Which type of drive typically communicates over SATA or PCIe?

A Solid State Drive (SSD) typically communicates over SATA or PCIe interfaces. SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) is commonly used for older SSDs and is known for its wide compatibility with existing systems and decent speeds. However, for newer, high-performance SSDs, the PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) interface is often utilized. PCIe offers significantly faster data transfer rates compared to SATA, making it the preferred choice for modern computing needs.

While Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) also use SATA for connectivity, they do not utilize PCIe because their technology is different and generally slower than SSDs. Optical Drives primarily use interfaces like SATA as well but are not a type of solid-state storage. Flash Drives, typically referring to USB drives, function independently of SATA or PCIe context, relying instead on USB protocols for data transfer. Thus, the communication channels specified in the question are most directly associated with Solid State Drives.