1. An apparatus for input/output (I/O) target selection within a data storage system having clustered nodes of initiators, I/O targets, and grouped storage logical units, the apparatus comprising: a state definition component to define access states for each combination of one or more combinations of a node, an I/O target, and a storage logical unit; a profiler component to produce an access state profile for each I/O target; a rank criteria compiler to compile rank criteria as a basis for best-fit identification of I/O targets for a logical unit (LU) group; a best-fit identifier responsive to the profile component and the rank criteria compiler to identify a ranked best-fit order of I/O targets for an LU group; and, a target selector to select an I/O target for an LU group from the ranked best-fit order.