Patent ID: 7627710

Claim:
A method for use in a computer system comprising a first server having at least one client application executing thereon, wherein the at least one client application comprises at least one interface that accesses content units using object identifiers for the content units, at least one storage system having a block input/output (block I/O) interface that receives block I/O addresses to identify storage locations thereon, and a second server that accepts object identifiers for content units and converts an accepted object identifier to at least one block I/O address to identify at least one storage location on the at least one storage system that stores the content unit identified by the object identifier, the method comprising acts of: (A) issuing, from the first server to the second server, at least one first object identifier for at least one first content unit; (B) receiving, at the first server, at least one first block I/O address from the second server, wherein the at least one first block I/O address identifies at least one first storage location on the at least one storage system that stores the at least one first content unit identified by the at least one first object identifier; and (C) issuing, from the first server to the at least one storage system, at least one request to access the at least one first storage location identified by the at least one first block I/O address.