According to one embodiment there is provided a method for managing a location of an object in a storage system having hierarchical storage with a plurality of storage layers. The method includes transmitting a get-list request for viewing contents of a designated directory on the hierarchical storage. The method also includes receiving a response to the get-list request, the response including a list of objects in the designated directory and listing each storage layer corresponding to the objects. The list is output, and a select request to select a different storage layer for one of the objects is received. The select request is transmitted to the storage system for invoking migration of the selected object to the different storage layer. A second response is received from the storage system indicating the selected object is stored in the different storage layer, and an updated list is output.