Server-server file copy question

Hi, I am using PHP 4.4.2.. I need a function to copy a file from one server to another. The src/dst filenames are relative to the Document Root of the website, but I can build an absolute path name if necessary. I can't use ftp because the ftp ports are closed on these servers. I would like to use http or ssh for the file transfer. The application is that multiple files can be copied from website to website on our various servers. I have been looking around at mailing lists, etc but haven't found a function described which does a non-ftp inter-IP file copy, only client/server file uploads and ftp functions. TIA, Rich