Interfaces Used for Common Peripherals

You need to connect a peripheral to your PC. Which ports will you use? Although a wide variety of I/O ports were formerly used to connect devices to a PC, most current PCs use just two port types for most peripheral connections:

• USB ports

• IEEE-1394a (FireWire 400/i.Link) ports

The CD included with this book contains important Study Lab material for this chapter, as well as Chapters 2 “22 in this book. The Study Lab for each chapter contains terms to study, exercises, and practice tests ”all in printable PDF format (Adobe Acrobat Reader is included on the CD, too). These Study Lab materials will help you gear up for the A+ Exam. Also, the CD includes an industry-leading test engine from PrepLogic, which simulates the actual A+ test so that you can be sure that you're ready when test day arrives. Don't let the A+ test intimidate you. If you've read the chapters, worked through the Study Lab, and passed the practice tests from PrepLogic, you should be well prepared to ace the test!

Also, you'll notice that some words throughout each chapter are in bold format. These are study terms that are defined in the Study Lab. Be sure to consult the Study Lab when you are finished with this chapter to test what you've learned.

Some peripherals also connect to the PC Card or CardBus slots on a portable computer or to the serial port on a desktop or portable computer, but in general, both desktop and portable computers use USB and IEEE-1394a ports for most peripherals other than network devices.

USB and IEEE-1394a ports are supported by Windows 98 and newer versions. Devices using these ports can be hot-swapped in Windows 98 Second Edition and newer versions.

To learn more about these ports, see Chapter 8, "Input/Output Devices and Cables."

How do you connect your PC to a network device? Depending upon the device, you can use either the USB port or the RJ-45 10/100 Ethernet port. If you have a choice, which port is the better bet?

• USB 1.1 ports have a maximum speed of 12Mbps, which is fast enough for broadband Internet devices, but falls far below the 100Mbps speed of Fast Ethernet.

• USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed USB) ports have a maximum speed of 480Mbps, but support USB 1.1 devices at USB 1.1 speeds. If you want the blinding speed of USB 2.0, use USB 2.0 devices with USB 2.0 ports.

• 10/100 Ethernet ports run at 100Mbps when connecting with Fast Ethernet devices, and at just 10Mbps when connecting with 10BaseT Ethernet devices.

Windows NT 4.0 and most versions of Windows 95 don't support USB or IEEE-1394a ports. The last edition of Windows 95 (Windows 95C) included a USB supplement you had to install manually, but the USB supplement doesn't work well with most devices.

Given the speeds of these ports, I recommend Hi-Speed USB and 10/100 Ethernet as your best choices, and USB 1.1 if Hi-Speed USB ports or devices are not available.