March 14th, 2006

Turning a duplicator into a network resources is definitely a hot button with customers these days. After some short interviews with equipment manufacturers, they too have confirmed network system sales are on the rise. Here at DiscRead.com, we felt it important to outline some key features of a network system duplicator.

Key Feature # 1: Job Queue

You would think a job queue is a standard feature on all network duplicators, but it isn’t. First lets define job queuing; it is the ability for the duplicator to accept multiple jobs and queue them for processing in the duplicator. Generally, duplicators will use a FIFO method or First-In-First-Out feature for the queuing and burning. Some duplicators take the FIFO method a step further where a priority level can be associated with the job. It’s a great feature! For example, 5 jobs are waiting to be burned and printed in the queue and Mr. CEO needs his discs done ASAP as he’s got a plane to catch. Well, Mr. CEO can submit his job, set a high priority level and jump to be the next in line. Although setting priority levels toys with the FIFO method, we feel it brings some great value to the queuing feature.

So which network duplicators do not have job queuing? Well, from our research these machines are the automated standalone duplicators. A standalone duplicator uses a LCD display and push-button touchpad for operation. These machines simply process one job at a time and do not have job queue capability. These machines have network connectivity to make the job submission process easy and convenient, they are not designed to be a network resource with multiple users.

Key Feature # 2: Pre Load Disc Image

This sounds very similar to job queuing but looking closer is much different. Pre-loading a disc image refers to the processing the duplicator is doing behind the scenes. A well designed network duplicator will have the ability to burn an “active job” while at the same time download the next job over the network. When considering overall throughput and efficiency a duplicator which can multi-task like this will save time. This is true because on a 10/100 Ethernet network it could take from 5-9 minutes to transfer a 700MB file to the duplicator. Using a system which pre-loads the disc image allows this process to be done while the active job is being burned and printed.

Key Feature # 3: License Free Client Software

Spending a good amount of capital money for a duplicator is already a big investment for most business. We recommend you check to see if the manufacturer sells a license for the client software or if the client software is available for free (we believe it should be free). Another question to ask would be if the software updates are free of charge or if purchased, how long are updates available (yearly subscription, lifetime, etc). Last, be sure to ask which operating system the client software will work with to avoid any installation or performance problems.

Of course these bullet points don’t summarize all the features a network system could have but at least they highlight some major topics you should consider before asking your sales rep about network duplicators. As a closing thought, be sure to configure your network duplicator with a printer. A network duplicator without a printer doesn’t provide tools for labeling between one user’s duplicated discs and another’s, so needless to say “it’s a must - or it’s a mess.”