An improved solution for managing a file system that includes an archive is provided. In particular, a request for a file system operation can be received and performed on an object that is stored in an archive. The file system operation can be received from a first computer and performed on the object on a second computer. Further, an archive manager can be included that manages an extensible set of archive handlers. In this case, each archive handler can implement a set of file system operations for archives of a particular archive type.