IDE

An abbreviation for Integrated Drive Electronics, which is a peripheral connection standard used in IBM compatibles and some models of Macintosh. IDE drives have the same spinning disk mechanism as their SCSI counterparts (see WFTD archive SCSI), but use a different electronic interface. IDE has been a less expensive and easier technology to implement over the years. This is one of many reasons why PC’s have always been on the lower end of the price curve as compared to Macintosh, which primarily use SCSI drives and have SCCI interface busses built in (SCSI is almost always an upgrade option for a PC). SCSI drives and buss systems generally outperform IDE systems in most tests for speed, especially where extremely large files are used (like in digital audio workstations).