Parallel ATA
PATA

Now commonly used as the new term for IDE. This change of term is necessary for clarity.

For many years, Parallel ATA was the most common disk drive interface (hard drives, CD-ROM, etc). Now, the name Parallel ATA (or PATA) is used to differentiate this type of older (IDE) interface from that of the newer Serial ATA (or SATA) interface. Serial ATA has become the preferred disk drive interface.

When Parallel ATA was first introduced, it was an important advancement because it provided controller electronics on the drive itself, eliminating the need for a separate adaptor card. It was easy to configure, it enabled look-ahead caching, and was relatively inexpensive compared to its traditional rival, SCSI.

Also see Serial ATA and SCSI.

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