Explanation of Printer Types for Local Device Tracking

Printers Scanned with the Information Collection Engine and Local Device Tracking
When the Print Audit software is used with Infinite Device Management for Local Device Tracking, Direct to IP printers are scanned first by the ICE engine and uploaded to Infinite Device Management.  To avoid duplicating IP-based printers that may be tracked with the Print Audit Client, the ICE engine looks for the MAC address of the printer and won't upload any device from the Printers list with an existing MAC address.

Printer Connection Types
Print Audit detects/supports three different types of printer connections. When Print Audit adds the printer it does its best to detect how the printer connects to your network. The three types are as follows:

Local
Local printers are attached directly to a computer. This covers printers attached via serial or parallel ports, as well as USB connected devices. File based printers, like Adobe PDF writers appear as local printers.
For each printer of this type, Print Audit records the name of the printer according to Windows, the port it connects to and the name of the computer it is connected to.

Network Share
Network shared printers are printers on the desktop that have been shared from someone else's computer or from a server. If the printer is a Direct IP connected printer that has been shared, Print Audit attempts to merge the printers and their information together once it gathers enough information.
For each printer of this type, Print Audit records the UNC share name of the printer along with the name of the computer sharing the printer

Direct IP
Direct IP printers are similar to Local printers except they are connected to an IP address rather than a different type of Windows port.
For each printer of this type, Print Audit records the IP address of the printer along with the MAC address and host name if any. Please note that in some cases Print Audit cannot determine accurately if the printer is a Direct IP printer. This depends largely on the printer driver. In cases where it cannot detect that it is a Direct IP printer, Print Audit records it as a Local printer.
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