Logical view and access to physical storage in modular data and storage management system

A computer storage system comprising:

• a processor that supports operation of at least one software application in order to store selected data in the computer storage system;
• at least one storage media for storing the selected data;
• a plurality of storage policies, each having particular storage guidelines, that are available to determine how data is to be stored in the computer storage system;
• and
• a storage control that interacts with the at least one software application of the processor to determine which of the plurality of storage policies to use for storage of the selected data and that stores the selected data according to the selected storage policy.

A method for storing data on one of a plurality of storage media of a computer storage system according to one of a plurality of storage policies that are defined by a user, the method comprising:

• directing a software application to store selected data;
• examining the selected data for particular characteristics;
• selecting a particular storage policy that matches the particular characteristics of the selected data;
• and
• storing the selected data on a storage media of the computer storage system according to the particular storage policy.