Yep, just data. Good to know, people get very vague with these kinds of things. I figure a steam of byes is a stream of bytes, not to the duplicator somehow, though.
Apparently not. Even once I managed to get a hold of the subcontractor he seemed dazed and confused with the whole issue. The terms like "filesystem" and "layer break" seemed foreign. Trying to locate an alternative...
Thanks very much for your help!