Trent:

You are on the right track! << As the junior DB jack-of-all-trades, I am
more concerned with the overall cost-of-bandwidth to storage than with
the theoretical performance of a
given device on a specified channel.>>

But I am afraid that all I can say to you is "welcome to corporate
America."  Read lots of Dilbert comics and you'll feel better knowing
that the world is run by idiots, not just the ones you work with.

Cheers,
Mariane