A method of deleting an entry from a storage system having a three tier volume storage structure, wherein at a first tier, a directory volume comprises directory metadata, at a second tier, a file volume comprises file metadata, and at a third tier, a shard volume comprises shard metadata and one or more shards storing file data, the directory metadata being used for accessing the file metadata at the file volume and the file metadata being used for accessing the one or more shards storing the file data, comprising: receiving, at the storage system, a deletion request for the entry, the entry corresponding to either a file or a directory in the storage system; determining directory metadata from a directory volume, the directory metadata associated with the entry; determining whether the entry corresponds to the file or the directory based on the directory metadata; based on a determination that the entry corresponds to the directory: requesting deletion of the directory metadata associated with the entry from the directory volume; and based on a determination that the entry corresponds to the file: requesting deletion of the directory metadata associated with the entry from the directory volume; determining, based on the directory metadata, a file volume containing file metadata for the file, the file metadata comprising a shard volume identifier identifying a shard volume where one or more shards are located and a shard identifier identifying the one or more shards within the shard volume that contain the file; requesting deletion of the file metadata from the file volume; requesting deletion of the shard identifier from the shard volume; and requesting deletion of the file from the file volume. receiving, at the storage system, a deletion request for the entry, the entry corresponding to either a file or a directory in the storage system; determining directory metadata from a directory volume, the directory metadata associated with the entry; determining whether the entry corresponds to the file or the directory based on the directory metadata; based on a determination that the entry corresponds to the directory: requesting deletion of the directory metadata associated with the entry from the directory volume; and based on a determination that the entry corresponds to the file: requesting deletion of the directory metadata associated with the entry from the directory volume; determining, based on the directory metadata, a file volume containing file metadata for the file, the file metadata comprising a shard volume identifier identifying a shard volume where one or more shards are located and a shard identifier identifying the one or more shards within the shard volume that contain the file; requesting deletion of the file metadata from the file volume; requesting deletion of the shard identifier from the shard volume; and requesting deletion of the file from the file volume. requesting deletion of the directory metadata associated with the entry from the directory volume; and based on a determination that the entry corresponds to the file: requesting deletion of the directory metadata associated with the entry from the directory volume; determining, based on the directory metadata, a file volume containing file metadata for the file, the file metadata comprising a shard volume identifier identifying a shard volume where one or more shards are located and a shard identifier identifying the one or more shards within the shard volume that contain the file; requesting deletion of the file metadata from the file volume; requesting deletion of the shard identifier from the shard volume; and requesting deletion of the file from the file volume. requesting deletion of the directory metadata associated with the entry from the directory volume; determining, based on the directory metadata, a file volume containing file metadata for the file, the file metadata comprising a shard volume identifier identifying a shard volume where one or more shards are located and a shard identifier identifying the one or more shards within the shard volume that contain the file; requesting deletion of the file metadata from the file volume; requesting deletion of the shard identifier from the shard volume; and requesting deletion of the file from the file volume.