The Serial ATA is intended to replace today's ubiquitous PC style ATA hard drive connections with an interface which will be software compatible, and physically smaller - simplifying the integration of mass storage into notebooks and PDAs.
The Serial ATA interface is expected to allow more complex, flexible and intelligent storage systems.
Although motherboards supporting the new-generation Serial ATA hard drive interface are expected to hit the market in late July, manufacturers predict that the latest specification will more likely become the market mainstream in 2003, when more chipset companies integrate the standard into their south bridge chips.
This paper explores the technical aspects of ATA hard drives and the implications for the Hard drive industry.