Serial and parallel switchboxes let one legacy peripheral serve more than one computer: manual or electronic switch units that route a single serial or parallel port device - a printer, a modem, a piece of lab or industrial equipment - between two or more systems without recabling. Where legacy equipment has only one port and more than one computer needs it, a switchbox is the low-cost way to share it.
Match the switchbox to the exact port type and pin configuration of the equipment being shared - serial and parallel standards have several variants, and a mismatched switchbox will not pass signal correctly even if the physical connector fits. Confirm whether the equipment and workflow tolerate the brief interruption a manual switch causes, since electronic switchboxes with software control suit environments where switching happens frequently or without an operator present. These are largely legacy-support purchases; they make sense where the equipment being shared cannot easily be replaced with a networked alternative. COLAMCO supplies serial and parallel switchboxes for the legacy equipment business, government, and education operations continue to run.