Patent ID: 7401192

Claim:
A method, comprising: copying a file in a local storage subject to replication to a target storage file system to store as a base file in the target storage file system; generating a reference file comprising a copy of the file subject to replication that is copied to the target storage file system; applying an update to the file subject to replication at the local storage to generate an updated file at the local storage; generating a delta file indicating differences between the updated file at the local storage and the reference file; generating a code identifying the reference file; using a file system command to transmit the delta file to the target storage file system to store in a directory of the target storage file system; receiving a replication request to replicate the updated file from the delta file in the target storage file system; using the code to determine whether the base file at the target storage file system matches the reference file at the local storage in response to the replication request; and replicating the updated file from a combination of the base file and the delta file stored in the target storage in response to determining that the base file matches the reference file.