SATA or Serial ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) is the latest generation disk interface, following the traditional Parallel ATA (PATA).
SATA cable connected to a drive.
Anyone who has ever accessed a computer is familiar with the 40-wire flat parallel cables that connect the hard drive, CD-ROM, and other devices to their controllers. PATA has been the standard and has served well, but it also has drawbacks. Cables limited to 18 inches (46 cm) in length often make connections difficult and also clog up cases by obstructing airflow, while cooling has become crucial. Although rounded cables became available, the most advanced PATA drives (Ultra ATA / 133) reached the maximum parallel transfer rate of 133 MB/ps. With the speed of CPUs, RAM, and system buses improving, designers realized that PATA would soon be a bottleneck for the efficiency of advanced drives in the system architecture.
SATA cable.
SATA type.
Serial ATA has significant distinctive advantages over its predecessor. The cables are very thin, with small 7-pin connectors. They can be up to 3 feet (1 meter) long and are easily moved out of the way, allowing maximum airflow inside the box. SATA also has a much lower power requirement of just 250mV compared to PATA’s 5 volt requirement, and with chip core voltages dropping, this speaks well for the future of SATA. Serial ATA eliminates master/slave configuration and drive jumpers. Setup is greatly simplified and the technology even allows for hot swapping, meaning drives can be removed or added while the computer is running.
However, the most promising feature of Serial ATA is that it eliminates the transfer limit reached by PATA. The first generation has a maximum transfer rate of 150 MBps and the second generation SATA offers around 300 MBps. A third-generation SATA set for 2009, “SATA 6 Gb/s” will provide almost twice the speed of the previous SATA iteration.
With the introductory transfer speed so close to existing Ultra ATA/133 speeds, the real-world performance gain is negligible for first-generation SATA, even though drive prices are comparable to PATA drives, making switching to new technology is a good option. when upgrading, building, or purchasing a new system. Motherboards with integrated SATA and PATA interfaces are widely available to accommodate both types of drives, and there are no restrictions on using both types in the same system. Serial ATA is also a good option for RAID and is intended to replace PATA.
For older systems, third-party SATA controllers can be placed in any PCI slot if you purchase a SATA drive. (An Ultra Parallel ATA drive can also be used through a PATA-to-SATA adapter, although drive performance will suffer as the adapter must convert the data stream from parallel to serial.)
If you’re upgrading your motherboard, purchasing SATA enabled will make it easier for you to use future SATA drives, even if your current drives are standard ATA.
Note: When using some third-party devices or adapters, hot-swap support may be missing or “quirky”. It is always recommended to back up valuable data before you risk losing it.
