Patent ID: 8621178

Claim:
A method of performing data storage system management comprising: dividing a data storage system into a plurality of virtual partitions; specifying a plurality of policy sets, each of said policy sets including one or more policies; and assigning one of said plurality of policy sets to each of said plurality of virtual partitions, wherein each of said plurality of policy sets includes an access control policy that assigns a portion of data storage of the data storage system as a resource for exclusive use in one of the plurality of virtual partitions that is assigned said each policy set, wherein objects assigned to each of the plurality of virtual partitions include a first object set representing resources assigned to said each virtual partition for use by said each virtual partition and a second object set representing consumers assigned to said each virtual partition, wherein for a consumer of said each virtual partition to have access to a resource represented by a first object of said each virtual partition, the consumer is assigned to the first object.