ATA/Ultra-ATA drive and enclosure help, please?

[macmantis]

I have a new 160gb Ultra-ATA, which I would like to use as an external drive.

I'm having trouble figuring out the compatibility of this with external enclosures, however.

Do I need an enclosure that says it is specifically for an Ultra-ATA drive? Or can I use a enclosure that simply says it is compatible with ATA?

I ask because I am having trouble finding one that is specifically ATA, and all the ones that I like the look (and price ) of are just 'ATA'.

Thanks for any light anyone can shed on the matter, I'm fairly new to fiddling with my hardware.

 

[aquajet]

In this case ATA, PATA, IDE, EIDE, parallel ATA all mean the same thing. You'll need to choose an external enclosure which is compatible with this interface. These days, they're mostly referred to PATA or parallel ATA to distiguish from SATA or serial ATA.

So basically, as long as it doesn't say SATA or serial ATA, you should be fine. Now you'll just have to decide whether you're going to use USB, Firewire or both.

Are you sufficiently confused now?

 

[macmantis]

Actually, you made that very clear - thank you, heaps!
Thankfully, I already have my head 'round cables.