Legacy port

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A parallel port implemented as a PCI card. Users can use expansion cards to add deprecated legacy ports to newer computer systems that do not provide them. Parallelport PCI Controller.jpg
A parallel port implemented as a PCI card. Users can use expansion cards to add deprecated legacy ports to newer computer systems that do not provide them.

In computing, a legacy port is a computer port or connector that is considered by some to be fully or partially superseded. [1] The replacement ports usually provide most of the functionality of the legacy ports with higher speeds, more compact design, or plug and play and hot swap capabilities for greater ease of use. Modern PC motherboards use separate Super I/O controllers to provide legacy ports, since current chipsets do not offer direct support for them. A category of computers called legacy-free PCs omits these ports, typically retaining only USB for external expansion.

Contents

USB adapters are often used to provide legacy ports if they are required on systems not equipped with them.

Common legacy ports

Legacy portTypical appearanceTypical usesReplacement(s)
Centronics port, parallel port Parallel computer printer port.jpg Printer, [2] scanner, removable media USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet
External parallel SCSI Mac lc scsi port.jpg Removable media USB, Thunderbolt, Serial Attached SCSI
AT connector / DIN 5pin180dinplug.jpg Keyboard USB
Serial port / RS-232 Serial port.jpg Console, modem, mouse [2]
Game port / DA-15 Da-15 port.PNG MIDI, gaming devices such as joysticks [2]
PS/2 port / 6-pin mini-DIN PS2 MOUSE KEYBOARD CONNECTOR MINI-DIN F IMG 1231.JPG Keyboard, mouse [2] [3] [4]
Apple Desktop Bus / mini-DIN Low speed external peripherals; such as keyboard, mouse, or joystick
LocalTalk / mini-DIN OldWorld Macintosh printer and LAN USB, Wi-Fi, Ethernet
Bus Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) Isa1.jpg Connect peripheral cards to motherboard [2] PCI, PCI Express
VGA / DE-15 SVGA port.jpg Display connector [5] DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort
Parallel ATA [6] Harddisk Parallel ATA.jpg Internal hard drives, CD-ROM Serial ATA, M.2
Floppy drive connector FDD with Cables.JPG Floppy drives, tape drives USB
IEEE 1394 (FireWire) IEEE 1394 Firewire PCI Expansion Card Digon3.jpg Video devices, external storage USB 3.0, Thunderbolt
Accelerated Graphics Port AGP at ECS P4VMM2.JPG Graphics card PCI Express
PC Card Xircom Realport PCMCIA and CardBus notch.jpg Laptop storage cards, other peripherals ExpressCard, USB

See also

References

  1. ↑ definition of legacy from Oxford Dictionaries Online
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Archived White Papers". Microsoft.com. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
  3. ↑ Computing (2002-09-17). "Build It: Legacy Free PC". ExtremeTech. Retrieved 2013-12-21.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ Fisco, Richard (2005-03-22). "Top Ten Buying Tips - Desktop PCs: The Essential Consumer Buying Guide". PCMag.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
  5. ↑ Archived June 11, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "What Is PATA? (with picture)". Wisegeek.com. 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
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