UNH InterOperability Lab
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
(SATA)
Use Cases
Improving Networks Worldwide.
SATA Use Cases
Presentation Topics
• SATA Uses in the Enterprise
• SATA Uses in Personal Computing
• Device Form Factors
• ODD, HDD, and SSD Devices
• Port Multipliers
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SATA Use Cases
SATA Uses in the Enterprise
• Scalability and Cost
• Cabling and
Connections
• Performance and
SATA / SAS
Compatibility
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SATA Use Cases
Scalability and Cost
• SATA is highly viable for servers and
storage networks
• Once SATA controller can aggregate
multiple ports
• Multiple SATA drives can be linked
using backplanes and external
enclosures
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SATA Use Cases
Scalability and Cost
• SATA was designed to provide
excellent speed and storage at a low
cost
• Cost and scalability provides potential
for greater storage capacity at a lower
cost than networked or server storage
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SATA Use Cases
Cabling and Connections
• Point-to-point connectivity
• Thin and relatively small (compared to
PATA) cables allow for simple routing
and better airflow within systems
• SATA was designed to eliminate master
and slave setups as well as drive
jumpers
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SATA Use Cases
Cabling and Connections
• Hot-swapping is
supported (drives
can be added or
removed while
system is running)
• Connectors allow
for simple external
RAID through
backplanes
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SATA Use Cases
SATA Cables
• Up to 1 meter in length, 7 conductors (3
grounds and 2 pairs of data lines)
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SATA Use Cases
Performance and SATA/SAS
Compatibility
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First Generation SATA (1.5 Gbit/s)
Second Generation SATA (3.0 Gbit/s)
Third Generation SATA (6.0 Gbit/s)
Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
Interoperability with SAS Initiators and
Expanders
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SATA Use Cases
First Generation SATA (1.5
Gbit/s)
• Communication rate of 1.5 Gbit/s for
data transfer
• At the application level, only one
transaction can be handled at a given
time
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SATA Use Cases
First Generation SATA (1.5
Gbit/s)
• Throughput capabilities similar to
PATA/133 specification
• All optical drives operate at 1.5 Gbit/s
transfer rate as well as many hard disk
drives and hosts
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SATA Use Cases
Second Generation SATA (3.0
Gbit/s)
• Designed to compensate for first
generation shortcomings
• Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
support added for both 1.5 and 3.0
Gbit/s devices
• Backwards compatibility with 1.5
controllers and 3.0 Gbit/s devices
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SATA Use Cases
Second Generation SATA (3.0
Gbit/s)
• Second Generation SATA devices can
drop to 1.5 Gbit/s transfer rate when
communicating with First Generation
devices
• 3.0 Gbit/s transfer rate supported by
many hosts and hard disk drives
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SATA Use Cases
Third Generation SATA (6.0
Gbit/s)
• With introduction of Solid State Disk (SSD)
drives, which operate at the 250 MB/s limit
net read speed, enhancements were required
• Isochronous data transfers in the NCQ
streaming command were added
• All DRAM cache reads operate at faster rates
with Third Generation
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SATA Use Cases
Third Generation SATA (6.0
Gbit/s)
• New NCQ host processing and
management
• Power management improved
• Former SATA cables and connectors
still meet specification
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SATA Use Cases
Native Command Queuing
(NCQ)
• When drive receives multiple
commands from an application, NCQ
optimizes how the commands will be
completed
• Drive must intelligently and internally
assess the destination of the logic block
addresses and then order the
commands to optimize the workload
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SATA Use Cases
Native Command Queuing
(NCQ)
• This is due to the fact that the
mechanical movement needed to
position the read / write head is
relevant
• This improves performance and
minimizes the mechanical positioning
for the drive
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SATA Use Cases
Native Command Queuing
(NCQ)
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• Commands are ordered in the queue to
minimize mechanical movement
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SATA Use Cases
Interoperability with SAS
Initiators and Expanders
• SATA protocol was designed
to interoperate with SAS
• SATA drives can be used in
many SAS enclosures
• SATA targets are designed to
connect to SAS initiators and
expanders
• However, SATA initiators
cannot connect to SAS
targets and expanders
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SATA Use Cases
SATA Uses in Personal
Computing
• Better performance than and backwards
compatibility with PATA (Parallel
Advanced Technology Attachment)
• Enhanced reliability
• Flexible system integration
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SATA Use Cases
SATA v. PATA Performance
and Compatibility
• Simplified operation with
hot-swapping
• SATA cables have only 7
conductors (two pairs of
differential signaling lines,
one for transmission, one for
receiving and three
grounds) improving
accessibility
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SATA Use Cases
SATA v. PATA Performance
and Compatibility
• SATA devices can be set up to behave
like PATA devices through “legacy
mode” settings
• Devices look as if they are on a PATA
controller
• Through eSATA connectivity internal
SATA devices can connect to end
systems externally
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SATA Use Cases
Enhanced Reliability
• Packet integrity is verified by Cyclic
Redundancy Checking (CRC)
• CRC authenticates all data, validates
that no corruption exists
• SATA also uses CRC to communicate
what data should be read or written
and to watch drive optimization
• Available latching connectors
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SATA Use Cases
Flexible System Integration
• SATA is scalable, allowing for growth
and augmentations to the platform
• SATA supports all ATA and ATAPI
devices (CD, DVD, CDRW, tape
devices, Zip, etc.)
