SATA Cable – How to Install Serial ATA Cable, Its Types, Application

SATA Cable or Serial ATA Cable is a computer bus interface used to connect host bus adapters with mass storage devices. In this post, we shall discuss what is SATA Cable, its types, converter cables, installing SATA Cables, applications & advantages.

What is SATA Cable

Serial Advanced Technology Attachment conveniently shortened to SATA Cable is a group of different cables that are mainly used to connect storage devices such as hard drives, optical drives to the motherboard.

Fig. 1 – Introduction to Serial ATA Cable 

Serial ATA was originally launched in 2001. They offer faster data transfer and are more efficient than their predecessor PATA. These Cables come in different interfaces starting from 1.5 GB/s. Different companies produce different types of cables, and you can find various SATA Cables on the market. Which one to choose depends wholly on what you need and on the kind of setup that you have. They vary in length and connector types.

Fig. 2 –  eSATA Slot Plate Bracket

You can find even mini and micro-SATA cables on the market. These come in very handy when you are working on small components. Another type of cable is the SATA e-cable, which is perfect for outward connections from computers or laptops to external hard drives. We will learn more about the different types of Serial ATA Cables in the next section.

Fig. 3 – SATA Port on Motherboard

Types of SATA Cables

There are two primary distinctions of Serial ATA Cables. They are:

• SATA Data Cable
• SATA Power Cable

Irrespective of devices i.e., for any optical drive or hard drive, we require both Data and Power Cables. The Data Cable is connected to the motherboard whereas the Power Cable is connected to power supply. The best way to spot the difference between the two is to look at the number of pins. The power cable usually has 15 pins. This makes it larger than the Data Cable, which normally has 7 pins.

Fig. 4 – SATA Power Cable

The table below will give you a clearer picture of the types of SATA Cables and their functions.

SATA Converter Cables and Hard Drives

For an external Hard Drive to work with SATA connecting cable, it must, naturally, have a SATA connection also. This external SATA connection is known as eSATA. The procedure involves attaching the SATA Cable to the back of the computer where you can find other brackets to attach say, the monitor, USB port and network cables. The connection is made between the internal SATA Cable and the motherboard of the computer.

A small tip to note, however is that the cable of external SATA drives, transfers only data. It does not transfer power, meaning that SATA Hard Drive needs an independent power source, just like plugging it into the wall.

There are various converter cables and adapters on the market. Sometimes you might need to convert an old connection to SATA connection or to covert SATA connection to a different type of connection. If, for example, you need to back up files or browse through some data or format the drive, you can use a SATA to USB adapter. You can find this at many e-commerce sites and online stores. Also, if your SATA Cable is not the Power Cable with 15 pins that we referred to above, you can use Molex converters to power your internal SATA drive.

Regarding costs, most adapters are quite affordable. The important thing is to make sure of what you need, so that you buy what you actually require. Surfing through online stores could help to find the best price to quality ratio that you need. Also, it is advisable to read FAQ’s and go through feedback so that you ensure that the product you choose is actually good value for money.

Fig. 5 – SATA Data Cable

How to Install SATA Cable

Installing a SATA Cable into your hard drive should not be a daunting task. Even though it is straightforward, you must always make sure that it is done safely and properly. The way you install this Cable depends on the reason why you want to install it.

In the first scenario, we are going to discuss how to replace the Hard Drive. If you just need a new Hard Drive, then it could be that you will not need to disconnect the SATA Cable from the computer’s motherboard. Instead, all you need to do is disconnect the SATA Cable from the old Hard Disk and connect it to the new one, once this is installed.

And now we are going to see how to use this Cable for more storage and steps to install it.

Steps to Install

The following are the steps you need to follow to install SATA Cable for storage:

1. Locate an empty dock in the PC case and insert your new hard drive. Ideally, you should leave some space between the new and former drives for better airflow.
2. Make sure that the ports for the SATA Cable connection are free to connect the new drive, in place.
3. Now you will connect the Serial ATA Cable to the port on your new Hard Drive. Next, connect the other end of the cable to the Motherboard. Take extra care not to disturb or stop the connection to your old Hard Disk.
4. You should have your first hard disk connected to either SATA 0 or SATA 1, these are the lowest SATA points.
5. Once these steps have been performed, you will need to make sure that all the connections are properly secure. Then close your PC case and power up your system once you feel sure that it is safe to do so.

Once your system is powered on, you might be asked to format your Hard Disk. Just follow the steps, and you will soon have the extra storage you needed.

Fig. 6 – Serial ATA Cable Connected to External HDD

Advantages of SATA Cables

The advantages include:

• Data transfer speed is high with Serial ATA Cables.
• The shape of the cables helps to increase the airflow in the CPU, hence boosting its performance.
• It supports more drives to be connected to the motherboard.
• Cable length is longer.

Disadvantages of SATA Cable

The disadvantages are:

• Each SATA Drive needs dedicated port on the motherboard.
• Quality of connectors and cable assemblies differ from vendor to vendor which might give rise to Signal integrity challenges.

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