SATA is a popular interface that connects computer motherboards to mass storage hardware. It offers advantages over PATA, including faster transfer speeds and fewer cables. SATA requires a 15-pin power connector and has had three revisions, with the latest supporting up to 6GBps transfer speeds.
A SATA chipset, otherwise known as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA), is a popular interface used in desktop and notebook computers. The SATA interface connects the computer motherboard to mass storage hardware, such as optical drives and hard drives. The chipset transmits data using a high-speed cable with two conductors.
A dynamic cabling system connects the SATA chipset to the motherboard and hard drive. Users can connect 2.5-inch (approx. 63.5 mm) and 3.5-inch (approx. 88.9 mm) hard drives using the same cable. Each SATA drive must be connected to a power and data cable. SATA cables vary in length, but can be up to 3.3 feet (about 1m) long. The small form factor and low cable mass make SATA chipsets ideal for small laptops and desktop computers.
The SATA cable has a direct connection to the storage device, often referred to as a point-to-point infrastructure. The data transmission cable contains seven pins and an encoding notch; four pins act as data connectors and the other three are ground pins. Data transfers are encoded using a logic algorithm called “8b/10b encoding”, which combines the clock signal with a DC balanced data stream.
SATA cabling attempts to prevent noise, which is one of the most common problems when transferring data over high-speed electrical cables. Unlike older chipsets, SATA takes advantage of differential signaling to reduce distortion during transfers. It proved to be an improvement over older PATA connections, which used single-ended signals.
The SATA chipset replaces the parallel ATA (PATA) chipsets commonly used on older computers. SATA offers several advantages over PATA, including hot-swappability, lower manufacturing costs, faster transfer speeds, and fewer cables. SATA cables require only two conductors, while PATA chipsets require 16. Also, SATA cables contain seven wires, instead of the 80 used in PATA systems.
SATA chipsets also allow users to take advantage of hot-swapping and native command interrogation (NCQ) via the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI). Your motherboard and operating system must support AHCI to work properly. Older operating systems and computers do not support AHCI, forcing the SATA chipset to operate in an ATA emulation environment. SATA chipsets are not backward compatible with legacy PATA hardware. Since there are many PATA systems still in operation today, various PATA to SATA adapters are available to ease the data transfer process.
The SATA chipset requires a wafer-shaped 15-pin power connector, which is significantly wider than previous ATA power supplies. The large form factor reduces the chances of accidentally inserting the cable into the wrong “spot” on the motherboard. The additional pins are required because the connector supports 3.3 volts in addition to the standard 5 volts and 12 volts. Other pins on the connector act as a hotplug and “staggered spinup”.
Since its entry into the computer market, there have been three revisions to the SATA chipset. Revision 1.0 offered unencrypted transfer speeds of up to 1.5 gigabits per second (GBps), with effective speeds averaging 143 megabytes per second (MBps). SATA revision 2 chipsets have a native transfer rate of 3.0 GBps, with effective speeds averaging 284 MBps.
The most recent revision of the SATA standard has increased the maximum throughput to 6GBps when used with solid state drives (SSDs). The third revision optimizes the SATA chipset for media and video streaming through “Quality of Service” improvements. The third revision requires additional horsepower to support higher transfer speeds and is backwards compatible with SATA.
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