Abstract: Embodiments are directed to permitting client devices that connect remotely to an enterprise network to operate in a site-aware manner. In distributed file systems, files may be replicated in multiple places across a network. Embodiments are directed to providing requesting clients referrals (or paths) to replicas of desired information that are accessible by the requesting client with the least overall “cost” to the client and the network. The present systems and methods allow remote client devices to reliably identify a site with their referral requests so that the referring server(s) may provide site-aware referrals in response to the requests.