IDE/ATA Hard Disks

Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) began to replace the older drive interfaces starting in the late 1980s and continues to be, by far, the most popular drive interface used today. IDE drives were originally used in systems designed for ST-412/506 hard drives, and some of their characteristics date back to the need to be compatible with old BIOSs.

tip

Some vendors prefer to use the term AT Attachment (ATA) instead of IDE for their hard drives. Expect either term to be used on the exam.

IDE was originally designed for hard drives, but several other types of storage devices can also be attached to it:

  • Optical drives (including CD-ROM, ...

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