A method begins by a processing module receiving a dispersed storage network (DSN) access request accessing DSN memory regarding a set of encoded data slices, selecting a local DSN directory or a global DSN directory to produce a selected DSN directory, identifying an entry of the selected DSN directory regarding the set of encoded data slices to produce an identified entry, and accessing the DSN memory regarding the set of encoded data slices. The method continues with the processing module determining whether to update one or more of the local DSN directory and the global DSN directory based on the accessing the DSN memory and when the one or more of the local DSN directory and the global DSN directory is to be updated, updating the one or more of the local DSN directory and the global DSN directory in accordance with the accessing the DSN memory.