A method of controlling a data storage device including a plurality of devices (W, X, Y, Z), comprising: - providing information of at least one requestor group (Q, R, S, T, V) that accesses the storage device (W, X, Y, Z); - providing information of at least two pools of the devices (W, X, Y, Z; W; X; W, Z; X, Y) of the data storage device; - providing information of a plurality of access types (B, C, M), wherein the access types include at least one system call access type for performing a specific operation that is at least one of: mirroring, copying, backing up, splitting, and tracking system calls on at least one of the devices of the data storage device, and wherein the at least two pools of devices (W, X, Y, Z; W; X; W, Z; X, Y) share common devices (W, X, Y, Z) in various combinations, each of the various combinations having specific access types associated therewith; - receiving a request from a requestor of the at least one requestor group (Q, R, S, T, V), wherein the request includes at least the following: an identification of the requestor, an identification of at least one system call access type that is being requested and an identification of at least one device (W, X, Y, Z) that is an object of the request; and - determining if the request by the requestor of the at least one requestor group (Q, R, S, T, V) is permitted for the at least one device of the at least two pools of devices (W, X, Y, Z; W; X; W, Z; X, Y), wherein permission for the request is determined by determining, from the provided information, what device pool is involved in the request and whether permission is allowed for the requestor to perform the particular requested access type with the device pool. - providing information of at least one requestor group (Q, R, S, T, V) that accesses the storage device (W, X, Y, Z); - providing information of at least two pools of the devices (W, X, Y, Z; W; X; W, Z; X, Y) of the data storage device; - providing information of a plurality of access types (B, C, M), wherein the access types include at least one system call access type for performing a specific operation that is at least one of: mirroring, copying, backing up, splitting, and tracking system calls on at least one of the devices of the data storage device, and wherein the at least two pools of devices (W, X, Y, Z; W; X; W, Z; X, Y) share common devices (W, X, Y, Z) in various combinations, each of the various combinations having specific access types associated therewith; - receiving a request from a requestor of the at least one requestor group (Q, R, S, T, V), wherein the request includes at least the following: an identification of the requestor, an identification of at least one system call access type that is being requested and an identification of at least one device (W, X, Y, Z) that is an object of the request; and - determining if the request by the requestor of the at least one requestor group (Q, R, S, T, V) is permitted for the at least one device of the at least two pools of devices (W, X, Y, Z; W; X; W, Z; X, Y), wherein permission for the request is determined by determining, from the provided information, what device pool is involved in the request and whether permission is allowed for the requestor to perform the particular requested access type with the device pool.