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SATA or S-ATA is a new technology designed to replace the older ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) technology. ATA drives are also commonly refered to as IDE (Integrated, or Intelligent, Drive Electronics). The S in SATA stands for serial (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment). SATA drives do not use the same cables or connections to your computer as IDE drives. In order to connect a SATA drive to your computer you need a SATA controller, a SATA data cable, and a SATA power connector. SATA and IDE hard drives can normally be used in conjunction with each other if your computer supports it, most do.
Update: 7/7/06
Currently Available SATA Speeds / Standards:
SATA I (pronounced SATA One): 150 Mb/s
SATA II (pronounced SATA Two): 300 Mb/s
Future plans for SATA include 600 Mb/s speeds and possibly higher.
These speeds are fast compared to current IDE speeds:
33 Mb/s, 66 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s, 133 Mb/s
Be sure to note that all speeds are burst speeds. That means they are not sustained speeds and can only supply data at that speed for a brief amount of time. This is because the buffer is only area of the hard drive that can supply data that fast. That is why a larger buffer is better on fast hard drives.
Compatibility
When installing a modern version of Microsoft Windows (Windows XP) it is common for the installation to not detect your hard drive if you are using SATA hard drives. This is because the Windows installation requires SATA drivers in order to install Windows. You can normally press a key (F6) to tell the Windows setup program that you have a driver disk available. You can normally obtain these drivers from your motherboard / SATA controller manufacturer.
SATA II is backwards compatible with SATA I. Most modern motherboards can detect which type of SATA drive you are using. That means you can use a SATA I hard drive on a SATA II motherboard / controller or a SATA II hard drive on a SATA I motherboard / controller.
Note: Some older SATA I motherboards / controllers require that you place a standard hard drive jumper on two of the pins on your SATA II hard drive in order for the drive to be detected and used properly at SATA I speeds.
Some SATA II drives don't have pins to use a jumper on. So, if you want to buy a SATA II drive for you SATA I motherboard make sure that it has jumper pins. Seagate hard drives seem to be more likely to have jumper pins then Maxtor hard drives. My Seagate 250 GB SATA II (7200.9) drive does have jumper pins. My motherboard (ASUS K8V-X SE) requires a jumper on my SATA II drive in order to use it. I had to place a hard drive jumper on the two outer pins on my Seagate hard drive.
SATA Hard Drives
Last Updated: 1/24/10SATA or S-ATA is a new technology designed to replace the older ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) technology. ATA drives are also commonly refered to as IDE (Integrated, or Intelligent, Drive Electronics). The S in SATA stands for serial (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment). SATA drives do not use the same cables or connections to your computer as IDE drives. In order to connect a SATA drive to your computer you need a SATA controller, a SATA data cable, and a SATA power connector. SATA and IDE hard drives can normally be used in conjunction with each other if your computer supports it, most do.
Update: 7/7/06
Currently Available SATA Speeds / Standards:
SATA I (pronounced SATA One): 150 Mb/s
SATA II (pronounced SATA Two): 300 Mb/s
Future plans for SATA include 600 Mb/s speeds and possibly higher.
These speeds are fast compared to current IDE speeds:
33 Mb/s, 66 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s, 133 Mb/s
Be sure to note that all speeds are burst speeds. That means they are not sustained speeds and can only supply data at that speed for a brief amount of time. This is because the buffer is only area of the hard drive that can supply data that fast. That is why a larger buffer is better on fast hard drives.
Compatibility
When installing a modern version of Microsoft Windows (Windows XP) it is common for the installation to not detect your hard drive if you are using SATA hard drives. This is because the Windows installation requires SATA drivers in order to install Windows. You can normally press a key (F6) to tell the Windows setup program that you have a driver disk available. You can normally obtain these drivers from your motherboard / SATA controller manufacturer.
SATA II is backwards compatible with SATA I. Most modern motherboards can detect which type of SATA drive you are using. That means you can use a SATA I hard drive on a SATA II motherboard / controller or a SATA II hard drive on a SATA I motherboard / controller.
Note: Some older SATA I motherboards / controllers require that you place a standard hard drive jumper on two of the pins on your SATA II hard drive in order for the drive to be detected and used properly at SATA I speeds.
Some SATA II drives don't have pins to use a jumper on. So, if you want to buy a SATA II drive for you SATA I motherboard make sure that it has jumper pins. Seagate hard drives seem to be more likely to have jumper pins then Maxtor hard drives. My Seagate 250 GB SATA II (7200.9) drive does have jumper pins. My motherboard (ASUS K8V-X SE) requires a jumper on my SATA II drive in order to use it. I had to place a hard drive jumper on the two outer pins on my Seagate hard drive.
Keywords: SATA , S-ATA, ATA, Hard Drives, IDE