SATA connector

SATA stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. It is a computer bus interface primarily designed to connect storage devices like hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), and optical drives (e.g., DVD drives) to a motherboard.

Its main purpose was to replace the older, slower PATA (Parallel ATA, also known as IDE) standard, offering higher speeds, thinner cables, and better efficiency.

Key Characteristics:

1. Serial vs. Parallel: Unlike the wide ribbon cables of PATA that transmitted data in parallel, SATA uses a serial method (one bit after another). This reduces interference (crosstalk), allows for much thinner cables, and enables higher clock speeds.

2. Point-to-Point Connection: Each SATA device connects directly to a SATA port on the motherboard. This eliminates the "master/slave" jumper settings required with PATA, where two drives shared one cable.

3. Hot-Swapping: SATA supports hot-plugging (connecting and disconnecting devices while the computer is running), though this feature must also be supported by the operating system and motherboard.

4. Native Command Queuing (NCQ): A feature that allows the drive to internally optimize the order of commands it receives, improving performance and efficiency.

Connector Types:

A standard SATA connection involves three separate connectors:

Generations and Speed:

SATA has evolved through several generations, each doubling the theoretical maximum data transfer rate.

*SATA Express was an attempt to merge SATA with PCIe speeds but was largely unsuccessful and overtaken by NVMe.

Note: The connectors are physically identical across SATA I, II, and III. This ensures backward and forward compatibility (a SATA III drive will work in a SATA II port, but at SATA II speeds).