Is SATA hard drive supported by Fedora?

[Hongyu Sun]

On 8/4/05, Arthur Pemberton <dalive at flashmail.com> wrote:
> Hongyu Sun wrote:
> 
> >Dear All:
> >
> >My computer is Dell OptiPlex GX280
> >
> >>From the specification on
> >http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/optix_gx280?c=us&cs=28&l=en&s=dfb
> >
> >the hard drive is
> >
> >Serial ATA 40, 80, 160 and 250GB 7200 RPM hard drives with S.M.A.R.T. II
> >
> >To install Linux, I want to add a hard drive.
> >
> >The Dell website recommended product is
> >
> >      MAXTOR
> >      100 GB 7200 RPM OneTouch II USB External Hard Drive
> >      $127.46
> >
> >It is surprising that an external hard drive is recommended. But what
> >is more confusing is this website,
> >
> >http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Hardware/sata.html
> >
> >Seems serial ATA is not supported by Linux. So probably I have to buy a USB
> >external hard drive. I wonder if Fedora support serial ATA or external
> >USB or neither?
> >
> >
> >Many many thank,
> >
> >HS
> >
> >
> >
> Works for me. But I did not attempt RAID.  Shows up as /dev/sda. I love
> SATA now.
> 
A good news. Could you please tell me the exact type and model of the SATA? 
My comptuer is Dell OptiPlex GX280

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/optix_gx280?c=us&cs=28&l=en&s=dfb

So the hard drive is

Serial ATA 40, 80, 160 and 250GB 7200 RPM hard drives with S.M.A.R.T. II

I went to support.dell.com -- product support --upgrade
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/upgrades/en/hub?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~ck=mn
and input the service tag

the recommended product is 
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/Category.aspx?category_id=5683&srvctag=3MQ3Y61&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

      MAXTOR
      100 GB 7200 RPM OneTouch II USB External Hard Drive
      $127.46

It is surprising that an external hard drive is recommended. Dell even
did not tell me where to buy a SATA.

So another question is can USB external drive install Linux? Can it be bootable?

Many many thanks,