Which interface connects host bus adapters to mass storage devices like hard disk drives and optical drives?

The correct choice for the interface that connects host bus adapters to mass storage devices like hard disk drives and optical drives is Serial ATA (SATA). SATA is a widely used interface designed specifically for connecting storage devices to a computer's motherboard. It allows for high-speed data transfer rates while being more efficient and having a simpler design compared to older interfaces.

SATA is particularly effective for hard drives and optical drives due to its serial communication method, which only requires one data channel to transmit information, thus simplifying the connections and improving overall performance. This makes it ideally suited for modern storage solutions, ensuring faster boot times and quicker data access.

Other options may involve different types of connections. For instance, SCSI is also a valid option for connecting storage devices but is typically used in a different context, often in enterprise environments or legacy systems. USB is primarily intended for peripheral devices rather than internal storage connections, and PCI is primarily a bus interface that allows different hardware components to communicate, but it does not directly connect storage devices like SATA does.