Various embodiments set forth techniques for managing and/or accessing metadata associated with a vblock, systems implementing said techniques, and computer-readable media storing instructions for performing said techniques. In some embodiments, one or more computer-readable media store instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform steps including receiving a request for metadata associated with a vblock; accessing a merged metadata record associated with the vblock, where the merged metadata record comprises metadata corresponding to metadata in metadata records for all but a last snapshot or a live vblock having a metadata record, and a first identifier of the last snapshot or the live vblock having a metadata record; and returning the requested metadata based on the metadata in the merged metadata record and metadata in the metadata record identified by the first identifier.