1. A method of managing file objects in a data storage system, comprising: providing a plurality of metadata servers, each metadata server having information for only a subset of file objects in the storage system, each subset for each of the metadata servers being less than a total number of file objects for the system; and providing at least one metadata location server, wherein an entity accessing a specific file object of the system determines which of the metadata servers contains data for the specific file object by first accessing the at least one metadata location server.