what is the different IDE HDD and SATA HDD

IDE = parallel data bus. very limited distance.

SATA = Serial data bus and can be used via USB.

The mechanical parts are essentially the same.

ST506 I think was before IDE, 2 cables to the HD interface, and a 3rd (Power)

IDE = Parallel ATA device IDE/PATA -> http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/view.phtml/aid/32968

SATA = Serial ATA Device -> http://www.serialata.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_drive

You can also get USB adaptors for IDE drives

also IDE is slower than SATA,,,

It is actually amazing that a single signal wire can be faster than multiple signals.

Where are the days when a Centronix outperformed a RS232?

It has crossed my mind that a 8 or 16 channel serial would be nice.

its only faster because its newer technology soon you will find the usual multitude of wires

HI,

One note: SATA is faster than IDE but also requires it own port type. Make sure you have a sata port on your mainboard. You can buy PCI SATA adapters but I would not recommend it because you can have Interrupt problems depending upon which PCI slots are used and BIOS/Mainboard configuration.

bandwidth/$

IDE is Parallel ATA

http://www.techcable.com/HTML/ATA.htm

SATA is Serial ATA

http://www.techcable.com/HTML/SATA.htm

Once upon a time, you could pull the card off the drive, and place a card of the competing Interface on the drive and access it that way, I used to do this with SCSI/IDE drives.. cross compile Linux for the HP-RISC system, and load the OS on the disc, remove the IDE Interface and add the SCSI one and plug it into the RISC system, booted up no problems.