What Is A SATA Port?
SATA ports are typically used to connect the computer with the motherboard. The connector consists of 7 pins.
The two SATA ports on the motherboard are designed to carry data between a drive and its corresponding motherboard using a special type of cable.
Some SATA ports are colored differently based on the type of motherboard and what it employs. For example, some have blue coloring while others can be found in green or orange shades which are determined by their location within your computer’s case.
There isn’t one universal color for all cables so make sure you know where they go before plugging anything into them!
The color of a motherboard’s SATA interface is represented in different ways. For example, older motherboards with two or three slots for Serial ATA drives may have blue as their primary color meaning it has technology that can support 3Gbps transfer speeds (SATA 2).
We often see green meant to signify an NVMe drive which operates at much higher data rates than a standard SATA connection does. but other colors exist too!
Evolution of SATA Port
PATA was introduced around 1980. Now we have to know why SATA was introduced and what problems that PATA created at that time?
- The first and main problem with the PATA port was that it was very wide.
- The second problem is the speed of the PATA port is very slow.
To tackle these problems SATA was introduced in 2003. As it was fast than the PATA port that’s the main reason people started moving towards the SATA port.
Comparison of SATA 1, SATA 2, and SATA 3
The Parallel ATA failed to achieve a speed of more than 133 MegaBytes per second, that’s why to get more speed and smooth connection Serial ATA was introduced in 2003. let’s compare all serial ATA’s to get more knowledge about SATA;
SATA 1
The SATA 1 (Serail ATA) was introduced in 2003 as a replacement for the PATA port. The speed of data transmission of SATA 1 is 150 Megabytes per second. This speed is not so good but it is fast and small than the PATA port.
There were 7 pins in the connectors and it was small that’s why we moved to the SATA port.
SATA 2
As the speed of SATA 1 is also not so good that’s why to achieve the maximum speed it revolutionized and SATA 2 is introduced in 2004.
The speed of SATA 2 is 2 times higher than SATA 1 that is 300 MB/s. This speed is good for hard drives.
SATA 3
SATA 2 speed was good but revolutionary is everything in this world. When SSD was introduced around 2009, SATA 3 was introduced.
The speed of SATA 3 is 2 times higher than SATA 2. The speed of the SATA 3 is 600MB/s.
Comparison Table of SATA 1, SATA 2, and SATA 3
[su_table responsive=”yes”]
| No# | Speed in MB/s | Speed in GB/s |
|---|---|---|
| SATA 1 | 150MG/s | 1.5GB/s |
| SATA 2 | 300MG/s | 3.0GB/s |
| SATA 3 | 600MG/s | 6.0GB/s |
[/su_table]
Misconception About SATA
A very big misconception about the SATA port is that we can’t use SATA 1 cable in SATA 2 connector. It’s just a myth you can use SATA 1 connector cable on both SATA 2 and SATA 3 motherboards. Moreover, you can see on the motherboard that which SATA cable you can use for your connection.
SATA 1 connector was not so good and the pins were exposed that’s why the pins of the SATA 1 port are always in danger of damage. Moreover, there was no locking mechanism that can use to hold the cable.
In SATA 2 there is a locky mechanism that holds the cable and there is no danger of any damage. In many cases, in SATA 3 you can see that cables are at a 90-degree angle to avoid any damage. If you want to buy a good dell laptop then check Best Dell Laptops.
What Does An ESATA Port Look Like?
A SATA port uses an L-shaped connector, while an eSATA port uses an I-shaped connector. It is possible to connect an external hard drive (HDD) to an older PC via a SATA port.
You must buy different cables for SATA and eSATA, as they are not interchangeable.
The good news is that you’ll not find the eSATA port much these days, it has been replaced by SATA 3 and USB ports. If you want to buy a good dell laptop with a backlit keyboard then check Dell Laptops With Backlit Keyboard.
The bad thing about this is we’re stuck with connector types we don’t really need! The new technology in storage devices (called M.2) can transfer data at super-fast speeds over distances up to 30mm without having any cables near your device or computer’s main connection points.
