We present a method for the efficient access to parts of remote files. The efficiency is achieved by using a file format independent compact pattern description, that allows us to request several parts of a file in a single operation. This results in a drastically reduced number of remote operations and network latencies if compared to common solutions. We measured the time to access parts of remote files with compact patterns, compared it with normal GridFTP remote partial file access and observed a significant performance increase. Further we discuss how the presented pattern access can be used for an efficient read from multiple replicas and how this can be integrated into a data management system to support the storage of partial replicas for large scale simulations.