1. A method for performing a read operation on a set of file system metadata, the method comprising: receiving a metadata key associated with a value stored in a file system metadata tree that stores file system metadata in leaf nodes, and a view identifier that identifies a view; identifying a first root node in the file system metadata tree associated with the view; traversing the file system metadata tree from the first root node to a first leaf node associated with the metadata key; and reading the first leaf node to obtain the stored value, wherein each leaf node in the file system metadata tree stores a single metadata key-value pair.