Serial ATA
SATA

This is the latest ATA system interface. It has a variety of advantages over the Parallel ATA (old IDE) interface.

First, Serial ATA enables better cable routing within the computer system by using a one meter (three foot) serial cable that is very thin and flexible. There are other advantages, including the elimination of master/slave issues, elimination of a shared bandwidth, improved airflow, and increased bus speed.

A viable alternative to Serial ATA is SCSI, but SCSI is not worth the added trouble and expense unless you have more than three (3) disk drives (hard drives, CD-ROM's, etc) that must be part of your system. For most people, that is not an issue. Serial ATA is quickly replacing Parallel ATA as the system interface of choice.

Also see Parallel ATA and SCSI.

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