ATA is an interface for a computer’s internal storage components, with ATA-6 being the sixth generation and known as Ultra ATA/100. It uses 48-bit logical block addressing for faster data access and supports drives up to 144 petabytes. Newer drives conform to the latest ATA standards, while SATA is a preferred interface with higher data transfer rates. ATA-8 is designed for use with hybrid drives.
Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) is an interface to the computer’s internal storage components. ATA-6 is a specification within the ATA family that denotes a particular type of ATA with corresponding data transfer rates. Conventional ATA cable is recognizable as a very wide flat cable with 40 or 80 strands running parallel in a ribbon sheath. The connectors have 40 pins that plug into a device such as a hard drive or CD-ROM. The opposite end of the cable connects to an Enhanced Integrated Device Electronics (EIDE) interface on the motherboard or host card.
ATA has progressed over the years to offer better data transfer speeds. As it improves, each new standard is given a number to differentiate it from previous standards. As of 2006, there are eight varieties of ATA.
ATA-6 represents the sixth generation of the ATA interface standard. ATA-6 is also known as Ultra ATA/100 due to its theoretical transfer speed of 100 megabytes per second (mbps). Another name is ATA Packet Interface (ATAPI) 6, which is the ATA-6 specification for additional commands related to the CD-ROM function.
Ultra Direct Memory Access (UDMA)-5 is another term you’ll see associated with ATA-6. UDMA-5 indicates the type of memory addressing used in ATA-6, which includes 48-bit logical block addressing (LBA). LBA is a feature written into the chipset BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) of motherboards. ATA-6 uses the 48-bit version of the LBA mapping scheme for faster data access. LBA mapping has existed since ATA-2, but a 28-bit LBA specification was in use at that time.
As the capacity of hard drives has increased, mapping schemes have had to keep pace. Hard drives supported by ATA-1 up to 137 megabytes. ATA-6 introduced support for drives up to 144 petabytes. That’s about a million gigabytes.
More recent ATA standards have moved from a parallel data transfer scheme to serial data transfer. Serial ATA (SATA) uses narrower 4-wire cables and is a preferred interface with higher data transfer rates. ATA-7 introduced SATA, while ATA-8 is designed for use with hybrid drives that have internal flash memory caches.
Hard drives are built to conform to particular ATA specifications. Newer drives are built to the latest ATA standards. ATA-6 represents the latest generation of hard drives and CD-ROM/DVD drives built to use conventional Parallel ATA (PATA). If you buy an older drive, look for one that is ATA-6 compatible to get the fastest drive in that class. Otherwise, opt for the newer and even faster SATA drives, assuming your motherboard is SATA-capable.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
