diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/InternalMessage.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/InternalMessage.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9deec66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/InternalMessage.java
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.impl;
+
+import com.google.common.base.MoreObjects;
+import org.onlab.util.ByteArraySizeHashPrinter;
+import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.Endpoint;
+
+/**
+ * Internal message representation with additional attributes
+ * for supporting, synchronous request/reply behavior.
+ */
+public final class InternalMessage {
+
+    private final long id;
+    private final Endpoint sender;
+    private final String type;
+    private final byte[] payload;
+
+    public InternalMessage(long id, Endpoint sender, String type, byte[] payload) {
+        this.id = id;
+        this.sender = sender;
+        this.type = type;
+        this.payload = payload;
+    }
+
+    public long id() {
+        return id;
+    }
+
+    public String type() {
+        return type;
+    }
+
+    public Endpoint sender() {
+        return sender;
+    }
+
+    public byte[] payload() {
+        return payload;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return MoreObjects.toStringHelper(this)
+                .add("id", id)
+                .add("type", type)
+                .add("sender", sender)
+                .add("payload", ByteArraySizeHashPrinter.of(payload))
+                .toString();
+    }
+}