Days are numbered for decade-old hard drive connection tech

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Don't write off SATA just yet. It's still going to be around for a while.

 

[TVeblen]

Especially considering that IDE is still around

 

[King Arthur]

I'm sure SATA will be around for a long time. I'm just surprised that SATA as a practical piece of technology was made obsolete so quickly.

I guess I can expect to learn about entirely new drive connections all over again when I build a new computer down the road in several years' time.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

SATA isn't anywhere close to obsolete yet and I'll probably be dead before it is. HDDs haven't even saturated SATA II speeds yet. However, they are still the most cost effective form of mass storage and will be for a long time because, as the cost per GB of SSDs goes down, so does the cost per GB of HDDs. Keep in mind that, except for when transferring huge amounts of data at once (such as TBs of data at a time on commercial servers), data storage and access doesn't need any more speed that what a decent 7200rpm spinner gives. The new PCI-e standard will be useful for faster boots, program loading, and massive data transfers, same as SSDs are now, but it's going to be a long, really long time, before it will replace SATA, especially since there will have to be some really massive changes in MOBO and system standards, such as raising the 40 lane PCI-e limit on single CPU MOBOs (most cap out at 24 lanes). That will require coordination with CPU manufacturers, who have been concentrating on increasing speed and reducing die size and power requirements on CPUs instead of increased PCI-e lanes (even speed hasn't been going up dramatically), and MOBO manufacturers to utilize an increased lane capacity; it definitely won't happen overnight.

 

[alphanumeric]

The original advantage to SATA was the small cables and connectors compared to IDE. You can only spin the platter so fast and move the heads so fast. The guts of your typical mechanical drive haven't changed all that much or gotten much faster so those drives are only slightly faster (if at all) with a SATA connector versus an IDE connector. SSD's though can make better use of the extra speed available though the SATA interface.

 

[Indianatone]

The original advantage to SATA was the small cables and connectors compared to IDE. You can only spin the platter so fast and move the heads so fast. The guts of your typical mechanical drive haven't changed all that much or gotten much faster so those drives are only slightly faster (if at all) with a SATA connector versus an IDE connector. SSD's though can make better use of the extra speed available though the SATA interface.

Hey alphanumeric,
Don't forget about that master slave drive jumper nonsense and some drives which refused to work with others even thought they should have. SATA technology is so much better in that respect. I am surprised the optical connections used on servers have not spread down to the consumer market. Oh and as LF said, don't right off SATA technology. The computer tech world is littered with ideas that sounded better and are better on paper that never took off and went away quietly.

 

[alphanumeric]

The original advantage to SATA was the small cables and connectors compared to IDE. You can only spin the platter so fast and move the heads so fast. The guts of your typical mechanical drive haven't changed all that much or gotten much faster so those drives are only slightly faster (if at all) with a SATA connector versus an IDE connector. SSD's though can make better use of the extra speed available though the SATA interface.

Hey alphanumeric,
Don't forget about that master slave drive jumper nonsense and some drives which refused to work with others even thought they should have. SATA technology is so much better in that respect. I am surprised the optical connections used on servers have not spread down to the consumer market. Oh and as LF said, don't right off SATA technology. The computer tech world is littered with ideas that sounded better and are better on paper that never took off and went away quietly.

Yeah, settings those jumpers could be a pain especially if you mixed drives from different manufacturers. I had some drives that needed two jumpers if they were a master with a slave. Non of that nonsense with SATA though.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...The computer tech world is littered with ideas that sounded better and are better on paper that never took off and went away quietly.

Look at Thunderbolt. It actually is a great idea but, other than with Apple products where it remains excessively expensive, it hasn't taken off yet.