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Q&A for the AXIS 670e - Application Digital Copier questions Q: What copier brands and models does your solution support ? Q: How is the AXIS 5470e connected to the digital copier ? Do we need a SCSI interface ? TN5250E questions IPDS questions Q: Can we use matrix printers with the Axis Host-to-LAN print servers? TN3270E Questions SNA Questions Q: The unit claims SNA support. What does it mean and what will it look like in our network? Q: We are considering to use a digital copier as a printing device from our AS/400. We want to be able to use finishing options but the option of changing AS/400 applications and drivers comes with a cost. What can you offer? A: The Axis Host-to-LAN products make it possible to take advantage of digital copier finishing options. Without modifying applications or drivers on the IBM host system, features such as stapling, hole punching and copying may be activated. This option may be used by any system/protocol on the network eg. IBM, UNIX, DOS, etc. A range of the most popular digital copier models is supported. Q: We are using a digital copier connected to our AS/400. Plain printing works fine but when specifying multiple copies and stapling, the copier will staple all jobs together in one piece. Can your solution handle this problem? A: Yes, using the Axis solution, each copy will be stapled separately. Q: What copier brands and models does your solution support ? A: Any of the AXIS 5470e models may be used with any PCL
or PostScript capable printer or copier for regular printing. The following devices are currently (November 2000) supported:
Q: How is the AXIS 5470e connected to the digital copier ? Do we need a SCSI interface ? A: The AXIS 5470e Copier attaches to the the parallel printer interface of the digital copier and uses standard PJL, PCL and PostScript commands to control the finisher options. Q: We are printing AFP/IPDS from our AS/400 system to the AXIS 5470e Copier. We use the digital copier support and we like it a lot. But what about our mainframe ? Our headquarter is printing SCS using a IBM host resident conversion package that directly outputs PCL over TCP/IP. Can we take advantage of the digital copier drivers of the AXIS 5470e from that environment as well ? A: Yes, the digital copier drivers in the AXIS 5470e Copier and the AXIS 670e are independent of the kind of host system or protocol and may be activated and used with any system. Q: We have got a number of AXIS 670e running firmware release 5.80. Can we upgrade these units with support for digital copiers ? A: Yes, firmware release 6.21 (or later) comes with support for digital copiers. The new firmware will be available on Axis web site and may be downloaded free of charge. Q: We have got a number of AXIS 5470e running firmware release 5.80. It is the "IPDS" model of the 5470e. Can we upgrade these units with support for digital copiers ? A: Please contact your local Axis sales office for up to date information on the possibilities to update your existing units to the "Copier" model. Q: We are using TN5250 for our AS/400 display sessions and Host Print Transform combined with LPR/LPD for printing. What would we gain by switching to TN5250E for printing? A: Axis TN5250E solution offers a number of important features:
Q: The TN5250E print method introduced with OS/400 V4R2 appears to be able to solve all our current problems with LPR/LPD TCP/IP printing. We are using OS/400 V3R7. Can we use this technology with your print servers anyway? A:Yes, you can. You will need to install the latest IBM-cumulative PTF's to the OS/400 operating system. IBM has made PTFs available for OS/400 versions V3R2 and later enabling this technology for a majority of the installed AS/400 base. To find the appropriate upgrade for your system, please have a look at http://as400service.rochester.ibm.com/supporthome.nsf/Document/10000035 The upgrades can be found in APAR II10918. Q: We are using twinax attached laser printers for AS/400 printing and LAN attached laser printers for Windows and NetWare print jobs. We want to be able to direct print jobs from any system to any LAN attached printer. Some of our AS/400 reports are 198 columns wide. Is it possible to print this kind of document with your print server? A: Yes, the Axis host-to-LAN print servers offer full IBM 3812 SCS emulation using the TN5250E print method. Furthermore COR (Computer Output Reduction) is supported. With the extensive support for Windows, NetWare and UNIX printing provided with the print server, you will also be able to reach the LAN-attached printer from all your systems. Q: We have a need for printing both AFP and non-AFP documents from our AS/400 system. What is your recommendation? Can we use TN5250E? A: The IPDS data stream is not defined within the TN5250E protocol. We recommend that you use the PPR/PPD (TCP/IP) protocol for IPDS printing and the TN5250E protocol for SCS printing. The AXIS