Introduction; About The Serial Ata Interface - Seagate Constellation ST4000NM0033 Product Manual

1.0

Introduction

This manual describes the functional, mechanical and interface specifications for the following:
®
®
Seagate Constellation ES.3 Serial ATA model drives:.
Standard models
ST4000NM0033
ST3000NM0033
ST2000NM0033
ST1000NM0033
These drives provide the following key features:
• 7200 RPM spindle speed.
• PowerChoice™ for selectable power savings
• Top Cover Attached motor for excellent vibration tolerance
• High instantaneous (burst) data-transfer rates (up to 600MB per second).
• Perpendicular 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.
• 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.
Seagate recommends validating the drive configuration with the selected HBA/
Note
RAID controller manufacturer to ensure full 4 & 3TB capacity capabilities.
For more information on FIPS 140-2 Level 2 certification see See Section 4.0 on page 29 .
1.1

About the Serial ATA interface

The Serial ATA 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 con-
figuration options.
• Thinner and more flexible cabling for improved enclosure airflow and ease of installation.
• Scalability to higher performance levels.
In addition, Serial ATA makes the transition from parallel ATA easy by providing legacy software support. Serial ATA was
designed to allow the user to install a Serial ATA host adapter and Serial ATA disk drive in current system and expect all
existing applications to work as normal.
The Serial ATA interface connects each disk drive in a point-to-point configuration with the Serial ATA host adapter. There is
no master/slave relationship with Serial ATA devices like there is with parallel ATA. If two drives are attached on one Serial
ATA 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 host adapter may, optionally, emulate a master/slave environment to host software where two devices on
separate Serial ATA ports are represented to host software as a Device 0 (master) and Device 1 (slave)
Note
accessed at the same set of host bus addresses. A host adapter that emulates a master/slave environment
manages two sets of shadow registers. This is not a typical Serial ATA environment.
The Serial ATA 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 Serial ATA host adapter contains a set of registers that shadow the contents of the traditional device registers, referred
to as the Shadow Register Block. All Serial ATA devices behave like Device 0 devices. For additional information about how
Serial ATA emulates parallel ATA, refer to the "Serial ATA: High Speed Serialized AT Attachment" specification. The
specification can be downloaded from www.serialata.org.
Constellation ES.3 Serial ATA Product Manual, Rev. E
Self-Encrypting Drive (SED)
ST4000NM0053
ST3000NM0053
ST2000NM0053
ST1000NM0053
SED FIPS 140-2 Drive
ST4000NM0073
ST3000NM0073
ST2000NM0073
ST1000NM0073
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