1. A method for obtaining a copy of a data object, comprising the steps of: receiving from at least one client computer a request for a second object, the second object making reference to the data object by use of a location-dependent identifier and a globally-unique location-independent identifier that identities the data object wherein the data object has an internal storage format capable of storing the globally-unique location-independent identifier; interrogating a cache table using the globally-unique location-independent identifier to determine whether a copy of the data object is cached, the cache table including a data column containing a location-dependent identifier, a second column containing the globally-unique location-independent identifier, and a third column containing a cache location pointer; and if the data object is cached, providing a cached copy of the data object to the client computer.