In one embodiment, a method includes determining a home node that corresponds to gateway (GW) nodes in a clustered file system, each GW node being eligible to process one or more read tasks, determining a peer GW eligibility value for more than one of the GW nodes in the clustered file system eligible to process one or more read tasks, and determining a single GW node from amongst the GW nodes having a highest peer GW eligibility value for each home node. Additionally, the method includes assigning and defining a size for one or more read task items for the GW nodes having the highest peer GW eligibility value for multiple home nodes based on a current dynamic profile of the GW nodes, and distributing workload to the GW nodes according to the size for each of the one or more read task items assigned to the GW nodes.