Another term for SATA is serial ATA which is also known as advanced technology attachment. Many consider SATA the next generation of drive interface. The previous generation was labeled PATA which is the traditional interface that most people are familiar with.

More information on SATA:

If you have ever looked inside a computer you are probably familiar with the flat, forty wire cables that are parallel and connect the hard drive. CD Rom, and other type devices to the controller. PATA has been the standard for many years and it has served the public well, even though it has had its share of drawbacks.

When cables are limited to eighteen inches in length this will often make it difficult to make connections. This has also been known to block the flow of air, preventing the cooling system to work. Even though round cables came on the market the more advanced PATA drives would only strike a maximum transfer rate of 133 MB. There was an increased speed of CPUs and RAM that were changing the computer as we first knew it. Developers saw that PATA was becoming limited in what it could do and they developed a newer, more powerful system known as SATA.

There are some very distinct advantages of SATA over PATA. The cables are very thin and they contain very small seven pin connections. It is quite possible for them to come in lengths of three feet and they are easier to be routed out of the way of the necessary cooling systems. This allows the cooling systems to have more room to work and keep the key components of your computer cool and in working order.

SATA also has lower power requirements than its predecessor PATA. SATA only requires 250 mV where PATA required five voles. Since chip core voltages are on the decline, SATA has a much more promising future. It makes setup simpler and the drivers can even be removed or added to the computer while it is running. This is a process known to many as hot-swapping.

Probably the most impressive feature of SATA is the fact that it has a transfer rate of 300 MBps with a newer version set to hit the market in 2008 that will provide 600 MBps. The earlier forms of PATA had a limitation of only 150 MBps. This is a huge increase in the transfer rate and can be found on the more modern computer systems.

The introductory transfer speed is so close to the PATA speed that there is very little noticeable difference and the price of the SATA will compare to PATA. But, with the advancement in technology it is a wise choice to upgrade to SATA. The future holds many more upgrades that will be more noticeable than the ones currently on the market. For someone who is looking to upgrade and grow, SATA is by far the preferred way. SATA is compatible with most operating systems that once used PATA and soon you will only find operating systems that contain SATA instead of PATA.