1. A network storage system comprising: data storage that stores file data and metadata associated with the file data, wherein the file data and metadata are stored at least in a first format corresponding to a first file system and a second format corresponding to a second file system, wherein the second format is different than the first format; one or more application program interfaces (APIs) in communication with the data storage that define operations for reading and writing the file data and metadata in the first and second formats; and a metadata handler having a library of functions that handle at least the metadata in the first and second formats, the library of functions comprising a metadata object extraction function that accesses a metadata object having populated information corresponding to metadata fields used by the first and second formats, the populated information being in a third format, extracts the populated information from the metadata object, and cooperates with at least one of the one or more APIs to generate at least a portion of the metadata in at least one of the first and second formats from the extracted populated information.