Patent ID: 7254636

Claim:
In a first filer proxy, a method for handling a client request, comprising the steps of: peering with a router in a computer network to provide a path directed to a filesystem attached to said computer network, said filesystem having a network address; receiving a client request from a client for a file in said filesystem, said client request including said network address; determining in response to said client request an accepted file transfer protocol for said network address; and forwarding said client request using said accepted file transfer protocol to a destination based on said network address; wherein said determining step further comprises the steps of: determining a client request file transfer protocol of said client request; and determining a requester identity; wherein the method further comprises the step of: creating a file handle to represent an open file opened in response to said client request, said file handle including said client request file transfer protocol and said requestor identity; wherein creating the file handle further comprises: including within the file handle an object identification number temporarily assigned to the file opened in response to said client request; including within the file handle a network location of the file opened in response to said client request, the network location of the file identifying the location within the computer network where the file is stored; including within the file handle a first filer proxy identification number and a second filer proxy identification number, the first filer proxy identification number identifying the first filer proxy, and the second filer proxy identification number identifying a second filer proxy; including within the file handle a generation count of the file opened in response to said client request; including within the file handle a verifying code; and including within the file handle a client identification number.