2. Ports and Connectors By Karina Hackett

3. Overview: Ports are also known as sockets, and are located at the back of a system unit. Connectors are the parts found at the end of a cable, and are affixed to a port. Ports and connectors allow computers to connect to one another or to other devices, such as printers, scanners, CD-writers, etc.

5. Types of Ports Having been around for decades, SERIAL PORTS are one of the most basic external connections to a computer. These ports accept data one bit at a time, and are slower than other types of ports (parallel ports, for example). Serial ports are used to connect to an external modem or directly to a network. The connectors for serial ports

6. Types of Ports A telephone jack is a type of port. Telephone jacks accept a telephone plug at one end, and attach to an electric circuitry at the other end.

7. Types of ports Parallel ports are the most used interface (point of communication) for printers. This port needs 8 wires, compared to serial ports, which only need one. Because of this, a parallel port can send 8 bits (1 byte) at a time. The 8 bits are transmitted parallel to (beside) each other, as opposed to serially, or all in a single row. A standard parallel port sends 50 to 100 kilobytes of data per second.

8. The Connector for the Parallel Port Each pin in the connector that attaches to a parallel port has a “job”. For example, pin #11 is charged if the printer is busy, then it drops the voltage below 0.5 volts to let the computer know it’s ready to receive more data. The printer lets the computer know it’s out of paper by sending a charge on pin #12.

9. Connectors Connectors have “genders”. A male connector has pins, and fits inside the female, which has holes.

10. Types of Connectors Used to connect a digital video camera to a computer Used for digital audio Used on many USB digital cameras A 4-pin Firewire connector Standard audio connector Has 4 pins, a.k.a. S- VHS (Most of which are found near Karina and a digital video camera!) On the computer there should be a "male" connector; the mouse or other serial device (modem, digital camera) should have a “female”.