is more capable and secure than other printing solutions. Plus, it is built on top of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), being able to use a well-tested mechanism for transferring files online.

With IPP, users like you can find out about a printer's capabilities and specifications. You can likewise submit print jobs to the connected printer, find out the status of the device and the print job, as well as cancel a previously submitted print job. Thus, IPP is quite convenient to use, especially for users who wish to send another user hard copies of whatever files they like to share.