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Frequently Asked Questions
Q1, What are SATA, SATA I, SATA II, eSATA any way? How are they
related to G-S350SUAB2 enclosure?
A1: SATA stands for Serial ATA, in contrast to old Parallel ATA (IDE, EIDE,
ATA and ATAPI) technology. SATA starts with 1.5Gb/s specification, and
evolves to 3.0Gb/s specification, which is commonly referred to as SATA II.
Hence, original SATA 1.5Gb/s is called SATA I to distinguish with SATA II
3.0Gb/s.
Initially SATA was designed as an internal or inside-the-box interface
technology for storage device like HDD. Both SATA I and SATA II hard
drives use plug and receptacle interface with “L” shaped key as shown
below.
This connectors and cable(flat) with “L” shaped key support both SATA
1.5Gb/s and 3.0Gb/s, however the cable length is limited to 1m(around 3.3
feet) maximum. When this manual was written, majority of SATA ports
provided by computers or add-on SATA host adapters are the receptacle
with “L” shaped key.
As shown below, it is more and more common to find a new type of SATA
receptacle in the system or PCI/ExpressCard host card and plug(without
“L” shaped key), called eSATA. eSATA becomes a standard for external
SATA peripherals. Our G-S350SUAB2 has eSATA port built in. Depending on
the type of SATA port you have in the computer, please get the proper
SATA cable to connect them.
