port expander essay

What is a Port Expander? What does a Port Expander do? After extensive research, I have learned quite allot about Port Expanders in general and what they are used for. A Port Expander is a device that allows a single port on a computer to operate multiple devices but there are two basic types of port expansions (Internal and External). The Internal expansion slot is a single expansion plate inside the computer with multiple ports often including several USB ports and are all part of a single card that will plug into a pre-designated slot on the motherboard. The External expansion would usually be a cable that will run from the computer to a secondary box, which will have several spots that are identical to the one on the main system. The different I/O ports that are included on a port expander include: Ethernet Port, FireWire Port, DB-25 Port, Serial Port, USB Port, VGA Port, DVI Port, SCSI Port, Audio Port, Video Port, Microphone Port, RS-422 Port, Modbus Serial Port, SATA Port, SAS Port, SSD Port. After more research, I found out that there is no specific type in expander for different computers because all computers mostly have the same type of ports. The only advantage that I could come up with for using a port expander is just having multiple slots for a specific type of slot. As far as disadvantages, some port expansions only have expansions for one type on I/O port and sometimes specific expansions require more GB in the hard drive which means that the more devices that you have plugged in can result in the devices running slowly.

References: McGee, M., and Lauren Fritsky. "What Is a Port Expander." WiseGeek. Conjecture, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.
"I/O Expanders." - Maxim. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.

References: McGee, M., and Lauren Fritsky. "What Is a Port Expander." WiseGeek. Conjecture, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. "I/O Expanders." - Maxim. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2013.