Abstract: A system and method may include a first storage device supporting a first set of functions and a second storage device supporting a second set of functions different from the first set of functions. The first and second storage devices may be configured to provide a common interface to enable discovery of the first and second sets by invoking a procedure call common to the first and second storage devices. An application, which may initially be unaware of the first and second sets, may be configured to invoke the procedure call and thereby discover the first and second sets, which may be provided as XML documents. The application may be further configured to communicate with the first storage device using the first set of functions, and communicate with the second storage device using the second set of functions using the information discovered by invoking the procedure call.