A computer system comprising: at least one client (160a, 160b) and a storage system, the storage system exporting virtual disks being accessed by the client (160a, 160b) using block-based protocols, the virtual disks being organized in logical volumes, the client implementing a client file system that is layered on top of one of the logical volumes, numerous data containers being created and stored within the client file system; and an agent located on the client (160a, 160b), the agent being adapted to interface with the client file system to retrieve block layout information, the block layout information identifying blocks storing data for particular data containers stored within the client file system; wherein the agent is further adapted to transmit the block layout information from the client (160a, 160b) to the storage system, the storage system being adapted to generate a shadow volume described by the transmitted block layout information, which is a file-level accessible volume within a file system of the storage system; wherein each of the logical volume and the shadow volume has a respective buffer tree structure with an inode (1205, 1225) as a top level object of the tree, each inode referencing one or more levels of indirect blocks (1210, 1215, 1230, 1235) before reaching data blocks (1220A, 1220B, 1220C) at the lowest level of the tree, and wherein the shadow volume and the logical volume share common data blocks; and wherein the agent is further adapted to cause the storage system to generate a persistent consistency point image of the logical volume prior to retrieving the block layout information, and the storage system is configured to generate a persistent consistency point image of the shadow volume after its generation, wherein a persistent consistency point image of a volume provides a read-only, named representation of the volume at a particular point-in time, and is stored on-disk along with an active file system for which data can be both written and read. at least one client (160a, 160b) and a storage system, the storage system exporting virtual disks being accessed by the client (160a, 160b) using block-based protocols, the virtual disks being organized in logical volumes, the client implementing a client file system that is layered on top of one of the logical volumes, numerous data containers being created and stored within the client file system; and an agent located on the client (160a, 160b), the agent being adapted to interface with the client file system to retrieve block layout information, the block layout information identifying blocks storing data for particular data containers stored within the client file system; wherein the agent is further adapted to transmit the block layout information from the client (160a, 160b) to the storage system, the storage system being adapted to generate a shadow volume described by the transmitted block layout information, which is a file-level accessible volume within a file system of the storage system; wherein each of the logical volume and the shadow volume has a respective buffer tree structure with an inode (1205, 1225) as a top level object of the tree, each inode referencing one or more levels of indirect blocks (1210, 1215, 1230, 1235) before reaching data blocks (1220A, 1220B, 1220C) at the lowest level of the tree, and wherein the shadow volume and the logical volume share common data blocks; and wherein the agent is further adapted to cause the storage system to generate a persistent consistency point image of the logical volume prior to retrieving the block layout information, and the storage system is configured to generate a persistent consistency point image of the shadow volume after its generation, wherein a persistent consistency point image of a volume provides a read-only, named representation of the volume at a particular point-in time, and is stored on-disk along with an active file system for which data can be both written and read.