According to one embodiment, a metadata management system (MDS) may include partitioned migratable metadata. Metadata may be stored in multiple metadata partitions (102-0 to 102-11). Each metadata partition may be assigned to a particular system resource (104-0 to 104-5). According to predetermined policies, such as metadata aging, metadata stored in one metadata partition may be migrated to a different metadata partition. A forwarding object can be placed in the old metadata partition to indicate the new location of the migrated metadata. Metadata partitions (102-0 to 102-11) may be reassigned to different resources, split and/or merged allowing a high degree of scalability, as well as flexibility in meeting storage system needs.