The next most common type of CD-ROM drive is SCSI. Basically, if your drive connects to a SCSI interface card, it's SCSI. It should have a 50 pin connector going to it.
SCSI drives require only that the SCSI card be configured first. If the controller is properly detected, 99% of the time the drive is detected as well. If you are having trouble getting your SCSI controller detected, see the Hardware-HOWTO:
http://sunsite.unc.edu/linux