Differences from 2.0

CirrusPrint 3.0 retains the overall design and architecture of version 2.0.  It is a server-centric design with a browser interface to manage the configuration.  It supports multiple tenants (or companies), each of which supports multiple remote locations, each of which supports multiple delivery endpoints of different types: printers, file systems, and programs.  It supports path, port, and email input sources.

CirrusPrint 3.0 provides significant improvements over 2.0 in several areas.

Higher Performance

CirrusPrint 3.0 is a complete rewrite of the CirrusPrint product.  It is now written in a language designed for concurrency, so can support higher levels of activity on similar hardware.

High Availability Support

Multiple systems can be configured to support the same data configuration through a shared network file system.  This enables cluster configurations that support load balancing and server-level fault tolerance using various techniques, most commonly through proxy servers or dedicated load balancers, but also through DNS settings.

Zero Dependency PDF Printing

Version 2.0 required installing Ghostscript at remote Windows clients in order to support native printing of PDF files.  This sometimes caused issues related to permissions and changes to Ghostscript architecture, requiring extra support at remote systems.  Version 3.0 supports PDF, text, and image printing out of the box.  Job properties such as duplex and copies can also be managed through default settings as well as API control.

Automatic Client Updates

Version 3.0 Windows clients update themselves whenever the client version deployed with the server changes.  Updates on Linux clients involve a simple restart after the update is automatically downloaded.

Client Side Input Sources

Path and port input sources in version 2.0 were only available on the server.  This meant that the CirrusPrint server and the applications that produced documents needed to be on the same system or in the same network.  For example, an application that used its local spooler to submit jobs to CirrusPrint as network print jobs needed to be able to access a raw, unencrypted port on the CirrusPrint server.  The two systems could not, or should not, do that over the Internet.  Version 3.0 allows path and port sources to be hosted by a remote system client, enabling applications and the CirrusPrint server to be on different networks.

License Model Changes

CirrusPrint 3.0 provides a perpetual 2-device license for free.  Commercial licenses are available using one of two models:

•Maximum active output devices (like 2.0 but with any count rather than tiered counts)

•Maximum CPU's in use, with unlimited output devices

•Data location-based rather than machine-based license, so multiple machines can service one configuration

API Enhancements

Both the HTTP and CLI interfaces have been greatly expanded to enable more programmatic control over configuration and job submissions.  ISV's and enterprise developers have more options to develop CirrusPrint integrations than before.

Improved Email Receiving Capabilities

The ability to receive email directly at the CirrusPrint server was added with limited support in 2.0.  In 3.0, there is an upgraded capability that includes support for encryption of mail from forwarding mail servers.  In addition, the IMAP client in 3.0 supports XOAUTH2 authentication, which Microsoft 365 will require in late 2022.