"I think SAS has some inevitability because it's the logical replacement for SCSI as owner of enterprise storage," says Greg Tabor, architect for SAS products at Vitesse. "SATA is good for desktops as a replacement for ATA, but it has not been able to gain the enterprise foothold, because it's not as robust."
At least one analyst takes a slightly different view. Arun Taneja of the Taneja Group consultancy, thinks SATA isn't the enterprise weakling it's made out to be. The ability of RAID to mask any drive failures, coupled with the relative cost advantage of SATA drives over SAS ones, means SATA may stay in place for awhile, even if drives must be replaced occasionally. "The cost differential doesn't matter... The price ration is favor of SATA," he says.
In general, sources view 2005 as the year when SAS takes hold. If Vitesse jolts some of its rivals into action, however, that timetable could move a bit closer.
Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch
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