COPY to/from non-local file

I've been looking around for this functionality:
Is it possible to use COPY with a file that doesn't reside in the DB's
filesystem? I know there is sort of a solution in using COPY from stdin/
COPY to stdout, however that depends on calling the psql command, which
breaks the flow of control of the programs I'm trying to write.

Here's the story: I have a Ruby on Rails application which sits on
server A, and connects to a Postgres Database running on B. Using the
regular flow, the rails code writes into various tables, and then
generates a table that needs to be exported into a file which will be
used as input into a separate program, a simulator, and kept in the
filesystem of the Rails server. Using the COPY command would entail
either of
a) Using COPY to generate the file on server B, then transfer to A - but
how? ftp? I want to reduce this type of coupling
b) Using COPY TO STDOUT from psql, called in the Rails code with a
backtick, then gathering the output and filing it. - but this solution
depends on having psql in the path of the Rails server, reintroducing
the server credentials, and from a programming point of view is kind of
ugly.
c) The Postgres driver for Rails tries to give an interface to the COPY
command using "raw_connection", "getline" and "endcopy", but it's quite
brittle, so I'm avoiding it altogether.

At the moment I'm avoiding those solutions, and instead get the table
into Rails space with a CURSOR on a SELECT, then simply write the file
in Rails, one line at a time. However, the tables I'm writing are pretty
big, and the performance is so much worse than with COPY...

Any suggestions?
Thanks
Jaime

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