SATA III, or SATA Revision 3.x, is the next set of specifications following the original SATA and SATA II storage interface specifications. SATA III doubles the maximum data transfer rate for previous Serial ATA storage interface specifications from 3 to 6 Gigabits per second (6 Gb/s), enabling faster data transfer speeds between storage units, hard drives, solid state disk drives, optical drives and protocol host bus adapters (HBAs).
In an effort to resolve confusion over the specifications, the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO), the organization formed to author the SATA specifications, has encouraged the use of SATA 6Gb/s or SATA Revision 3.x instead of the moniker SATA III. The confusion stems from the 3 Gb/s data transfer rate of SATA II vs. the 6 Gb/s rate of the newer specification.
The current SATA III specification, SATA Revision 3.1, adds support for mSATA (SATA for mobile computing devices), Zero-Power Optical Disk Drives (ODD), Queued Trim Command in solid state disks (SSDs), required link power management and more.
