Better to share or directly connect to network printer in Win XP

[quique]

Hi everybody, thanks for the help in advance!

I work in a small office (<30 employees) and we have 6 network printers. We do not belong to a domain so we use peer to peer networking in XP. Some computers are set up so they are shared and connected directly (via IP address) to several printers. Other computers are set up to print by using those shared printers.

My question is, by printing via shared computer/printer, does that use a significant amount of the computer's resources that the printer is directly connected to? Would it be better to install each network printer directly on each computer and stop sharing?

Also, I am planning to install a Windows 2000 server and create a domain and active directory. Would it be a good idea to install the network printers directly on the server and have the server act as a print server?

 

[nweaver]

A big advantage of the "Print Server" model is the ability to update drivers/control access from one location. Depending on the load on that server, you may want to set up print sharing on it. That will also allow you to set up permissions and tracking/auditing.

 

[CreativeTom]

Originally posted by: nweaver
A big advantage of the "Print Server" model is the ability to update drivers/control access from one location. Depending on the load on that server, you may want to set up print sharing on it. That will also allow you to set up permissions and tracking/auditing.

what this guy said

 

[quique]

Yeah, basically the server is going to be running active directory for about 30 users. It's going to be comprised of 3 major groups of users. It's mainly going to be used to share files between groups/users.

Does "Print Server model" take up a lot of resources? And once it's implemented should I delete all the shared, redundant printers that are seen by the users?

I'm also trying to create several domains (ie. businessoffice.mycompany.com, east.mycompany.com) that are connected via VPN. I know that I have to have a server for those domains (business office and east) but what about the parent domain (mycompany.com). Do I have to have a separate server for it?

I was doing a little research on schemas and forests etc but I'm pretty lost. Can anyone point me to a good Windows 2000 server resource for what I'm trying to do?

I'm a amateur network administrator and I really appreciate the help.