diff --git a/lib/galaxy/managers/cloud_storages.py b/lib/galaxy/managers/cloud_storages.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..787c1d4a1587
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/galaxy/managers/cloud_storages.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+"""
+Manager and serializer for cloud-based storages.
+"""
+
+from galaxy.managers import sharable
+
+import logging
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class CloudStoragesManager(sharable.SharableModelManager):
+
+    def __init__(self, app, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(CloudStoragesManager, self).__init__(app, *args, **kwargs)
+
+    def download(self, provider, container, object):
+        # TODO: implement the download logic.
+        pass
+
+    def upload(self, dataset, provider, container, object):
+        # TODO: implement the upload logic.
+        pass
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/cloud_storage.py b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/cloud_storage.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9e95b6a5d914
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/cloud_storage.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+"""
+API operations on Cloud-based storages, such as Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).
+"""
+
+import logging
+
+from galaxy import web
+from galaxy.web.base.controller import BaseAPIController
+from galaxy.managers import cloud_storages
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class CloudStorageController(BaseAPIController):
+    """
+    RESTfull controller for interaction with Amazon S3.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, app):
+        super(CloudStorageController, self).__init__(app)
+
+    @web.expose_api
+    def index(self, trans, **kwargs):
+        """
+        * GET /api/cloud_storage
+            Lists cloud-based containers (e.g., S3 bucket, Azure blob) user has defined.
+        :param trans:
+        :param kwargs:
+        :return: A list of cloud-based containers user has defined.
+        """
+        # TODO: This can be implemented leveraging PluggedMedia objects (part of the user-based object store project)
+        trans.response.status = 501
+        return 'Not Implemented'
+
+    @web.expose_api
+    def download(self, trans, payload, **kwargs):
+        """
+        * POST /api/cloud_storage/download
+            Downloads a given object from a given cloud-based container.
+        :type  trans: galaxy.web.framework.webapp.GalaxyWebTransaction
+        :param trans: Galaxy web transaction
+
+        :type  payload: dict
+        :param payload: A dictionary structure containing the following keys:
+
+
+        :param kwargs:
+
+        :rtype:  boolean
+        :return: True/False if the given object is successfully downloaded from the cloud-based storage.
+        """
+        pass
+
+    @web.expose_api
+    def upload(self, trans, payload, **kwargs):
+        """
+        * POST /api/cloud_storage/upload
+            Uploads a given dataset to a given cloud-based container.
+        :param trans:
+        :param payload:
+        :param kwargs:
+        :return:
+        """
+        pass
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