Instructions:- Place your mouse over the rollover image and the image will change from showing Parallel and Communication ports to displaying port connectors. Also, by holding the mouse over the image an associated image label can be seen.
Note:- a motherboard is sometimes called a system board.
Parallel and Communications Ports
The Serial and Parallel connections are located at the back edge of the motherboard and protrude through the system unit case for connection purposes. Alternatively, they may be connected by cable to connections on the rear of the system unit. They can be indicated as COM1 and COM2.
The
parallel port allows connection of parallel devices such as printers for
high speed data transfer over shorter distances.
Communication or serial ports allow the connection of devices such as
a mouse, modem etc.
Data
transfer rates are slower than parallel but are more reliable over longer
distances.