16. A network storage server node as recited in claim 12 , wherein the metadata subsystem is configured to allow both fixed-schema storage and flexible-schema storage to be used to store metadata associated with the plurality of data objects.
16. A network storage server node as recited in claim 12 , wherein the metadata subsystem is configured to allow both fixed-schema storage and flexible-schema storage to be used to store metadata associated with the plurality of data objects. 17. A network storage server node as recited in claim 16 , wherein the metadata subsystem is configured to use both fixed-schema storage and flexible-schema storage concurrently to store metadata associated with the plurality of data objects.