Ports are usually built into your motherboard. You can connect mand different peripheral devices to these ports including a printer, mouse, and more. The most common type of ports includes the parallel port and serial port.

Parallel ports are faster than serial ports. Parallel ports are generally used for printers. Serial ports are used for most everything else.

Remember, NEVER force a connecting cable into a port. If you have to force it, you are probably connecting the wrong cable to the wrong port.