sata controller, sata ports...sata argh

[gildan2020]

can someone tell me the difference between the two terms: sata controller and sata ports?

answers to this simple noob question would be nice too...

how many hard disks can a mobo support if it has either:
1) 2 controllers, or
2) 2 ports

thx,
gildan2020

[Virtualbody1234]

The controller is the chip on the board and the port is where the device connects.

2 ports can support 2 drives (SATA).

[gildan2020]

i see...
so, wat's the connection between controllers and ports?


gildan2020

[Virtualbody1234]

You see this pic?



The chip with the green sticker is the SATA controller chip.

The black connectors to the right are the SATA "ports".

They are interconnected by tiny circuits on the motherboard. The motherboard is multi layered so that there can more circuits in a small area.

[gildan2020]

ok, i get the idea now
thanks


gildan2020

[Virtualbody1234]

You're welcome.

[lynx]

Just to add a little clarity.

Unlike IDE, there's no direct rule about the number of ports a single controller can have, it is down to the chip maker.

I haven't seen any chips which handle more than 4 ports at the current time, but that doesn't mean that there aren't some or won't be in the future.

The SATA II standard allows for port multipliers. I've seen examples of these which can handle 5 drives, so when added to a 4 port controller that means you could have up to 20 drives from a single chip, although the maximum throughput on each port is still 3GB/s.

[Adster]

hm i have a question

SATA II adn SATA i have a HD adn a mobo that has 4 SATA ports and 4 SATA II

does it matter which one I put it in???

do i have to have a SATA II HDD?? or what i know SATA II is faster

[clocker]

No, you do not have a SATA II HDD...I'm not even sure there are any available yet.
Which set of ports you connect to is (semi) up to you.

My Gigabyte board runs the 4 SATA II ports directly on the nVidia chipset.
Any device run through this controller is presented to Windows as IDE and you need no drivers for Windows to recognize them.

The other four are on a SiliconImage 3114 controller.
For these to show up, drivers must be fed in (i.e., the ole F6 song and dance).

Either way will ultimately work, but scenario #1 is the easiest.

Edit: Furthermore, the SATA II ports on my board have the new, more secure clip-lock connections and the other four do not.
This seems stupid and I'm not sure what the thinking behind it is.

[lynx]

Edit: Furthermore, the SATA II ports on my board have the new, more secure clip-lock connections and the other four do not.
This seems stupid and I'm not sure what the thinking behind it is.

Maybe when SATA II drives come along the higher data rates will tend to push the connectors out of their sockets.