14 DAY TRIAL // Respondents to the Xiotech Corporation-sponsored survey, a leading provider of data storage and data discovery solutions, said they expect Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) to increase from less than 5 % of their storage infrastructure today to nearly 19 % in two years, as the Fibre Channel also is expected to increase from about 34 % to 41 %.
The study has been conducted by IT professionals and confirms the growth of both topologies and it will largely come from less reliance on direct, server-attached storage, and will drop from nearly half of existing infrastructures today to less than a quarter in two years, according to the survey's 110 respondents.
"Survey respondents ranked Fibre Channel higher than iSCSI on a number of attributes. For example, on a one-to-five scale, with five best, Fibre Channel scored 4.49 on performance vs. 3.55 for iSCSI. Fibre Channel scored 4.35 for reliability and 4.16 for security, vs. 3.49 and 3.41 respectively for iSCSI. However, iSCSI was rated better for initial cost (3.55 vs. 2.52 for Fibre Channel) and roughly at parity with Fibre Channel for ongoing costs and ease of use," commented the company's representatives.
It was shown that smaller companies expressed different priorities for technical attributes in making storage purchase decisions, with respondents from both midmarket and larger companies (500 or more employees) focusing primarily on tiered storage options and data replication than those from smaller companies. However, ease of use and upgradeability were significant capabilities regardless of company size.
Xiotech conducted the survey in May and June 2006 and respondents represented a range of company sizes, from less than 100 employees to more than 5,000, and primarily characterized the midlevel IT titles. Responses were collected via both the Web and hard copy survey forms.