Cables and adapters. SATA hard drive cable

Buying a new component for a PC will make you think carefully about what cables you need, what you will have to buy additionally, etc. Therefore, in order to avoid such problems, it is worthwhile to immediately make sure that for you, the independent collection of the computer will not cause difficulties. And if you know what USB is, the SATA cable will make you scared.

What is it?

Studying the models of personal computers, you repeatedly met with this interface. For what it is needed and what it is important for, not everyone knows. Even abstruse definitions on the Internet do not always give an exact concept of the term. After all, hardly everyone understands what a serial interface is, and not everyone even understands the information stores.

To make things easier, it's worth mentioning that SATA "grew" from another format - ATA, and it owes its name to him. This interface, or, more simply, the connector, has a system of serial information transmission. This means that the data is transmitted in 1 bit for a certain period of time. In this case, the information blocks go one after the other along one channel.

The SATA cable works in tandem with an information storage device. Usually it means a hard disk. You bought the HDD and want to install it in the system. To do this, you need to get a cable of this format and connect the drive to the motherboard.

Predecessor

Before we continue to understand with our interface, we learn what was special about its previous version. ATA performed the same function as SATA, but had a different method. Unlike the previous interface, it worked with parallel transmission of information. As a result, the transmission and reception of data were carried out simultaneously.

But it still functioned in tandem with storage devices, among which were a hard drive or an optical drive. After the SATA grew with ATA, the first interface was decided to be renamed to PATA (Parallel ATA).

Features

The SATA hard drive cable has its own characteristics. It is represented by a 7-pin connector. Unlike the previous one, it became fewer times. ATA used as many as 40 holes. The advantage of the novelty was also its small area. When connected, it takes up little space, and therefore does not block the airflow for cooling other components. The wiring was simplified.

The form of the new interface provides the ability to repeatedly connect the cable. The supply cord also became stronger. Power goes through three channels: +3.3 V, +5 V and +12 V. Among the modern devices that support this format, there are those that work directly with the SATA connector, and there are those that support Molex.

Another difference from the previous format was the easy connection. Now one device connects to one cable, and not two, as before. Now several devices can work simultaneously without delays and interruptions. Disappeared and the problem with a large number of trains and wires.

Contacts

SATA cable for devices must have both a 7-pin connection and a 15-pin connection for power. There is an option instead of 15-pin to use a connector for 4 contacts from Molex. But it's worth remembering that if you connect both cables to power, then most likely the hard drive will burn. The interface works on a two-channel transmission. The technology of low-voltage differential signaling allows data to be transmitted at high frequency, but use cheap connections.

There is also a 13-pin connector. It is used in servers or on small devices, where thin drives are used. It is combined and consists of two parts: seven-pin for data bus and six-pin for power supply.

First

Since the advent of SATA cables, many varieties and variations have appeared. The first audit appeared in 2003. It operated at a frequency of 1.5 GHz and bandwidth of 1.2 Gbit / s. From the previous interface ATA the novelty almost did not differ in parameters of throughput. Serial exchange, although somewhat slower than parallel, but due to the raising of high frequencies, the parameters are compared. And due to noise immunity and unnecessary synchronization channels SATA wins.

Second

The SATA 2 cable has increased the data transfer rate up to 3 Gbit / s. The first time appeared in the controller of the chipset nForce 4. It is believed that with the previous revision the second should work easily, since there is a negotiation of speeds. But in fact it turned out that some devices and controllers required a special mode.

The third

The third audit became the most complete and diverse. The SATA 3 cable was introduced in 2008. The throughput increased again by a factor of two. 6 Gb / s were supplemented and modified by the management of nutrition. The developers left compatibility with previous revisions not only regarding the connection of connectors and cables, but also when working with the exchange protocols.

After the main version there were still updates. So, a bit later appeared SATA Revision 3.1. It marked the introduction of cables for compact devices. The mSATA is known for solid-state drives of 2.5 inches format. Among the innovations were special technologies that were responsible for energy consumption, performance and other possibilities.

The SATA 3 cable of the second version was named separately Express. With its "father" it was compatible at the software level, but the supporting interface was PCI Express. The design in this revision has also changed. Now these are two SATA ports placed side by side in length. The speed increased to 8 Gb / s, if you use only the first part of the connector, if you use both, then 16 Gb / s.

Hot swapping

Parallel to SATA, eSATA was also formed. He became known in 2004. Worked with the connection of external devices and the mode of "hot swapping". This mode - the ability to disconnect or connect the device during system operation without having to turn off the power.

The connectors have become more elaborate, less fragile and resistant to multiple disconnections or connections. With conventional SATA, the modification is physically incompatible, but it is synchronized signally, albeit with different signal levels. Connectivity requires a data bus and a power cable. The variant became longer by 2 m. To keep the signal level the same, the transmission level was increased.

Finalization

That eSATA worked, it is necessary not only to transmit data, but also to connect the cable to the power supply. For the last process, it was necessary to use a separate wire. To somehow combine these two functions, you had to synchronize the external SATA with the USB cable. MicroStar developed a subspecies of eSATAp. They managed to combine eSATA with USB. The latter was in charge of food.

Other types

In general, since the release of SATA appeared so many of its modifications, that some did not even become popular. There were also such interfaces that were widely used. Many became adapters and adapters for this format. With the modification of the storage media, the cable itself was modified. So, there are mSATA, SAS, Thunderbolt and others.