network ready printer versus sharing a printer?

If you have a small network (about 5 PCs) with a dedicated server, and you
also have a network ready printer/fax/scanner, is it better to plug the
printer into the network directly, or attach the printer to the server (USB)
and share the printer out via the server?

The printing part would work either way. Not sure about the scanning
feature. Can you "share" out a scanner using windowXP?

"peter" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:eNtWqFoxIHA.5892@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> If you have a small network (about 5 PCs) with a dedicated server, and you
> also have a network ready printer/fax/scanner, is it better to plug the
> printer into the network directly, or attach the printer to the server
> (USB) and share the printer out via the server?
>
> The printing part would work either way. Not sure about the scanning
> feature. Can you "share" out a scanner using windowXP?
>

FWIW, I've had trouble where my XP "print server" machine goes to standby
and then nobody else can print. This won't happen if you network attach
your printer. I presume if your printer is network ready, you should be
able to scan from any machine - but I might be wrong.

Paul DS