SSD
Short for solid-state drive, an SSD is a storage medium that uses non-volatile memory as a means of holding and accessing data. Unlike a hard drive, an SSD has no moving parts which gives it advantages such as faster access time, noiseless operation, higher reliability, and lower power consumption. The picture shows an example of an SSD made by Crucial.
As the costs have come down, SSDs have become suitable replacements for a standard hard drive in both desktop and laptop computers. SSDs are also a great solution for netbooks, nettops, and other applications that don't require a lot of storage.
SSDs have traditionally used the SATA connection, which has a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 750 MB per second. Newer generations of SSDs connect to the motherboard's PCIe connection, offering speeds of up to 1.5 GB per second. The PCIe m.2 connection standard, introduced in 2014, offers a maximum real-world throughput of approximately 4 GB/s.
Devices similar to the SSDs we use today began being introduced in the 1970s. The early SSDs used core and DRAM technologies to store information. For example, Dataram released the first SSD called the BULK CORE in 1976. The bulky device was only capable of storing 2 MB of storage. The first semiconductor storage SSD was the StorageTek STC 4305 that was released in 1978 and could store 45 MB and cost $400,000.
Flash memory was later introduced and developed further in the 1980s and paved way for the introduction of the first commercial flash-based SSD released by SunDisk in 1991. The SunDisk SSD was a 20 MB PCMCIA and available for around $1,000. Later SanDisk (formerly SunDisk) released the first SSD with PATA interfaces in 1998.
Since SSDs were first released they have since been drastically improved upon, prices have gone down, and offer storage capacities of over 2 TB for home computers.
SATA
Short for serial AT attachment, SATA 1.0 was first released in August 2001 and is a replacement for the parallel ATA interface used in IBM compatible computers. SerialATA is capable of delivering 1.5 Gbps (approximately 187 MBps) of performance to each drive within a disk array. It is backward-compatible with ATA and ATAPI devices, and offers a thin, small cable solution, as seen in the "SATA Data Cable" picture. This cable helps make a much easier cable routing and offers better airflow in the computer when compared to the earlier ribbon cables used with ATA drives.
SATA also supports external drives through External SATA more commonly known as eSATA. eSATA offers many more advantages when compared to other solutions. For example, it is hot-swappable, supports faster transfer speeds with no bottleneck issues like USB and FireWire, and supports disk drive technologies such as S.M.A.R.T..
However, eSATA does have some disadvantages such as not distributing power through the cable like USB, which means drives require an external power source. The eSATA cable also supports a maximum length of up to 2 meters. Because of these disadvantages don't plan on eSATA becoming the only external solution for computers.
The SATA cable is most often used with hard drives but is also used with drives such as disc drives.
There are two types of SATA cables. The SATA data cable that transmits the data between the drive and the motherboard has seven pins. The SATA power cable that connects to the power supply has fifteen pins.
SATA should always be pronounced as a full word or partial full word and never as each letter sounded out. However, its exact pronunciation is disputed. Many pronounce it as sah-tuh and others pronounce it say-tuh. It is also not uncommon to hear it pronounced as serial ay tee ay.
Because there has never been an official mention of how SATA is pronounced, we suggest using whichever full word or partial full word version sounds best to you.