Abstract: A method for implementing a storage architecture on a storage board is disclosed. The method comprises enabling the storage board on a first application node of an application server in a shared network comprising a plurality of application nodes and a plurality of storage nodes. The method also comprises processing a read or write request from an application on the first application node and profiling data transmitted in the request to determine the manner in which to process the request. Further, the method comprises accessing one of a plurality of tiers of storage media to perform a read or write responsive to the request, wherein each tier of storage media can be distributed over multiple nodes. Finally, the method comprises updating a first cache based on a configuration policy and maintaining coherency between shared data in the first cache and caches implemented on other storage boards in the network.