Introduction; About The Sata Interface - Seagate ST4000DM000 Product Manual

1.0 Introduction

This manual describes the functional, mechanical and interface specifications for the following
®
Seagate Desktop HDD model drives:
ST4000DM000 ST3000DM003
These drives provide the following key features:
• High instantaneous (burst) data-transfer rates (up to 600MB per second).
• TGMR recording technology provides the drives with increased areal density.
• State-of-the-art cache and on-the-fly error-correction algorithms.
• Native Command Queueing with command ordering to increase performance in demanding applications.
• Full-track multiple-sector transfer capability without local processor intervention.
• Seagate AcuTrac™ servo technology delivers dependable performance,even with hard drive track widths of
only 75 nanometers.
• Seagate OptiCache™ technology boosts overall performance by as much as 45% over the previous
generation.
• Seagate SmartAlign™ technology provides a simple, transparent migration to Advanced Format 4K sectors
• Quiet operation.
• Compliant with RoHS requirements in China and Europe.
• SeaTools diagnostic software performs a drive self-test that eliminates unnecessary drive returns.
• Support for S.M.A.R.T. drive monitoring and reporting.
• Supports latching SATA cables and connectors.
• Worldwide Name (WWN) capability uniquely identifies the drive.

1.1 About the SATA interface

The Serial ATA (SATA) interface provides several advantages over the traditional (parallel) ATA interface. The
primary advantages include:
• Easy installation and configuration with true plug-and-play connectivity. It is not necessary to set any jumpers
or other configuration options.
• Thinner and more flexible cabling for improved enclosure airflow and ease of installation.
• Scalability to higher performance levels.
In addition, SATA makes the transition from parallel ATA easy by providing legacy software support. SATA was
designed to allow you to install a SATA host adapter and SATA disk drive in your current system and expect all of
your existing applications to work as normal.
The SATA interface connects each disk drive in a point-to-point configuration with the SATA host adapter. There is
no master/slave relationship with SATA devices like there is with parallel ATA. If two drives are attached on one
SATA host adapter, the host operating system views the two devices as if they were both "masters" on two
separate ports. This essentially means both drives behave as if they are Device 0 (master) devices.
The SATA host adapter and drive share the function of emulating parallel ATA device behavior to provide
backward compatibility with existing host systems and software. The Command and Control Block registers, PIO
and DMA data transfers, resets, and interrupts are all emulated.
The SATA host adapter contains a set of registers that shadow the contents of the traditional device registers,
referred to as the Shadow Register Block. All SATA devices behave like Device 0 devices. For additional
information about how SATA emulates parallel ATA, refer to the "Serial ATA International Organization: Serial ATA
Revision 3.0". The specification can be downloaded from www.sata-io.org.
Desktop HDD SATA Product Manual, Rev. C 9