In the hard disk interface, SATA once occupied the most mainstream interface position of mechanical hard disk, although the current solid-state drive M.2 interface is becoming more and more popular, but SATA interface users are not a few. The seventh issue of "Old Product Renewal Plan", we will start from this interface to see what new changes SATA cables have had since the development and how to meet the actual needs of users.
With the continuous improvement of hard disk performance, SATA, an interface that has appeared for a long time, is also upgraded from generation to generation, and is still welcomed by the market, and it can be said that old products also have new popularity. We will mainly make a brief introduction here.
SATA is a serial bus (or Serial ATA) that is a storage protocol used to connect SSDs, HDDs, and optical drives. SATA bus standards mainly support interface forms: SATA, mSATA, mini-mSATA, B-key M.2, etc.
There are currently three versions: SATA 1, SATA 2, SATA Revision 3.0 (also known in the industry as SATA 1.5Gbps, SATA 3Gbps, SATA 6Gbps), SATA 2 and SATA 3 are more common on the market.
1. Transfer rate: SATA 3 transmission rate can reach 6Gb/s, while SATA 2 interface transmission rate is 3Gb/s. Theoretically, the SATA 3 interface is twice as large as SATA 2.
2. Appearance comparison: SATA 2 and SATA 3 motherboard hard disk interface appearance is basically the same, but many low-end motherboards use SATA 2 and SATA 3 dual interface hybrid mode.
The interface that can occupy the mainstream for a long time must have different advantages. Once SATA was launched, it was supported by major hard disk manufacturers.
1. Stronger error correction ability
SATA adopts serial connection method, serial ATA bus uses embedded clock signals, with stronger error correction ability, compared with the past its biggest difference is that the transmission instructions (not only data) can be checked, if found errors will be automatically corrected, which greatly improves the reliability of data transmission.
2. Mainstream norms with a higher starting point
SATA 1 defines a data transfer rate of up to 150MB/s, which is higher than the maximum data transfer rate of 133MB/s that can be achieved by parallel ATA (i.e. ATA/133); The data transfer rate in SATA 2 has reached 300MB/s, while SATA 3 has reached a high data transfer rate of 600MB/s. SATA specifications retain a variety of backward compatibility methods, and there is no compatibility problem in use.
3. With hot plug function
This feature makes it easier to build disk arrays. Since the data cable of the serial port only adopts a four-pin structure, it is more convenient to install than the parallel port, which is more conducive to reducing the cables in the chassis and conducive to heat dissipation.
The development of eSATA, or External Serial ATA, in 2004 enables high-speed data transfer to external storage devices only through an external connection. eSATA technology supports hot swappable cables up to 2 meters long.
eSATA is simply an extended SATA interface that is used to connect external rather than internal SATA devices. The description of the eSATA interface is that based on standard SATA cables and interfaces, metal shrapnel is added to the connection to ensure the stability of the physical connection.
The SATA interface is designed for use in the system chassis only. The advent of eSATA will allow users to connect SATA hard drives outside the computer, unlike in the past, which could only be limited to the inside of the computer. eSATA offers data transfer speeds of up to 3000Mb/s.
→ Due to the different interfaces, the two are not compatible, and the conversion line needs to be used, and it is necessary to note that eSATA does not have power supply when converting, and a separate power supply is required if it is directly connected to SATA.
With the improvement of the industrial level of automation, SATA interface cables have further changed their performance to meet the professional needs of customers from different adaptation angles. The following 6 types of cables have shielding properties and have their own characteristics.
At present, although SATA still occupies the mainstream, but the M.2 interface has also caught up, which one between the two is better, we will make a brief comparison.
Since SATA has been on the market for a long time, most motherboards will provide this interface, and the compatibility is better. M.2, although popular, may not be available on some motherboards.
SATA has already mentioned above, theoretically 6 Gbps, and in M.2 it has a greater improvement. The M.2 interface is divided into B key and M key, that is, socket2 and socket3. Among them, socket2 supports SATA, PCI-E X2 interfaces, the maximum read speed is 700MB/s, and the write can reach 550MB/s. The PCI-E X4 interface supported by socket3 has a speed of up to 32Gbps and a bandwidth of about 4GB/s, and socket3 is gradually becoming the mainstream.
Compared with SATA, the M.2 interface is smaller and more suitable for desktop boards or thin and light motherboards.
Summary: Because the M.2 interface has classification, if it is an SSD that takes the SATA channel, it is not much different from the SATA channel itself. If it is a solid-state PCI-E channel, the speed will be faster, but the price will also become higher.