This will not be the year that Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) makes gains on Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA). SAS did not meet previous years' projected adoption rates and this year will be no different. Make informed storage decisions and forget the vendor hype.

Better Technology, Not a Better Value

Seagate Technology, Maxtor, and LSI Logic are among the vendors pushing SAS as a replacement for SATA. Adaptec is implementing a SAS-based SAN, but not all vendors are rushing to include SAS in their mid-sized solutions. Xiotech, for example, has indicated that there is currently no significant benefit to be gained from including SAS in its SME SAN solutions.

Traditionally, serial technology was good enough for keyboards and mice, but too slow for the high data transfer rates required for storage. Serial technology has improved to the point where it is a viable alternative to rapidly...