Assuming that D2679-A1 would not provide newer parts than
D2679-B11, you won't find SATA3 (or SATA-6G) ports on that board. ICH7 does not support that, as it was developed years before.
Regarding the size, disks up to 2TB will most probably work as boot devices. Bigger drives would (sort of) require EFI/UEFI and GPT support.
BTW: Most current SATA3-devices will work on SATA2-ports without any issues, and even without a speed penalty.