- IDE drives are basically any drives that communicate with a computer using the IDE interface. Each IDE connector in a computer supports up to two drives (also referred to as channels). The primary purpose of IDE drives is to provide storage or removable media capabilities for your computer. Devices such as hard drives and CD-ROM drives can all be hooked up to your computer through IDE cables.
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An old hard drive controller board.Back in the day, before IDE existed, drive controllers were peripherals you had to attach to a motherboard in order to install a drive. The expenses of having an extra drive on your computer were immense, and the hassle involved was equally as frustrating. Western Digital came up with a solution, called Integrated Drive Electronics, which is designed exactly as the name implies. This new standard integrated the drive controllers inside of the drives themselves. When you install a new IDE drive, all you have to do is connect the IDE cable and the power cable and you are done. -
In response to new demands, computers were manufactured with two IDE interfaces.As computer technology progressed, computers with two hard drives became rather popular, and the floppy drives were connected through a separate IDE unit made to handle lower transfer speeds. However, when CD-ROM drives were introduced, computers could not have just one IDE interface anymore. As CD drives came into the market, computers with two IDE interfaces became the standard. - When people refer to IDE, the acronym ATAPI is used a lot as well. ATAPI (AT Attachment Packet Interface) is a standard that allowed computers to use CD-ROM drives and other removable media. The reason a new protocol had to be developed was because, in the IDE world, the ATA was not expanded enough to allow for removable media. Specifications on how to recognize if media is present in the drive or not weren't present before ATAPI was created. Basically, only hard drives or devices that emulate their characteristics were capable of being used in an ATA interface. If you have a computer with CD-ROM drives that uses IDE, they are using the ATAPI protocol to communicate.
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In 2003, SATA basically took over the computing industry.Ever since SATA was introduced, IDE was used less for hard drives. However, IDE was not discontinued, since it was practical still for slower drives, such as CD/DVD drives and burners. The demand for speed in modern computer applications has made IDE a thing of the past for the most part.
