An IDE cable is a type of ribbon cable used to connect storage devices, such as hard drives and CD/DVD drives, to a computer's motherboard. IDE stands for Integrated Drive Electronics, and these cables typically have a 40-pin connector that allows for data transfer between the devices. These cables can support multiple devices on a single cable, usually up to two, by using a master/slave configuration. While IDE cables were common in older computers, they have largely been replaced by faster interfaces like SATA in modern systems.