6KCYT Dell 960GB Mixed Use TLC SATA 6GBPS SSD

Dell 6KCYT 960GB Mixed Use Solid State Drive Overview

The Dell 6KCYT 960GB SSD is engineered for enterprise-grade performance, offering exceptional reliability and speed. With 3DWPD endurance and TLC 3D NAND architecture, this SATA-based 2.5-inch drive is an ideal choice for PowerEdge servers across the 14th, 15th, and 16th generations.

Main Specifications of Dell 6KCYT

• Manufacturer: Dell
• Part Number: 6KCYT
• Drive Category: Solid State Drive
• Capacity: 960GB
• Interface: SATA 6Gbps
• NAND Flash: Triple-Level Cell (TLC)
• Form Factor: 2.5-inch Hot-Plug
• Endurance: Mixed Use, 3DWPD

Technical Information

Core Features

• Storage Size: 960GB
• Interface Bandwidth: SATA-III, 6Gbps
• Memory Technology: 3D NAND TLC
• Endurance Rating: 3 Drive Writes Per Day
• Form Factor: Small Form Factor 2.5-inch

Performance Metrics

• Sequential Read Speeds: Up to 540 MB/s
• Sequential Write Speeds: Up to 520 MB/s

Connectivity & Expansion Options

• Supported Interface: 1 x SATA 6Gb/s
• Bay Compatibility: 2.5-inch hot-plug slot

Compatibility with Dell PowerEdge Servers

Supported Rack Servers

• PowerEdge R340, R440, R450, R550
• PowerEdge R640, R650, R650xs, R6515
• PowerEdge R6525, R660, R6615, R6625
• PowerEdge R740, R740xd, R7425
• PowerEdge R750, R750xa, R750xs, R7515
• PowerEdge R7525, R760, R760xs, R7625
• PowerEdge R940

Supported Modular & Cloud Servers

• PowerEdge C6420, C6520, C6525, C6620
• PowerEdge HS5610
• PowerEdge M620

Highlights of Using Dell 6KCYT SSD

• Optimized for mixed workload applications.
• Designed for high-availability data center environments.
• Ensures faster boot times, reduced latency, and consistent throughput.
• Hot-plug capability simplifies upgrades and replacements.
• Reliable endurance with 3DWPD for enterprise-grade tasks.

Key Advantages for IT Infrastructure

• Improved I/O performance for database and virtualization workloads.
• Balanced design for both read-intensive and write-intensive operations.
• Strong compatibility across multiple generations of Dell PowerEdge servers.
• Enhanced durability from 3D NAND TLC construction.

Dell 6KCYT 960GB Mixed Use 3DWPD TLC SATA 6Gbps SSD

The Dell 6KCYT 960GB Mixed Use 3DWPD TLC SATA 6Gbps 2.5-inch hot-plug solid state drive sits at the intersection of performance, endurance, and enterprise compatibility. Designed specifically to meet the demands of modern data centers and PowerEdge server environments, this category of drives is purpose-built for mixed-use workloads where a balance of read and write performance is essential. The combination of triple-level cell (TLC) NAND, a 3 drive-writes-per-day (3DWPD) endurance rating, and a standard SATA 6Gbps interface makes the 6KCYT series an excellent choice for customers who need reliable, high-capacity storage without the premium cost of write-intensive flash. These drives deliver consistent I/O responsiveness across transaction-heavy applications, virtualization hosts, distributed file systems, and hybrid storage architectures while supporting hot-plug serviceability that reduces downtime during maintenance operations.

Key Technical Attributes and What They Mean for Your Infrastructure

This product category emphasizes a number of attributes that are critical to enterprise adopters: a 960GB nominal capacity that enables high-density storage in 2.5-inch form factors; TLC NAND that balances cost and endurance; a 3DWPD endurance specification that supports everyday mixed use patterns; and the SATA 6Gbps interface for broad backwards and forwards compatibility. The 2.5-inch hot-plug tray form factor integrates seamlessly with most Dell PowerEdge 14th, 15th, and 16th generation servers, enabling in-service drive replacement and rapid hardware refreshes without interrupting live workloads. For IT planners this means easier capacity scaling, predictable performance under sustained loads, and compatibility across multiple generations of server hardware, simplifying lifecycle management and lowering the cost of ownership over time.

Capacity and Density: Maximizing Storage per Slot

At 960GB, each drive offers a practical compromise between capacity and performance. In rack-dense environments where slot count matters, deploying 2.5-inch SSDs such as the 6KCYT in multi-bay chassis allows for substantial usable capacity while maintaining the thermal and power advantages inherent to smaller form factors. Because these drives deliver enterprise-grade performance at a mid-tier price point, organizations can achieve higher effective density by using more drives across enclosures without incurring the exponential cost of higher-end NVMe drives. The result is a storage footprint that scales linearly and predictably with business needs, and a straightforward upgrade path from legacy SATA arrays into modern PowerEdge servers.

