SATA 3.0 Brings 6GB/s Data Transfer Speeds

 

The third-generation of SATA interface is now official; the Serial ATA International Organisation yesterday released the specifications for the new standard. In addition to a major boost in data transfer speeds, SATA 3.0 also comes with full backward compatibility.

 

The biggest improvement in the new standard is the terrific 6GB/s data transfer speed. Other enhancements in SATA 3.0 include a new Native Command Queuing (NCQ) streaming command for isochronous data transfers. The NCQ Management feature allows host processing and management of outstanding NCQ commands for better performance.

 

Power management too has been enhanced, with a new small Low Insertion Force (LIF) connector provided for 1.8in drives. There is a separate connector for the 7mm optical disk drives that are generally available in slim notebooks. The new standard is also better aligned with the INCITS ATA8-ACs standard.

 

With the standard now becoming official, new high speed SATA devices could be expected to hit the market within the next few days.

 

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