Host-to-LAN print servers support both print methods. Q: We want to use TN5250E printing from all three of our AS/400 systems on one Axis host-to-LAN print server. Is that possible? A: Yes, the Axis host-to-LAN print servers do support up to eight concurrent TN5250E host sessions. Q: We are using both AS/400 and mainframe host systems. Is it possible to use TN5250E on the mainframe systems as well? A: No, it is not. We recommend using TN3270E (TCP/IP), PPR/PPD (TCP/IP) or SNA for mainframe printing. Q: We are using AXIS 670e print servers running SNA to our AS/400. We are considering switching to TN5250E. As we are using the extended emulation and transparency features of the product, this is a critical requirement for us. We do not want to change our host system applications. Will the current extended emulation and transparency features still be available when running TN5250E? A: Yes Q: We have two different networks, one SNA/SDLC and one based on TCP/IP. We want to use one single TCP/IP network for data transfer from our AS/400 as well other systems. Can we use our existing TCP/IP routers for TN5250E traffic without modifications? A: Yes, you can. The TN5250E data stream created by the AS/400 system looks just like any Telnet packet to the router. Regular TCP/IP routers may be used to route the data. Q: We have a mixed TCP/IP and SNA network using both laser and matrix printers. We would like to run TCP/IP only but have run into limitations for matrix printers in some TCP/IP based printing solutions. Will your product support both laser and matrix printers? A: Yes, although the IBM 3812 emulation is the only emulation allowed with TN5250E, any of our laser or matrix printer drivers may be used. The ASCII printer drivers available include PCL, Proprinter, 2 flavors of Epson and Generic. You may even customize your own printer driver using the "User Driver". Q: We print both AFP and non-AFP documents from our AS/400 systems. What are the requirements on the printer when using your solution? A: The Axis Host-to-LAN print servers convert IPDS to PostScript or PCL. SCS is converted to PCL, Proprinter or Epson. Q: We are using Host Print Transform and LPR/LPD to print AFP reports from our AS/400 system. It works fine most of the time but long reports takes forever before the actual printout even starts to print. The conversion to ASCII on the AS/400 is a pain. Can you help us? A: Yes, our solution is based on shipping the original IPDS data stream over PPR/PPD (TCP/IP) or SNA LU6.2. The conversion to ASCII is handled by the custom built ETRAX 32 bit processor of the print server. No translation is required on the host system and high throughput is achieved. Q: We are using both AS/400 and mainframe host systems. Is it possible to use IPDS from both systems over an IP network? A: Yes, using the PPR/PPD (TCP/IP) print method multiple host connections are supported. Q: We currently use TN3270E to print SCS data from our corporate mainframe located at our remote main office. We want to print IPDS over TCP/IP from our two AS/400 systems here at the production plant. Can we use the Axis Host-to-LAN print servers to print from all systems? A: Yes, the Axis Host-to-LAN print servers can maintain simultaneous connections with up to eight different hosts using any of the TCP/IP based print methods. Q: We have seen your ads about IPDS over TCP/IP support. We are using an SNA network and we are happy with it. Does your product support IPDS over SNA as well ? A: Yes, the Axis Host-to-LAN print servers offer full support for IPDS and non-IPDS printing over TCP/IP and SNA. For mainframe SNA environments, our product emulates an IBM 3174 Control Unit running SNA PU 2.0. In an AS/400 network, IBM 5494 Control Unit emulation and SNA LU 6.2 is supported. Q: Can we use matrix printers with the Axis Host-to-LAN print servers? A: The AXIS Host-to-LAN print servers offer both non-IPDS and IPDS emulation. Matrix printers may be used with non-IPDS printing but not with IPDS. IPDS is converted to PostScript or PCL. Q: How is the Axis host-to-LAN print server connected to the mainframe when using the TN3270E protocol ? The mainframe can't speak TN3270E by itself, can it? A: The TN3270E data stream is created by a TN3270E server. This server may be implemented as a software package running on the mainframe itself, a router or other server hardware. A wide range of TN3270E server solutions are available from IBM, Cisco, Bay Networks, Microsoft, Novell, OpenConnect Systems, Interlink, Attachmate, Hummingbird, Eicon Technology, Bus-Tech Inc, Data Interface Systems Corporation, Apertus Technologies Inc. etc. Q: We are using TN3270 for our mainframe display sessions and LPR/LPD for printing. What is the difference between TN3270 and TN3270E and what would we gain by switching to TN3270E for printing? A: TN3270E
specifies a number of new important features including standards for 3270
Attention and System Request keys as well as 3270 printing. The main
