What Is A SATA Drive

What is a SATA Hard Drive?

A SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) drive is a more common form of data storage than you may think. Though not as popular as the more recent solid-state drives, SATA drives are seen in desktop computers, laptops, and even gaming systems such as Playstation and Xbox. These rewritable mass storage devices are relevant connectors in the tech world today, and this post will outline how the drive operates, how it is commonly used, and how it compares to other drives on the market today.
Author

Tags: ,

Categories: Data Storage Technology


Internal Components of a SATA Drive

A SATA drive includes an electrical port to power a drive in a computer by using the power supply within the host device. A data port transfers data between the drive and motherboard and the jumper is used to configure different drive operation modes. The SATA drive uses a single cable with a minimum of four wires that create point-to-point connections between devices. Essentially, it is a SATA interface which connects a storage drive and the motherboard on a computer, laptop, or gaming system.

The drive is characterized by efficient transmission speeds, expansive storage capacities, and its support of most operating systems in use today. The type of drive used in desktop computers is classified as a 3.5-inch drive while the laptop SATA drives are referred to as 2.5-inch drives. Currently, the amount of storage for SATA drives is at 8TB, which is one of the reasons many consumers go the SATA route.

Comparing SATA, HDD, and SSD

A hard disk drive (HDD) is a mechanical drive that has large storage capacities, which is where the SATA drive is similar. Both have moving parts and can store large amounts of data. As far as speed goes, boot-up times are a little slower, but a SATA does have fast transmission speeds when transmitting data between the drive and motherboard. 

SSDs, on the other hand, have the upper hand as far as reliability because there are no moving parts in the physical makeup of the device. Their life span is generally in the neighborhood of ten years, while an HDD may have a longer lifespan if regularly defragmented and used properly. A SATA drive is expected to last between three and four years on average, the same as an HDD. 

Data Recovery for SATA Drives

SATA drives though not as common in the modern technology that is manufactured today, are still relevant. It is still used in consumer electronics and the automotive industry in addition to some computers and gaming systems. It is still a necessary connection for operating electronics and many manufacturers like HP, Dell, and Western Digital are part of an organization to provide guidance to the computing industry about implementing SATA specifications.

A SATA drive failure can occur due to unintentional data deletion, partition damage, virus attacks, and other failures that mechanical hard drives are prone to. Secure Data Recovery engineers have seen all types of failures and have a 96% success rate in recovering data from all drive models including SATA. Call to start your case today at 1-800-388-1266 and see how our engineers can retrieve your important files.