Abstract: A mediator for the protection of data in storage devices over a network. The mediator connects over the network to one or more data clients and to one or more data storage devices, and provides secure storage of data for the data clients on the data storage devices. The mediator functions as a central point for the encryption of data from the data clients to be stored on the storage devices, as well as decryption of the encrypted data retrieved from the storage devices for delivery to the data clients. The mediator can handle multiple protocols, such as IP protocols, file service protocols, and block device protocols; multiple storage technologies such as Fiber Channel and Ethernet; and multiple services such as block, file, and database services. The mediator can also perform various fictions such as protocol translation.