I don't know bout a full description but as far as master/slave. It's easy on you mobo you'll see SATA1 and SATA2(sometimes more depending on the board) one is master and 2 is slave. if its brand new you may have to go into disk managment and format it before windows will recognize it in my computer. Other than that installing is just a matter of plugging in.

Serial ATA interface disc drives are designed for easy installation.

It is not necessary to set any jumpers, terminators, or other settings on this drive for proper operation. The jumper block adjacent to the SATA interface connector(if one exists) is for factory use only.

With a Serial ATA interface, each disc drive has its own cable that connects directly to a Serial ATA host adapter or a Serial ATA port on your motherboard.
Unlike Parallel ATA, there is no master-slave relationship between drives that use a Serial ATA interface.

You can use a Serial ATA drive in the same system with Parallel ATA drives as long as both interfaces are supported on the motherboard or with a host adapter. This makes it easy to add Serial ATA compatibility to your existing system without removing existing Parallel ATA disc drives.

I have always found these guys helpful for a read! http://www.mysuperpc.com/build/pc_sa...y_drives.shtml