Web Hosting Talk : Other Forums : Web Hosting Lounge : Difference between Ultra ATA and SATA?

[Acsiak - Andrew]

Hi folks,

I have just purchased a new computer. On the box it says Serial ATA. However, it turns out, the hard drive that comes with the computer ISN'T SATA, however it's Ultra ATA.

Now, I don't know much about hard drives. Maybe they are the same, however I went to the Western Digital website and checked - From what I can see they aren't.

Linux says it's SCSI however I very much doubt that. I've checked everywhere in Windows and it says it's Ultra ATA.

On top of that, it is supposed to be 250GB however is only 232.87GB

Now. I'm not really concerned about the fact I don't have the 20GB extra.

So, my question is: Is SATA better than UATA? Are they the same? Should I bother going back to the store and getting a different computer (or a refund)?

Thanks

[WARP3]

SATA is just Serial ATA, the drive ITSELF is still ATA.

To be 100% sure, open the case and see what kind of cable it has..

40 pins/40 wire: ATA
40 pins/80 wire: Ultra ATA
50 pins/50 wire: SCSI-2
68 pins/68 wire: Ultra Wide SCSI

Small 1cm wide cable: SATA (don't remember how many pins it has).

Ultra ATA max speed is (i believe) 133mb/sec (ATA133)
SATA comes in 2 flavours, 150mb/sec (SATA150) and 200mb/sec (SATA200).

The SIZE is correct. 250GB is roughly 20gb less when formatted.
For the same reason, all floppy drives are 2MB, however formatted they are 1.44mb ....

[nuk3]

Originally posted by Anjay
On top of that, it is supposed to be 250GB however is only 232.87GB

Now. I'm not really concerned about the fact I don't have the 20GB extra.

That space is lost when formatting the drive with a file system (fat32, ntfs, etc) I do believe. My harddrive is 200GB and I lose 14GB of it with NTFS. So my total HDD capacity is 186GB. It comes out to roughly 8% of the total capacity lost.

[Acsiak - Andrew]

Ok thanks for that WARP3.

I'll open the case a bit later and check to be sure.

But, which is better? Should I just stick with the Ultra ATA? Or should I go back to the store?
Is the only difference between the two then the speed?

Thanks.

[WARP3]

When you have a single drive, SATA is slighly faster then (Ultra) ATA.

However, when you have 2 drives, SATA is more faster..

Why:
If you have 2 UATA drives connected to the same controller, when you copy files from drive 1 to drive 2, it goes through the same controlling interface.
SATA disks have dedicated interfaces, meaning each drive has their own controller making it faster when you copy files from disk 1 to disk 2.

[Mark L]

WARP3, I would check the rules on your signature

[Acsiak - Andrew]

When you have a single drive, SATA is slightly faster then (Ultra) ATA.

However, when you have 2 drives, SATA is more faster..

I've only one drive.

So you think I should just leave it and keep the Ultra ATA drive?

[Acsiak - Andrew]

WARP3, I would check the rules on your signature

Maybe he has changed his signature already, however as it currently is:

WARP3.COM Hosting, Nico van Royen
Til Brugmanplantsoen 37, Den Haag, NL
Website | E-Mail

It is fine. He has only two clickable links. It's only three lines at 1024 screen resolution. I for one cannot see anything there against the Signature Rules.

[WARP3]

Originally posted by Anjay
Maybe he has changed his signature already, however as it currently is:

WARP3.COM Hosting, Nico van Royen
Til Brugmanplantsoen 37, Den Haag, NL
Website | E-Mail

It is fine. He has only two clickable links. It's only three lines at 1024 screen resolution. I for one cannot see anything there against the Signature Rules.

It was already changed (it contained a clickable link to a 10mb speed test file, making the total to 3 links, that one was removed)

[WARP3]

Originally posted by Anjay
I've only one drive.

So you think I should just leave it and keep the Ultra ATA drive?

If it was sold as a system with a SATA drive then you have the right to a SATA drive. Who knows in the future you might want to add a 2nd drive to your system.

[Acsiak - Andrew]

It was already changed (it contained a clickable link to a 10mb speed test file, making the total to 3 links, that one was removed)

Ah, alright.

If it was sold as a system with a SATA drive then you have the right to a SATA drive. Who knows in the future you might want to add a 2nd drive to your system.

That is true. However I very doubt I'll add a second drive; although as you say, it was sold as having one so it technically should have one.

I think on Monday I'll phone the computer company and talk to them about it. Maybe it was just a mistake and they'll replace the computer, or more likely they said SATA however had no intention of putting SATA drives in.