Patent ID: 8732423

Claim:
A network memory system, comprising: a source-site appliance comprising a first processor and a first memory device, and configured to be coupled to a source-site computer via a source-site local area network; and a destination-site appliance comprising a second processor and a second memory device, and configured to be coupled to a destination-site computer via a destination-site local area network, the source-site computer in communication with the destination-site computer via a wide area network; the source-site appliance configured to intercept data sent from the source-site computer to the destination-site computer, encrypt the data, store the data in the first memory device, determine whether the data exists in the second memory device, and transmit a store instruction comprising the data; and the destination-site appliance configured to receive the store instruction from the source-site appliance, store the data in the second memory device, subsequently receive a retrieve instruction comprising a location indicator indicating where the data is stored in the second memory device, process the retrieve instruction to obtain encrypted response data, and decrypt the encrypted response data.