Spooling Space

Spooling space is the amount of disk space that is used to store and process requests in the print queue. Spooling space is the single most important factor to consider when deciding which systems to designate as print servers. When users submit files for printing, the files are stored in the /var/spool/lp directory until the files are printed. The size of the /var directory depends on the size of the disk and how the disk is partitioned. Spooling space can be allocated in the /var directory on the print server, or mounted from a file server and accessed over the network.

If /var is not created as a separate file system, the /var directory uses space in the root (/) file system. The root (/) file system is likely to be insufficient on a print server.