Difference Between SAS and SATA
SAS vs SATA
SAS is an acronym that refers to Serial Attached SCI. This is a bus that has for so long been used in most computers. Another up and coming alternative is the use of SATA, which is an acronym for Serial ATA. The use of these two is mainly used in the transmission of information from one point to the other within a computer. Inasmuch as they have a similar function, the two serial platforms come with their differences and these are discussed below.
SAS is an evolution that has been occurring in the parallel SCSI field, creating a unique point to point serial peripheral inter phase that helps in linking of controllers within the computer. The use of SAS thus allows multiple devices to be attached to the system, with an allowance of up to 128 different devices being able to connect. All the 28 devices can be connected simultaneously, as cables become thinner and longer. As SAS has a full duplex signal transmission, there is a chance where transmission can be given up to 3.0 GB per second. Yet another unique feature that SAS has is that it allows for hot plugging, thus extra devices can be connected.
SATA, on the other hand, traces its roots from the parallel ATA physical form storage interface. Any single SATA cable comes with a minimum of four wires which are able to establish a strong serial point to point connection that helps devices to operate and also sustain the link up.
SATA is without doubt the successor of the SCSI interface, though SAS offers better speeds of data transfer than it. Another way that the drive is able to solve the challenge that parallel interfaces have been having for long, having limitations on the number of devices that a single port can host. SAS devices are able to communicate with SATA devices with much ease.
It is without doubt that SATA disk drives are the most in number in the market. The largest size of the SATA drives in circulation is approximately 3 TB. The size of SAS drives on the other hand is no match for SATA devices, with the largest of them being 600 – 900 GB. This to a large extent translates to the cost per GB, given the pricing. A fair comparison shows that the SATA disk offers more value per GB.
The performance of the SATA and SAS drives is also very important. SATA is seen to spin slower, spinning at about 7.2k RPMs. The contrast is quite heavy, with the average SAS disk spinning at 15k RPMs. If you are looking for a fast disk, SAS is the best choice to go for.
When it comes to the reliability, the SATA disk seems to be better as opposed to SAS. The measures of reliability are the Mean Time before Failure MTBF and the Bit Error Rate BER. MTBF and BER measure the relative guarantee that a given disk can offer before being rendered kaput. SATA drives offer an average MTBF of 1.2 million hours while SAS offers a mean time of 1.6 million hours. Comparing the mean times, there is no doubt that the SAS drive offers better reliability.
Summary
SAS is an acronym that refers to Serial Attached SCI.
SATA which is an acronym for Serial ATA.
SATA is the bigger player in the market.
SATA devices are cheaper as compared to the SAS.
SATA offers more value of money to the GB.
SATA has more storage capacity over SAS.
SAS runs faster than SATA.
SAT has a longer lifespan than SATA, as it has a lengthier mean time before failure.
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Error #1:
SAS is an acronym that refers to Serial Attached SCI.
Correction #1:
SAS is an acronym that refers to Serial Attached SCSI.
Error #2:
SATA, on the other hand, traces its roots from the parallel ATA physical form storage interface. Any single SATA cable comes with a minimum of four wires which are able to establish a strong serial point to point connection that helps devices to operate and also sustain the link up.
Correction #2:
SATA traces it’s roots from the Parallel ATA (PATA) interface but unlike it’s predecessor, it’s busline albeit serial isn’t point to point, it’s 1 SATA port on the motherboard or daughter card per 1 disc drive (hard disk or CD/DVD, etc. other SATA interface technology).
The PATA ribbon cable wasn’t technically a point to point (daisy chain either). It had a multiplexed ribbon cable and device and drive selection pins located in each connector. This also was dictated via the jumpers on the drive, not much different than on some SATA drives as well.
The phrase, “strong serial” has no place in this blog article post nor does it actually mean anything to the consumer or us electronic engineers that design and build these items.
Error #3:
SATA is without doubt the successor of the SCSI interface, though SAS offers better speeds of data transfer than it.
Correction #3:
SATA is not the successor of the SCSI interface.
SATA is the successor to the PATA interface.
SAS is the successor of the SCSI interface.
Error #4:
The largest size of the SATA drives in circulation is approximately 3 TB. The size of SAS drives on the other hand is no match for SATA devices, with the largest of them being 600 – 900 GB. This to a large extent translates to the cost per GB, given the pricing. A fair comparison shows that the SATA disk offers more value per GB.
Correction #4:
The SATA and SAS drive capacities are the same, just the SAS is designed for corporate server and workstation use and SATA is designed for the home user.
Error #5:
The performance of the SATA and SAS drives is also very important. SATA is seen to spin slower, spinning at about 7.2k RPMs. The contrast is quite heavy, with the average SAS disk spinning at 15k RPMs. If you are looking for a fast disk, SAS is the best choice to go for.
Correction #5:
SATA and SAS drives are available in many different drive rpm speeds. Having a faster rotational speed is not necessarily a good thing, they wear out a lot faster. Rotational speed isn’t the end-all
for getting the most speed out of your hard disc drive, it’s the size of the buffer you have, the technology it’s based on, the bit width and the actual speed of it for which can make a bigger difference on the overall performance of the disc drive. Of course, the software drivers and actual operating system you’re using, the file system itself has a lot to do with how fast you can access your data.
Error #6:
When it comes to the reliability, the SATA disk seems to be better as opposed to SAS. The measures of reliability are the Mean Time before Failure MTBF and the Bit Error Rate BER. MTBF and BER measure the relative guarantee that a given disk can offer before being rendered kaput. SATA drives offer an average MTBF of 1.2 million hours while SAS offers a mean time of 1.6 million hours. Comparing the mean times, there is no doubt that the SAS drive offers better reliability.
Correction #6:
SAS are actually more reliable than SATA drives are in theory and in practice. Both in terms of MTBF and BER.
BER has nothing to do with how long a hard disc will last under normal operation, that is the MTBF. BER just tells your software if using S.M.A.R.T. technology and it’s enabled in your BIOS that your hard disc has some problems, most of the time it’s called soft errors or correctable. It’s when you get hard BERs then you have a problem.
If you start to get hard BER and you’re keeping your hard discs cool enough from the get go, you can still lose a hard disc before you hit the MTBF milestone.
Note:
There are many other issues I take with these articles that have been written on this site because they’re not well researched, meaning the person who is writing them has very little knowledge of the industry, electronics and technical jargon.
Just to let you know, I am an electronic engineer and technician by trade, I also do computer programming too.
Please do run this stuff by a highly experienced computer repair or computer support technician before you post this. It will help the credibility of your website a great deal.