A secondary host on a storage area network (SAN) replicates files utilized and/or managed by a primary host by direct transfer of the files over the SAN to achieve substantially network free file replication. The secondary host receives SAN-relative extent information from the primary host system, converts the SAN-relative extent information to local extent information that is used by the secondary host to retrieve the files directly from disk storage on the SAN. The secondary host may then retrieve the files from the SAN using the local extent information, and may store the files on storage elements of the SAN thus creating a copy of the files. The SAN-relative extent information may be received over an external network from the primary host system. The SAN-relative extent information may physically identify actual storage elements and may include an identifier that uniquely identifies the storage elements on the SAN. The SAN-relative extent information may include, for example, a worldwide name (WWN) to uniquely identify a storage element on the SAN.