Explination of Berkley Protocol

Can someone describe to me what the Berkley Protocol is and when you use it. I understand that it is a protocol and I think it is used with UNIX and/or Novell but I am not positive. We are using it to print out of our SAP / UNIX system directly to printers on our LAN. I just need a better understanding of what it is, why we are using it and how it benifits us.
Thanks,
Scott