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 normally 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 disc drive in your current system and expect all of your existing applications to work as normal.

The Serial ATA interface connects each disc 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.

Note. 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 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.

The Serial ATA host adapter and drive share the function of emulating parallel ATA device behavior to provide backward compatibility with existing host systems and software. The Command and Control Block registers, PIO and DMA data transfers, resets, and interrupts are all emulated.

The Serial ATA host adapter contains a set of registers that shadow the contents of the traditional device regis- ters, referred to as the Shadow Register Block. All Serial ATA devices behave like Device 0 devices. For addi- tional information about how Serial ATA emulates parallel ATA, refer to the “Serial ATA: High Speed Serialized AT Attachment” specification. The specification can be downloaded from http://www.serialata.org.

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Momentus 7200.4 SATA Product Manual, Rev. C

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Seagate ST9160412AS, ST980412ASG, ST9500420ASG, ST9320423ASG, ST9250410ASG manual About the Serial ATA interface
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ST903203N1A2ASRK, ST905003N1A1ASRK, ST9160412AS, ST9250410ASG, ST9160412ASG specifications

Seagate technology has long been at the forefront of data storage solutions, and its line of hard drives exemplifies the blend of reliability, performance, and storage capacity. Among these, the Seagate ST9500420AS, ST9120410ASG, ST9320423AS, ST90250N1A1ASRK, and ST980412AS stand out as quality options suitable for various computing needs.

The Seagate ST9500420AS is a 500GB 2.5-inch SATA hard drive designed primarily for laptop users. It features a rotational speed of 5400 RPM, balancing performance with energy efficiency. The adoption of Advanced Format technology enhances its sector size, allowing for improved data integrity and capacity. Additionally, the drive supports Native Command Queuing (NCQ), which can optimize the drive's performance by managing multiple commands more efficiently.

Another notable model is the ST9120410ASG, a 120GB hard drive that caters to users seeking a compact yet efficient storage solution. Primarily used in laptops and external enclosures, this drive also operates at 5400 RPM. Combining a 2.5-inch form factor with a SATA interface, it allows for swift data transfers while maintaining low power consumption, which is essential for portable devices.

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