The Benefits of Serial ATA

Serial ATA or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment is a type of computer bus or connection port with the main function of allowing the transfer of data between a computer unit and different media storage devices, like optical drives and hard disk drives. You may sometimes hear techies say “SATA hard drive” – this means that such a device is connectable to the PC using a Serial ATA bus.

Serial ATA was developed in line with the ATA legacy standard. Its developers are expecting that in the future, SATA will replace the more dated technology, later on renamed PATA or Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment. The main difference between the two lies in the use of Serial ATA of high-speed serial cables in the communication of its adapters and devices.

The use of Serial ATA presents many benefits. For one thing, the exchange or transfer of data between the PC and connected devices is faster. They also enable hot swapping, or the removal or addition of devices while operating. Serial ATA also employs thinner cables, so air cooling is more efficient. In contrast to the older version, now referred to as Parallel ATA, SATA’s operation is more reliable and has finer data integrity check.

The performance of Serial ATA can reach as high as 3.0 gigabits per second for every device in the current advanced models of the interface. As opposed to PATA, it also has more compact and less costly signal lines, since it only uses four of them.

You can also purchase a special connector for external devices, known as eSATA. Clips are also available as optional enhancements for internal connectors. In addition, Serial ATA drives can be plugged in and are expected to operate at the same level when connected to an SAS or Serial Attached SCSI controller. SAS disks, though, will not work when plugged to a Serial ATA controller.