Under the present invention storage grid manager is provided that receives requests for storing files from users, based on certain performance parameters, the storage grid manager identifies selected storage cells of the enterprise storage system for storing the files. Thereafter, the storage grid manager routes the requests to the storage grid controllers associated with the selected storage cells. The storage grid controllers control access to the storage cells to ensure that only authorized access is granted. Once the files are stored, the storage grid manager will update a mapping to identify the precise storage cells in which each file is stored. Therefore, when a user issues a request to retrieve a file, the storage grid manager consults the mapping, identifies the corresponding storage cell and retrieves the file.