<s>
In	O
computing	O
,	O
spooling	B-Device
is	O
a	O
specialized	O
form	O
of	O
multi-programming	B-Operating_System
for	O
the	O
purpose	O
of	O
copying	O
data	O
between	O
different	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spooling	B-Device
allows	O
programs	O
to	O
"	O
hand	O
off	O
"	O
work	O
to	O
be	O
done	O
by	O
the	O
peripheral	O
and	O
then	O
proceed	O
to	O
other	O
tasks	O
,	O
or	O
to	O
not	O
begin	O
until	O
input	O
has	O
been	O
transcribed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
dedicated	O
program	O
,	O
the	O
spooler	B-Device
,	O
maintains	O
an	O
orderly	O
sequence	O
of	O
jobs	O
for	O
the	O
peripheral	O
and	O
feeds	O
it	O
data	O
at	O
its	O
own	O
rate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Conversely	O
,	O
for	O
slow	O
input	O
peripherals	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
card	B-Architecture
reader	I-Architecture
,	O
a	O
spooler	B-Device
can	O
maintain	O
a	O
sequence	O
of	O
computational	O
jobs	O
waiting	O
for	O
data	O
,	O
starting	O
each	O
job	B-General_Concept
when	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
relevant	O
input	O
is	O
available	O
;	O
see	O
batch	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
spool	B-Device
itself	O
refers	O
to	O
the	O
sequence	O
of	O
jobs	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
storage	O
area	O
where	O
they	O
are	O
held	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
many	O
cases	O
,	O
the	O
spooler	B-Device
is	O
able	O
to	O
drive	O
devices	O
at	O
their	O
full	O
rated	O
speed	O
with	O
minimal	O
impact	O
on	O
other	O
processing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spooling	B-Device
is	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
buffering	B-General_Concept
and	O
queueing	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nowadays	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
use	O
of	O
spooling	B-Device
is	O
printing	O
:	O
documents	O
formatted	O
for	O
printing	O
are	O
stored	O
in	O
a	O
queue	B-Application
at	O
the	O
speed	O
of	O
the	O
computer	O
,	O
then	O
retrieved	O
and	O
printed	O
at	O
the	O
speed	O
of	O
the	O
printer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multiple	O
processes	O
can	O
write	O
documents	O
to	O
the	O
spool	B-Device
without	O
waiting	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
then	O
perform	O
other	O
tasks	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
"	O
spooler	B-Device
"	O
process	O
operates	O
the	O
printer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarly	O
,	O
before	O
spooling	B-Device
was	O
added	O
to	O
PC	B-Device
operating	O
systems	O
,	O
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
were	O
unable	O
to	O
do	O
anything	O
else	O
,	O
including	O
interact	O
with	O
the	O
user	O
,	O
while	O
printing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spooler	B-Device
or	O
print	O
management	O
software	O
often	O
includes	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
related	O
features	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
allowing	O
priorities	O
to	O
be	O
assigned	O
to	O
print	O
jobs	O
,	O
notifying	O
users	O
when	O
their	O
documents	O
have	O
been	O
printed	O
,	O
distributing	O
print	O
jobs	O
among	O
several	O
printers	O
,	O
selecting	O
appropriate	O
paper	O
for	O
each	O
document	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
print	B-Application
server	I-Application
applies	O
spooling	B-Device
techniques	O
to	O
allow	O
many	O
computers	O
to	O
share	O
the	O
same	O
printer	O
or	O
group	O
of	O
printers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Print	B-Device
spoolers	I-Device
can	O
be	O
configured	O
to	O
add	O
a	O
banner	O
page	O
,	O
also	O
called	O
a	O
burst	O
page	O
,	O
job	B-General_Concept
sheet	O
,	O
or	O
printer	O
separator	O
,	O
to	O
the	O
beginning	O
and	O
end	O
of	O
each	O
document	O
and	O
job	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
by	O
username	O
or	O
job	B-General_Concept
name	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
also	O
valuable	O
when	O
a	O
single	O
job	B-General_Concept
can	O
produce	O
multiple	O
documents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Depending	O
on	O
the	O
configuration	O
