What do storage professionals want? SATA, SATA and more SATA. At least, that's what TheInfoPro has found in its last three surveys of storage professionals, which are conducted every six months. In all three surveys, SATA has ranked No. 1 in its "Heat Index"--a function of near-term spending and immediacy of implementation. Other trends TheInfoPro identified when reviewing its Wave 3 (Spring 2004), Wave 4 (Fall 2004) and Wave 5 (Spring 2005) surveys, were that users strongly preferred virtual tape as an alternative to tape-based backup; IP SANs have "cooled off " somewhat as storage pros wait for product maturity; and storage security appliances have been slow to catch on.

Source: http://www.theinfopro.net