Differences Between IDE and EIDE (With Table)

IDE, which stands for Integrated Drive Electronics, is a form of associated infrastructure for storage systems in a computer system. In principle, IDE relates to the connections and port interfaces that are being used to link certain storage devices, hard drives, and optical drives to one another and to the motherboard. The IDE was designed to replace the need for a separate controller card by integrating the drive interface with the drive directly.

EIDE, which stands for Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics. EIDE is a significantly faster data transfer speed variation of the IDE drive connection than that of the earlier version. Because it officially relates to an ATA standard called ATA-2 or the other name Quick ATA. It officially relates to an ATA standard called ATA-2 or the other name Quick ATA.

Comparison Table Between IDE and EIDE

What is IDE?

Since the late 1980s, IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) drives have been in use. The IDE was designed to replace the need for a separate controller card by integrating the drive controller with the drive itself. The ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment, the official name for IDE drives) standard is based on IBM’s original AT hard disc drive specification.

The Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface connects a motherboard to storage devices such as hard drives and CD-ROM or DVD devices. The first IDE used a 16-bit connection to communicate with two other devices via a single-ribbon wire cable.  This IDE device does have its own circuitry and a built-in disc drive interface. Processors were distinct output devices earlier than IDE.

It was created by Western Digital and marketed underneath the company’s name. The concept was developed in collaboration with Compaq Systems and Control Data Company. The IDE interface was the type of interface for hard disks before the emergence of SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment).

Because different tools do not require to be directly programmable and connected as elements of the installation procedure, an IDE enables developers to begin designing new apps rapidly. This is particularly valuable for registering new engineers and developers who may choose to use an IDE to learn about the company’s basic tools, processes, procedures, and practices. In reality, most IDE capabilities, doe instance, smart code matching, and automatic code development, are designed in such a way to save a lot of time by eliminating the requirement of writing out whole special characters sequence.

What is EIDE?

EIDE is the standard abbreviation for “Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics.” EIDE is a significantly high data transmission speed variant of the IDE disk connection than the previous standard version. It was  Western Digital that created the EIDE phrase in 1994 to designate a series of ATA-1 connection specification enhancements. EIDE is also known as fast ATA, fast version of IDE, or mainly ATA-2.

EIDE has a transmission speeds rate of 16.6 Mbps, which itself is twice as quick as USB. Because it officially relates to an ATA standard known as ATA-2 or Fast ATA, the word EIDE might be a little confusing. As a result, the words EIDE, ATA-2, and Fast ATA can all be used interchangeably.

For several times, EIDE was probably the most popular drive interface, although this has since been overtaken by the latest versions of the ATA specification that enable the great Ultra DMA. The ATA-4 through ATA-7 standards, which facilitate information transmission speeds of 33 to 133 Mbps, is among them. Many of the modern desktops implement brand-new defined procedures as “Serial ATA,” or SATA, which allows for considerably quicker data transfers. The EIDE storage program was made with two main goals in mind, first one was increasing the thickness of accessible storage devices and improving the speed of information transfer between the server and the disk storage media.

Main Difference Between IDE and EIDE

1. Integrated Drive Electronics devices, the initial IDE interface, was standardized in 1986, while Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics was first introduced in 1994.
2. The interface standard of the Integrated Drive Electronics is Advanced Technology Attachment 1, whereas the Interface standard of Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics is Advanced Technology Attachment 2.
3. The transmission rate of Integrated Drive Electronics is less, whereas the transmission speed of Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics is comparitively more.
4. The data transfer limit of Integrated Drive  Electronics is 8.3 Mbps, whereas the data transfer limit of Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics is 16.6 Mbps.
5. Integrated Drive Electronics does specify the raised number of drives available to the ordinary computer, whereas Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics does not.

Conclusion

The term ‘Integrated Drive Electronics’ IDE comes from the thoroughness that goes into the drive controller. This main function eliminates the requirement for the programs and the desk to expose the drive to the computer. As a result, IDE is a misrepresentation, it is not the conventional word, but it has become a common one. Furthermore, all storage systems, like as hard disc drives, now have hardware platforms as a descriptive name.

Western Digital’s EIDE name seems more like a brand marketing approach, and the answer to Western Digital’s branding word was ‘Fast ATAs and Ultra ATAs.’ Despite this, ‘enhanced’ IDEs and ‘rapid’ ATAs created an opportunity for new and innovative specifications. Under the ATA-2 standard, every one of these names was standardized.

References

1. https://open.metu.edu.tr/bitstream/handle/11511/90238/Odtu%20gelistirme%201993%2020%201-17.pdf
2. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9580914/