SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) Nick Moore Advanced Security Systems

Background Physical storage interface that connects host bus to mass storage devices Interfaces hard drives/optical drives to controllers/motherboards Evolved from Parallel ATA (IDE) Needed faster data transfer rates faster data transfer through higher signaling rates more efficient transfer through an I/O queuing protocol IDE-Integrated Drive Electronics or Intelligent Drive Electronics

IDE Ribbon Cable vs. SATA Cable No more master and slave One cable per device you want to connect From 40 (possibly 80) conductors down to 7

Progression SATA Revision 1.0 SATA Revision 2.0 SATA Revision 3.0 1.5 gigabits per second No latch, pins easily bent SATA Revision 2.0 3.0 gigabits per second Latching, revised port SATA Revision 3.0 6.0 gigabits per second Similar to Revision 2.0

Features Hotplugging Capability Native Command Queuing Using SATA Power (Versus lagacy power connection), the device can be connected/disconnected while powered up Native Command Queuing Allows hard disk drives to internally optimize the order in which received read and write commands are executed Reduces amount of unnecessary drive head movement Increases performance and decreases wear on the drive in simultaneous read/write scenarios

eSATA/eSATAp Not compatible with SATA, but same internally Used primarily for connecting external hard drives Allows faster data transfer rates than USB Operates at a max transfer rate of 6 gigabits per second (same as SATA Revision 3.0) One-to-one connections, no signal sharing External SATA (eSATA) Requires a separate power supply to device External SATA Power (eSATAp) Combination of USB and eSATA No separate power source needed USB’s use signal sharing which slows down data transfer rates because it has to be shared over multiple ports

SATA/eSATA Pin Breakdown 3 grounds and 4 active data lines in 2 pairs A+/A- Transmit Signals B+/B- Receive Signals Max cable length of 3.3’ Differential signaling reduces noise interference

SATA Power Replaces older Molex legacy design Standard: Slimline: Supplies 12 V, 5 V, and 3.3 V to drive 15 pins Slimline: Supplies 5 V Only 6 pins Micro: Supplies 5 V & 3.3 V 9 pins Each conductor can take about 1.5 Amps

SATA Power Pin Layouts Standard: Slimline: Micro: Pin # Function 1 Device Presence 2-3 5 V 4 Diagnostic 5-6 GND Pin # Function 1-2 3.3 V 3-4 GND 5-6 5 V 7 Reserved 8-9 Vendor Specific Pin # Function 1-3 3.3 V 4-6 GND 7-9 5 V 10 11 Staggered Spinup/Activity 12 13-15 12 V

Citations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zgCPEDGeXE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtC8RhYHAAI http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/Serial_ATA.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvZr8Pr3_vE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA