Seagate ST1500DL003, ST2000DL003 manual Introduction, About the Serial ATA Interface

1.0 Introduction

This manual describes the functional, mechanical and interface specifications for the following Seagate Barracuda® Green SATA model drives:

ST2000DL003ST1500DL003

These drives provide the following key features:

•5900 RPM spindle speed

•Seagate SmartAlign™ technology manages read-modify-write conditions dynamically in the drive without host computer intervention, allowing a 4K drive to behave like a legacy 512-byte sector drive without the necessity of a hardware utility.

•High instantaneous (burst) data-transfer rates (up to 600MB per second)

•Perpendicular recording, Tunneling Magnetoresistive (TMR) recording heads and EPRML technology, for increased areal density

•State-of-the-art cache and on-the-fly error-correction algorithms

•Native Command Queueing with command ordering to increase performance in demanding applications

•Full-track multiple-sector transfer capability without local processor intervention

•Quiet operation

•Compliant with RoHS requirements in China and Europe

•SeaTools diagnostic software performs a drive self-test that eliminates unnecessary drive returns.

•Support for S.M.A.R.T. drive monitoring and reporting

•Supports latching SATA cables and connectors

•Worldwide Name (WWN) capability uniquely identifies the drive.

1.1About the Serial ATA Interface

The Serial ATA interface provides several advantages over the traditional (parallel) ATA interface. The primary advantages include:

•Easy installation and configuration with true plug-and-play connectivity. It is not necessary to set any jumpers or other configuration options.

•Thinner and more flexible cabling for improved enclosure airflow and ease of installation.

•Scalability to higher performance levels.

In addition, Serial ATA makes the transition from parallel ATA easy by providing legacy software support. Serial ATA was designed to allow you to install a Serial ATA host adapter and Serial ATA disk drive in your current system and expect all of your existing applications to work as normal.

The Serial ATA interface connects each disk drive in a point-to-point configuration with the Serial ATA host adapter. There is no master/slave relationship with Serial ATA devices like there is with parallel ATA. If two drives are attached on one Serial ATA host adapter, the host operating system views the two devices as if they were both “masters” on two separate ports. This essentially means both drives behave as if they are Device 0 (master) devices.

The host adapter may, optionally, emulate a master/slave environment to host software where two

devices on separate Serial ATA ports are represented to host software as a Device 0 (master) and Device

Note 1 (slave) accessed at the same set of host bus addresses. A host adapter that emulates a master/slave environment manages two sets of shadow registers. This is not a typical Serial ATA environment.

Barracuda Green SATA Product Manual, Rev. B 9