Fast ATA

The marketing departments of "Seagate" and "Quantum" have reacted correspondingly to the actions of "Western Digital" promoting EIDE in 1993-1994 - Fast ATA and Fast ATA-2 have appeared. These names imply ATA-2 compatible hard drives. In Fast ATA support of data transfer protocols is cut down a little (maximum supported protocols are PIO-3 and Multiword DMA-1) in comparison with ATA-2 standard. By the end of the 90's "Seagate" and "Quantum" gave up attempts to confuse the users and ended the use of alternative ATA/ATAPI products. This abbreviation results from the marketing policy of producers and sellers directed to increase the variety of ATA/ATAPI compatible devices or slang of the sellers who don't know what they sell or what they say.