diff --git a/cmd/geth/main.go b/cmd/geth/main.go
index fcf7f27f02..3e945687bc 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/main.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/main.go
@@ -39,11 +39,11 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/eth"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/logger"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/metrics"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rpc/codec"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rpc/comms"
 	"github.com/mattn/go-colorable"
 	"github.com/mattn/go-isatty"
-	"github.com/rcrowley/go-metrics"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -272,6 +272,7 @@ JavaScript API. See https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Javascipt-Conso
 		utils.LogJSONFlag,
 		utils.PProfEanbledFlag,
 		utils.PProfPortFlag,
+		utils.MetricsEnabledFlag,
 		utils.SolcPathFlag,
 		utils.GpoMinGasPriceFlag,
 		utils.GpoMaxGasPriceFlag,
@@ -288,27 +289,7 @@ JavaScript API. See https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Javascipt-Conso
 		return nil
 	}
 	// Start system runtime metrics collection
-	go func() {
-		allocs := metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/memory/allocs", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		frees := metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/memory/frees", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		inuse := metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/memory/inuse", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		pauses := metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/memory/pauses", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-
-		stats := make([]*runtime.MemStats, 2)
-		for i := 0; i < len(stats); i++ {
-			stats[i] = new(runtime.MemStats)
-		}
-		for i := 1; ; i++ {
-			runtime.ReadMemStats(stats[i%2])
-
-			allocs.Mark(int64(stats[i%2].Mallocs - stats[(i-1)%2].Mallocs))
-			frees.Mark(int64(stats[i%2].Frees - stats[(i-1)%2].Frees))
-			inuse.Mark(int64(stats[i%2].Alloc - stats[(i-1)%2].Alloc))
-			pauses.Mark(int64(stats[i%2].PauseTotalNs - stats[(i-1)%2].PauseTotalNs))
-
-			time.Sleep(3 * time.Second)
-		}
-	}()
+	go metrics.CollectProcessMetrics(3 * time.Second)
 }
 
 func main() {
diff --git a/cmd/geth/monitorcmd.go b/cmd/geth/monitorcmd.go
index fe771b561f..6593b3614c 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/monitorcmd.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/monitorcmd.go
@@ -75,7 +75,12 @@ func monitor(ctx *cli.Context) {
 	if len(monitored) == 0 {
 		list := expandMetrics(metrics, "")
 		sort.Strings(list)
-		utils.Fatalf("No metrics specified.\n\nAvailable:\n - %s", strings.Join(list, "\n - "))
+
+		if len(list) > 0 {
+			utils.Fatalf("No metrics specified.\n\nAvailable:\n - %s", strings.Join(list, "\n - "))
+		} else {
+			utils.Fatalf("No metrics collected by geth (--%s).\n", utils.MetricsEnabledFlag.Name)
+		}
 	}
 	sort.Strings(monitored)
 	if cols := len(monitored) / ctx.Int(monitorCommandRowsFlag.Name); cols > 6 {
@@ -285,7 +290,7 @@ func updateChart(metric string, data []float64, base *int, chart *termui.LineCha
 	}
 	// Update the chart's label with the scale units
 	units := dataUnits
-	if strings.Contains(metric, "/Percentiles/") || strings.Contains(metric, "/pauses/") {
+	if strings.Contains(metric, "/Percentiles/") || strings.Contains(metric, "/pauses/") || strings.Contains(metric, "/time/") {
 		units = timeUnits
 	}
 	chart.Border.Label = metric
diff --git a/cmd/utils/flags.go b/cmd/utils/flags.go
index 15a577a070..0d59980ec2 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/flags.go
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/metrics"
+
 	"github.com/codegangsta/cli"
 	"github.com/ethereum/ethash"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/accounts"
@@ -187,6 +189,10 @@ var (
 		Usage: "Port on which the profiler should listen",
 		Value: 6060,
 	}
+	MetricsEnabledFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
+		Name:  metrics.MetricsEnabledFlag,
+		Usage: "Enables metrics collection and reporting",
+	}
 
 	// RPC settings
 	RPCEnabledFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
diff --git a/core/chain_manager.go b/core/chain_manager.go
index fc1922b3b7..7c78b6bb77 100644
--- a/core/chain_manager.go
+++ b/core/chain_manager.go
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/event"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/logger"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/logger/glog"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/metrics"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/params"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/pow"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/rlp"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/golang-lru"
-	"github.com/rcrowley/go-metrics"
 	"github.com/syndtr/goleveldb/leveldb"
 )
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ var (
 	blockHashPre = []byte("block-hash-")
 	blockNumPre  = []byte("block-num-")
 