Performance Characteristics: Consistent IOPS and Low Latency

The SATA 6Gbps interface remains a practical standard for many server applications where sequential throughput and moderate random I/O are the norm. The 6KCYT 960GB drives provide fast access times and steady IOPS for mixed workloads typical of virtualization, caching, database front-ends, and web serving. With TLC NAND optimized for firmware-managed wear leveling and background garbage collection, these drives sustain performance during extended periods of activity. For workloads that do not require NVMe-level concurrency but still need low latency and consistent response under load, these SATA SSDs present an excellent balance. Because the firmware is tuned for enterprise mixed-use patterns, performance degradation that can occur on client-grade flash is mitigated through intelligent data placement and write optimization.

Endurance and Write Workloads: Understanding 3DWPD

An endurance rating of 3 drive-writes-per-day (3DWPD) indicates the drive is engineered to tolerate writing the full drive capacity three times per day over its warranted life. For a 960GB drive, that translates into robust support for a broad range of write-heavy and mixed read/write applications. This endurance class is particularly suitable for virtual machine images, database transaction logs, e-mail servers, analytics staging areas, and general-purpose enterprise file services where writes are frequent but not constant at the level of heavy video editing or continuous write logging. Importantly, 3DWPD also provides a safety margin for bursts and peaks, allowing administrators to maintain predictable service levels even as usage patterns fluctuate.

Reliability, Data Integrity, and Enterprise Features

Reliability is a non-negotiable requirement in datacenter components, and Dell's enterprise SSD lineup incorporates numerous features that protect data integrity and maximize availability. These drives typically include power-loss protection mechanisms to safeguard in-flight data during unexpected power interruptions, error-correcting code (ECC) to detect and correct bit errors, and robust firmware designed to prevent silent data corruption. The drives are tested to meet rigorous thermal and vibration standards, ensuring stable operation in densely packed server racks. Additionally, SMART telemetry and drive health monitoring provide valuable diagnostics for predictive maintenance and failure prevention, enabling IT teams to intervene before capacity or performance issues impact production systems.

Security Capabilities and Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) Options

Many enterprise deployments demand data-at-rest encryption to comply with regulatory frameworks and corporate security policies. While not every SATA model includes hardware encryption by default, the category supports variants that offer self-encrypting drive (SED) functionality and TCG Opal or eDrive compatibility. Hardware-based encryption secures data without a performance penalty, offloading cryptographic work from the host CPU and ensuring that decommissioned drives can be sanitized quickly and effectively. For organizations with stringent compliance requirements, selecting an SED variant within the 6KCYT family streamlines data protection and reduces the operational overhead of software-based encryption solutions.

Compatibility: Designed for Dell PowerEdge 14g, 15g, and 16g Servers

A major selling point of this SSD category is native compatibility with Dell PowerEdge server platforms across multiple generations. The 2.5-inch hot-plug design conforms to Dell's drive caddy standards, and the SATA 6Gbps interface assures interoperability with legacy backplanes and RAID controllers commonly found in 14th, 15th, and 16th generation PowerEdge systems. Installing these drives is straightforward: they slide into server bays using Dell-certified trays and are automatically recognized by the system management interface, which simplifies drive initialization and RAID configuration. For teams standardizing on Dell hardware, this compatibility reduces deployment friction and streamlines parts inventory and spares management.

Integration with RAID and Software Tooling

When used in RAID configurations, the 6KCYT series cooperates with enterprise RAID controllers to deliver capacity, redundancy, and recoverability. Firmware-level features such as error reporting, SMART attributes, and TRIM support help maintain RAID array health and performance over time. Many administrators combine these SATA SSDs with software-defined storage stacks or hardware RAID to achieve optimal performance/availability trade-offs. Dell's support ecosystem and tooling typically include drive health reporting in OpenManage and iDRAC interfaces, enabling centralized monitoring and simplifying lifecycle operations such as firmware updates and diagnostics.

Typical Use Cases and Deployment Scenarios

The 960GB mixed-use SATA SSD shines in a variety of enterprise and SMB scenarios. These include virtualization hosts running several midsize VMs, database systems with moderate write activity (for example, OLTP systems at SMB scale), application servers requiring fast boot and application load times, caching tiers in tiered storage architectures, and backup staging where fast ingest is valuable. The drives also work well in distributed storage nodes that emphasize cost-effective capacity with solid responsiveness rather than the ultra-low latency of NVMe. Another common scenario is replacing aging 2.5-inch HDDs in existing arrays to provide immediate performance uplift without redesigning server backplanes or controller infrastructure.

Cloud and Hybrid Environments

For organizations operating private clouds or hybrid clouds, mixing these drives into compute nodes and storage pools gives operators the flexibility to balance cost and performance across different tiers. The 6KCYT 960GB drives are particularly effective as mid-tier storage — faster than HDD-based tiers and significantly cheaper than NVMe tiers per gigabyte — enabling policy-driven automation platforms to place workloads where they get the right mix of capacity, performance, and cost. This plug-and-play approach simplifies migration from older systems while enabling modern orchestration and rapid scaling.