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ATA Last modified: Thursday, December 01, 2005

(1) Short for Advanced Technology Attachment, a disk drive implementation that integrates the controller on the disk drive itself. There are several versions of ATA, all developed by the Small Form Factor (SFF) Committee: ATA: Known also as IDE, supports one or two hard drives, a 16-bit interface and PIO modes 0, 1 and 2. ATA-2: Supports faster PIO modes (3 and 4) and multiword DMA modes (1 and 2). Also supports logical block addressing (LBA) and block transfers. ATA-2 is marketed as Fast ATA and Enhanced IDE (EIDE). ATA-3: Minor revision to ATA-2. Ultra-ATA: Also called Ultra-DMA, ATA-33, and DMA-33, supports multiword DMA mode 3 running at 33 MBps. ATA/66: A version of ATA proposed by Quantum Corporation, and supported by Intel, that doubles ATA's throughput to 66 MBps. ATA/100: An updated version of ATA/66 that increases data transfer rates to 100 MBps. ATA also is called Parallel ATA. Contrast with Serial ATA. (2) Short for Analog Telephone Adapter Sponsored listings Outsourced Contact Center Services - Calls, Emails, Web Chat - The Connection - providing world-class contact center services for 28 years. Specializing in Customer Service & Sales calls, emails & live web chat.

Hard Disk Interfaces and Configuration  Describes the different major interface standards currently used by hard disks (and other devices). Provides sections about the IDE/ATA and SCSI interfaces. This page is from "The PC Guide." Considerations before buying an ATA-2/EIDE controller Provides information on features to consider before buying a Fast AT Attachment (ATA)/EIDE interface. Integrated Drive Electronics / AT Attachment Interface Describes IDE/ATA standards and features, transfer modes and protocols, and configuration and cabling. This page is from "The PC Guide." Enhanced IDE, Fast ATA, and Fast ATA-2 FAQ This pages provides links to a two part FAQ addressing issues surrounding Enhanced IDE, ATA-2, ATAPI and Enhanced BIOSes. It includes practical questions, background information and lists of net resources.