SATA Cables: Fragile?

[turbomission]

Somebody recently told me that putting a sharp crease (i.e. 90 degree bend) in a SATA cable can cause it to perform poorly, or even render it inoperable. I've tried researching the topic on Google, at serialata.org, and at several HDD manufacturers? sites, but have been unable to find any warnings or admonitions regarding the sharp bending of SATA cables.

I work for a company that installs SATA drives for customers, so I would like to know if I need to be extra careful about handling the cables. Can anybody either refute or corroborate the assertion that SATA cables are susceptible to folding?

Thanks!

Edgar in Indy

 

[PeteRoy]

Logically it true, if you bend a wire too much it will perform slower or not at all.

I used to have a bad IDE wire long ago that if it got bent it would cause my cdrom to stop working and I had to open my case and straight the cable as much as I can.

I guess it happens because the wires inside the wide IDE cable are so thin that if you bend them they choke.

It is always a good idea to keep the wires as straight as you can, that's why big cases are better.

 

[DaTute]

Generally IDE cables fare better than SATA cables, in my base I don't care if IDE ribbon cables are bent, but the SATA cables are more fragile and should be kept as straight as possible.

 

[Sahrin]

Because of the way I have my server setup, my SATA cables make a combined 270 degrees of turns in the tower (3 90 deg turns)...and I have never had any problems. Just make sure you bend along the "flat" side of the cable (so the profile of the cable looks think) and you'll be fine. Obviously pressing a 180 deg bend into a cable is a bad idea anytime, but gentle turns are perfectly ok.