a system for printing a document over a network including a network , a printer and a raster image processor . the network connects at least three computing resources . the printer is coupled to the network and included in the computing resources . the printer includes a printer network connection , a printer virtual connection mechanism and a mechanism for printing the document based on the raster image . the printer network connection transfers data packets to and from the computing resources . the printer virtual connection mechanism receives a raster image representative of a document from a member of the plurality of computer resources to which a unique virtual connection has been established . the raster image processor is coupled to the network and included in the computing resources . the raster image processor includes raster image processor network connection mechanism , a rendering , mechanism , and a raster image processor virtual connection mechanism . the raster image processor network connection mechanism transfers information to and from the computing resources . the mechanism rendering mechanism renders a series of page description language instructions representative of the document into the raster image . the raster image processor virtual connection mechanism transmits a raster image to a printer via the unique virtual connection . the virtual connection maintenance mechanism opens , maintains , and closes unique virtual connections between printer and raster image processor .