A USB (Universal Serial Bus) port is a standard interface that allows a wide range of devices to be connected to a computer. It is a rectangular-shaped port that is typically located on the back or side of a desktop computer or the sides of a laptop computer.
USB is a plug-and-play interface, which means that devices can be connected and disconnected while the computer is running, without the need to reboot the system. USB ports are able to support different types of devices, including external hard drives, flash drives, keyboards, mice, printers, and many other devices.
There are several different versions of USB, each with different capabilities. USB 1.1, which was introduced in 1998, has a data transfer rate of 12 Mbps. USB 2.0, which was introduced in 2000, has a data transfer rate of 480 Mbps. USB 3.0, which was introduced in 2008, has a data transfer rate of 5 Gbps and USB 4.0 introduced in 2019 has a data transfer rate of 40 Gbps.
USB also supports different power levels, which allows devices to be powered through the USB port. This is known as bus-powered devices and it eliminates the need for external power sources.
In summary, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port is a standard interface that allows a wide range of devices to be connected to a computer. USB is a plug-and-play interface and its different versions support different data transfer rates and power levels to support a wide range of devices.