1. A method of operating a data identification system for providing an aggregate file system view of a storage environment, the method comprising: receiving requests from a data utility for a plurality of data items on a plurality of virtual drives within a plurality of virtual machines; identifying a plurality of hypervisors contained within the storage environment; identifying the plurality of virtual machines stored by the plurality of hypervisors in accordance with a plurality of source formats; identifying the plurality of virtual drives contained within the plurality of virtual machines; identifying the plurality of data items of the plurality of virtual drives and providing a data item handle for each of the plurality of data items; generating the aggregate file system view of the plurality of virtual machines in the storage environment, wherein the aggregate file system view comprises the plurality of hypervisors, the plurality of virtual machines, the plurality of virtual drives, and the plurality of data items of the plurality of virtual drives including the data item handle for each of the plurality of data items; and providing the aggregate file system view of the plurality of virtual machines in the storage environment to the data utility.