IDE Interface - Integrated Drive Electronics

The IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) interface is a Parallel AT Attachment (PATA) interface in which the controller electronics remain within the storage device. It is a 40-pin specification, which requires a ribbon cable to make the connection. The communication protocol is ATA Packet Interface (ATAPI). This is a standard used for connecting hard drives and DVD burners to computer motherboards.

How IDE interface is connected

A computer motherboard will have a pair of IDE sockets marked IDE 1 and IDE 2. A ribbon cable typically connects the storage device to one of these sockets on the motherboard.

Pin 20 is the key pin, which prevents engineers from connecting the cable incorrectly.

The maximum ribbon cable length is 90 cm. It has two connectors to attach two hard drives, where one operates in the master mode and the other in slave mode. A jumper setting on the hard drive determines whether its controller behaves as a master or slave.

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