Dictionary of Computers - IDE

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Interface for mass-storage devices where the controller is integrated into the disk drive (either a hard disk, a high-capacity removable disk drive, or a CD-ROM drive). It is the most popular interface used in modern hard disks and is most commonly used to refer to the advanced technology attachment (ATA) specification.

IDE is known by a variety of other names including ATA, ATA/ATAPI, EIDE, ATA–2, Fast ATA, ATA–3, Ultra ATA, Ultra DMA, and UDMA. IDE hard disks are used on the vast majority of modern PCs. They offer excellent performance at a relatively low cost and allow disk drive manufacturers to continue improving performance without needing to worry about the connection to the user's computer – an IDE drive will work on any IDE interface. This gives IDE an advantage over the small computer system interface (SCSI), which has several different cable standards and controller specifications.

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