from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
SATA
Serial ATA
<storage> (SATA, Serial ATA) A computer {bus} technology
primarily designed for transfer of data to and from a {hard
disk}. SATA is the successor to {Advanced Technology
Attachment} (ATA), which was given the {retronym} Parallel ATA
(PATA) to distinguish it from Serial ATA.
Serial ATA is designed to be scalable. The original SATA/150
or "SATA 1" can transfer up to 150 {MBps} and "SATA 3.0
Gbit/s" has a maximum data rate of 300 {MBps}.
Both SATA and PATA drives have built-in low level control
electronics but the term {IDE} is usually restricted to
parallel ATA drives.
(http://www.serialata.org/).
(2007-02-23)