CD-ROM Drive Question:

Short for Integrated Drive Electronics or IBM Disc Electronics, IDE is more commonly known as ATA or Parallel ATA (PATA). It is a standard interface for IBM compatible hard drives and CD or DVD drives. IDE is different than SCSI and Enhanced Small Device Interface (ESDI) because its controllers are on each drive, meaning the drive can connect directly to the motherboard or controller. IDE and its updated successor, Enhanced IDE (EIDE), are common drive interfaces found in IBM compatible computers. Below is a picture of the IDE connector on the back of a hard drive, a picture of what an IDE cable looks like, and the IDE channels it connects to on the motherboard.