PCIetoSATA

PCIetoSATA is a class of expansion hardware that provides a bridge from the PCI Express (PCIe) bus to Serial ATA (SATA) interfaces. It allows SATA hard drives or SSDs to be connected to a computer via a PCIe slot, typically on desktop or server systems, when onboard SATA ports are insufficient or unavailable.

A PCIe-to-SATA card typically includes a PCIe interface, a SATA host controller chip, and one or more SATA ports. The PCIe controller communicates with the host system over PCIe and forwards commands to the SATA controller, which translates them into SATA protocols such as AHCI. Many cards also offer RAID capabilities, presenting multiple SATA channels or aggregating bandwidth across channels. Some models provide features like hot-plug support and NCQ, while others emphasize simple AHCI operation.

Performance is influenced by both the PCIe slot and the SATA link. SATA II and SATA III provide up to 3 Gbit/s and 6 Gbit/s per port, respectively, with real-world transfer rates typically lower due to protocol overhead. The PCIe portion adds its own bandwidth limit based on the slot’s version and lane count (for example, PCIe 3.0 x1 offers about 1 GB/s). In multi-port cards, ports may share bandwidth, and overall transfer speeds depend on the number of active drives and the controller design.

Uses include expanding storage on systems lacking sufficient native SATA ports, retrofitting older motherboards, or building multi-drive storage arrays. Compatibility depends on the operating system, BIOS/UEFI, card firmware, and driver support, which may affect features such as RAID, NCQ, TRIM, and hot-swapping.