Out source files

Hi all,

I would like to know if there is some common patterns to "out source"
the files served by a LAMP stack.

Technicaly speaking I would like to store my files (application data)
on another machine than the one that runs my PHP app. (as I already do
with MySql).

The best would be to use a secure connexion between my app. server and
the storage one (communication can be tunneled in SSH though).

Thanks,
Regards,
Manuel
.