Virtual file structure for data storage system

A device comprising a processor configured to:

• identify, within a collection object stored in a data storage system, a reference to a data item stored in the data storage system, the collection object corresponding to a directory of a distributed file system and the reference including an address of the data item in the storage system;
• determine, based on the reference within the collection object, that a storage location of the data item is within a cluster of storage nodes included in the data storage system;
• send, based on the determining that the storage location of the data item is within the cluster of storage nodes, a request for the data item to the storage nodes included in the cluster;
• receive, in response to the request, one or more responses from one or more storage nodes, the one or more responses indicating that the one or more storage nodes each store the data item;
• select, based on data included in the one or more responses, a particular storage node included in the one or more storage nodes;
• send an additional request for the data item to the particular storage node;
• and
• receive, in response to the additional request, the data item from the particular storage node;
• wherein the identifying, the determining, the sending of the request, and the receiving of the data item are performed using an application programming interface (API).