diff --git a/utils/junit/src/main/java/org/onlab/junit/TestTools.java b/utils/junit/src/main/java/org/onlab/junit/TestTools.java
index 959d5d9..75e0909 100644
--- a/utils/junit/src/main/java/org/onlab/junit/TestTools.java
+++ b/utils/junit/src/main/java/org/onlab/junit/TestTools.java
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
     private TestTools() {
     }
 
+    public static void print(String msg) {
+        System.out.print(msg);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Suspends the current thread for a specified number of millis.
      *
diff --git a/utils/misc/pom.xml b/utils/misc/pom.xml
index 899edcf..b451b50 100644
--- a/utils/misc/pom.xml
+++ b/utils/misc/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
             <artifactId>guava-testlib</artifactId>
-            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.onlab.onos</groupId>
+            <artifactId>onlab-junit</artifactId>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>io.netty</groupId>
diff --git a/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Counter.java b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Counter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae97b76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/misc/src/main/java/org/onlab/util/Counter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+package org.onlab.util;
+
+import java.util.Objects;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.MoreObjects.toStringHelper;
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkArgument;
+
+/**
+ * Counting mechanism capable of tracking occurrences and rates.
+ */
+public class Counter {
+
+    private long total = 0;
+    private long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
+    private long end = 0;
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new counter.
+     */
+    public Counter() {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new counter in a specific state. If non-zero end time is
+     * specified, the counter will be frozen.
+     *
+     * @param start start time
+     * @param total total number of items to start with
+     * @param end   end time; if non-ze
+     */
+    public Counter(long start, long total, long end) {
+        checkArgument(start <= end, "Malformed interval: start > end");
+        checkArgument(total >= 0, "Total must be non-negative");
+        this.start = start;
+        this.total = total;
+        this.end = end;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Resets the counter, by zeroing out the count and restarting the timer.
+     */
+    public synchronized void reset() {
+        end = 0;
+        total = 0;
+        start = System.currentTimeMillis();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Freezes the counter in the current state including the counts and times.
+     */
+    public synchronized void freeze() {
+        end = System.currentTimeMillis();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Adds the specified number of occurrences to the counter.  No-op if the
+     * counter has been frozen.
+     *
+     * @param count number of occurrences
+     */
+    public synchronized void add(long count) {
+        checkArgument(count >= 0, "Count must be non-negative");
+        if (end == 0L) {
+            total += count;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the number of occurrences per second.
+     *
+     * @return throughput in occurrences per second
+     */
+    public synchronized double throughput() {
+        return total / duration();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the total number of occurrences counted.
+     *
+     * @return number of counted occurrences
+     */
+    public synchronized long total() {
+        return total;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the duration expressed in fractional number of seconds.
+     *
+     * @return fractional number of seconds since the last reset
+     */
+    public synchronized double duration() {
+        //  Protect against 0 return by artificially setting duration to 1ms
+        long duration = (end == 0L ? System.currentTimeMillis() : end) - start;
+        return (duration == 0 ? 1 : duration) / 1000.0;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int hashCode() {
+        return Objects.hash(total, start, end);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean equals(Object obj) {
+        if (this == obj) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        if (obj instanceof Counter) {
+            final Counter other = (Counter) obj;
+            return Objects.equals(this.total, other.total) &&
+                    Objects.equals(this.start, other.start) &&
+                    Objects.equals(this.end, other.end);
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return toStringHelper(this)
+                .add("total", total)
+                .add("start", start)
+                .add("end", end)
+                .toString();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/CounterTest.java b/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/CounterTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b7c954
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/misc/src/test/java/org/onlab/util/CounterTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+package org.onlab.util;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import static org.onlab.junit.TestTools.delay;
+
+/**
+ * Tests of the Counter utility.
+ */
+public class CounterTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void basics() {
+        Counter tt = new Counter();
+        assertEquals("incorrect number of bytes", 0L, tt.total());
+        assertEquals("incorrect throughput", 0.0, tt.throughput(), 0.0001);
+        tt.add(1234567890L);
+        assertEquals("incorrect number of bytes", 1234567890L, tt.total());
+        assertTrue("incorrect throughput", 1234567890.0 < tt.throughput());
+        delay(1500);
+        tt.add(1L);
+        assertEquals("incorrect number of bytes", 1234567891L, tt.total());
+        assertTrue("incorrect throughput", 1234567891.0 > tt.throughput());
+        tt.reset();
+        assertEquals("incorrect number of bytes", 0L, tt.total());
+        assertEquals("incorrect throughput", 0.0, tt.throughput(), 0.0001);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void freeze() {
+        Counter tt = new Counter();
+        tt.add(123L);
+        assertEquals("incorrect number of bytes", 123L, tt.total());
+        delay(1000);
+        tt.freeze();
+        tt.add(123L);
+        assertEquals("incorrect number of bytes", 123L, tt.total());
+
+        double d = tt.duration();
+        double t = tt.throughput();
+        assertEquals("incorrect duration", d, tt.duration(), 0.0001);
+        assertEquals("incorrect throughput", t, tt.throughput(), 0.0001);
+        assertEquals("incorrect number of bytes", 123L, tt.total());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void reset() {
+        Counter tt = new Counter();
+        tt.add(123L);
+        assertEquals("incorrect number of bytes", 123L, tt.total());
+
+        double d = tt.duration();
+        double t = tt.throughput();
+        assertEquals("incorrect duration", d, tt.duration(), 0.0001);
+        assertEquals("incorrect throughput", t, tt.throughput(), 0.0001);
+        assertEquals("incorrect number of bytes", 123L, tt.total());
+
+        tt.reset();
+        assertEquals("incorrect throughput", 0.0, tt.throughput(), 0.0001);
+        assertEquals("incorrect number of bytes", 0, tt.total());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void syntheticTracker() {
+        Counter tt = new Counter(5000, 1000, 6000);
+        assertEquals("incorrect duration", 1, tt.duration(), 0.1);
+        assertEquals("incorrect throughput", 1000, tt.throughput(), 1.0);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/pom.xml b/utils/nio/pom.xml
index 561d2d4..f7a46b2 100644
--- a/utils/nio/pom.xml
+++ b/utils/nio/pom.xml
@@ -22,6 +22,15 @@
             <artifactId>guava-testlib</artifactId>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.onlab.onos</groupId>
+            <artifactId>onlab-misc</artifactId>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.onlab.onos</groupId>
+            <artifactId>onlab-junit</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
 </project>
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/AbstractMessage.java b/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/AbstractMessage.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7503e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/AbstractMessage.java
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+/**
+ * Base {@link Message} implementation.
+ */
+public abstract class AbstractMessage implements Message {
+
+    protected int length;
+
+    @Override
+    public int length() {
+        return length;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/AcceptorLoop.java b/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/AcceptorLoop.java
index a5acc41..785dbf9 100644
--- a/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/AcceptorLoop.java
+++ b/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/AcceptorLoop.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
     public AcceptorLoop(long selectTimeout, SocketAddress listenAddress)
             throws IOException {
         super(selectTimeout);
-        this.listenAddress = checkNotNull(this.listenAddress, "Address cannot be null");
+        this.listenAddress = checkNotNull(listenAddress, "Address cannot be null");
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/IOLoop.java b/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/IOLoop.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e1c2d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/IOLoop.java
@@ -0,0 +1,271 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.channels.ByteChannel;
+import java.nio.channels.CancelledKeyException;
+import java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException;
+import java.nio.channels.SelectableChannel;
+import java.nio.channels.SelectionKey;
+import java.nio.channels.SocketChannel;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Queue;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentLinkedQueue;
+import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArraySet;
+
+/**
+ * I/O loop for driving inbound &amp; outbound {@link Message} transfer via
+ * {@link MessageStream}.
+ *
+ * @param <M> message type
+ * @param <S> message stream type
+ */
+public abstract class IOLoop<M extends Message, S extends MessageStream<M>>
+        extends SelectorLoop {
+
+    // Queue of requests for new message streams to enter the IO loop processing.
+    private final Queue<NewStreamRequest> newStreamRequests = new ConcurrentLinkedQueue<>();
+
+    // Carries information required for admitting a new message stream.
+    private class NewStreamRequest {
+        private final S stream;
+        private final SelectableChannel channel;
+        private final int op;
+
+        public NewStreamRequest(S stream, SelectableChannel channel, int op) {
+            this.stream = stream;
+            this.channel = channel;
+            this.op = op;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Set of message streams currently admitted into the IO loop.
+    private final Set<MessageStream<M>> streams = new CopyOnWriteArraySet<>();
+
+    /**
+     * Creates an IO loop with the given selection timeout.
+     *
+     * @param timeout selection timeout in milliseconds
+     * @throws IOException if the backing selector cannot be opened
+     */
+    public IOLoop(long timeout) throws IOException {
+        super(timeout);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new message stream backed by the specified socket channel.
+     *
+     * @param byteChannel backing byte channel
+     * @return newly created message stream
+     */
+    protected abstract S createStream(ByteChannel byteChannel);
+
+    /**
+     * Removes the specified message stream from the IO loop.
+     *
+     * @param stream message stream to remove
+     */
+    void removeStream(MessageStream<M> stream) {
+        streams.remove(stream);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Processes the list of messages extracted from the specified message
+     * stream.
+     *
+     * @param messages non-empty list of received messages
+     * @param stream   message stream from which the messages were extracted
+     */
+    protected abstract void processMessages(List<M> messages, MessageStream<M> stream);
+
+    /**
+     * Completes connection request pending on the given selection key.
+     *
+     * @param key selection key holding the pending connect operation.
+     */
+    protected void connect(SelectionKey key) {
+        try {
+            SocketChannel ch = (SocketChannel) key.channel();
+            ch.finishConnect();
+        } catch (IOException | IllegalStateException e) {
+            log.warn("Unable to complete connection", e);
+        }
+
+        if (key.isValid()) {
+            key.interestOps(SelectionKey.OP_READ);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Processes an IO operation pending on the specified key.
+     *
+     * @param key selection key holding the pending I/O operation.
+     */
+    protected void processKeyOperation(SelectionKey key) {
+        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+        S stream = (S) key.attachment();
+
+        try {
+            // If the key is not valid, bail out.
+            if (!key.isValid()) {
+                stream.close();
+                return;
+            }
+
+            // If there is a pending connect operation, complete it.
+            if (key.isConnectable()) {
+                connect(key);
+            }
+
+            // If there is a read operation, slurp as much data as possible.
+            if (key.isReadable()) {
+                List<M> messages = stream.read();
+
+                // No messages or failed flush imply disconnect; bail.
+                if (messages == null || stream.hadError()) {
+                    stream.close();
+                    return;
+                }
+
+                // If there were any messages read, process them.
+                if (!messages.isEmpty()) {
+                    try {
+                        processMessages(messages, stream);
+                    } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+                        onError(stream, e);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            // If there are pending writes, flush them
+            if (key.isWritable()) {
+                stream.flushIfPossible();
+            }
+
+            // If there were any issued flushing, close the stream.
+            if (stream.hadError()) {
+                stream.close();
+            }
+
+        } catch (CancelledKeyException e) {
+            // Key was cancelled, so silently close the stream
+            stream.close();
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            if (!stream.isClosed() && !isResetByPeer(e)) {
+                log.warn("Unable to process IO", e);
+            }
+            stream.close();
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Indicates whether or not this exception is caused by 'reset by peer'.
+    private boolean isResetByPeer(IOException e) {
+        Throwable cause = e.getCause();
+        return cause != null && cause instanceof IOException &&
+                cause.getMessage().contains("reset by peer");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Hook to allow intercept of any errors caused during message processing.
+     * Default behaviour is to rethrow the error.
+     *
+     * @param stream message stream involved in the error
+     * @param error  the runtime exception
+     */
+    protected void onError(S stream, RuntimeException error) {
+        throw error;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Admits a new message stream backed by the specified socket channel
+     * with a pending accept operation.
+     *
+     * @param channel backing socket channel
+     */
+    public void acceptStream(SocketChannel channel) {
+        createAndAdmit(channel, SelectionKey.OP_READ);
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Admits a new message stream backed by the specified socket channel
+     * with a pending connect operation.
+     *
+     * @param channel backing socket channel
+     */
+    public void connectStream(SocketChannel channel) {
+        createAndAdmit(channel, SelectionKey.OP_CONNECT);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new message stream backed by the specified socket channel
+     * and admits it into the IO loop.
+     *
+     * @param channel socket channel
+     * @param op      pending operations mask to be applied to the selection
+     *                key as a set of initial interestedOps
+     */
+    private synchronized void createAndAdmit(SocketChannel channel, int op) {
+        S stream = createStream(channel);
+        streams.add(stream);
+        newStreamRequests.add(new NewStreamRequest(stream, channel, op));
+        selector.wakeup();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Safely admits new streams into the IO loop.
+     */
+    private void admitNewStreams() {
+        Iterator<NewStreamRequest> it = newStreamRequests.iterator();
+        while (isRunning() && it.hasNext()) {
+            try {
+                NewStreamRequest request = it.next();
+                it.remove();
+                SelectionKey key = request.channel.register(selector, request.op,
+                                                            request.stream);
+                request.stream.setKey(key);
+            } catch (ClosedChannelException e) {
+                log.warn("Unable to admit new message stream", e);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void loop() throws IOException {
+        notifyReady();
+
+        // Keep going until told otherwise.
+        while (isRunning()) {
+            admitNewStreams();
+
+            // Process flushes & write selects on all streams
+            for (MessageStream<M> stream : streams) {
+                stream.flushIfWriteNotPending();
+            }
+
+            // Select keys and process them.
+            int count = selector.select(selectTimeout);
+            if (count > 0 && isRunning()) {
+                Iterator<SelectionKey> it = selector.selectedKeys().iterator();
+                while (it.hasNext()) {
+                    SelectionKey key = it.next();
+                    it.remove();
+                    processKeyOperation(key);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Prunes the registered streams by discarding any stale ones.
+     */
+    public synchronized void pruneStaleStreams() {
+        for (MessageStream<M> stream : streams) {
+            if (stream.isStale()) {
+                stream.close();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/Message.java b/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/Message.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ce6d44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/Message.java
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+/**
+ * Representation of a message transferred via {@link MessageStream}.
+ */
+public interface Message {
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the message length in bytes.
+     *
+     * @return number of bytes
+     */
+    int length();
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/MessageStream.java b/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/MessageStream.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b2acca4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/main/java/org/onlab/nio/MessageStream.java
@@ -0,0 +1,347 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.channels.ByteChannel;
+import java.nio.channels.SelectionKey;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkArgument;
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
+import static java.lang.System.currentTimeMillis;
+import static java.nio.ByteBuffer.allocateDirect;
+
+/**
+ * Bi-directional message stream for transferring messages to &amp; from the
+ * network via two byte buffers.
+ *
+ * @param <M> message type
+ */
+public abstract class MessageStream<M extends Message> {
+
+    protected Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
+
+    private final IOLoop<M, ?> loop;
+    private final ByteChannel channel;
+    private final int maxIdleMillis;
+
+    private final ByteBuffer inbound;
+    private ByteBuffer outbound;
+    private SelectionKey key;
+
+    private volatile boolean closed = false;
+    private volatile boolean writePending;
+    private volatile boolean writeOccurred;
+
+    private Exception ioError;
+    private long lastActiveTime;
+
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a message stream associated with the specified IO loop and
+     * backed by the given byte channel.
+     *
+     * @param loop          IO loop
+     * @param byteChannel   backing byte channel
+     * @param bufferSize    size of the backing byte buffers
+     * @param maxIdleMillis maximum number of millis the stream can be idle
+     *                      before it will be closed
+     */
+    protected MessageStream(IOLoop<M, ?> loop, ByteChannel byteChannel,
+                            int bufferSize, int maxIdleMillis) {
+        this.loop = checkNotNull(loop, "Loop cannot be null");
+        this.channel = checkNotNull(byteChannel, "Byte channel cannot be null");
+
+        checkArgument(maxIdleMillis > 0, "Idle time must be positive");
+        this.maxIdleMillis = maxIdleMillis;
+
+        inbound = allocateDirect(bufferSize);
+        outbound = allocateDirect(bufferSize);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Gets a single message from the specified byte buffer; this is
+     * to be done without manipulating the buffer via flip, reset or clear.
+     *
+     * @param buffer byte buffer
+     * @return read message or null if there are not enough bytes to read
+     * a complete message
+     */
+    protected abstract M read(ByteBuffer buffer);
+
+    /**
+     * Puts the specified message into the specified byte buffer; this is
+     * to be done without manipulating the buffer via flip, reset or clear.
+     *
+     * @param message message to be write into the buffer
+     * @param buffer  byte buffer
+     */
+    protected abstract void write(M message, ByteBuffer buffer);
+
+    /**
+     * Closes the message buffer.
+     */
+    public void close() {
+        synchronized (this) {
+            if (closed) {
+                return;
+            }
+            closed = true;
+        }
+
+        loop.removeStream(this);
+        if (key != null) {
+            try {
+                key.cancel();
+                key.channel().close();
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                log.warn("Unable to close stream", e);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Indicates whether this buffer has been closed.
+     *
+     * @return true if this stream has been closed
+     */
+    public synchronized boolean isClosed() {
+        return closed;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the stream IO selection key.
+     *
+     * @return socket channel registration selection key
+     */
+    public SelectionKey key() {
+        return key;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Binds the selection key to be used for driving IO operations on the stream.
+     *
+     * @param key IO selection key
+     */
+    public void setKey(SelectionKey key) {
+        this.key = key;
+        this.lastActiveTime = currentTimeMillis();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the IO loop to which this stream is bound.
+     *
+     * @return I/O loop used to drive this stream
+     */
+    public IOLoop<M, ?> loop() {
+        return loop;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Indicates whether the any prior IO encountered an error.
+     *
+     * @return true if a write failed
+     */
+    public boolean hadError() {
+        return ioError != null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the prior IO error, if one occurred.
+     *
+     * @return IO error; null if none occurred
+     */
+    public Exception getError() {
+        return ioError;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reads, withouth blocking, a list of messages from the stream.
+     * The list will be empty if there were not messages pending.
+     *
+     * @return list of messages or null if backing channel has been closed
+     * @throws IOException if messages could not be read
+     */
+    public List<M> read() throws IOException {
+        try {
+            int read = channel.read(inbound);
+            if (read != -1) {
+                // Read the messages one-by-one and add them to the list.
+                List<M> messages = new ArrayList<>();
+                M message;
+                inbound.flip();
+                while ((message = read(inbound)) != null) {
+                    messages.add(message);
+                }
+                inbound.compact();
+
+                // Mark the stream with current time to indicate liveness.
+                lastActiveTime = currentTimeMillis();
+                return messages;
+            }
+            return null;
+
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new IOException("Unable to read messages", e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Writes the specified list of messages to the stream.
+     *
+     * @param messages list of messages to write
+     * @throws IOException if error occurred while writing the data
+     */
+    public void write(List<M> messages) throws IOException {
+        synchronized (this) {
+            // First write all messages.
+            for (M m : messages) {
+                append(m);
+            }
+            flushUnlessAlreadyPlanningTo();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Writes the given message to the stream.
+     *
+     * @param message message to write
+     * @throws IOException if error occurred while writing the data
+     */
+    public void write(M message) throws IOException {
+        synchronized (this) {
+            append(message);
+            flushUnlessAlreadyPlanningTo();
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Appends the specified message into the internal buffer, growing the
+    // buffer if required.
+    private void append(M message) {
+        // If the buffer does not have sufficient length double it.
+        while (outbound.remaining() < message.length()) {
+            doubleSize();
+        }
+        // Place the message into the buffer and bump the output trackers.
+        write(message, outbound);
+    }
+
+    // Forces a flush, unless one is planned already.
+    private void flushUnlessAlreadyPlanningTo() throws IOException {
+        if (!writeOccurred && !writePending) {
+            flush();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Flushes any pending writes.
+     *
+     * @throws IOException if flush failed
+     */
+    public void flush() throws IOException {
+        synchronized (this) {
+            if (!writeOccurred && !writePending) {
+                outbound.flip();
+                try {
+                    channel.write(outbound);
+                } catch (IOException e) {
+                    if (!closed && !e.getMessage().equals("Broken pipe")) {
+                        log.warn("Unable to write data", e);
+                        ioError = e;
+                    }
+                }
+                lastActiveTime = currentTimeMillis();
+                writeOccurred = true;
+                writePending = outbound.hasRemaining();
+                outbound.compact();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Indicates whether the stream has bytes to be written to the channel.
+     *
+     * @return true if there are bytes to be written
+     */
+    boolean isWritePending() {
+        synchronized (this) {
+            return writePending;
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Attempts to flush data, internal stream state and channel availability
+     * permitting. Invoked by the driver I/O loop during handling of writable
+     * selection key.
+     * <p/>
+     * Resets the internal state flags {@code writeOccurred} and
+     * {@code writePending}.
+     *
+     * @throws IOException if implicit flush failed
+     */
+    void flushIfPossible() throws IOException {
+        synchronized (this) {
+            writePending = false;
+            writeOccurred = false;
+            if (outbound.position() > 0) {
+                flush();
+            }
+        }
+        key.interestOps(SelectionKey.OP_READ);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Attempts to flush data, internal stream state and channel availability
+     * permitting and if other writes are not pending. Invoked by the driver
+     * I/O loop prior to entering select wait. Resets the internal
+     * {@code writeOccurred} state flag.
+     *
+     * @throws IOException if implicit flush failed
+     */
+    void flushIfWriteNotPending() throws IOException {
+        synchronized (this) {
+            writeOccurred = false;
+            if (!writePending && outbound.position() > 0) {
+                flush();
+            }
+        }
+        if (isWritePending()) {
+            key.interestOps(key.interestOps() | SelectionKey.OP_WRITE);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Doubles the size of the outbound buffer.
+     */
+    private void doubleSize() {
+        ByteBuffer newBuffer = allocateDirect(outbound.capacity() * 2);
+        outbound.flip();
+        newBuffer.put(outbound);
+        outbound = newBuffer;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the maximum number of milliseconds the stream is allowed
+     * without any read/write operations.
+     *
+     * @return number if millis of permissible idle time
+     */
+    protected int maxIdleMillis() {
+        return maxIdleMillis;
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Returns true if the given stream has gone stale.
+     *
+     * @return true if the stream is stale
+     */
+    boolean isStale() {
+        return currentTimeMillis() - lastActiveTime > maxIdleMillis() && key != null;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/AbstractLoopTest.java b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/AbstractLoopTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91fc0d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/AbstractLoopTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import static java.util.concurrent.Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor;
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
+import static org.onlab.util.Tools.namedThreads;
+
+/**
+ * Base class for various NIO loop unit tests.
+ */
+public abstract class AbstractLoopTest {
+
+    protected static final long MAX_MS_WAIT = 500;
+
+    /** Block on specified countdown latch. Return when countdown reaches
+     * zero, or fail the test if the {@value #MAX_MS_WAIT} ms timeout expires.
+     *
+     * @param latch the latch
+     * @param label an identifying label
+     */
+    protected void waitForLatch(CountDownLatch latch, String label) {
+        try {
+            boolean ok = latch.await(MAX_MS_WAIT, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+            if (!ok) {
+                fail("Latch await timeout! [" + label + "]");
+            }
+        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+            System.out.println("Latch interrupt [" + label + "] : " + e);
+            fail("Unexpected interrupt");
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected ExecutorService exec;
+
+    @Before
+    public void setUp() {
+        exec = newSingleThreadExecutor(namedThreads("test"));
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/AcceptorLoopTest.java b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/AcceptorLoopTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..70f9cd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/AcceptorLoopTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.net.SocketAddress;
+import java.nio.channels.ServerSocketChannel;
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.onlab.junit.TestTools.delay;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for AcceptLoop.
+ */
+public class AcceptorLoopTest extends AbstractLoopTest {
+
+    private static final int PORT = 9876;
+
+    private static final SocketAddress SOCK_ADDR = new InetSocketAddress("127.0.0.1", PORT);
+
+    private static class MyAcceptLoop extends AcceptorLoop {
+        private final CountDownLatch loopStarted = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        private final CountDownLatch loopFinished = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        private final CountDownLatch runDone = new CountDownLatch(1);
+        private final CountDownLatch ceaseLatch = new CountDownLatch(1);
+
+        private int acceptCount = 0;
+
+        MyAcceptLoop() throws IOException {
+            super(500, SOCK_ADDR);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected void acceptConnection(ServerSocketChannel ssc) throws IOException {
+            acceptCount++;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void loop() throws IOException {
+            loopStarted.countDown();
+            super.loop();
+            loopFinished.countDown();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void run() {
+            super.run();
+            runDone.countDown();
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void shutdown() {
+            super.shutdown();
+            ceaseLatch.countDown();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+//    @Ignore("Doesn't shut down the socket")
+    public void basic() throws IOException {
+        MyAcceptLoop myAccLoop = new MyAcceptLoop();
+        AcceptorLoop accLoop = myAccLoop;
+        exec.execute(accLoop);
+        waitForLatch(myAccLoop.loopStarted, "loopStarted");
+        delay(200); // take a quick nap
+        accLoop.shutdown();
+        waitForLatch(myAccLoop.loopFinished, "loopFinished");
+        waitForLatch(myAccLoop.runDone, "runDone");
+        assertEquals(0, myAccLoop.acceptCount);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/IOLoopIntegrationTest.java b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/IOLoopIntegrationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21843f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/IOLoopIntegrationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Ignore;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.text.DecimalFormat;
+import java.util.Random;
+
+import static org.onlab.junit.TestTools.delay;
+
+/**
+ * Integration test for the select, accept and IO loops.
+ */
+public class IOLoopIntegrationTest {
+
+    private static final int MILLION = 1000000;
+    private static final int TIMEOUT = 60;
+
+    private static final int THREADS = 6;
+    private static final int MSG_COUNT = 20 * MILLION;
+    private static final int MSG_SIZE = 128;
+
+    private static final long MIN_MPS = 10 * MILLION;
+
+    @Before
+    public void warmUp() throws Exception {
+        try {
+            run(MILLION, MSG_SIZE, 15, 0);
+        } catch (Throwable e) {
+            System.err.println("Failed warmup but moving on.");
+            e.printStackTrace();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Ignore
+    @Test
+    public void basic() throws Exception {
+        run(MSG_COUNT, MSG_SIZE, TIMEOUT, MIN_MPS);
+    }
+
+
+    private void run(int count, int size, int timeout, double mps) throws Exception {
+        DecimalFormat f = new DecimalFormat("#,##0");
+        System.out.print(f.format(count * THREADS) +
+                                 (mps > 0.0 ? " messages: " : " message warm-up: "));
+
+        // Setup the test on a random port to avoid intermittent test failures
+        // due to the port being already bound.
+        int port = StandaloneSpeedServer.PORT + new Random().nextInt(100);
+
+        InetAddress ip = InetAddress.getLoopbackAddress();
+        StandaloneSpeedServer sss = new StandaloneSpeedServer(ip, THREADS, size, port);
+        StandaloneSpeedClient ssc = new StandaloneSpeedClient(ip, THREADS, count, size, port);
+
+        sss.start();
+        ssc.start();
+        delay(250);       // give the server and client a chance to go
+
+        ssc.await(timeout);
+        ssc.report();
+
+        delay(1000);
+        sss.stop();
+        sss.report();
+
+        // Note that the client and server will have potentially significantly
+        // differing rates. This is due to the wide variance in how tightly
+        // the throughput tracking starts & stops relative to to the short
+        // test duration.
+//        System.out.println(f.format(ssc.messages.throughput()) + " mps");
+
+//        // Make sure client sent everything.
+//        assertEquals("incorrect client message count sent",
+//                     (long) count * THREADS, ssc.messages.total());
+//        assertEquals("incorrect client bytes count sent",
+//                     (long) size * count * THREADS, ssc.bytes.total());
+//
+//        // Make sure server received everything.
+//        assertEquals("incorrect server message count received",
+//                     (long) count * THREADS, sss.messages.total());
+//        assertEquals("incorrect server bytes count received",
+//                     (long) size * count * THREADS, sss.bytes.total());
+//
+//        // Make sure speeds were reasonable.
+//        if (mps > 0.0) {
+//            assertAboveThreshold("insufficient client speed", mps,
+//                                 ssc.messages.throughput());
+//            assertAboveThreshold("insufficient server speed", mps / 2,
+//                                 sss.messages.throughput());
+//        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/MessageStreamTest.java b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/MessageStreamTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0f896f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/MessageStreamTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,362 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+import org.junit.After;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.channels.ByteChannel;
+import java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException;
+import java.nio.channels.SelectableChannel;
+import java.nio.channels.SelectionKey;
+import java.nio.channels.Selector;
+import java.nio.channels.spi.SelectorProvider;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
+
+/**
+ * Tests of the message message stream implementation.
+ */
+public class MessageStreamTest {
+
+    private static final int LENGTH = 16;
+
+    private static final TestMessage TM1 = new TestMessage(LENGTH);
+    private static final TestMessage TM2 = new TestMessage(LENGTH);
+    private static final TestMessage TM3 = new TestMessage(LENGTH);
+    private static final TestMessage TM4 = new TestMessage(LENGTH);
+
+    private static final int BIG_SIZE = 32 * 1024;
+    private static final TestMessage BIG_MESSAGE = new TestMessage(BIG_SIZE);
+
+    private static enum WritePending {
+        ON, OFF;
+
+        public boolean on() {
+            return this == ON;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static enum FlushRequired {
+        ON, OFF;
+
+        public boolean on() {
+            return this == ON;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private FakeIOLoop loop;
+    private TestByteChannel channel;
+    private TestMessageStream buffer;
+    private TestKey key;
+
+    @Before
+    public void setUp() throws IOException {
+        loop = new FakeIOLoop();
+        channel = new TestByteChannel();
+        key = new TestKey(channel);
+        buffer = loop.createStream(channel);
+        buffer.setKey(key);
+    }
+
+    @After
+    public void tearDown() {
+        loop.shutdown();
+        buffer.close();
+    }
+
+    // Check state of the message buffer
+    private void assertState(WritePending wp, FlushRequired fr,
+                             int read, int written) {
+        assertEquals(wp.on(), buffer.isWritePending());
+//        assertEquals(fr.on(), buffer.requiresFlush());
+        assertEquals(read, channel.readBytes);
+        assertEquals(written, channel.writtenBytes);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void endOfStream() throws IOException {
+        channel.close();
+        List<TestMessage> messages = buffer.read();
+        assertNull(messages);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void bufferGrowth() throws IOException {
+        // Create a buffer for big messages and test the growth.
+        buffer = new TestMessageStream(BIG_SIZE, channel, loop);
+        buffer.write(BIG_MESSAGE);
+        buffer.write(BIG_MESSAGE);
+        buffer.write(BIG_MESSAGE);
+        buffer.write(BIG_MESSAGE);
+        buffer.write(BIG_MESSAGE);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void discardBeforeKey() {
+        // Create a buffer that does not yet have the key set and discard it.
+        buffer = loop.createStream(channel);
+        assertNull(buffer.key());
+        buffer.close();
+        // There is not key, so nothing to check; we just expect no problem.
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void bufferedRead() throws IOException {
+        channel.bytesToRead = LENGTH + 4;
+        List<TestMessage> messages = buffer.read();
+        assertEquals(1, messages.size());
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, LENGTH + 4, 0);
+
+        channel.bytesToRead = LENGTH - 4;
+        messages = buffer.read();
+        assertEquals(1, messages.size());
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, LENGTH * 2, 0);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void bufferedWrite() throws IOException {
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, 0);
+
+        // First write is immediate...
+        buffer.write(TM1);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, LENGTH);
+
+        // Second and third get buffered...
+        buffer.write(TM2);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.ON, 0, LENGTH);
+        buffer.write(TM3);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.ON, 0, LENGTH);
+
+        // Reset write, which will flush if needed; the next write is again buffered
+        buffer.flushIfWriteNotPending();
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, LENGTH * 3);
+        buffer.write(TM4);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.ON, 0, LENGTH * 3);
+
+        // Select reset, which will flush if needed; the next write is again buffered
+        buffer.flushIfPossible();
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, LENGTH * 4);
+        buffer.write(TM1);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.ON, 0, LENGTH * 4);
+        buffer.flush();
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.ON, 0, LENGTH * 4);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void bufferedWriteList() throws IOException {
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, 0);
+
+        // First write is immediate...
+        List<TestMessage> messages = new ArrayList<TestMessage>();
+        messages.add(TM1);
+        messages.add(TM2);
+        messages.add(TM3);
+        messages.add(TM4);
+
+        buffer.write(messages);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, LENGTH * 4);
+
+        buffer.write(messages);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.ON, 0, LENGTH * 4);
+
+        buffer.flushIfPossible();
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, LENGTH * 8);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void bufferedPartialWrite() throws IOException {
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, 0);
+
+        // First write is immediate...
+        buffer.write(TM1);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, LENGTH);
+
+        // Tell test channel to accept only half.
+        channel.bytesToWrite = LENGTH / 2;
+
+        // Second and third get buffered...
+        buffer.write(TM2);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.ON, 0, LENGTH);
+        buffer.flushIfPossible();
+        assertState(WritePending.ON, FlushRequired.ON, 0, LENGTH + LENGTH / 2);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void bufferedPartialWrite2() throws IOException {
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, 0);
+
+        // First write is immediate...
+        buffer.write(TM1);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, 0, LENGTH);
+
+        // Tell test channel to accept only half.
+        channel.bytesToWrite = LENGTH / 2;
+
+        // Second and third get buffered...
+        buffer.write(TM2);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.ON, 0, LENGTH);
+        buffer.flushIfWriteNotPending();
+        assertState(WritePending.ON, FlushRequired.ON, 0, LENGTH + LENGTH / 2);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void bufferedReadWrite() throws IOException {
+        channel.bytesToRead = LENGTH + 4;
+        List<TestMessage> messages = buffer.read();
+        assertEquals(1, messages.size());
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, LENGTH + 4, 0);
+
+        buffer.write(TM1);
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, LENGTH + 4, LENGTH);
+
+        channel.bytesToRead = LENGTH - 4;
+        messages = buffer.read();
+        assertEquals(1, messages.size());
+        assertState(WritePending.OFF, FlushRequired.OFF, LENGTH * 2, LENGTH);
+    }
+
+    // Fake IO driver loop
+    private static class FakeIOLoop extends IOLoop<TestMessage, TestMessageStream> {
+
+        public FakeIOLoop() throws IOException {
+            super(500);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected TestMessageStream createStream(ByteChannel channel) {
+            return new TestMessageStream(LENGTH, channel, this);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected void processMessages(List<TestMessage> messages,
+                                       MessageStream<TestMessage> stream) {
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    // Byte channel test fixture
+    private static class TestByteChannel extends SelectableChannel implements ByteChannel {
+
+        private static final int BUFFER_LENGTH = 1024;
+        byte[] bytes = new byte[BUFFER_LENGTH];
+        int bytesToWrite = BUFFER_LENGTH;
+        int bytesToRead = BUFFER_LENGTH;
+        int writtenBytes = 0;
+        int readBytes = 0;
+
+        @Override
+        public int read(ByteBuffer dst) throws IOException {
+            int l = Math.min(dst.remaining(), bytesToRead);
+            if (bytesToRead > 0) {
+                readBytes += l;
+                dst.put(bytes, 0, l);
+            }
+            return l;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int write(ByteBuffer src) throws IOException {
+            int l = Math.min(src.remaining(), bytesToWrite);
+            writtenBytes += l;
+            src.get(bytes, 0, l);
+            return l;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public Object blockingLock() {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public SelectableChannel configureBlocking(boolean arg0) throws IOException {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean isBlocking() {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean isRegistered() {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public SelectionKey keyFor(Selector arg0) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public SelectorProvider provider() {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public SelectionKey register(Selector arg0, int arg1, Object arg2)
+                throws ClosedChannelException {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int validOps() {
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected void implCloseChannel() throws IOException {
+            bytesToRead = -1;
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    // Selection key text fixture
+    private static class TestKey extends SelectionKey {
+
+        private SelectableChannel channel;
+
+        public TestKey(TestByteChannel channel) {
+            this.channel = channel;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void cancel() {
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public SelectableChannel channel() {
+            return channel;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int interestOps() {
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public SelectionKey interestOps(int ops) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean isValid() {
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public int readyOps() {
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public Selector selector() {
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/MockSelector.java b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/MockSelector.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a162aed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/MockSelector.java
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.channels.SelectionKey;
+import java.nio.channels.Selector;
+import java.nio.channels.spi.AbstractSelectableChannel;
+import java.nio.channels.spi.AbstractSelector;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+/**
+ * A selector instrumented for unit tests.
+ */
+public class MockSelector extends AbstractSelector {
+
+    int wakeUpCount = 0;
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a mock selector, specifying null as the SelectorProvider.
+     */
+    public MockSelector() {
+        super(null);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return "{MockSelector: wake=" + wakeUpCount + "}";
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void implCloseSelector() throws IOException {
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected SelectionKey register(AbstractSelectableChannel ch, int ops,
+                                    Object att) {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Set<SelectionKey> keys() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Set<SelectionKey> selectedKeys() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int selectNow() throws IOException {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int select(long timeout) throws IOException {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int select() throws IOException {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Selector wakeup() {
+        wakeUpCount++;
+        return null;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/StandaloneSpeedClient.java b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/StandaloneSpeedClient.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6445221
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/StandaloneSpeedClient.java
@@ -0,0 +1,292 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.net.SocketAddress;
+import java.nio.channels.ByteChannel;
+import java.nio.channels.SelectionKey;
+import java.nio.channels.SocketChannel;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+import java.util.concurrent.FutureTask;
+import java.util.concurrent.Semaphore;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
+
+import static org.onlab.junit.TestTools.delay;
+import static org.onlab.util.Tools.namedThreads;
+
+/**
+ * Auxiliary test fixture to measure speed of NIO-based channels.
+ */
+public class StandaloneSpeedClient {
+
+    private static Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(StandaloneSpeedClient.class);
+
+    private final InetAddress ip;
+    private final int port;
+    private final int msgCount;
+    private final int msgLength;
+
+    private final List<CustomIOLoop> iloops = new ArrayList<>();
+    private final ExecutorService ipool;
+    private final ExecutorService wpool;
+
+//    ThroughputTracker messages;
+//    ThroughputTracker bytes;
+
+    /**
+     * Main entry point to launch the client.
+     *
+     * @param args command-line arguments
+     * @throws IOException          if unable to connect to server
+     * @throws InterruptedException if latch wait gets interrupted
+     * @throws ExecutionException   if wait gets interrupted
+     * @throws TimeoutException     if timeout occurred while waiting for completion
+     */
+    public static void main(String[] args)
+            throws IOException, InterruptedException, ExecutionException, TimeoutException {
+        InetAddress ip = InetAddress.getByName(args.length > 0 ? args[0] : "127.0.0.1");
+        int wc = args.length > 1 ? Integer.parseInt(args[1]) : 6;
+        int mc = args.length > 2 ? Integer.parseInt(args[2]) : 50 * 1000000;
+        int ml = args.length > 3 ? Integer.parseInt(args[3]) : 128;
+        int to = args.length > 4 ? Integer.parseInt(args[4]) : 30;
+
+        log.info("Setting up client with {} workers sending {} {}-byte messages to {} server... ",
+                 wc, mc, ml, ip);
+        StandaloneSpeedClient sc = new StandaloneSpeedClient(ip, wc, mc, ml, StandaloneSpeedServer.PORT);
+
+        sc.start();
+        delay(2000);
+
+        sc.await(to);
+        sc.report();
+
+        System.exit(0);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a speed client.
+     *
+     * @param ip   ip address of server
+     * @param wc   worker count
+     * @param mc   message count to send per client
+     * @param ml   message length in bytes
+     * @param port socket port
+     * @throws IOException if unable to create IO loops
+     */
+    public StandaloneSpeedClient(InetAddress ip, int wc, int mc, int ml, int port) throws IOException {
+        this.ip = ip;
+        this.port = port;
+        this.msgCount = mc;
+        this.msgLength = ml;
+        this.wpool = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(wc, namedThreads("worker"));
+        this.ipool = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(wc, namedThreads("io-loop"));
+
+        for (int i = 0; i < wc; i++) {
+            iloops.add(new CustomIOLoop());
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Starts the client workers.
+     *
+     * @throws IOException if unable to open connection
+     */
+    public void start() throws IOException {
+//        messages = new ThroughputTracker();
+//        bytes = new ThroughputTracker();
+
+        // First start up all the IO loops
+        for (CustomIOLoop l : iloops) {
+            ipool.execute(l);
+        }
+
+//        // Wait for all of them to get going
+//        for (CustomIOLoop l : iloops)
+//            l.waitForStart(TIMEOUT);
+
+        // ... and Next open all connections; one-per-loop
+        for (CustomIOLoop l : iloops) {
+            openConnection(l);
+        }
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Initiates open connection request and registers the pending socket
+     * channel with the given IO loop.
+     *
+     * @param loop loop with which the channel should be registered
+     * @throws IOException if the socket could not be open or connected
+     */
+    private void openConnection(CustomIOLoop loop) throws IOException {
+        SocketAddress sa = new InetSocketAddress(ip, port);
+        SocketChannel ch = SocketChannel.open();
+        ch.configureBlocking(false);
+        loop.connectStream(ch);
+        ch.connect(sa);
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Waits for the client workers to complete.
+     *
+     * @param secs timeout in seconds
+     * @throws ExecutionException   if execution failed
+     * @throws InterruptedException if interrupt occurred while waiting
+     * @throws TimeoutException     if timeout occurred
+     */
+    public void await(int secs) throws InterruptedException,
+            ExecutionException, TimeoutException {
+        for (CustomIOLoop l : iloops) {
+            if (l.worker.task != null) {
+                l.worker.task.get(secs, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+            }
+        }
+//        messages.freeze();
+//        bytes.freeze();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reports on the accumulated throughput trackers.
+     */
+    public void report() {
+//        DecimalFormat f = new DecimalFormat("#,##0");
+//        log.info("{} messages; {} bytes; {} mps; {} Mbs",
+//                 f.format(messages.total()),
+//                 f.format(bytes.total()),
+//                 f.format(messages.throughput()),
+//                 f.format(bytes.throughput() / (1024 * 128)));
+    }
+
+
+    // Loop for transfer of fixed-length messages
+    private class CustomIOLoop extends IOLoop<TestMessage, TestMessageStream> {
+
+        Worker worker = new Worker();
+
+        public CustomIOLoop() throws IOException {
+            super(500);
+        }
+
+
+        @Override
+        protected TestMessageStream createStream(ByteChannel channel) {
+            return new TestMessageStream(msgLength, channel, this);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected synchronized void removeStream(MessageStream<TestMessage> b) {
+            super.removeStream(b);
+
+//            messages.add(b.inMessages().total());
+//            bytes.add(b.inBytes().total());
+//            b.inMessages().reset();
+//            b.inBytes().reset();
+
+//            log.info("Disconnected client; inbound {} mps, {} Mbps; outbound {} mps, {} Mbps",
+//                     StandaloneSpeedServer.format.format(b.inMessages().throughput()),
+//                     StandaloneSpeedServer.format.format(b.inBytes().throughput() / (1024 * 128)),
+//                     StandaloneSpeedServer.format.format(b.outMessages().throughput()),
+//                     StandaloneSpeedServer.format.format(b.outBytes().throughput() / (1024 * 128)));
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected void processMessages(List<TestMessage> messages,
+                                       MessageStream<TestMessage> b) {
+            worker.release(messages.size());
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected void connect(SelectionKey key) {
+            super.connect(key);
+            TestMessageStream b = (TestMessageStream) key.attachment();
+            Worker w = ((CustomIOLoop) b.loop()).worker;
+            w.pump(b);
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Auxiliary worker to connect and pump batched messages using blocking I/O.
+     */
+    private class Worker implements Runnable {
+
+        private static final int BATCH_SIZE = 1000;
+        private static final int PERMITS = 2 * BATCH_SIZE;
+
+        private TestMessageStream b;
+        private FutureTask<Worker> task;
+
+        // Stuff to throttle pump
+        private final Semaphore semaphore = new Semaphore(PERMITS);
+        private int msgWritten;
+
+        void pump(TestMessageStream b) {
+            this.b = b;
+            task = new FutureTask<>(this, this);
+            wpool.execute(task);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void run() {
+            try {
+                log.info("Worker started...");
+
+                List<TestMessage> batch = new ArrayList<>();
+                for (int i = 0; i < BATCH_SIZE; i++) {
+                    batch.add(new TestMessage(msgLength));
+                }
+
+                while (msgWritten < msgCount) {
+                    msgWritten += writeBatch(b, batch);
+                }
+
+                // Now try to get all the permits back before sending poison pill
+                semaphore.acquireUninterruptibly(PERMITS);
+                b.close();
+
+                log.info("Worker done...");
+
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                log.error("Worker unable to perform I/O", e);
+            }
+        }
+
+
+        private int writeBatch(TestMessageStream b, List<TestMessage> batch)
+                throws IOException {
+            int count = Math.min(BATCH_SIZE, msgCount - msgWritten);
+            acquire(count);
+            if (count == BATCH_SIZE) {
+                b.write(batch);
+            } else {
+                for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+                    b.write(batch.get(i));
+                }
+            }
+            return count;
+        }
+
+
+        // Release permits based on the specified number of message credits
+        private void release(int permits) {
+            semaphore.release(permits);
+        }
+
+        // Acquire permit for a single batch
+        private void acquire(int permits) {
+            semaphore.acquireUninterruptibly(permits);
+        }
+
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/StandaloneSpeedServer.java b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/StandaloneSpeedServer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a193f50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/StandaloneSpeedServer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,217 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.net.Socket;
+import java.net.SocketAddress;
+import java.nio.channels.ByteChannel;
+import java.nio.channels.ServerSocketChannel;
+import java.nio.channels.SocketChannel;
+import java.text.DecimalFormat;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+
+import static org.onlab.junit.TestTools.delay;
+import static org.onlab.util.Tools.namedThreads;
+
+/**
+ * Auxiliary test fixture to measure speed of NIO-based channels.
+ */
+public class StandaloneSpeedServer {
+
+    private static Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(StandaloneSpeedServer.class);
+
+    private static final int PRUNE_FREQUENCY = 1000;
+
+    static final int PORT = 9876;
+    static final long TIMEOUT = 1000;
+
+    static final boolean SO_NO_DELAY = false;
+    static final int SO_SEND_BUFFER_SIZE = 1024 * 1024;
+    static final int SO_RCV_BUFFER_SIZE = 1024 * 1024;
+
+    static final DecimalFormat FORMAT = new DecimalFormat("#,##0");
+
+    private final AcceptorLoop aloop;
+    private final ExecutorService apool = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor(namedThreads("accept"));
+
+    private final List<CustomIOLoop> iloops = new ArrayList<>();
+    private final ExecutorService ipool;
+
+    private final int workerCount;
+    private final int msgLength;
+    private int lastWorker = -1;
+
+//    ThroughputTracker messages;
+//    ThroughputTracker bytes;
+
+    /**
+     * Main entry point to launch the server.
+     *
+     * @param args command-line arguments
+     * @throws IOException if unable to crate IO loops
+     */
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
+        InetAddress ip = InetAddress.getByName(args.length > 0 ? args[0] : "127.0.0.1");
+        int wc = args.length > 1 ? Integer.parseInt(args[1]) : 6;
+        int ml = args.length > 2 ? Integer.parseInt(args[2]) : 128;
+
+        log.info("Setting up the server with {} workers, {} byte messages on {}... ",
+                 wc, ml, ip);
+        StandaloneSpeedServer ss = new StandaloneSpeedServer(ip, wc, ml, PORT);
+        ss.start();
+
+        // Start pruning clients.
+        while (true) {
+            delay(PRUNE_FREQUENCY);
+            ss.prune();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a speed server.
+     *
+     * @param ip   optional ip of the adapter where to bind
+     * @param wc   worker count
+     * @param ml   message length in bytes
+     * @param port listen port
+     * @throws IOException if unable to create IO loops
+     */
+    public StandaloneSpeedServer(InetAddress ip, int wc, int ml, int port) throws IOException {
+        this.workerCount = wc;
+        this.msgLength = ml;
+        this.ipool = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(workerCount, namedThreads("io-loop"));
+
+        this.aloop = new CustomAcceptLoop(new InetSocketAddress(ip, port));
+        for (int i = 0; i < workerCount; i++) {
+            iloops.add(new CustomIOLoop());
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Start the server IO loops and kicks off throughput tracking.
+     */
+    public void start() {
+//        messages = new ThroughputTracker();
+//        bytes = new ThroughputTracker();
+
+        for (CustomIOLoop l : iloops) {
+            ipool.execute(l);
+        }
+        apool.execute(aloop);
+//
+//        for (CustomIOLoop l : iloops)
+//            l.waitForStart(TIMEOUT);
+//        aloop.waitForStart(TIMEOUT);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Stop the server IO loops and freezes throughput tracking.
+     */
+    public void stop() {
+        aloop.shutdown();
+        for (CustomIOLoop l : iloops) {
+            l.shutdown();
+        }
+
+//        for (CustomIOLoop l : iloops)
+//            l.waitForFinish(TIMEOUT);
+//        aloop.waitForFinish(TIMEOUT);
+//
+//        messages.freeze();
+//        bytes.freeze();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reports on the accumulated throughput trackers.
+     */
+    public void report() {
+//        DecimalFormat f = new DecimalFormat("#,##0");
+//        log.info("{} messages; {} bytes; {} mps; {} Mbs",
+//                 f.format(messages.total()),
+//                 f.format(bytes.total()),
+//                 f.format(messages.throughput()),
+//                 f.format(bytes.throughput() / (1024 * 128)));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Prunes the IO loops of stale message buffers.
+     */
+    public void prune() {
+        for (CustomIOLoop l : iloops) {
+            l.pruneStaleStreams();
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Get the next worker to which a client should be assigned
+    private synchronized CustomIOLoop nextWorker() {
+        lastWorker = (lastWorker + 1) % workerCount;
+        return iloops.get(lastWorker);
+    }
+
+    // Loop for transfer of fixed-length messages
+    private class CustomIOLoop extends IOLoop<TestMessage, TestMessageStream> {
+
+        public CustomIOLoop() throws IOException {
+            super(500);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected TestMessageStream createStream(ByteChannel channel) {
+            return new TestMessageStream(msgLength, channel, this);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected void removeStream(MessageStream<TestMessage> stream) {
+            super.removeStream(stream);
+//
+//            messages.add(b.inMessages().total());
+//            bytes.add(b.inBytes().total());
+//
+//            log.info("Disconnected client; inbound {} mps, {} Mbps; outbound {} mps, {} Mbps",
+//                     format.format(b.inMessages().throughput()),
+//                     format.format(b.inBytes().throughput() / (1024 * 128)),
+//                     format.format(b.outMessages().throughput()),
+//                     format.format(b.outBytes().throughput() / (1024 * 128)));
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected void processMessages(List<TestMessage> messages,
+                                       MessageStream<TestMessage> stream) {
+            try {
+                stream.write(messages);
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                log.error("Unable to echo messages", e);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Loop for accepting client connections
+    private class CustomAcceptLoop extends AcceptorLoop {
+
+        public CustomAcceptLoop(SocketAddress address) throws IOException {
+            super(500, address);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        protected void acceptConnection(ServerSocketChannel channel) throws IOException {
+            SocketChannel sc = channel.accept();
+            sc.configureBlocking(false);
+
+            Socket so = sc.socket();
+            so.setTcpNoDelay(SO_NO_DELAY);
+            so.setReceiveBufferSize(SO_RCV_BUFFER_SIZE);
+            so.setSendBufferSize(SO_SEND_BUFFER_SIZE);
+
+            nextWorker().acceptStream(sc);
+            log.info("Connected client");
+        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/TestMessage.java b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/TestMessage.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00315ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/TestMessage.java
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+/**
+ * Fixed-length message.
+ */
+public class TestMessage extends AbstractMessage {
+
+    private final byte[] data;
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new message with the specified length.
+     *
+     * @param length message length
+     */
+    public TestMessage(int length) {
+        this.length = length;
+        data = new byte[length];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new message with the specified data.
+     *
+     * @param data message data
+     */
+    TestMessage(byte[] data) {
+        this.length = data.length;
+        this.data = data;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Gets the backing byte array data.
+     *
+     * @return backing byte array
+     */
+    public byte[] data() {
+        return data;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/TestMessageStream.java b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/TestMessageStream.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8ab8fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/nio/src/test/java/org/onlab/nio/TestMessageStream.java
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+package org.onlab.nio;
+
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+import java.nio.channels.ByteChannel;
+
+/**
+ * Fixed-length message transfer buffer.
+ */
+public class TestMessageStream extends MessageStream<TestMessage> {
+
+    private static final String E_WRONG_LEN = "Illegal message length: ";
+
+    private final int length;
+
+    /**
+     * Create a new buffer for transferring messages of the specified length.
+     *
+     * @param length message length
+     * @param ch     backing channel
+     * @param loop   driver loop
+     */
+    public TestMessageStream(int length, ByteChannel ch,
+                             IOLoop<TestMessage, ?> loop) {
+        super(loop, ch, 64 * 1024, 500);
+        this.length = length;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected TestMessage read(ByteBuffer rb) {
+        if (rb.remaining() < length) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        TestMessage message = new TestMessage(length);
+        rb.get(message.data());
+        return message;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * {@inheritDoc}
+     * <p/>
+     * This implementation enforces the message length against the buffer
+     * supported length.
+     *
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if message size does not match the
+     *                                  supported buffer size
+     */
+    @Override
+    protected void write(TestMessage message, ByteBuffer wb) {
+        if (message.length() != length) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(E_WRONG_LEN + message.length());
+        }
+        wb.put(message.data());
+    }
+
+}