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SEE OUR COMPUTER GLOSSARY!!

SATA cable (on right) clearly takes up much less space than the PATA cable (left), and is much more flexible

eSATA plug type.  Notice that it does not have the “L” shape of the usual SATA plug, but if you imagine it, the connector is shaped like an “E”.

SATA power adapter (on right) with 15 pin connector, as opposed to traditional PATA 4 pin (“Molex”) power connector.  The reason for the 15 pins connector is that more and different voltages are applied through the plug - customary 5v and 12v wires are supplemented with 3.3v; 9 pins are positive, negative and ground contacts, and the remaining 6 pins are for the hot-swappable feature of SATA, designating an additional two contacts per voltage.

PATA (top) and SATA (bottom) hard drive connectors compared.