A host is provided with a filtered file system based on the native file system of a local storage device and other relevant factors. A filter interfaces with the local storage device and the host, and a controller reads the native file system, establishes access criteria for the host, and creates a logical structure of sectors in a volatile memory based on the access criteria to provide the filtered file system. The filter can also use a given host to read the native file system and to create the logical structure of sectors based on access criteria established for a different host.