Serial ATA
 |
|
| Year created | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Supersedes | Parallel ATA (PATA) |
| Speed | 1.5, 3.0, 6.0 and 16 Gbit/s |
| Style | Serial |
| Hotplugging interface | Yes |
| External interface | Optional (eSATA) |
Serial ATA (SATA, abbreviated from Serial AT Attachment) is a computer bus interface that connects host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives, optical drives, and solid-state drives. Serial ATA succeeded the older Parallel ATA (PATA) standard, offering several advantages over the older interface: reduced cable size and cost (seven conductors instead of 40 or 80), native hot swapping, faster data transfer through higher signaling rates, and more efficient transfer through an (optional) I/O queuing protocol. Although, a number of hot plug PATA offering were first invented and marketed by Core International beginning in the late 1980s for the Micro Channel architecture bus controllers.
Prior to SATA's introduction in 2003, the PATA was simply known as ATA. The AT Attachment (ATA) name originated after the 1984 release of the IBM Personal Computer AT, more commonly known as the IBM AT. The IBM AT was the first mass-produced computer where the hard disk was key to the system's performance. The IBM AT’s controller interface became a de facto industry interface for the inclusion of hard disks. “AT” was IBM’s abbreviation for “Advanced Technology”; thus, many companies and organizations indicate SATA is an abbreviation of “Serial Advanced Technology Attachment”; however, the ATA specifications simply use the name "AT Attachment", to avoid possible trademark issues with IBM.
SATA host adapters and devices communicate via a high-speed serial cable over two pairs of conductors. In contrast, parallel ATA (the redesignation for the legacy ATA specifications) uses a 16-bit wide data bus with many additional support and control signals, all operating at much lower frequency. To ensure backward compatibility with legacy ATA software and applications, SATA uses the same basic ATA and ATAPI command sets as legacy ATA devices.
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