generic HW question about SATA

Hey,

I'm upgrading my main linux box this weekend. I have about a TB worth of HD's to use, all ATA.

I know that the new standard is SATA, and i actually have ONE SATA drive that I could use if I wanted to (its in a USB box right now).
But never having used SATA, can ATA and SATA be used in the same PC?

For examplecan I have all 4 ATA channels full (3 HD's and a DVDRW) and then activate the SATA channels in BIOS and throw this single drive on the back end as well?

Data-Junky

Thanks

j