What print server do you recommend? It would be great if I could get it on the secondary market for cheap. I would like the solution to be future-proof and open source-friendly.
If you go to something that is not a mainstream PC you risk paying 90% as much for 10% as much CPU, the certainty of having at most barely enough RAM, software you can’t upgrade. Don’t do it it’s suicide.
I thought that for adding networking functionality to an older printer it would be best to use some kind of dedicated hardware print server. Is it really best to use a PC box for that?
EDIT: I would think about hooking a printer to one of my 3 server boxes, but it sits far away from any of them (more than the maximum meters for USB cable)
I have (not as a print server, but as firewalls/poorman's NAT's) used successfully old thin clients, typically they use a fraction of the power of any old desktop, exception made - maybe - for some early mini- or micro-itx machines.
In case this is an excellent resource:
https://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/index.shtml
But a number of (now obsolete) home routers (the kind the ISP provides and never asks back for after a couple years), have a print server included (with a USB port), that could be even easier/lighter, of course with less features than an even small box running a Linux or similar.
ok, I'll reconsider whether I can really have a printer within the range of a USB cable to one of the servers that I already have. Thanks!
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Extender-CAT5E-Connection-1...
Just about any kind of cable can be extended with the right hardware.