,	O
banner	O
pages	O
might	O
be	O
generated	O
on	O
each	O
client	O
computer	O
,	O
on	O
a	O
centralized	O
print	B-Application
server	I-Application
,	O
or	O
by	O
the	O
printer	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
systems	O
would	O
also	O
print	O
a	O
banner	O
page	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
each	O
job	B-General_Concept
,	O
assuring	O
users	O
that	O
they	O
had	O
collected	O
all	O
of	O
their	O
printout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spooling	B-Device
is	O
also	O
used	O
to	O
mediate	O
access	O
to	O
punched	B-Architecture
card	I-Architecture
readers	O
and	O
punches	O
,	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
drives	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
slow	O
,	O
sequential	O
I/O	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
batch	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
system	O
uses	O
spooling	B-Device
to	O
maintain	O
a	O
queue	B-Application
of	O
ready-to-run	O
tasks	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
started	O
as	O
soon	O
as	O
the	O
system	O
has	O
the	O
resources	O
to	O
process	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
store	B-Protocol
and	I-Protocol
forward	I-Protocol
messaging	O
systems	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
uucp	B-Protocol
,	O
used	O
"	O
spool	B-Device
"	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
their	O
inbound	O
and	O
outbound	O
message	O
queues	B-Application
,	O
and	O
this	O
terminology	O
is	O
still	O
found	O
in	O
the	O
documentation	O
for	O
email	O
and	O
Usenet	B-Application
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
an	O
especially	O
severe	O
problem	O
for	O
early	O
mainframes	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
job	B-General_Concept
which	O
read	O
punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
or	O
generated	O
printed	O
output	O
directly	O
was	O
forced	O
to	O
run	O
at	O
the	O
speed	O
of	O
the	O
slow	O
mechanical	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
spooling	B-Device
programs	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
IBM	O
's	O
"	O
SPOOL	B-Device
System	O
"	O
(	O
7070-IO-076	O
)	O
copied	O
data	O
from	O
punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
to	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
,	O
and	O
from	O
tape	O
back	O
to	O
punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
and	O
printers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hard	B-Device
disks	I-Device
,	O
which	O
offered	O
faster	O
I/O	O
speeds	O
and	O
support	O
for	O
random	B-General_Concept
access	I-General_Concept
,	O
started	O
to	O
replace	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
for	O
spooling	B-Device
in	O
the	O
middle	O
1960s	O
,	O
and	O
by	O
the	O
1970s	O
had	O
largely	O
replaced	O
it	O
altogether	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
the	O
unit	O
record	O
equipment	O
on	O
IBM	O
mainframes	B-Architecture
of	O
the	O
early	O
1960s	O
was	O
slow	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
common	O
for	O
larger	O
systems	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
small	O
offline	O
computer	O
such	O
as	O
an	O
IBM	B-Device
1401	I-Device
instead	O
of	O
spooling	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
"	O
spool	B-Device
"	O
may	O
originate	O
with	O
the	O
Simultaneous	B-Device
Peripheral	I-Device
Operations	I-Device
On-Line	I-Device
(	O
SPOOL	B-Device
)	O
software	O
;	O
this	O
derivation	O
is	O
uncertain	O
,	O
however	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Simultaneous	B-Device
peripheral	I-Device
operations	I-Device
on-line	I-Device
may	O
be	O
a	O
backronym	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
explanation	O
is	O
that	O
it	O
refers	O
to	O
"	O
spools	B-Device
"	O
or	O
reels	O
of	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
,	O
although	O
“	O
spool	B-Device
”	O
is	O
an	O
uncommon	O
usage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Attached	B-Operating_System
Support	I-Operating_System
Processor	I-Operating_System
(	O
ASP	O
)	O
in	O
OS/360	B-Application
and	O
OS/VS2	B-Application
(	O
SVS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
