14 DAY TRIAL // The SATA 6.0 Gbps interface (SATA III) was and still is lauded for its bandwidth, but while it does have the ability to transfer files faster than what HDDs manage, it isn't fast enough for SSDs.
Switching to PCI Express solid-state drives, especially now that it is possible to boot from them, is the only alternative at this point in time.
That won't last forever though. In fact, new connectors may appear sooner than people think. A discovery by AnandTech deals with the SATA Express port and SFF-8639 connector.
The schematics on the upper left show what the connectors are made from, and what their advantages are.
SATA Express can communicate at a rate of 1 GB/s over PCI Express 2.0 lanes, while PCI Express 3.0 increases the limit to 2 GB/s (PCI Express x2).
This is only a stepping-stone. The real goal is to eventually make SSDs compatible with the SFF-8369 connector, which can achieve 4 GB/s speeds (PCI Express 3.0) over PCI Express x4 lanes.
There is a second possibility though: SATA Express would be the consumer desktop interface, while SFF-8639 will serve enterprise applications.
The move could take years to complete at a worldwide industry-wide level, but there is no question that IT firms and customers will embrace the interfaces.
A look at the specification sheet suggests that SFF-8639 is about twice the width of the existing SATA connector, “Female” sockets will accept any 2.5/3.5-inch SATA or SAS drive and will measure the same as SATA, power and data connectors put together.
On a related note, SATA 12 Gbps is still being developed, as far as anyone knows, but SATA-IO (Serial ATA International Organization) feels that it is more useful to accelerate development of SATA Express, which lets conventional SSDs and HDDs use an interface with no performance constraints, without losing backwards compatibility.
