Can I share the scanner functionality of a multifunction printer over a network running CUPS print server?

Solution 1:

You'll need to configure SANE to work over the network.

Solution 2:

That depends on the scanning device in question. CUPS won't be able to handle it. One method, that we're looking to use campus wide, is to specify a drop-zone for these MFPs to drop scans. This is a Samba share with a unique folder for each MFP. It does depend on if the MFP can drop files on a SMB share, which not all do. Many can send emails, so you might be able to use a shared mailbox of some kind.

Of course, this is for MFPs that are network-attached rather than USB attached. A lot of the newer MFPs have built-in wireless these days, which implies they may have some of these features.