Serial ATA (SATA, abbreviated from Serial AT Attachment)[2] is a computer bus interface that connects host bus adapters

to mass
storage devices such as hard disk drives, optical drives, and solid-state drives. Serial ATA succeeded the older Parallel ATA (PATA)
standard,[a] offering several advantages over the older interface: reduced cable size and cost (seven conductors instead of 40 or 80),
native hot swapping, faster data transfer through higher signaling rates, and more efficient transfer through an (optional) I/O queuing
protocol. Although, a number of hot plug PATA offering were first invented and marketed by Core International beginning in the late
1980s for the Micro Channel architecture bus controllers.[3]
Prior to SATA's introduction in 2003, PATA was simply known as ATA. The "AT Attachment" (ATA) name originated after the 1984
release of the IBM Personal Computer AT, more commonly known as the IBM AT.[4] The IBM AT’s controller interface became a de
facto industry interface for the inclusion of hard disks. “AT” was IBM’s abbreviation for “Advanced Technology”; thus, many
companies and organizations indicate SATA is an abbreviation of “Serial Advanced Technology Attachment”; however, the ATA
specifications simply use the name "AT Attachment", to avoid possible trademark issues with IBM.[5]
SATA host adapters and devices communicate via a high-speed serial cable over two pairs of conductors. In contrast, parallel ATA
(the redesignation for the legacy ATA specifications) uses a 16-bit wide data bus with many additional support and control signals,
all operating at much lower frequency. To ensure backward compatibility with legacy ATA software and applications, SATA uses the
same basic ATA and ATAPI command sets as legacy ATA devices.
SATA has replaced parallel ATA in consumer desktop and laptop computers; SATA's market share in the desktop PC market was
99% in 2008.[6] PATA has mostly been replaced by SATA for any use; with PATA in declining use in industrial and embedded
applications that use CompactFlash (CF) storage, which was designed around the legacy PATA standard. A 2008
standard, CFast to replace CompactFlash is based on SATA.[7][8]
Serial ATA industry compatibility specifications originate from the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO). The SATA-IO
group collaboratively creates, reviews, ratifies, and publishes the interoperability specifications, the test cases and plugfests. As with
many other industry compatibility standards, the SATA content ownership is transferred to other industry bodies: primarily
the INCITS T13 subcommittee ATA, the INCITS T10 subcommittee (SCSI), a subgroup of T10 responsible for Serial Attached
SCSI (SAS). The remainder of this article will try to use the terminology and specifications of SATA-IO.