SATA

SATA (Serial ATA) is a standard for connecting storage devices such as hard drives and solid-state drives (SSDs) to a computer's motherboard. It replaced the older Parallel ATA (PATA) standard and is now the most common interface used for connecting storage devices to a computer.

SATA uses a small, thin cable to connect the storage device to the motherboard and supports data transfer speeds of up to 6 Gbps. It also allows for hot-swapping, which means that you can connect and disconnect storage devices without shutting down the computer. SATA devices can be connected to either an on-board SATA controller or an add-in controller card.

There are several versions of SATA, including SATA 1.0 (1.5 Gbps), SATA 2.0 (3 Gbps) and SATA 3.0 (6 Gbps). The latest version is SATA Express, which is backward-compatible with SATA 3.0 but allows for faster data transfer speeds of up to 16 Gbps by using the PCI Express interface.

SATA is widely used in both desktop and laptop computers, and is supported by most operating systems. It is also commonly used in servers and storage arrays for data centers.