SAN simulator

Embodiments of a SAN simulator that may be used with SAN management systems to create a virtual SAN with a configurable number of various types of virtual SAN objects. The virtual SAN may be accessed in performing various SAN management tasks in a virtual environment. In one embodiment, the virtual SAN objects may be generated in accordance with SAN simulator configuration information describing the types and numbers of virtual SAN objects to be generated. In one embodiment, to enter a virtual SAN object in the virtual SAN data representation, each virtual SAN object's object type and attributes may be checked in an object schema table to verify that the specified type of virtual SAN object is supported by the SAN simulator. One embodiment may include a SAN simulator explorer that serves as an interface between a SAN management server and the virtual SAN when performing SAN management tasks.