Connector receptacles for hard-disk drives that do not consume a significant amount of space. One connector receptacle may include a housing having one or more horizontal slots corresponding to one or more tongues of a connector insert. The connector receptacle may include a number of vertical slots, each having a contact to form an electrical connection with a contact on the one or more tongues. These contacts may emerge from the top of the housing to connect to a flexible conductor. A stiffening layer may be placed over the top of the flexible conductor. The housing may also include vertical bridging pieces that may be located between a top portion and a bottom portion of the connector receptacle. Shielding may be included above, in front of, or below the housing, or any combination thereof.