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08 September 2010 

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Introduction:

The computer industry will be making a transition from Parallel ATA ('PATA') to the newly developed and still developing Serial ATA ('SATA') technology over the next couple of years or so...

The SATA specification was developed by consortium of companies who formed the SATA initiative - these companies include Dell Computer Corporation, Intel Corporation, Maxtor Corporation, Seagate Technology and APT Technologies, Inc. SATA debuts with a (burst) data transfer speed of 150 Mb per second (whereas the current fastest data speed for PATA type hard drives is 133 Mb per second) and down the line we will be seeing an even faster rate of 600 Mb per second.

SATA improves hard drive performance to keep pace with ever increasing data intensive environments such as audio/video, consumer electronics and entry-level servers. PATA is reaching end of life due to the voltages required for future hard drive capacities and limits on faster data transmission speeds with parallel cabling. This new SATA technology mainly brings about faster data speeds, greater bandwidth and improved reliability, productivity and scalability.


SATA Roadmap:

- Generation I SATA (150 Mb/s Data Rate, Approx. Introduction: Fall 2002)
- Generation II SATA (300 Mb/s Data Rate, Approx. Introduction: Mid 2004)
- Generation III SATA (600 Mb/s Data Rate, Approx. Introduction: Mid 2007)

SATA benefits for storage solutions:

- Improved command set for better data integrity
- Performance increase to 150 Mb/s maximum external (burst) data transfer rate
- Thin cables for easy routing and improved cooling inside a PC chassis
- Maximum cable length increases to 1 meter for increased design and layout flexibility
- Connectors designed for blind mate and hot plug
- Reduced pin count enables RAID scalability
- Backward compatible with existing PATA software and drivers


SATA vs. PATA Connectors:

SATA cables are constructed thinner and small than the PATA cable. This design maximizes airflow within a system and increases design and layout flexibility:

Cable comparison | SATA connectors (Asus M/B)

Not even a rounded parallel cable can come close to the serial cable sizes.

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB SATA/150 (Model: 6Y200M0):

Maxtor is the industry leader in developing SATA and providing SATA drives in volume. They are also one of the founding members of the Serial ATA Working Group and has strongly supported the development and adoption of this interface. SATA interfaces are available on their DiamondMax Plus 9 and MaXLine Plus II products. Today I will be looking at the DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB SATA/150 Hard Drive.

This hard drive features a massive 200GB of storage space, Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) Motors, 7200RPM rotational speed and an 8Mb cache. It is similar in many aspects to the Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB PATA which we reviewed recently - with the obvious difference being the SATA interface.

A cache is a type of mechanism for improving the time it takes to read from or write from the hard disk. The cache holds data that has recently been read and in some cases, adjacent data areas that are likely to be accessed next. Write caching is also provided with some disk caches.

Thus when the computer calls for the data, it does not have to go looking for it on the hard disk, rather it reads it directly from the hard drive's cache. This DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB SATA/150 hard drive features a speedy (6ns) 8Mb SDRAM cache that is provided by a hynix chip which can be seen on the underside of the hard drive:

The hynix HY57V641620HG Chip (for 8Mb Cache)
 

Also on the underside of the hard drive, we find a chip with the logo 'M' silk-screened on it. This chip is manufactured by a company called Marvell and functions as a Serial ATA bridge. Maxtor makes use of this chip to convert the PATA signal into a SATA signal that is then output to the serial cable.

 The Marvell 88i8030-TBC Chip (for Serial ATA Bridge)
 

The 88i8030 chip interfaces to traditional PATA hard drive controllers as well as to host chipsets running up to 150 Mb per second. The chip employs the latest SATA transceiver (PHY) technology, starting with the Generation I SATA speed of 150 Mb per second, and is scalable to 300 Mb per second to support the future Generation II (Phase II) SATA speed.

At the rear of the hard drive there are various connectors and the jumper pins:
 

Connections at the rear of the hard drive.

Maxtor is the only manufacturer (at the time of writing) to provide both the PATA 'legacy' power connector and the new style SATA power connector on their SATA drives. The drive therefore can be used with either PATA or SATA power supplies.

Most users will have an abundance of the old style Molex connectors, making this legacy connection is very useful for those without the SATA power adapter. Of course, only one method of powering the hard drive is to be used at any one time!

Continue to Page2 (Connecting the Hard Drive)...

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