Review On The Technology Update From Sata to ESata (John B. Emmerson III)
Jan 16, 2010
External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment or eSATA is an external interface for SATA . It competes with FireWire 400 and universal serial bus (USB) 2.0 to present high-speed data transfer speeds for external memory devices.
SATA replaced ATA previous technology as the next generation internal bus interface for hard drives. The SATA interface is more smooth than ATA and gives serial architecture for better speed than the previous parallel technology. SATA cables are narrow and can be up to 3 feet (1 meter) in length, where parallel cables are much wider and limited to a length of 18 inches (45.7 cm). With eSATA, the speed of SATA expands to cover exterior storage solutions.
While eSATA provides transfer rates triple those of USB 2.0 and FireWire 400, it does have one negative aspect. eSATA needs its own power connector, unlike the aforementioned interfaces. However, it is an brilliant choice for external disk storage. Unlike USB and FireWire interfaces, eSATA does not have to translate data between the interface and the computer. This enhances data transfer speeds, while saving computer processor resources and removing the need for an extra off-load chip.
For desktop motherboards that don't have an eSATA connector, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) card can be bought and installed in an available PCI slot that will provide an eSATA interface. Notebooks can employ an external eSATA device made for the PCMCIA, PC Card or ExpressCard slot, depending on the laptop model. eSATA enables use of fast SATA drives for external disk arrays, not only enlargeing important storage real estate, but also allowing genuinely fast portable storage. eSATA's hot-swappable feature allows transporting disks from work to home, or from one computer to another, a snap. Administrators, IT techs, advertising and marketing executives, and even gamers will find this favorable.
SATA has various types, with previous hardware supporting the original standard completely. With each new SATA iteration, speed increases. Original SATA, SATA150, SATA300 has a data transfer speed of 150 megabytes per second (MB/s) and 300 megabytes/second consecutively. SATA II or SATA/3Gbs doubled the speed to 300 MB/s or about 3 GB/s. This is also sometimes referred to as SATA300. Some sources report SATA 600 has been available by 2007.
About the AuthorAn eSATA controller made for SATA 150, for example, will not be able to support the SATA 300 hard drive. So, you have to consider few aspects before buying Sata hard drives..