What is the data transfer rate of Serial ATA (SATA) interface?
A.
150 to 300 MBps
B.
100 to 200 MBps
C.
400 to 800 MBps
D.
50 to 100 MBps
Explanation:
Serial ATA (SATA) is a computer drive interface that has data transfer rate from 150 to 300 MBps.
SATA 150 and SATA 300 have data transfer rates of 150 MBps and 300 MBps, respectively. It is a new
serial bus implementation of an ATA style interface. The SATA standard defines a data cable using
seven conductors and 8 mm wide wafer connectors on each end. SATA cables can be up to 1 meter
long, whereas Parallel ATA (PATA) ribbon cable has either 40-conductor or 80-conductor wires and is
limited to 46 cm length. SATA also offers new features such as hot-swapping and native command
queuing.
SATA standard specifies a new type of power connectors such as data cable. A power connector’s
wider 15-pin shape prevents accidental misidentification and forced insertion of the wrong
connector type. SATA power connector pins supply 3.3V, 5V, and 12V. Adaptors are available in the
market to convert a 4-pin Molex connector to a SATA power connector. However, since 4-pin Molex
connectors do not provide 3.3V power, these adaptors provide only 5 V and 12 V power and leave
the 3.3 V lines disconnected. This makes impossible the use of such adaptors with disk drives that
require 3.3 V power. Many drive manufacturers leave the 3.3V power lines unused. However,
without 3.3 V power, a SATA device may not be able to implement hotplugging.