advantages with TN3270E printing are: Q: We have two different networks, one SNA/SDLC and one based on TCP/IP. We want to use one single TCP/IP network for data transfer from our mainframe as well as other systems. Can we use our existing TCP/IP routers for TN3270E traffic without modifications? We want to use one single TCP/IP network for data transfer from our mainframe as well as other systems. Can we use our existing TCP/IP routers for TN3270E traffic without modifications? We have two different networks, one SNA/SDLC and one based on TCP/IP. We want to use one single TCP/IP network for data transfer from our mainframe as well as other systems. Can we use our existing TCP/IP routers for TN3270E traffic without modifications? A: Yes, you can. Once the TN3270E data stream is created by the TN3270E server, standard TCP/IP routers may be used to route the data. Q: We have two different networks, one SNA/SDLC and one based on TCP/IP. We want to use one single TCP/IP network for data transfer from our mainframe as well as other systems. Can we use our existing TCP/IP routers for TN3270E traffic without modifications? We have a mixed TCP/IP and SNA network using both laser and matrix printers. We would like to run TCP/IP only but have run into severe limitations for matrix printers as well as some laser printer models in TCP/IP based printing solutions. How about your TN3270E solution. Will your print server support both We have two different networks, one SNA/SDLC and one based on TCP/IP. We want to use one single TCP/IP network for data transfer from our mainframe as well as other systems. Can we use our existing TCP/IP routers for TN3270E traffic without modifications? laser and matrix printers? We have two different networks, one SNA/SDLC and one based on TCP/IP. We want to use one single TCP/IP network for data transfer from our mainframe as well as other systems. Can we use our existing TCP/IP routers for TN3270E traffic without modifications? A: Yes, our solution offers both IBM laser and matrix printer emulation. The ASCII printer drivers include PCL, Proprinter, 2 flavors of Epson and Generic. You may even customize your own printer driver using the "User Driver". Any emulation may be combined with any driver using firmware version 5.58 or later. We have two different networks, one SNA/SDLC and one based on TCP/IP. We want to use one single TCP/IP network for data transfer from our mainframe as well as other systems. Can we use our existing TCP/IP routers for TN3270E traffic without modifications?
Q: The PC based TN3270E client software we are using supports display as well as printer sessions. We just connect a printer to the PC. What are the advantages of your solution? A:
Q: We want to use TN3270E printing from all of our three mainframes to one Axis host-to-LAN print server. Is that possible?
A: Yes,
the Axis host-to-LAN print server does support up to eight concurrent Q: We are using both mainframes and AS/400 systems. Is it possible to use TN3270E printing from the AS/400 systems as well? A: Yes, it is. However as the AS/400 system needs to be set up printing to a 3270 device (3287), advanced 5250 formatting features will not be available. We recommend using the TN5250E protocol with AS/400 systems. The Axis Host-to-LAN products support both print methods simultaneously. We have two different networks, one SNA/SDLC and one based on TCP/IP. We want to use one single TCP/IP network for data transfer from our mainframe as well as other systems. Can we use our existing TCP/IP routers for TN3270E traffic without modifications?
Q: We are using 670e print servers running SNA to our mainframe. We are considering a switch to TN3270E. As we are using the extended emulation and transparency features of the product, this is a critical requirement for us. We do not want to change our mainframe applications. Will the current extended emulation and transparency features still be available when running TN3270E? A: Yes. Q:What are the main advantages with Axis host-to-LAN print servers compared to using software alternatives, such as NetWare for SAA, or Windows NT SNA Server, and a "regular" (SCS/IPDS incapable) print server? A: The main advantages are:
Q: The unit claims SNA support. What does it mean and what will it look like in our network? A: For the IBM 3270 mainframe environment, the Axis host-to-LAN print server appears as an IBM 3174 Control Unit supporting the 3270 (LU3) and SCS (LU1) data streams. In an AS/400 environment, the Axis host-to-LAN print server appears as an IBM 5494 Control Unit supporting SCS and IPDS over SNA LU6.2/LU4. This means that the IBM coax/twinax printers and in many cases the control unit itself is no longer needed. Instead it is possible to choose an inexpensive and up-to-date LAN printer, and enjoy the advantages of trouble-free migration to LAN printing from IBM systems as well as other PC/UNIX systems. |
 
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