VENDORS TELL US that 4Gb/sec Fibre Channel (FC) is here, and Storage readers seem to believe them. Of the 70% of readers who say they'll buy a SAN array this year, a respectable 29% will buy it with a 4Gb/sec interface. And they're not just buying 4Gb FC because they can (or have to): Sixty-eight percent claim they need the extra performance 4Gb/sec FC will provide.

Readers are similarly upbeat about buying 4Gb/sec FC disk drives in the coming year. Twenty-seven percent expect to buy 4Gb/sec FC drives for their next array vs. 54% who will opt for 2Gb/sec FC. Perhaps more significant, however, is the number of readers (49%) who will stock their arrays with SATA drives. Add to that the 15% who will buy low-cost FC drives, and you have a sizeable majority of storage administrators who are using their SANs for low-performance apps.

In the fabric, the trend toward 4Gb FC is even more pronounced. Of those readers who plan to buy a new switch or director, 57% say they'll forego 2Gb FC and move to 4Gb.

--Alex Barrett