A hardware assembly of a non-volatile solid state drive and a processor is
made more compact by eliminating elements previously associated with such
assemblies. For embodiments implementing a SATA cable to electrically
connect the solid state drive and processor, the SATA cable directly
connects the two elements without implementing intervening bulky SATA
connectors. For embodiments implementing a printed circuit board for
mounting the solid state drive and processor, the SATA cable itself may
be eliminated by replacing it with a hardwired signal path on the printed
circuit board. These compact hardware assemblies are manufactured by
hardwiring the signal path to the solid state drive at a SATA interface
and hardwiring the same signal path to the processor also such that the
hardwired signal path electrically connects the solid state drive to the
processor.