A technique coordinates access to shared data on a remote device from a local device having local physical memory. The technique involves observing a page table entry (PTE) on the remote device. The PTE is stored in a page table used for managing virtual to physical address translations and handling page faults between semiconductor memory and magnetic disk drive memory on the remote device. The technique further involves blocking access to the shared data from the local device when the PTE indicates that shared data corresponding to the PTE is in use on the remote device. The technique further involves moving the shared data into the local physical memory from the semiconductor memory of the remote device, and providing access to the shared data in the local physical memory when the PTE indicates that shared data corresponding to the PTE is not in use on the remote device.