parallel cable

A series of metal wires that enable multiple bits of data to be transferred simultaneously. Parallel cables have mostly given way to serial cables, where data is transferred one bit after another. See serial interface.

Centronics and PATA
Earlier printers used a Centronics parallel cable to attach to the computer, and disk drives used a parallel ATA (PATA) cable to connect to the motherboard. See Centronics and SATA.

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