US Patent 8627446 Federating data between groups of servers

Accessing data includes determining if the data is provided on a local group of servers or on an external group of servers. If the data is provided on a local group of servers, a storage server is used to access the data. If the data is provided on an external group of servers, a proxy server is used to access the data. The proxy server interacts with an entity accessing the data in a manner that is substantially similar to interaction between the entity and the storage server. Using the proxy server may include initially providing an account id and a password. Following providing an account id and a password, using the proxy server may include using an account id and a shared secret. Using the proxy server may include using RSA ID tokens or cryptographic certificates.