Computer Cables

There are different computer cables used for the different peripherals in a computer. And to be familiar with them is not a bad idea at all. To begin with, lets digest a cable, what its insides—the works. Cable are just a bunch of wires or optical fibre, grouped together, insulated in a protective jacket or sheath material.

In computer cables they are categorized in a broad selection from category 5 – 6 cables, firewire, USB, serial and parallel, fiber optic, etc..

Category 5 cables are perfect for connecting a PC to a network and come in a 350Mhz standard.

Category 6 cables are used to distribute data, voice and video, delivering high-speed performance up to 500Mhz.

Firewire IEEE 1394 cables are versatile, low cost and high speed for interconnecting different kinds of computer peripherals and other electronic devices. But, you need to have a firewire add-on card if you do not have one on your PC.

USB cables are some of the common ways to connect peripheral devices to your PC, they are great for transferring data from one PC to another.

Fiber optic Cables on the other hand are best for connecting your computer to a network because they support a faster transfer rate of up to about 1000Mbps.

RS-232 is a serial cable that can be used to transfer data between two devices.

Parallel printer cables are used to connect your PC to a printer or a switch box.

There are also SCSI cables for serial and parallel interface which are mostly used for hard disks and tape drives but it can also connect a variety of other devices like scanners and CD drives.

Keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) cables are the best way to minimize all that clutter in the desktop and server room. Also provides an alternative way to connect the workstations and servers to your KVM.

RJ11 cables are mostly used in modem connection and telephones connections.

And of course, there are power cords. Power cords come a variety of versions, like European, Australian or Canadian, however, they have only one sole purpose that is to provide power to your PC.

Cables can be organised and labelled for easy identification and to avoid them from cluttering all over the space.