Hard Drive Ribbon Cables Explained

A ribbon cable is a wide cable often used inside a computer to connect a disk drive to the motherboard.

Ribbon cables, named for their resemblance to fabric ribbons, are common used to connect hardware devices inside of personal computers. They support connections between a number of hardware components, especially disk drives. Their width and lack of heavy protective coating makes them unsuitable for external connections.

Function

These wide, flat cables are commonly used to connect computer hardware, especially disk drives, to the computer motherboard. Various types of drives can be connected by ribbon cables including hard disk drives, floppy drives and CD/DVD drives. Ribbon cables are occasionally used to connect internal networking cards to the motherboard as well. The cable contains a number of insulated wires, arranged side-by-side to create the flat shape.

Types

The main variation in ribbon cables is the number of wires contained in the cable. Common ribbon cable configurations are 34-wire, 40-wire and 80-wire. In addition to having connectors at each end of the cable, they sometimes have inline connections, which allow several additional devices to be linked.

Features

NASA's workmanship handbook describes ribbon cables as being "highly flexible, compact and robust" connectors that allow "mass termination of the conductors to high-density connectors." The smooth, flat profile makes ribbon cables well suited for use inside the computer assembly.

References

• Electronics Manufacturers: Ribbon cable
• PCmag.com: PC Magazine Encyclopedia: Ribbon Cable Definition
• NASA.gov: Workmanship Standards: Cable and Harness Flat/Ribbon Cable

Resources

• PC Tech Guide: Making the Connections