Patent ID: 7437407

Claim:
A method of accessing a file in a data network, the data network including a client and a server and data storage, the data storage including data storage locations for storing data of the file, the data network having an Internet Protocol (IP) data link between the client and the server, and the data network having a high-speed data link between the client and the data storage, the high-speed data link bypassing the server, said method comprising: (a) the server managing metadata of the file; (b) the client using a file access protocol over the IP data link to obtain metadata of the file from the server, the metadata including block numbers specifying the data storage locations for storing data of the file; and (c) the client using the block numbers specifying the data storage locations for storing data of the file to produce a data access command for accessing the data storage locations for storing data of the file, and the client using a high-speed data block access protocol over the high-speed data link to send the data access command to the data storage to access the data storage locations for storing data of the file.