Abstract: Embodiments are directed to bandwidth management in distributed file systems. A request stored in a queue may be dequeued. A work credit value may be determined based on a duration since a last job and a work rate associated with the file system such that the work credit value conforms to a maximum threshold value. A job may be initialized based on the dequeued request such that the work credit value may be reduced based on a size of the job. In response to the reduced work credit value being a negative value further actions may be performed, including: determining a time delay based on the reduced work credit value, the work rate, and the size of the job; delaying an execution of the job until the expiry of the time delay such that upon expiry of the time delay, the job is executed to satisfy the request.