Unleashing Density: Celestica's SD6300 Revolutionizes Data Storage for AI and Beyond
Author Image
WRITTEN BY Amit Thakkar, Vice President, Product Management

2025-11-13

In today's data-driven world, the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) initiatives are placing unprecedented pressure on enterprise IT infrastructure. Training complex AI models requires massive data sets, driving a relentless demand for storage that is both ultra-dense and high-performing. IT professionals face a persistent challenge: how to house this ever-growing deluge of information while battling strained budgets and limited data center floor space. The cost of expanding physical infrastructure, from real estate to cooling and power, is a major challenge. Moreover, the expenses associated with maintaining vast arrays of less compact storage quickly increase costs, crippling the economics of large-scale AI data ingest and archive. The demand for an ultra-dense, efficient, and versatile storage solution that can keep pace with AI workloads has never been more acute.

Density Unleashed

Celestica has met this demand by tackling significant engineering challenges to create the SD6300, the industry's most compact JBOD with 108 drive bays in a 19” wide, 1200 mm deep 4U enclosure. Integrating this massive density—supporting 104 SAS-3 and 4 cutting-edge SAS-4 drives, accommodating both 2.5” and 3.5” form factors—into a single unit required breakthrough thermal management and power delivery systems.

SD63000 Top View
Top view of SD6300 - showing 108 drives

Celestica ensured high availability and reliability through a fully redundant architecture, featuring dual-expansion modules, dual-rotor fans, and high-availability power. This sophisticated design ensures that while density is maximized, there's no compromise on performance, uptime, or data availability, with the system uplink supporting high-speed SAS-4 connectivity to the host.

Designed for AI and More

The SD6300 is perfectly positioned to address several key use cases, offering a versatile platform that drives value across the data center. Its high density is ideal for hyperscale environments and large-scale object storage implementations, where maximizing drives per rack unit directly translates to reduced TCO. Furthermore, its support for the latest SAS-4 standard makes it powerful enough for demanding applications such as high-speed AI training data ingestion and archiving. Conversely, its vast capacity and space efficiency make it a cost-effective choice for cold storage, allowing enterprises to archive huge datasets without requiring significant physical expansion. This flexibility ensures the SD6300 can be a central component in any modern storage strategy.

SD6300 - Blog version
SD6300 Storage Expansion System

A Legacy of Storage Expertise

Choosing the SD6300 means partnering with Celestica, a manufacturer well known for our expertise in complex, high-reliability infrastructure. Celestica’s history of engineering excellence and commitment to quality ensures that the SD6300 delivers on its promise of maximum utilization of data center floor space and sustained reduced CapEx and OpEx. By consolidating vast storage capacity into a single, high-availability, and power-efficient chassis, Celestica provides a robust solution that simplifies deployment, minimizes maintenance overhead, and offers the essential flexibility needed for an evolving data landscape. The SD6300 is not just a storage device; it’s a strategic investment in the future efficiency and scalability of your data center.

We’ll be at SuperComputing 2025

To see the SD6300 in person, visit the Celestica booth #1945 at SC25 (SuperComputing, 2025) in St Louis, MO, from November 17-20. Our experts will be on hand to discuss your storage needs. For additional information: Learn more about the SD6300 and how it can help to solve your data center storage challenges. Visit our website for more information about Celestica’s Storage Platforms.




AUTHOR BIO
Author Image
Amit Thakkar Vice President, Product Management

Amit Thakkar is a Vice President of Product Management at Celestica where he focuses on Networking, Compute, and Storage Platform Solutions. Amit has breadth of experience in data center infrastructure and has served in product management and strategy roles specializing in systems and software. Amit has led the development of product strategy across cloud and enterprise market segments and is engaged in strategies for emerging technologies in AI data centers.