The present invention is a method for accelerating proxy Input/Output (proxyI/O). The method includes the step of receiving a command at a primary target storage system. The primary target storage system may be part of a clustered storage array. The command may be a command which was transmitted by an initiator system via a storage area network, and may include a request for data. The method further includes the step of forwarding the command to a session layer of the primary target storage system. Further, when a virtualization layer of the primary target storage system determines that a portion of the data requested in the data request is not stored by the primary target storage system, but is stored by a proxy target storage system included in the plurality of storage systems, the method further includes providing a proxyIO request to a proxy initiator of the primary target storage system. Further, the method may further include, based on the proxyIO request, generating a proxyDataIn request and providing the proxyDataIn request to an I/O controller for the primary target storage system.