diff --git a/securesystemslib/exceptions.py b/securesystemslib/exceptions.py
index 7aa636743..e847f2a75 100755
--- a/securesystemslib/exceptions.py
+++ b/securesystemslib/exceptions.py
@@ -121,3 +121,7 @@ class InvalidConfigurationError(Error):
   """If a configuration object does not match the expected format."""
   pass
 
+class StorageError(Error):
+  """Indicate an error occured during interaction with an abstracted storage
+     backend."""
+  pass
diff --git a/securesystemslib/storage.py b/securesystemslib/storage.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1b4c3cbbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/securesystemslib/storage.py
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+"""
+<Program Name>
+  storage.py
+
+<Author>
+  Joshua Lock <jlock@vmware.com>
+
+<Started>
+  April 9, 2020
+
+<Copyright>
+  See LICENSE for licensing information.
+
+<Purpose>
+  Provides an interface for filesystem interactions, StorageBackendInterface.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+
+import abc
+import errno
+import logging
+import os
+import shutil
+
+import securesystemslib.exceptions
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+
+class StorageBackendInterface():
+  """
+  <Purpose>
+  Defines an interface for abstract storage operations which can be implemented
+  for a variety of storage solutions, such as remote and local filesystems.
+  """
+
+  __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
+
+
+  @abc.abstractmethod
+  def get(self, filepath):
+    """
+    <Purpose>
+      A context manager for 'with' statements that is used for retrieving files
+      from a storage backend and cleans up the files upon exit.
+
+        with storage_backend.get('/path/to/file') as file_object:
+          # operations
+        # file is now closed
+
+    <Arguments>
+      filepath:
+        The full path of the file to be retrieved.
+
+    <Exceptions>
+      securesystemslib.exceptions.StorageError, if the file does not exist or is
+      no accessible.
+
+    <Returns>
+      A ContextManager object that emits a file-like object for the file at
+      'filepath'.
+    """
+    raise NotImplementedError # pragma: no cover
+
+
+  @abc.abstractmethod
+  def put(self, fileobj, filepath):
+    """
+    <Purpose>
+      Store a file-like object in the storage backend.
+
+    <Arguments>
+      fileobj:
+        The file-like object to be stored.
+
+      filepath:
+        The full path to the location where 'fileobj' will be stored.
+
+    <Exceptions>
+      securesystemslib.exceptions.StorageError, if the file can not be stored.
+
+    <Returns>
+      None
+    """
+    raise NotImplementedError # pragma: no cover
+
+
+  @abc.abstractmethod
+  def getsize(self, filepath):
+    """
+    <Purpose>
+      Retrieve the size, in bytes, of the file at 'filepath'.
+
+    <Arguments>
+      filepath:
+        The full path to the file.
+
+    <Exceptions>
+      securesystemslib.exceptions.StorageError, if the file does not exist or is
+      not accessible.
+
+    <Returns>
+      The size in bytes of the file at 'filepath'.
+    """
+    raise NotImplementedError # pragma: no cover
+
+
+  @abc.abstractmethod
+  def create_folder(self, filepath):
+    """
+    <Purpose>
+      Create a folder at filepath and ensure all intermediate components of the
+      path exist.
+
+    <Arguments>
+      filepath:
+        The full path of the folder to be created.
+
+    <Exceptions>
+      securesystemslib.exceptions.StorageError, if the folder can not be
+      created.
+
+    <Returns>
+      None
+    """
+    raise NotImplementedError # pragma: no cover
+
+
+  @abc.abstractmethod
+  def list_folder(self, filepath):
+    """
+    <Purpose>
+      List the contents of the folder at 'filepath'.
+
+    <Arguments>
+      filepath:
+        The full path of the folder to be listed.
+
+    <Exceptions>
+      securesystemslib.exceptions.StorageError, if the file does not exist or is
+      not accessible.
+
+    <Returns>
+      A list containing the names of the files in the folder. May be an empty
+      list.
+    """
+    raise NotImplementedError # pragma: no cover