eSATA

External SATA (eSATA), standardized in 2004, provides a variant of Serial ATA meant for external connectivity. It has revised electrical requirements in addition to incompatible cables and connectors: Minimum transmit potential increased: Range is 500–600 mV instead of 400–600 mV. Minimum receive potential decreased: Range is 240–600 mV instead of 325–600 mV. Identical protocol and logical signaling (link/transport-layer and above), allowing native SATA devices to be deployed in external enclosures with minimal modification Maximum cable length of (USB and FireWire allow longer distances.) The external cable connector equates to a shielded version of the connector specified in SATA 1.0a with these basic differences: The external connector has no "L" shaped key, and the guide features are vertically offset and reduced in size. This prevents the use of unshielded internal cables in external applications and vice-versa. To prevent ESD damage, the design increased insertion depth from 5 mm to 6.6 mm and the contacts are mounted farther back in both the receptacle and plug. To provide EMI protection and meet FCC and CE emission requirements, the cable has an extra layer of shielding, and the connectors have metal contact-points. The connector shield has springs as retention features built in on both the top and bottom surfaces. The external connector and cable have a design-life of over five thousand insertions and removals, while the internal connector is only specified to withstand fifty.

thumb|right|SATA (left) and eSATA (right) connectors