• USB and IEEE1394 support for eSATA
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SATA Use Cases
Device Form Factors
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2.5” Side and Bottom Mounting Device
3.5” Side and Bottom Mounting Device
5.25” Optical Device
5.25” Non-optical Device
9.5 mm Slim-line Drive
12.7 mm Slim-line Drive
1.8” SATA Drive
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SATA Use Cases
2.5” Side and Bottom
Mounting Device
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• Form Factor for SSD and HDD applications
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SATA Use Cases
3.5” Side and Bottom
Mounting Device
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• Form Factor for disk drives
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SATA Use Cases
5.25” Optical Device
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• Form Factor for CD, DVD, CDRW, DVDRW, etc. drives
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SATA Use Cases
9.5 mm Slim-line Drive
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• Form Factor for many laptop optical drives
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SATA Use Cases
12.7 mm Slim-line Drive
• Form Factor for many laptop optical drives
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SATA Use Cases
1.8” SATA Drive
• Form Factor for many drives designed for
portable devices and notebook computers
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SATA Use Cases
Types of SATA Drives
• Optical Disk Drives (ODD)
• Hard Disk Drives (HDD)
• Solid State Disk Drives (SSD)
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SATA Use Cases
Optical Disk Drives (ODD)
• All SATA Optical Disk Drives operate
at Generation 1 speed (1.5 Gbit/s)
• Offered in 5.25”, 9.5 mm, and 12.7 mm
form factors
• Capabilities include CD, DVD, CDRW,
DVDR, DVDRW
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SATA Use Cases
Hard Disk Drives (HDD)
• SATA Hard Disk Drives can operate at
all speeds: 1.5 Gbit/s, 3.0 Gbit/s, and
6.0 Gbit/s
• Operating speeds of 4200 rpm, 5400
rpm, 7200 rpm, and 10,000 rpm
• Seen in all form factors (enclosures
available for 9.5 mm and 12.7 mm are
available)
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SATA Use Cases
Solid State Disk Drives (SSD)
• SSD drives have many advantages over
HDD drives
• Typically composed of DRAM or
NAND memory
• No moving parts: faster startup,
reading, constant performance, silent,
lower heat production and power
consumption, more resistant to physical
shock and climate
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SATA Use Cases
Solid State Disk Drives (SSD)
• Some disadvantages compared to HDD
drives
• Considerably higher cost, lower relative
capacities, limited write cycles, slower
write speeds
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SATA Use Cases
Port Multipliers
• What Port Multipliers Do
• How Port Multipliers Operate
• How Port Multipliers are Cost-effective
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SATA Use Cases
What Port Multipliers Do
• From one SATA port, multiple drives or
devices can communicate
• Placed on the backplane of a SATA
enclosure
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SATA Use Cases
What Port Multipliers Do
• Transparent operation to the drives
attached
• All SATA drives are supported
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SATA Use Cases
How Port Multipliers Operate
• One SATA port multiplier host
connects to many SATA drives
• Operation is similar to USB hubs but
performance is in line with an
aggregated switch
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SATA Use Cases
How Port Multipliers Operate
• Host bus adapter communicates with
all drives but each subsequent drive is
unaware of the multiplexing
• Drives act as if they are connected
directly to the host
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SATA Use Cases
How Port Multipliers Operate
• Bus to SATA Devices
• Bus to SATA PM to
Devices
• Note that the available bandwidth on the 3Gbit/s link limits
drive connectivity, maintaining efficiency and performance
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SATA Use Cases
How Port Multipliers are
Cost-effective
• Allow extended device scalability
• Up to 15 SATA devices can link to the
host with one cable
• Efficient packaging
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SATA Use Cases
How Port Multipliers are
Cost-effective
• Greater performance than Firewire /
USB external drives
• Only one host adapter is required as
one PCI slot is needed
• No performance loss
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