[geeks] IDE question

[Kevin]

Here's a basic one for you guys.  Why would heavy HD
writes (like a "make install" for openssl) cause an IDE
based system to become unresponsive during said writes?

We have a couple of linux machines here at work that
are exhibiting this (one IDE device per channel) and
i'm not too familiar with the inner workings of IDE. 
I've alway stuck with SCSI as that is what i know. 
Looking for the technical answer here.

Note: i really don't want to spark up the old SCSI vs
IDE debate again, i'm just looking for the info here :)

Thanks,
/KRM