The parallel ATA (PATA), a standard interface for connecting storage devices such as hard disk drives, floppy disk drives and optical disk drives in computers. It uses the underlying AT Attachment (ATA) and AT Attai Packet Interface (ATAPI) standards. Parallel ATA standard is the result of a long history of progressive technical development that began with the original AT Attachment interface that is designed for use in early PC AT...

The parallel ATA (PATA), a standard interface for connecting storage devices such as hard disk drives, floppy disk drives and optical disk drives in computers. It uses the underlying AT Attachment (ATA) and AT Attai Packet Interface (ATAPI) standards. Parallel ATA standard is the result of a long history of progressive technical development that began with the original AT Attachment interface that is designed for use in early PC AT equipment. ATA interface itself evolved in several stages from Western Digital's original Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface. As a result, many nærsynonymer to ATA / ATAPI and its previous incarnations still in common informal use, especially Extended IDE (EIDE) and Ultra ATA (UATA).