A method of reading data from a partitioned directory incident to a serialized process. A first read and an offset value are received. A first data block in a modeled fully partitioned directory is identified based on the offset value and a predetermined number of entries associated with a buffer. It is determined whether the first data block in the fully partitioned directory is present in the actual partitioned directory. Zeros are written in the buffer if the first data block in the fully partitioned directory is not present in the actual partitioned directory otherwise the first data block associated with the actual partitioned directory is written to the buffer. A second data block is similarly read by a second read operation and written. The second data block is associated with a second subdirectory, selected based on a horizontal node traversal at a node level of said first subdirectory.