The storage study by Fleishman-Hillard that we mentioned above has lots of very interesting data. We picked two pieces of information that we consider especially relevant to most of our readers.

If you look at how much storage capacity requirements have grown over the last two years, 54% of all interviewees said that their requirements increased by 50% or more. It's surprising - or rather, shocking - to see that 16% don't even know how much their storage requirements grew; 6% did not say anything at all. Also, a 100% increase in three years very much equals the increase in available hard drive capacities. If requirements grow faster than available capacities, it will be more difficult to provide storage that is large enough and fast enough, and that can be backed up within an acceptable time frame.

Clearly, individual data requires more storage capacity than business data such as databases and email. Unlike individual data at home, which usually consists of audio, video or image content, this can also be project files at work.

All four terabyte hard drives utilize the SATA/300 interface. Only Hitachi offers a Molex power connector; everyone else sticks to SATA power, which is required for hot plugging.