Storage router and method for providing virtual local storage

A product for managing virtual local storage for host devices operatively connected to remote storage devices, wherein the host devices are connected to a first transport medium and the storage devices are connected to a second transport medium that utilizes a native low level block protocol, the product containing:

• routing tables and security controls that define the storage allocation for each workstation, including mapping tables that translate addresses between a first protocol and a second protocol;
• a configuration interface to manage the routing tables and security controls;
• a menu driven command interface, operatively connected to the configuration interface, which allows an administrator to alter the routing tables and security controls;
• wherein the routing tables and security controls are used by a processor to implement access controls for storage space on the remote storage devices, wherein the storage space considered by each host device to be its local storage is actually a subset of storage located in one or more physically remote storage devices, and wherein the host devices access the remote storage space to which they have been allocated using native low level block protocols.