-	blockInsertTimer = metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer("core/BlockInsertions", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+	blockInsertTimer = metrics.NewTimer("chain/inserts")
 )
 
 const (
diff --git a/eth/backend.go b/eth/backend.go
index 0da6f128c8..4644b8a935 100644
--- a/eth/backend.go
+++ b/eth/backend.go
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/metrics"
+
 	"github.com/ethereum/ethash"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/accounts"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
@@ -29,7 +31,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/p2p/discover"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/p2p/nat"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/whisper"
-	"github.com/rcrowley/go-metrics"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -250,33 +251,42 @@ func New(config *Config) (*Ethereum, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("blockchain db err: %v", err)
 	}
 	if db, ok := blockDb.(*ethdb.LDBDatabase); ok {
-		db.GetTimer = metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer("eth/db/block/Gets", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.PutTimer = metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer("eth/db/block/Puts", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.MissMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/db/block/Misses", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.ReadMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/db/block/Reads", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.WriteMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/db/block/Writes", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+		db.GetTimer = metrics.NewTimer("eth/db/block/user/gets")
+		db.PutTimer = metrics.NewTimer("eth/db/block/user/puts")
+		db.MissMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/block/user/misses")
+		db.ReadMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/block/user/reads")
+		db.WriteMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/block/user/writes")
+		db.CompTimeMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/block/compact/time")
+		db.CompReadMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/block/compact/input")
+		db.CompWriteMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/block/compact/output")
 	}
 	stateDb, err := newdb(filepath.Join(config.DataDir, "state"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("state db err: %v", err)
 	}
 	if db, ok := stateDb.(*ethdb.LDBDatabase); ok {
-		db.GetTimer = metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer("eth/db/state/Gets", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.PutTimer = metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer("eth/db/state/Puts", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.MissMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/db/state/Misses", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.ReadMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/db/state/Reads", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.WriteMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/db/state/Writes", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+		db.GetTimer = metrics.NewTimer("eth/db/state/user/gets")
+		db.PutTimer = metrics.NewTimer("eth/db/state/user/puts")
+		db.MissMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/state/user/misses")
+		db.ReadMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/state/user/reads")
+		db.WriteMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/state/user/writes")
+		db.CompTimeMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/state/compact/time")
+		db.CompReadMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/state/compact/input")
+		db.CompWriteMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/state/compact/output")
 	}
 	extraDb, err := newdb(filepath.Join(config.DataDir, "extra"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("extra db err: %v", err)
 	}
 	if db, ok := extraDb.(*ethdb.LDBDatabase); ok {
-		db.GetTimer = metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer("eth/db/extra/Gets", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.PutTimer = metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer("eth/db/extra/Puts", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.MissMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/db/extra/Misses", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.ReadMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/db/extra/Reads", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-		db.WriteMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/db/extra/Writes", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+		db.GetTimer = metrics.NewTimer("eth/db/extra/user/gets")
+		db.PutTimer = metrics.NewTimer("eth/db/extra/user/puts")
+		db.MissMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/extra/user/misses")
+		db.ReadMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/extra/user/reads")
+		db.WriteMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/extra/user/writes")
+		db.CompTimeMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/extra/compact/time")
+		db.CompReadMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/extra/compact/input")
+		db.CompWriteMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/db/extra/compact/output")
 	}
 	nodeDb := filepath.Join(config.DataDir, "nodes")
 
diff --git a/eth/fetcher/fetcher.go b/eth/fetcher/fetcher.go
index 5a1509f89d..256b452e10 100644
--- a/eth/fetcher/fetcher.go
+++ b/eth/fetcher/fetcher.go
@@ -7,13 +7,11 @@ import (
 	"math/rand"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core"
-
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/core/types"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/logger"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/logger/glog"
-	"github.com/rcrowley/go-metrics"
 	"gopkg.in/karalabe/cookiejar.v2/collections/prque"
 )
 
