Backport to branch(3) : Introduce virtual tables in Storage abstraction

[feeblefakie]

This is an automated request for a manual backport of the following:

• Original PR: Introduce virtual tables in Storage abstraction #3180
• Commit to backport: 5c9de75

1. Resolve any conflicts that occur during the cherry-picking process.

git fetch origin &&
git checkout 3-pull-3180 &&
git cherry-pick --no-rerere-autoupdate -m1 5c9de7510832bc801155128d62e9ba9ba7c067ad

2. Push the changes.
3. Merge this PR after all checks have passed.

Thank you!