diff --git a/storage/filewriter.go b/storage/filewriter.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cfa7c93de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/storage/filewriter.go
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+package storage
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/storagedriver"
+)
+
+// fileWriter implements a remote file writer backed by a storage driver.
+type fileWriter struct {
+	driver storagedriver.StorageDriver
+
+	// identifying fields
+	path string
+
+	// mutable fields
+	size   int64 // size of the file, aka the current end
+	offset int64 // offset is the current write offset
+	err    error // terminal error, if set, reader is closed
+}
+
+// fileWriterInterface makes the desired io compliant interface that the
+// filewriter should implement.
+type fileWriterInterface interface {
+	io.WriteSeeker
+	io.WriterAt
+	io.ReaderFrom
+	io.Closer
+}
+
+var _ fileWriterInterface = &fileWriter{}
+
+// newFileWriter returns a prepared fileWriter for the driver and path. This
+// could be considered similar to an "open" call on a regular filesystem.
+func newFileWriter(driver storagedriver.StorageDriver, path string) (*fileWriter, error) {
+	fw := fileWriter{
+		driver: driver,
+		path:   path,
+	}
+
+	if fi, err := driver.Stat(path); err != nil {
+		switch err := err.(type) {
+		case storagedriver.PathNotFoundError:
+			// ignore, offset is zero
+		default:
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	} else {
+		if fi.IsDir() {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot write to a directory")
+		}
+
+		fw.size = fi.Size()
+	}
+
+	return &fw, nil
+}
+
+// Write writes the buffer p at the current write offset.
+func (fw *fileWriter) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
+	nn, err := fw.readFromAt(bytes.NewReader(p), -1)
+	return int(nn), err
+}
+
+// WriteAt writes p at the specified offset. The underlying offset does not
+// change.
+func (fw *fileWriter) WriteAt(p []byte, offset int64) (n int, err error) {
+	nn, err := fw.readFromAt(bytes.NewReader(p), offset)
+	return int(nn), err
+}
+
+// ReadFrom reads reader r until io.EOF writing the contents at the current
+// offset.
+func (fw *fileWriter) ReadFrom(r io.Reader) (n int64, err error) {
+	return fw.readFromAt(r, -1)
+}
+
+// Seek moves the write position do the requested offest based on the whence
+// argument, which can be os.SEEK_CUR, os.SEEK_END, or os.SEEK_SET.
+func (fw *fileWriter) Seek(offset int64, whence int) (int64, error) {
+	if fw.err != nil {
+		return 0, fw.err
+	}
+
+	var err error
+	newOffset := fw.offset
+
+	switch whence {
+	case os.SEEK_CUR:
+		newOffset += int64(offset)
+	case os.SEEK_END:
+		newOffset = fw.size + int64(offset)
+	case os.SEEK_SET:
+		newOffset = int64(offset)
+	}
+
+	if newOffset < 0 {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("cannot seek to negative position")
+	} else if newOffset > fw.size {
+		fw.offset = newOffset
+		fw.size = newOffset
+	} else {
+		// No problems, set the offset.
+		fw.offset = newOffset
+	}
+
+	return fw.offset, err
+}
+
+// Close closes the fileWriter for writing.
+func (fw *fileWriter) Close() error {
+	if fw.err != nil {
+		return fw.err
+	}
+
+	fw.err = fmt.Errorf("filewriter@%v: closed", fw.path)
+
+	return fw.err
+}
+
+// readFromAt writes to fw from r at the specified offset. If offset is less
+// than zero, the value of fw.offset is used and updated after the operation.
+func (fw *fileWriter) readFromAt(r io.Reader, offset int64) (n int64, err error) {
+	if fw.err != nil {
+		return 0, fw.err
+	}
+
+	var updateOffset bool
+	if offset < 0 {
+		offset = fw.offset
+		updateOffset = true
+	}
+
+	nn, err := fw.driver.WriteStream(fw.path, offset, r)
+
+	if updateOffset {
+		// We should forward the offset, whether or not there was an error.
+		// Basically, we keep the filewriter in sync with the reader's head. If an
+		// error is encountered, the whole thing should be retried but we proceed
+		// from an expected offset, even if the data didn't make it to the
+		// backend.
+		fw.offset += nn
+
+		if fw.offset > fw.size {
+			fw.size = fw.offset
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nn, err
+}
diff --git a/storage/filewriter_test.go b/storage/filewriter_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2235462f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/storage/filewriter_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+package storage
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/digest"
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/storagedriver/inmemory"
+)
+
+// TestSimpleWrite takes the fileWriter through common write operations
+// ensuring data integrity.
+func TestSimpleWrite(t *testing.T) {
+	content := make([]byte, 1<<20)
+	n, err := rand.Read(content)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error building random data: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if n != len(content) {
+		t.Fatalf("random read did't fill buffer")
+	}
+
+	dgst, err := digest.FromReader(bytes.NewReader(content))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error digesting random content: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	driver := inmemory.New()
+	path := "/random"
+
+	fw, err := newFileWriter(driver, path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error creating fileWriter: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer fw.Close()
+
+	n, err = fw.Write(content)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error writing content: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if n != len(content) {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected write length: %d != %d", n, len(content))
+	}
+
+	fr, err := newFileReader(driver, path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error creating fileReader: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer fr.Close()
+
+	verifier := digest.NewDigestVerifier(dgst)
+	io.Copy(verifier, fr)
+
+	if !verifier.Verified() {
+		t.Fatalf("unable to verify write data")
+	}
+
+	// Check the seek position is equal to the content length
+	end, err := fw.Seek(0, os.SEEK_END)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error seeking: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if end != int64(len(content)) {
+		t.Fatalf("write did not advance offset: %d != %d", end, len(content))
+	}
+
+	// Double the content, but use the WriteAt method
+	doubled := append(content, content...)
+	doubledgst, err := digest.FromReader(bytes.NewReader(doubled))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error digesting doubled content: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	n, err = fw.WriteAt(content, end)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error writing content at %d: %v", end, err)
+	}
+
+	if n != len(content) {
+		t.Fatalf("writeat was short: %d != %d", n, len(content))
+	}
+
+	fr, err = newFileReader(driver, path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error creating fileReader: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer fr.Close()
+
+	verifier = digest.NewDigestVerifier(doubledgst)
+	io.Copy(verifier, fr)
+
+	if !verifier.Verified() {
+		t.Fatalf("unable to verify write data")
+	}
+
+	// Check that WriteAt didn't update the offset.
+	end, err = fw.Seek(0, os.SEEK_END)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error seeking: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if end != int64(len(content)) {
+		t.Fatalf("write did not advance offset: %d != %d", end, len(content))
+	}
+
+	// Now, we copy from one path to another, running the data through the
+	// fileReader to fileWriter, rather than the driver.Move command to ensure
+	// everything is working correctly.
+	fr, err = newFileReader(driver, path)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error creating fileReader: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer fr.Close()
+
+	fw, err = newFileWriter(driver, "/copied")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error creating fileWriter: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer fw.Close()
+
+	nn, err := io.Copy(fw, fr)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error copying data: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if nn != int64(len(doubled)) {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected copy length: %d != %d", nn, len(doubled))
+	}
+
+	fr, err = newFileReader(driver, "/copied")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error creating fileReader: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer fr.Close()
+
+	verifier = digest.NewDigestVerifier(doubledgst)
+	io.Copy(verifier, fr)
+
+	if !verifier.Verified() {
+		t.Fatalf("unable to verify write data")
+	}
+}