I
n 1956,IBM shippedthe very first hard
drivein its RAMAC305 system.This was
an incredibleadvancementin technology
that delivered a whopping5MBacross
two fridge-sizedunitsthat weighednearly
30 stoneeachand camein at a cost of
$10,000per megabyte.
Of course,thingshave improvedsince
thoseearly days and whatwe have now is
probablywell beyondthe imaginationof
thosewho first startedworkon thesedevices
back in the mid-50s.
To get where we are now, though,took
sometime.Before 1985,mostIBM PCs
used the commonWinchesterhard drive
controllers,but then late in 1985,Western
Digitalcameup with somethingreally
quiteingenious:the 40-pinIDE (Intelligent/
IntegratedDriveElectronics).
IDE was the commonnamefor the actual
interfacethat was built into the hard drive
control board itself.However, it was correctly
knownby a varietyof othernamessuch
as ATA, ATA/ATAPI, EIDE,ATA-2, Fast ATA,
ATA-3, UltraATA, UltraDMAand so on.
Essentially, they all meantthe samelevel of
technology, whichwas a cleverlydesigned
40-pinribbonthat attachedto the drive
and motherboard or someotherISA-based
controller board.
I’m sure mostof us can rememberthe blue,
blackor grey coloured plasticend, with the
little ridgeat the top to denotewhichwayaroundthe cablewentinto the socket.The
trailingribbons,whichwe tried in vain to cable
tie to the innerchassisof our PC casesto make
the systemlook as neat as possible.And let’s
not forgetthoseodd cableswhere you needed
to reverseone of the connectionsfor the hard
drive,then reverseit againfor the CD-ROM
drive,resultingin a twistedcablethat would
end up stuffed behindthe drive in case anyone
saw it. Happymemoriesindeed.ItsHistory
AlthoughWestern Digitalcameout with
the IDE/ATA interfacein 1985,it wasn’t
until severalyearsthat it actuallybecamea
mainstream connectionfor a hard drive.
The emerginghomePC marketwas
whatmadethe connectionand interfaceso
popular, beingcheaperthan SCSI despite
havinglowerread and writespeeds.Most
homeusers,however, didn’t care too much
abouthavinga RAIDsetup;homePCs were
sold as simpledeviceswith whichuserscould
word process,do a few spreadsheetsand play
a gameor two. IDE/ATA therefore was ideal
in keepingthe cost to the user low enoughto
allowthe marketto flourish.
As time movedon, Western Digitalstarted
to producehard drivesitself,ratherthan just
beinga controller electronicsmanufacturer,
and with otherhard drivemanufacturers such
as Seagatenow adoptingIDE/ATA, there was
a needto pushthe technology.Soonenough,an 80-pincablewas
introducedto help improve bandwidthand
cut out crosstalk.This boostedthe throughput
of an ATA drivefrom 16MB/sto 33MB/sand
beyondwhenthe UDMAand ATA-4 standard
was introduced.
With the releaseof SerialATA in 2003,the
olderATA or ParallelATA, startedto decline
rapidly. SATA offer a betterbandwidth,hot
pluggingand less spaceused by the actual
cableitself.TheGood
Finallya betterconnectionto a hard drive
otherthan the olderhardcards that were
mounteddirectly to an ISA controller.TheBad
Findingthe right cablelength.Confusing
cableswith no indicationof pin one or the
plasticlump.And thosecableswhere the
connectionswere oftenreversedhalf-way
down– usuallycheapones.Conclusion
Where wouldwe be withoutIDE/ATA?
Quiteprobablyhavingto mounta heavy
hard driveontoa card that’s balanced
precariouslyin an ISA slot. That or we’dall
be usingSCSI connections.mmOnceupona time,harddrivesconnected toPCs usinga longribbon...Remembering...
ATA/IDE
DidYouKnow?
- The first IDE/ATA drive
designedfor a laptopwas the
PrairieTek 220, a 20MBtwo-
platter2.5” drive. - The first IDE 3.5” drivefrom
WesternDigitalwas the Caviar
model. - ATA-2 was commonlyknownas
EIDEand had transferspeeds
of 16MB/s,witha maximum
capacityof 8GB. - ATA-6 or UDMA/100was the
last ParallelATA interfaceand
couldtheoreticallyachievea
transferspeedof 100MB/s.
iTheIDE/ATAcablefora harddriveor
opticaldrive.Howmanydoyoustillhave?iA longlostsightonmodernmotherboards