Delayed delivery of query results or other data from a federated server to a federated client until such information is needed

1. Field of the Invention A technique for delayed delivery of query results or other data from a federated server to a federated client until such information is needed. One or more commands are executed at a client computer to retrieve data from one or more datastores connected to a server computer. At the client computer, a search request is transmitted to the server computer. Then, a client collection is generated for use in retrieving physical data from the server computer. When data is requested using the client collection, physical data is retrieved from the server computer.