What is SATA?
SATA stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, which is the successor to the original PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment). PATA cables can be found inside most modern computer systems connecting the motherboard, hard disk, and floppy/optical drives. The advantages SATA has over PATA are that they are extremely thin and double the length. This dramatically improves airflow inside the computer case due to its thinness and the fact that it can be routed around the case to further aid cooling which is becoming increasingly important as modern computer components run at high temperatures. SATA also allows hot swapping (removal or swapping of equipment attached to the cable while the computer is running) and does not use the master/slave configuration of PATA. SATA operates at a much lower power requirement.
