Actnet simplifies mainframe production printing

Actnet Print Concepts (Pty) Ltd, a leading output management solutions provider, announces the introduction of BARR/RJE and BARR/NJE with BARR Systems Enterprise Print Server (BEPS).

According to Gavin Dunlop of Actnet Print Concepts, the print server simplifies print and document distribution providing central output management. Automating your organisation`s production printing through a built-in scheduling system and recording the accounting data for completed print transactions ensures that all printers are used to their maximum potential.

The BEPS system receives files from a variety of sources, including Windows programs, TCP/IP hosts, mainframes, Unix systems and network directories and routes them to multiple destinations, including channel attached production printers, network, parallel and serial-attached printers, network directories, storage devices and EDD (enterprise document delivery) applications. The BEPS system also supports unattended operation, automatically performing load balancing (or load sharing) by distributing new jobs evenly among the available printers and has the capability of driving an unlimited number of printers, managing electronic form overlays and host resources (FCB, UCS).

When operator intervention is required (with personalised user access settings for different operators) the real-time status of each printer is displayed and jobs can be reprinted and restarted from any position. The system provides non-stop printing while spooling, viewing and reprinting. Support for all print formats including: ASCII, EBCDIC, AFP, Adobe PDF and Postscript, Xerox Metacode, LCDS and PCL makes the BEPS one of the most powerful print servers around today. It allows you to build customised job routing rules and take control of your document distribution.

The BARR/RJE software module for the BEPS system allows you to send and receive files to and from multiple IBM mainframes via IP or SNA. Applications for BARR/RJE include integration of mainframe and open systems networks, and enterprise-wide print and output management.

BARR/RJE and BARR/NJE have now been enhanced by the addition of a new Enterprise Extender (HPR/IP) communication link. This connection option allows the support of SNA applications over ordinary IP networks, while overcoming many of the limitations of DLSw (Data Link Switching). This allows BARR/RJE or BARR/NJE to connect natively to an IBM mainframe over an IP network without the need for any special routers or gateways.

Actnet Print Concepts has recently successfully implemented BARR/RJE with Enterprise Extender into two government mainframe printing environments and one at a large financial institution in South Africa.