Storage peripheral having a robust serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) PCB connector

A disk drive comprising:

• a disk for rotation within the disk drive;
• a moveable head for writing and reading data to and from the disk;
• a disk controller system for controlling operations in the disk drive;
• a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for mounting the disk controller system;
• a first blade connector attached to the PCB for supporting a first electrical contact arrangement in accordance with a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) standard;
• a second blade connector attached to the PCB for supporting a second electrical contact arrangement in accordance with the Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) standard;
• a housing attached to the PCB for enclosing the first and second blade connectors and the supported electrical contact arrangements, the housing defining a SATA compatible cable connector receiving area around the first and second blade connectors for the receipt of a mating cable connector, the SATA compatible cable connector receiving area including a pair of opposed SATA compatible guide slats for receipt of SATA compatible guides of the mating cable connector, respectively;
• and
• a pair of laterally-opposed differently-sized polygonally-shaped guide arm receiving cavities being integrally formed with the housing and being disposed outside the SATA compatible cable connector receiving area, the guide arm receiving cavities adapted for the receipt of differently-sized polygonally-shaped guide arms from the mating cable connector.

A storage peripheral comprising:

• a semiconductor memory for storing and retrieving data;
• a storage controller for controlling operations in the storage peripheral;
• a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) for mounting the storage controller;
• a first electrical contact arrangement in accordance with a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) standard connected to the PCB;
• a first blade connector for supporting the first electrical contact arrangement;
• a housing attached to the PCB for enclosing the first blade connector and the first electrical contact arrangement, the housing defining a SATA compatible cable connector receiving area around the blade connector for receipt of a mating cable connector, the SATA compatible cable connector receiving area including a pair of opposed SATA compatible guide slots for receipt of SATA compatible guides or the mating cable connector, respectively;
• and
• a pair of laterally-opposed differently-sized polygonally-shaped guide arm receiving cavities being integrally formed with the housing and being disposed outside the SATA compatible cable connector receiving area, the guide arm receiving cavities adapted for the receipt of differently-sized polygonally-shaped guide arms from the mating cable connector.