What are PC ports?
If you look on the back of a PC, you'll see lots of places you can connect things. It looks like a maze of swiss cheese at times. Each of those connectors is called a port. Here's a rundown on some of the common ports you will find:
- Parallel - Most commonly used to connect printers, the parallel port uses a 25-pin connector
- PS/2 - These ports use a 6-pin connector to accommodate mice and keyboards
- USB - Short for Universal Serial Bus, these ports accept the slim, rectangular USB connector found on devices like mice, keyboard, printers, digital cameras, scanners or external hard drives
- Ethernet - This port is part of a network interface adapter (NIC) and uses a RJ-45 connector to connect a PC to a local area network
- VGA - Short for Video Graphics Array, this port provides a display signal that supports monitors or projectors via a 15-pin connector
- Firewire - Also known as IEEE1394, this high-speed port is similar to USB and provides a connection for devices like external hard drives, digital cameras or other devices where a high-speed connection is desired