COMDEX: Western Digital Shows off Serial ATA Hard Drives

Serial ATA is touted as "the next big thing" for storage because it lets each drive communicate directly with the processor for easier integration into Network Attached Storage (NAS) servers and enterprise storage applications. It also should eliminate the need for Parallel ATA's ribbon cables. Right now, ribbon cables are two inches wide and can only be 18 inches long. Serial ATA cables can be made three feet long and allow for more elaborate routing, which could help us build cooler-running PCs. At Comdex this week, Western Digital is showcasing fully-compliant prototype Serial ATA hard drives with native hot-plugability (is that a word?). Announced back in August, Serial ATA is projected to be used to connect internal storage devices like hard disks, DVDs, CD-R/Ws to the motherboard in desktop and mobile PCs, servers and network storage. The drives are expected to hit the enterprise market starting in late 2002 and make their move into the desktop market starting in late 2003.