Hardware port

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A port, in hardware is a means of gaining access to a computer or a sub-system.

For I/O to a computer, it is often a connector of a specified type, with a defined pin-out, and defined voltages, etc on the pins. Examples are the standard ports for EIA RS-232 serial line interfaces, parallel ports, etc.

A port can also be an internal interface, e.g. on multi-port memory.