Adapter (computing)

[1] Given an input, an adapter alters it in order to provide a compatible connection between the components of a system.

[2] Both software and hardware adapters are used in many different devices such as mobile phones, personal computers, servers and telecommunications networks for a wide range of purposes.

[6][3] Host bus adapters are used to connect hard drives, networks, and USB peripherals.

[7][8] An adapter card or expansion card is a circuit board which is plugged into the expansion bus in a computer to add function or resources, in much the same way as a host bus adapter (see above).

[10] Bus master adapters fit in EISA or MCA expansion slots in computers, and use bus mastering to quickly transfer data by bypassing the CPU and interfacing directly with other devices.

[15] They provide access to databases, files, messaging systems, enterprise applications and other data sources and targets.