CompTIA A+® Certification All-In-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

7.7. Port Replicators and Docking Stations

If you use a laptop at the office a lot, you might want to consider using a port replicator or a docking station to get the functionality of a desktop PC from your laptop. A port replicator gives a laptop access to standard computer ports by connecting to an expansion port typically found on the back of the laptop. After you connect the port replicator to the back of the laptop, it provides serial, parallel, keyboard, and mouse connectors, thus allowing you to use those types of devices on the laptop even if the laptop itself does not contain the ports.

A number of companies set up docking stations for their laptop users. A docking station acts as a port replicator by having ports exposed from the back of the docking station. The docking station is different than the port replicator, but the docking station also can contain features such as drive bays, network port, and desktop computer-sized expansion slots.