A method for metadata management in a storage system may include providing a metadata queue of a maximum size; determining whether the metadata for a particular sub-LUN is held in the metadata queue; updating the metadata for the particular sub-LUN when the metadata for the particular sub-LUN is held in the metadata queue; inserting the metadata for the particular sub-LUN at the head of the metadata queue when the metadata queue is not full and the metadata is not held in the metadata queue; replacing an entry in the metadata queue with the metadata for the particular sub-LUN and moving the metadata to the head of the metadata queue when the metadata queue is full and the metadata is not held in the metadata queue; and controlling the number of sub-LUNs in the storage system to manage data accessed with respect to an amount of available data storage.