Patent ID: 8219576

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a network interface configured to receive a file-access request from a client over a network, wherein the file-access request includes a virtual file handle having a unique identifier; a translator coupled to the network interface, and configured to receive from the network interface the virtual file handle, extract the unique identifier, and determine a native file handle from an entry in a translation table corresponding to the unique identifier, wherein the entry in the translation table is selected from one of a plurality of entries in the translation table and wherein each of the plurality of entries in the translation table includes a server name of a server that stores a file and information related to at least one of read-write privileges, creation, or modification of the file; a request forwarder coupled to the translator and the network interface, and configured to generate a translated file-access request that includes the native file handle; and a storage device configured to store the file of the file-access request and to receive the translated file-access request from the request forwarder.