Patent ID: 8239402

Claim:
A method comprising: querying an application for information identifying a location of each of a plurality of data objects within a plurality of volumes, wherein the application provides a proprietary interface to the data objects stored on the volumes, and the proprietary interface inhibits independent access to the data objects by other applications; creating metadata, wherein the metadata associates each of a plurality of files within a new file system with the location of a respective one of the plurality of data objects within the volumes, and wherein the metadata is created by an in-place conversion module implemented on a computing device; providing the application with access to the files within the new file system, subsequent to creating the metadata, wherein the providing comprises supplying the application with a path to the files; and wherein the querying the application for information comprises sending a query from a first computing device to a second computing device via a network, wherein the first computing device performs said identifying and said creating, and wherein the second computing device implements the application.