Also known as PATA or Ultra DMA, ATA is
generally the least expensive hard drive interface. Many computer
motherboards include ATA controllers and cable connectors that typically control
the C drive that contains the operating system. However, ATA is a slightly
slower drive interface, used mostly in single-user
computer applications or low-end RAID systems.
Although this interface is often called IDE (for Integrated Drive Electronics), ATA is the official ANSI (American National Standard Institute) standard
designation.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Comparable speeds |
Fast |
Fast |
Faster |
Faster |
Faster |
| Data transfer rates - maximum bus speed (MB/s) |
8.3 |
16.6 |
33 |
66 |
100 |
| Maximum data bus width (bits) |
16-bit |
16-bit |
16-bit |
16-bit |
16-bit |
| Maximum device support |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
As shown on the chart, the original ATA interface was 16-bits wide and
supported two hard drives at a maximum transfer rate of 8.3MB/s.
ATA-2 boosts maximum throughput to 16.6MB/s, again for a
maximum of two devices. From there, ATA designations blur as companies create
names like Fast ATA or Extended IDE (EIDE) to describe proprietary feature
additions to the ATA-2 standard. Such designations are more
marketing terms than official standards.
Though not an official ANSI standard, Ultra ATA has been universally accepted by
the hard drive industry to define an ATA-2 derivative that boosts the maximum
transfer speed to 33MB/s, adding cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error
detection to maintain data integrity. Ultra ATA is designed to be
backward-compatible, as is ATA-2.