>>so does SAS ...
> 
> 
> Which is even more expensive.

don't remember anyone talking about money. the discussion was on what is
(thought to be) better, IDE in its several incarnations, or SCSI (dito).

>>... -- plus enterprise class (!) hardware, not consumer-oriented
>>el cheapo stuff. nobody forces you to buy it. ;)
> 
> 
> Even enterprise class high end FCAL storage arrays get into big trouble
> if they have broken disk on a loop.

FCAL also was not mentioned (except by yourself).