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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

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USB, FireWire went through a few iterations over its lifetime. The first

standard was IEEE 1394a running at 400 Mbps; later it was upgraded to 800

Mbps with the introduction of IEEE 1394b. You’ll find some FireWire

devices still in the field, although they’re becoming more rare. FireWire

enjoyed a brief day in the sun, primarily in Apple devices, but has been

supplanted by Thunderbolt.

Figure 10-13 FireWire 800 port and cable above a FireWire 400 port

Thunderbolt Ports

Intel and Apple developed Thunderbolt ports as a high-speed alternative to

existing technologies such as USB and FireWire, tapping the PCI Express

bus for up to six external peripherals (Thunderbolt functions alongside USB

these days.) PC developers have adopted the technology and you will find it

standard on many laptop and desktop systems these days. If you have a

custom-built PC, assuming your motherboard is Thunderbolt-ready, you can

readily upgrade by purchasing PCIe Thunderbolt cards. Thunderbolt supports

video (up to a single 4K video monitor—see Chapter 17) and audio signals. It

handles data storage devices just fine, too.

Thunderbolt 1 and Thunderbolt 2 connect computing devices with a Mini

DisplayPort (mDP) connector. Thunderbolt 3 uses a USB Type-C connector.

Thunderbolt can use copper or fiber cabling. With copper, Thunderbolt

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