Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition, User Manual

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Serial ATA
R
80 User's Manual
Appendix C Serial ATA
C.1 Description
Serial ATA (SATA) is defined as the primary inside-the-box storage connection only, with no
outside-the-box implementation. It is a storage device-centric technology and does not support
other peripherals, such as cameras, scanners, or printers.
The Serial ATA 1.0 specification outlines the following benefits:
•
Performance Headroom : SATA provides higher performance than equivalent ATA with
performance scaling from 150MB/sec at introduction to 300MB/sec for the second
generation, and ultimately forecasted to reach 600MB/sec during its anticipated 10-year
roadmap.
•
Software Transparency with Legacy Parallel ATA : This enables a relatively easy transition to
the new technology.
•
Low Cost : SATA is cost-competitive with equivalent Parallel ATA solutions, including hosts,
devices, and cabling in volume quantities.
C.2 Comparing Serial ATA versus Parallel ATA (IDE)
The table below compares Serial ATA (SATA) versus Parallel ATA (IDE):
Serial ATA (SATA) Parallel ATA (IDE)
Theoretical Transfer Rate
(over life of SATA) 150/300/600
MB/sec (forecast only) Theoretical Transfer Rate 133MB/sec
Transfer Mode Generation 1 Transfer Modes PIO – UDMA-6
Data Cable 7-pin SATA Data Cable 40-pin, 80-conductor IDE
Max Data Cable Length 1 meter (39 inches) Max Data Cable Length
Power Cable SATA Power Cable Power Cable IDE Power Cable
Power Consumed 250 mV Power Consumed 5 V
The following illustrations show examples of SATA and IDE data cables: