diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/DecoderState.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/DecoderState.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e113a3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/DecoderState.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+/*
+ * 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;
+
+/**
+ * State transitions a decoder goes through as it is decoding an incoming message.
+ */
+public enum DecoderState {
+    READ_MESSAGE_PREAMBLE,
+    READ_MESSAGE_ID,
+    READ_SENDER_IP_VERSION,
+    READ_SENDER_IP,
+    READ_SENDER_PORT,
+    READ_MESSAGE_TYPE_LENGTH,
+    READ_MESSAGE_TYPE,
+    READ_CONTENT_LENGTH,
+    READ_CONTENT
+}
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();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/MessageDecoder.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/MessageDecoder.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..149b706
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/MessageDecoder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+/*
+ * 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.Charsets;
+import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.ReplayingDecoder;
+import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress;
+import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress.Version;
+import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.Endpoint;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkState;
+
+/**
+ * Decoder for inbound messages.
+ */
+public class MessageDecoder extends ReplayingDecoder<DecoderState> {
+
+    private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
+
+    private final int correctPreamble;
+    private long messageId;
+    private int preamble;
+    private Version ipVersion;
+    private IpAddress senderIp;
+    private int senderPort;
+    private int messageTypeLength;
+    private String messageType;
+    private int contentLength;
+
+    public MessageDecoder(int correctPreamble) {
+        super(DecoderState.READ_MESSAGE_PREAMBLE);
+        this.correctPreamble = correctPreamble;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    @SuppressWarnings("squid:S128") // suppress switch fall through warning
+    protected void decode(
+            ChannelHandlerContext context,
+            ByteBuf buffer,
+            List<Object> out) throws Exception {
+
+        switch (state()) {
+        case READ_MESSAGE_PREAMBLE:
+            preamble = buffer.readInt();
+            if (preamble != correctPreamble) {
+                throw new IllegalStateException("This message had an incorrect preamble.");
+            }
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_MESSAGE_ID);
+        case READ_MESSAGE_ID:
+            messageId = buffer.readLong();
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_SENDER_IP_VERSION);
+        case READ_SENDER_IP_VERSION:
+            ipVersion = buffer.readByte() == 0x0 ? Version.INET : Version.INET6;
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_SENDER_IP);
+        case READ_SENDER_IP:
+            byte[] octets = new byte[IpAddress.byteLength(ipVersion)];
+            buffer.readBytes(octets);
+            senderIp = IpAddress.valueOf(ipVersion, octets);
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_SENDER_PORT);
+        case READ_SENDER_PORT:
+            senderPort = buffer.readInt();
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_MESSAGE_TYPE_LENGTH);
+        case READ_MESSAGE_TYPE_LENGTH:
+            messageTypeLength = buffer.readInt();
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_MESSAGE_TYPE);
+        case READ_MESSAGE_TYPE:
+            byte[] messageTypeBytes = new byte[messageTypeLength];
+            buffer.readBytes(messageTypeBytes);
+            messageType = new String(messageTypeBytes, Charsets.UTF_8);
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_CONTENT_LENGTH);
+        case READ_CONTENT_LENGTH:
+            contentLength = buffer.readInt();
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_CONTENT);
+        case READ_CONTENT:
+            //TODO Perform a sanity check on the size before allocating
+            byte[] payload = new byte[contentLength];
+            buffer.readBytes(payload);
+            InternalMessage message = new InternalMessage(messageId,
+                                                          new Endpoint(senderIp, senderPort),
+                                                          messageType,
+                                                          payload);
+            out.add(message);
+            checkpoint(DecoderState.READ_MESSAGE_PREAMBLE);
+            break;
+         default:
+            checkState(false, "Must not be here");
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext context, Throwable cause) {
+        log.error("Exception inside channel handling pipeline.", cause);
+        context.close();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/MessageEncoder.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/MessageEncoder.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48c75dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/MessageEncoder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/*
+ * 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.Charsets;
+import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandler.Sharable;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
+import io.netty.handler.codec.MessageToByteEncoder;
+import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress;
+import org.onlab.packet.IpAddress.Version;
+import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.Endpoint;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+/**
+ * Encode InternalMessage out into a byte buffer.
+ */
+@Sharable
+public class MessageEncoder extends MessageToByteEncoder<InternalMessage> {
+
+    private final int preamble;
+
+    public MessageEncoder(int preamble) {
+        super();
+        this.preamble = preamble;
+    }
+
+    private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
+
+    @Override
+    protected void encode(
+            ChannelHandlerContext context,
+            InternalMessage message,
+            ByteBuf out) throws Exception {
+
+        out.writeInt(this.preamble);
+
+        // write message id
+        out.writeLong(message.id());
+
+        Endpoint sender = message.sender();
+
+        IpAddress senderIp = sender.host();
+        if (senderIp.version() == Version.INET) {
+            out.writeByte(0);
+        } else {
+            out.writeByte(1);
+        }
+        out.writeBytes(senderIp.toOctets());
+
+        // write sender port
+        out.writeInt(sender.port());
+
+        byte[] messageTypeBytes = message.type().getBytes(Charsets.UTF_8);
+
+        // write length of message type
+        out.writeInt(messageTypeBytes.length);
+
+        // write message type bytes
+        out.writeBytes(messageTypeBytes);
+
+        byte[] payload = message.payload();
+
+        // write payload length
+        out.writeInt(payload.length);
+
+        // write payload.
+        out.writeBytes(payload);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext context, Throwable cause) {
+        if (cause instanceof IOException) {
+            log.debug("IOException inside channel handling pipeline.", cause);
+        } else {
+            log.error("non-IOException inside channel handling pipeline.", cause);
+        }
+        context.close();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/NettyMessagingManager.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/NettyMessagingManager.java
index ca6f9c1..3d4a4f7 100644
--- a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/NettyMessagingManager.java
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onosproject/store/cluster/messaging/impl/NettyMessagingManager.java
@@ -17,29 +17,114 @@
 
 import com.google.common.base.Strings;
 
+import com.google.common.cache.Cache;
+import com.google.common.cache.CacheBuilder;
+import com.google.common.cache.RemovalListener;
+import com.google.common.cache.RemovalNotification;
+import com.google.common.util.concurrent.MoreExecutors;
+import io.netty.bootstrap.Bootstrap;
+import io.netty.bootstrap.ServerBootstrap;
+import io.netty.buffer.PooledByteBufAllocator;
+import io.netty.channel.Channel;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandler;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelInitializer;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
+import io.netty.channel.EventLoopGroup;
+import io.netty.channel.ServerChannel;
+import io.netty.channel.SimpleChannelInboundHandler;
+import io.netty.channel.epoll.EpollEventLoopGroup;
+import io.netty.channel.epoll.EpollServerSocketChannel;
+import io.netty.channel.epoll.EpollSocketChannel;
+import io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoopGroup;
+import io.netty.channel.socket.SocketChannel;
+import io.netty.channel.socket.nio.NioServerSocketChannel;
+import io.netty.channel.socket.nio.NioSocketChannel;
+import org.apache.commons.pool.KeyedPoolableObjectFactory;
+import org.apache.commons.pool.impl.GenericKeyedObjectPool;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Activate;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Component;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Deactivate;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Reference;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.ReferenceCardinality;
 import org.apache.felix.scr.annotations.Service;
-import org.onlab.netty.NettyMessaging;
+import org.onlab.netty.InternalMessage;
+import org.onlab.netty.MessageDecoder;
+import org.onlab.netty.MessageEncoder;
+import org.onlab.util.Tools;
 import org.onosproject.cluster.ClusterMetadataService;
 import org.onosproject.cluster.ControllerNode;
 import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.Endpoint;
+import org.onosproject.store.cluster.messaging.MessagingService;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+import javax.net.ssl.KeyManagerFactory;
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLContext;
+import javax.net.ssl.SSLEngine;
+import javax.net.ssl.TrustManagerFactory;
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.security.KeyStore;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
+import java.util.concurrent.RejectedExecutionException;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
+import java.util.function.BiConsumer;
+import java.util.function.BiFunction;
+import java.util.function.Consumer;
+
 /**
  * Netty based MessagingService.
  */
 @Component(immediate = true, enabled = true)
 @Service
-public class NettyMessagingManager extends NettyMessaging {
+public class NettyMessagingManager implements MessagingService {
+
+    private static final short MIN_KS_LENGTH = 6;
 
     private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
 
-    private static final short MIN_KS_LENGTH = 6;
+    private static final String REPLY_MESSAGE_TYPE = "NETTY_MESSAGING_REQUEST_REPLY";
+
+    private Endpoint localEp;
+    private int preamble;
+    private final AtomicBoolean started = new AtomicBoolean(false);
+    private final Map<String, Consumer<InternalMessage>> handlers = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+    private final AtomicLong messageIdGenerator = new AtomicLong(0);
+    private final Cache<Long, Callback> callbacks = CacheBuilder.newBuilder()
+            .expireAfterWrite(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+            .removalListener(new RemovalListener<Long, Callback>() {
+                @Override
+                public void onRemoval(RemovalNotification<Long, Callback> entry) {
+                    if (entry.wasEvicted()) {
+                        entry.getValue().completeExceptionally(new TimeoutException("Timedout waiting for reply"));
+                    }
+                }
+            })
+            .build();
+
+    private final GenericKeyedObjectPool<Endpoint, Connection> channels
+            = new GenericKeyedObjectPool<Endpoint, Connection>(new OnosCommunicationChannelFactory());
+
+    private EventLoopGroup serverGroup;
+    private EventLoopGroup clientGroup;
+    private Class<? extends ServerChannel> serverChannelClass;
+    private Class<? extends Channel> clientChannelClass;
+
+    protected static final boolean TLS_DISABLED = false;
+    protected boolean enableNettyTls = TLS_DISABLED;
+
+    protected String ksLocation;
+    protected String tsLocation;
+    protected char[] ksPwd;
+    protected char[] tsPwd;
 
     @Reference(cardinality = ReferenceCardinality.MANDATORY_UNARY)
     protected ClusterMetadataService clusterMetadataService;
@@ -48,14 +133,32 @@
     public void activate() throws Exception {
         ControllerNode localNode = clusterMetadataService.getLocalNode();
         getTlsParameters();
-        super.start(clusterMetadataService.getClusterMetadata().getName().hashCode(),
-                    new Endpoint(localNode.ip(), localNode.tcpPort()));
+
+        if (started.get()) {
+            log.warn("Already running at local endpoint: {}", localEp);
+            return;
+        }
+        this.preamble = clusterMetadataService.getClusterMetadata().getName().hashCode();
+        this.localEp = new Endpoint(localNode.ip(), localNode.tcpPort());
+        channels.setLifo(true);
+        channels.setTestOnBorrow(true);
+        channels.setTestOnReturn(true);
+        channels.setMinEvictableIdleTimeMillis(60_000L);
+        channels.setTimeBetweenEvictionRunsMillis(30_000L);
+        initEventLoopGroup();
+        startAcceptingConnections();
+        started.set(true);
         log.info("Started");
     }
 
     @Deactivate
     public void deactivate() throws Exception {
-        super.stop();
+        if (started.get()) {
+            channels.close();
+            serverGroup.shutdownGracefully();
+            clientGroup.shutdownGracefully();
+            started.set(false);
+        }
         log.info("Stopped");
     }
 
@@ -86,4 +189,409 @@
             }
         }
     }
+    private void initEventLoopGroup() {
+        // try Epoll first and if that does work, use nio.
+        try {
+            clientGroup = new EpollEventLoopGroup();
+            serverGroup = new EpollEventLoopGroup();
+            serverChannelClass = EpollServerSocketChannel.class;
+            clientChannelClass = EpollSocketChannel.class;
+            return;
+        } catch (Throwable e) {
+            log.debug("Failed to initialize native (epoll) transport. "
+                              + "Reason: {}. Proceeding with nio.", e.getMessage());
+        }
+        clientGroup = new NioEventLoopGroup();
+        serverGroup = new NioEventLoopGroup();
+        serverChannelClass = NioServerSocketChannel.class;
+        clientChannelClass = NioSocketChannel.class;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<Void> sendAsync(Endpoint ep, String type, byte[] payload) {
+        InternalMessage message = new InternalMessage(messageIdGenerator.incrementAndGet(),
+                                                      localEp,
+                                                      type,
+                                                      payload);
+        return sendAsync(ep, message);
+    }
+
+    protected CompletableFuture<Void> sendAsync(Endpoint ep, InternalMessage message) {
+        if (ep.equals(localEp)) {
+            try {
+                dispatchLocally(message);
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                return Tools.exceptionalFuture(e);
+            }
+            return CompletableFuture.completedFuture(null);
+        }
+
+        CompletableFuture<Void> future = new CompletableFuture<>();
+        try {
+            Connection connection = null;
+            try {
+                connection = channels.borrowObject(ep);
+                connection.send(message, future);
+            } finally {
+                channels.returnObject(ep, connection);
+            }
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            future.completeExceptionally(e);
+        }
+        return future;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<byte[]> sendAndReceive(Endpoint ep, String type, byte[] payload) {
+        return sendAndReceive(ep, type, payload, MoreExecutors.directExecutor());
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public CompletableFuture<byte[]> sendAndReceive(Endpoint ep, String type, byte[] payload, Executor executor) {
+        CompletableFuture<byte[]> response = new CompletableFuture<>();
+        Callback callback = new Callback(response, executor);
+        Long messageId = messageIdGenerator.incrementAndGet();
+        callbacks.put(messageId, callback);
+        InternalMessage message = new InternalMessage(messageId, localEp, type, payload);
+        return sendAsync(ep, message).whenComplete((r, e) -> {
+            if (e != null) {
+                callbacks.invalidate(messageId);
+            }
+        }).thenCompose(v -> response);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void registerHandler(String type, BiConsumer<Endpoint, byte[]> handler, Executor executor) {
+        handlers.put(type, message -> executor.execute(() -> handler.accept(message.sender(), message.payload())));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void registerHandler(String type, BiFunction<Endpoint, byte[], byte[]> handler, Executor executor) {
+        handlers.put(type, message -> executor.execute(() -> {
+            byte[] responsePayload = handler.apply(message.sender(), message.payload());
+            if (responsePayload != null) {
+                InternalMessage response = new InternalMessage(message.id(),
+                                                               localEp,
+                                                               REPLY_MESSAGE_TYPE,
+                                                               responsePayload);
+                sendAsync(message.sender(), response).whenComplete((result, error) -> {
+                    if (error != null) {
+                        log.debug("Failed to respond", error);
+                    }
+                });
+            }
+        }));
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void registerHandler(String type, BiFunction<Endpoint, byte[], CompletableFuture<byte[]>> handler) {
+        handlers.put(type, message -> {
+            handler.apply(message.sender(), message.payload()).whenComplete((result, error) -> {
+                if (error == null) {
+                    InternalMessage response = new InternalMessage(message.id(),
+                                                                   localEp,
+                                                                   REPLY_MESSAGE_TYPE,
+                                                                   result);
+                    sendAsync(message.sender(), response).whenComplete((r, e) -> {
+                        if (e != null) {
+                            log.debug("Failed to respond", e);
+                        }
+                    });
+                }
+            });
+        });
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void unregisterHandler(String type) {
+        handlers.remove(type);
+    }
+
+    private void startAcceptingConnections() throws InterruptedException {
+        ServerBootstrap b = new ServerBootstrap();
+        b.option(ChannelOption.WRITE_BUFFER_HIGH_WATER_MARK, 32 * 1024);
+        b.option(ChannelOption.WRITE_BUFFER_LOW_WATER_MARK, 8 * 1024);
+        b.option(ChannelOption.SO_RCVBUF, 1048576);
+        b.option(ChannelOption.TCP_NODELAY, true);
+        b.option(ChannelOption.ALLOCATOR, PooledByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
+        b.group(serverGroup, clientGroup);
+        b.channel(serverChannelClass);
+        if (enableNettyTls) {
+            b.childHandler(new SslServerCommunicationChannelInitializer());
+        } else {
+            b.childHandler(new OnosCommunicationChannelInitializer());
+        }
+        b.option(ChannelOption.SO_BACKLOG, 128);
+        b.childOption(ChannelOption.SO_KEEPALIVE, true);
+
+        // Bind and start to accept incoming connections.
+        b.bind(localEp.port()).sync().addListener(future -> {
+            if (future.isSuccess()) {
+                log.info("{} accepting incoming connections on port {}", localEp.host(), localEp.port());
+            } else {
+                log.warn("{} failed to bind to port {}", localEp.host(), localEp.port(), future.cause());
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    private class OnosCommunicationChannelFactory
+            implements KeyedPoolableObjectFactory<Endpoint, Connection> {
+
+        @Override
+        public void activateObject(Endpoint endpoint,  Connection connection)
+                throws Exception {
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void destroyObject(Endpoint ep, Connection connection) throws Exception {
+            log.debug("Closing connection to {}", ep);
+            //Is this the right way to destroy?
+            connection.destroy();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public Connection makeObject(Endpoint ep) throws Exception {
+            Bootstrap bootstrap = new Bootstrap();
+            bootstrap.option(ChannelOption.ALLOCATOR, PooledByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT);
+            bootstrap.option(ChannelOption.WRITE_BUFFER_HIGH_WATER_MARK, 10 * 64 * 1024);
+            bootstrap.option(ChannelOption.WRITE_BUFFER_LOW_WATER_MARK, 10 * 32 * 1024);
+            bootstrap.option(ChannelOption.SO_SNDBUF, 1048576);
+            bootstrap.option(ChannelOption.CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS, 1000);
+            bootstrap.group(clientGroup);
+            // TODO: Make this faster:
+            // http://normanmaurer.me/presentations/2014-facebook-eng-netty/slides.html#37.0
+            bootstrap.channel(clientChannelClass);
+            bootstrap.option(ChannelOption.SO_KEEPALIVE, true);
+            if (enableNettyTls) {
+                bootstrap.handler(new SslClientCommunicationChannelInitializer());
+            } else {
+                bootstrap.handler(new OnosCommunicationChannelInitializer());
+            }
+            // Start the client.
+            CompletableFuture<Channel> retFuture = new CompletableFuture<>();
+            ChannelFuture f = bootstrap.connect(ep.host().toString(), ep.port());
+
+            f.addListener(future -> {
+                if (future.isSuccess()) {
+                    retFuture.complete(f.channel());
+                } else {
+                    retFuture.completeExceptionally(future.cause());
+                }
+            });
+            log.debug("Established a new connection to {}", ep);
+            return new Connection(retFuture);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void passivateObject(Endpoint ep, Connection connection)
+                throws Exception {
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean validateObject(Endpoint ep, Connection connection) {
+            return connection.validate();
+        }
+    }
+
+    private class SslServerCommunicationChannelInitializer extends ChannelInitializer<SocketChannel> {
+
+        private final ChannelHandler dispatcher = new InboundMessageDispatcher();
+        private final ChannelHandler encoder = new MessageEncoder(preamble);
+
+        @Override
+        protected void initChannel(SocketChannel channel) throws Exception {
+            TrustManagerFactory tmFactory = TrustManagerFactory.getInstance(TrustManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
+            KeyStore ts = KeyStore.getInstance("JKS");
+            ts.load(new FileInputStream(tsLocation), tsPwd);
+            tmFactory.init(ts);
+
+            KeyManagerFactory kmf = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance(KeyManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
+            KeyStore ks = KeyStore.getInstance("JKS");
+            ks.load(new FileInputStream(ksLocation), ksPwd);
+            kmf.init(ks, ksPwd);
+
+            SSLContext serverContext = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
+            serverContext.init(kmf.getKeyManagers(), tmFactory.getTrustManagers(), null);
+
+            SSLEngine serverSslEngine = serverContext.createSSLEngine();
+
+            serverSslEngine.setNeedClientAuth(true);
+            serverSslEngine.setUseClientMode(false);
+            serverSslEngine.setEnabledProtocols(serverSslEngine.getSupportedProtocols());
+            serverSslEngine.setEnabledCipherSuites(serverSslEngine.getSupportedCipherSuites());
+            serverSslEngine.setEnableSessionCreation(true);
+
+            channel.pipeline().addLast("ssl", new io.netty.handler.ssl.SslHandler(serverSslEngine))
+                    .addLast("encoder", encoder)
+                    .addLast("decoder", new MessageDecoder(preamble))
+                    .addLast("handler", dispatcher);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private class SslClientCommunicationChannelInitializer extends ChannelInitializer<SocketChannel> {
+
+        private final ChannelHandler dispatcher = new InboundMessageDispatcher();
+        private final ChannelHandler encoder = new MessageEncoder(preamble);
+
+        @Override
+        protected void initChannel(SocketChannel channel) throws Exception {
+            TrustManagerFactory tmFactory = TrustManagerFactory.getInstance(TrustManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
+            KeyStore ts = KeyStore.getInstance("JKS");
+            ts.load(new FileInputStream(tsLocation), tsPwd);
+            tmFactory.init(ts);
+
+            KeyManagerFactory kmf = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance(KeyManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
+            KeyStore ks = KeyStore.getInstance("JKS");
+            ks.load(new FileInputStream(ksLocation), ksPwd);
+            kmf.init(ks, ksPwd);
+
+            SSLContext clientContext = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
+            clientContext.init(kmf.getKeyManagers(), tmFactory.getTrustManagers(), null);
+
+            SSLEngine clientSslEngine = clientContext.createSSLEngine();
+
+            clientSslEngine.setUseClientMode(true);
+            clientSslEngine.setEnabledProtocols(clientSslEngine.getSupportedProtocols());
+            clientSslEngine.setEnabledCipherSuites(clientSslEngine.getSupportedCipherSuites());
+            clientSslEngine.setEnableSessionCreation(true);
+
+            channel.pipeline().addLast("ssl", new io.netty.handler.ssl.SslHandler(clientSslEngine))
+                    .addLast("encoder", encoder)
+                    .addLast("decoder", new MessageDecoder(preamble))
+                    .addLast("handler", dispatcher);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private class OnosCommunicationChannelInitializer extends ChannelInitializer<SocketChannel> {
+
+        private final ChannelHandler dispatcher = new InboundMessageDispatcher();
+        private final ChannelHandler encoder = new MessageEncoder(preamble);
+
+        @Override
+        protected void initChannel(SocketChannel channel) throws Exception {
+            channel.pipeline()
+                    .addLast("encoder", encoder)
+                    .addLast("decoder", new MessageDecoder(preamble))
+                    .addLast("handler", dispatcher);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @ChannelHandler.Sharable
+    private class InboundMessageDispatcher extends SimpleChannelInboundHandler<InternalMessage> {
+
+        @Override
+        protected void channelRead0(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, InternalMessage message) throws Exception {
+            try {
+                dispatchLocally(message);
+            } catch (RejectedExecutionException e) {
+                log.warn("Unable to dispatch message due to {}", e.getMessage());
+            }
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext context, Throwable cause) {
+            log.error("Exception inside channel handling pipeline.", cause);
+            context.close();
+        }
+    }
+    private void dispatchLocally(InternalMessage message) throws IOException {
+        String type = message.type();
+        if (REPLY_MESSAGE_TYPE.equals(type)) {
+            try {
+                Callback callback =
+                        callbacks.getIfPresent(message.id());
+                if (callback != null) {
+                    callback.complete(message.payload());
+                } else {
+                    log.warn("Received a reply for message id:[{}]. "
+                                     + " from {}. But was unable to locate the"
+                                     + " request handle", message.id(), message.sender());
+                }
+            } finally {
+                callbacks.invalidate(message.id());
+            }
+            return;
+        }
+        Consumer<InternalMessage> handler = handlers.get(type);
+        if (handler != null) {
+            handler.accept(message);
+        } else {
+            log.debug("No handler registered for {}", type);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private final class Callback {
+        private final CompletableFuture<byte[]> future;
+        private final Executor executor;
+
+        public Callback(CompletableFuture<byte[]> future, Executor executor) {
+            this.future = future;
+            this.executor = executor;
+        }
+
+        public void complete(byte[] value) {
+            executor.execute(() -> future.complete(value));
+        }
+
+        public void completeExceptionally(Throwable error) {
+            executor.execute(() -> future.completeExceptionally(error));
+        }
+    }
+    private final class Connection {
+        private final CompletableFuture<Channel> internalFuture;
+
+        public Connection(CompletableFuture<Channel> internalFuture) {
+            this.internalFuture = internalFuture;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Sends a message out on its channel and associated the message with a
+         * completable future used for signaling.
+         * @param message the message to be sent
+         * @param future a future that is completed normally or exceptionally if
+         *               message sending succeeds or fails respectively
+         */
+        public void send(Object message, CompletableFuture<Void> future) {
+            internalFuture.whenComplete((channel, throwable) -> {
+                if (throwable == null) {
+                    channel.writeAndFlush(message).addListener(channelFuture -> {
+                        if (!channelFuture.isSuccess()) {
+                            future.completeExceptionally(channelFuture.cause());
+                        } else {
+                            future.complete(null);
+                        }
+                    });
+                } else {
+                    future.completeExceptionally(throwable);
+                }
+            });
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Destroys a channel by closing its channel (if it exists) and
+         * cancelling its future.
+         */
+        public void destroy() {
+            Channel channel = internalFuture.getNow(null);
+            if (channel != null) {
+                channel.close();
+            }
+            internalFuture.cancel(false);
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Determines whether the connection is valid meaning it is either
+         * complete with and active channel
+         * or it has not yet completed.
+         * @return true if the channel has an active connection or has not
+         * yet completed
+         */
+        public boolean validate() {
+            if (internalFuture.isCompletedExceptionally()) {
+                return false;
+            }
+            Channel channel = internalFuture.getNow(null);
+            return channel == null || channel.isActive();
+        }
+    }
 }