22 Glossary
P
parallel connector — An I/O port often used to connect a parallel printer to your
computer. Also referred to as an LPT port.
PS/2 — personal system/2 — A type of connector for attaching a PS/2-compatible
keyboard, mouse, or keypad.
S
SATA — serial ATA — A faster, serial version of the ATA (IDE) interface.
serial connector — An I/O port often used to connect devices such as a handheld
digital device or digital camera to your computer.
U
USB — universal serial bus — A hardware interface for a low-speed device such as a
USB-compatible keyboard, mouse, joystick, scanner, set of speakers, printer,
broadband devices (DSL and cable modems), imaging devices, or storage devices.
Devices are plugged directly in to a 4-pin socket on your computer or in to a multi-port
hub that plugs in to your computer. USB devices can be connected and disconnected
while the computer is turned on, and they can also be daisy-chained together.