Host Bus Adapter

What Does Host Bus Adapter Mean?

A host bus adapter (HBA) is a device that connects multiple peripheral devices with a computer. It works as an expansion card that is plugged into the computer to enable connection between the peripheral devices and computer.

Techopedia Explains Host Bus Adapter

A host adapter enables connectivity of peripheral units to a computer and provides input/output support and processing. It also has the ability to perform some low-level processing operations, which helps reduce the load on the primary processor. Each computer can have multiple host bust adapters connected to it at the same time. Common examples of host adapters are Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) adapters, Serial Advanced Technology Attachments (SATA), Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) and Firewire. Moreover, HBAs also include devices that have the capability to support Ethernet and Fire Channel.

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Margaret Rouse

Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

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