Parallel SCSI data rate of 640 MB/s. Due to the technical constraints of a parallel bus system, SCSI has since evolved into faster serial interfaces, mainly Serial Attached SCSI and Fibre Channel. The iSCSI protocol doesn't even have a physical definition at all but uses any IP network, usually based on Ethernet. , SCSI interfaces had become impossible to find for laptop computers. Adaptec had years before produced PCMCIA parallel SCSI interfaces, but when PCMCIA was superseded by the ExpressCard Adaptec discontinued their PCMCIA line without supporting ExpressCard. Ratoc produced USB and Firewire to parallel SCSI adaptors, but ceased production when the
Serial port only through a pin header. Small-form-factor systems and laptops may omit RS-232 connector ports to conserve space, but the electronics are still there. RS-232 has been standard for so long that the circuits needed to control a serial port became very cheap and often exist on a single chip, sometimes also with circuitry for a parallel port. The individual signals on a serial port are unidirectional and when connecting two devices the outputs of one device must be connected to the inputs of the other. Devices are divided into two categories "data terminal equipment" (DTE) and "data circuit-terminating equipment" (DCE).