Patent ID: 8224934

Claim:
A storage management server comprising: a set of one or more processors to execute operations of a management module, a network module and a data module, wherein: the storage management server is a special-purpose processing system configured to store, manage, and retrieve data in a set of mass storage devices on behalf of one or more network storage clients, the network module is configured to enable the storage management server to communicate with the one or more network storage clients, and the data module is configured to manage data retrieval and storage in the set of mass storage devices; the management module is configured to establish a sandbox to operate a third-party application as an embedded agent within the storage management server, wherein the management module is configured to establish the sandbox by implementing a plurality of enforcements to constrain operation of the third-party application within a controlled set of the storage management server's resources, and wherein the management module is configured to implement the plurality of enforcements by establishing a specific role for the sandbox in a role based access control mechanism of the storage management server; the sandbox uses the role based access control mechanism to enable the third-party application to communicate with the management module, wherein the third-party application is entirely enabled and operable from within the storage management server as a native service offered from within the storage management server independent of and without need for communication with any third-party server for operation of the third-party application, and wherein the third-party application is configured to provide a service related to the providing of data access services by the storage management server to the one or more network storage clients; and the management module provides the third-party application restricted access to an operating system of the storage management server to enable operation of the third-party application as an embedded agent within the storage management server; and a memory coupled to the one or more processors to store the operating system of the storage management server.