SATA (pronounced saj-da), short for Serial ATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment), is an IDE standard first released in 2001 for connecting devices such as optical drives and hard drives to the motherboard.

The term SATA generally refers to the types of cables and connections that comply with this standard.

Serial ATA replaces Parallel ATA as the IDE standard for connecting storage devices in a computer. SATA storage devices can transfer data to and from the rest of the computer much, much faster than a comparable PATA device.

Compared to Parallel ATA, Serial ATA also has the advantage of cheaper cabling costs and the ability to hot-swap devices. Hot-swap means that devices can be replaced without turning off the entire system. With PATA devices, you must turn off the computer before replacing the hard drive.