user7537: I've searched high and low for something to get me on the right track, it's making me think it might not be possible.
Basically, I want to create a cheap SSD using Arduino (or another microcontroller if it is too weak). I know I would have to implement the SATA protocol on the device and an OS driver for the disk drive. Assuming I could jump those two hurdles, what else would bar me from implementing a rudimentary SSD? I'm not even talking about full production quality, just a SATA wire coming from a mother board plugged into a socket on a breadboard. Do I need flash storage or would I need another kind of chip to handle the data needs?

user4269: The good news is that SATA drivers are fairly generic so you don't have to write the OS side. The bad news is everything else.
just a SATA wire coming from a mother board plugged into a socket on a breadboard
Let me stop you there. The minimum data rate for SATA is sufficiently high that you need a PCB. If you try and do this with wires or breadboards it will simply not get through; it will be lost to parasitic capacitance.
(Many years ago as a student I tried to do something vaguely similar with a wire-wrap board. At just 20MHz you could see a clean signal go in one side and a noisy unreadable mess come out the other side. Actually seeing it on a scope drove home the importance of shielding.)
Do I need flash storage or would I need another kind of chip to handle the data needs
Where would you put the data otherwise? It might be an entertaining first step to create a read-only drive with constant contents, but it's not very useful.
You need a chip with a SATA interface. This will almost certainly be an ARM and almost certainly not in DIP. I can't remember at the moment whether SATA master and slave "PHY" interfaces are different or whether it's all defined in software, someone else can answer that.

7537: <p>I've searched high and low for something to get me on the right track, it's making me think it might not be possible.</p>

<p>Basically, I want to create a cheap SSD using Arduino (or another microcontroller if it is too weak). I know I would have to implement the SATA protocol on the device and an OS driver for the disk drive. Assuming I could jump those two hurdles, what else would bar me from implementing a rudimentary SSD? I'm not even talking about full production quality, just a SATA wire coming from a mother board plugged into a socket on a breadboard. Do I need flash storage or would I need another kind of chip to handle the data needs?</p>
 4269: <p>The good news is that SATA drivers are fairly generic so you don't have to write the OS side. The bad news is everything else.</p>

<p><em>just a SATA wire coming from a mother board plugged into a socket on a breadboard</em></p>

<p>Let me stop you there. The minimum data rate for SATA is sufficiently high that you need a PCB. If you try and do this with wires or breadboards it will simply not get through; it will be lost to parasitic capacitance.</p>

<p>(Many years ago as a student I tried to do something vaguely similar with a wire-wrap board. At just 20MHz you could see a clean signal go in one side and a noisy unreadable mess come out the other side. Actually seeing it on a scope drove home the importance of shielding.)</p>

<p><em>Do I need flash storage or would I need another kind of chip to handle the data needs</em></p>

<p>Where would you put the data otherwise? It might be an entertaining first step to create a read-only drive with constant contents, but it's not very useful.</p>

<p>You need a chip with a SATA interface. This will almost certainly be an ARM and almost certainly <em>not</em> in DIP. I can't remember at the moment whether SATA master and slave "PHY" interfaces are different or whether it's all defined in software, someone else can answer that.</p>