@@ -99,14 +97,6 @@ type Fetcher struct {
 	// Testing hooks
 	fetchingHook func([]common.Hash) // Method to call upon starting a block fetch
 	importedHook func(*types.Block)  // Method to call upon successful block import
-
-	// Runtime metrics
-	announceMeter  metrics.Meter // Counter for metering the inbound announcements
-	announceTimer  metrics.Timer // Counter and timer for metering the announce forwarding
-	broadcastMeter metrics.Meter // Counter for metering the inbound propagations
-	broadcastTimer metrics.Timer // Counter and timer for metering the block forwarding
-	discardMeter   metrics.Meter // Counter for metering the discarded blocks
-	futureMeter    metrics.Meter // Counter for metering future blocks
 }
 
 // New creates a block fetcher to retrieve blocks based on hash announcements.
@@ -129,12 +119,6 @@ func New(getBlock blockRetrievalFn, validateBlock blockValidatorFn, broadcastBlo
 		chainHeight:    chainHeight,
 		insertChain:    insertChain,
 		dropPeer:       dropPeer,
-		announceMeter:  metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/sync/RemoteAnnounces", metrics.DefaultRegistry),
-		announceTimer:  metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer("eth/sync/LocalAnnounces", metrics.DefaultRegistry),
-		broadcastMeter: metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/sync/RemoteBroadcasts", metrics.DefaultRegistry),
-		broadcastTimer: metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer("eth/sync/LocalBroadcasts", metrics.DefaultRegistry),
-		discardMeter:   metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/sync/DiscardedBlocks", metrics.DefaultRegistry),
-		futureMeter:    metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("eth/sync/FutureBlocks", metrics.DefaultRegistry),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -246,7 +230,7 @@ func (f *Fetcher) loop() {
 
 		case notification := <-f.notify:
 			// A block was announced, make sure the peer isn't DOSing us
-			f.announceMeter.Mark(1)
+			announceMeter.Mark(1)
 
 			count := f.announces[notification.origin] + 1
 			if count > hashLimit {
@@ -265,7 +249,7 @@ func (f *Fetcher) loop() {
 
 		case op := <-f.inject:
 			// A direct block insertion was requested, try and fill any pending gaps
-			f.broadcastMeter.Mark(1)
+			broadcastMeter.Mark(1)
 			f.enqueue(op.origin, op.block)
 
 		case hash := <-f.done:
@@ -384,7 +368,7 @@ func (f *Fetcher) enqueue(peer string, block *types.Block) {
 	// Discard any past or too distant blocks
 	if dist := int64(block.NumberU64()) - int64(f.chainHeight()); dist < -maxUncleDist || dist > maxQueueDist {
 		glog.V(logger.Debug).Infof("Peer %s: discarded block #%d [%x], distance %d", peer, block.NumberU64(), hash.Bytes()[:4], dist)
-		f.discardMeter.Mark(1)
+		discardMeter.Mark(1)
 		return
 	}
 	// Schedule the block for future importing
@@ -423,11 +407,11 @@ func (f *Fetcher) insert(peer string, block *types.Block) {
 		switch err := f.validateBlock(block, parent); err {
 		case nil:
 			// All ok, quickly propagate to our peers
-			f.broadcastTimer.UpdateSince(block.ReceivedAt)
+			broadcastTimer.UpdateSince(block.ReceivedAt)
 			go f.broadcastBlock(block, true)
 
 		case core.BlockFutureErr:
-			f.futureMeter.Mark(1)
+			futureMeter.Mark(1)
 			// Weird future block, don't fail, but neither propagate
 
 		default:
@@ -442,7 +426,7 @@ func (f *Fetcher) insert(peer string, block *types.Block) {
 			return
 		}
 		// If import succeeded, broadcast the block
-		f.announceTimer.UpdateSince(block.ReceivedAt)
+		announceTimer.UpdateSince(block.ReceivedAt)
 		go f.broadcastBlock(block, false)
 
 		// Invoke the testing hook if needed
diff --git a/eth/fetcher/metrics.go b/eth/fetcher/metrics.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e46e3c0fbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/eth/fetcher/metrics.go
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// Contains the metrics collected by the fetcher.
+
+package fetcher
+
+import (
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/metrics"
+)
+
+var (
+	announceMeter  = metrics.NewMeter("eth/sync/RemoteAnnounces")
+	announceTimer  = metrics.NewTimer("eth/sync/LocalAnnounces")
+	broadcastMeter = metrics.NewMeter("eth/sync/RemoteBroadcasts")
+	broadcastTimer = metrics.NewTimer("eth/sync/LocalBroadcasts")
+	discardMeter   = metrics.NewMeter("eth/sync/DiscardedBlocks")
+	futureMeter    = metrics.NewMeter("eth/sync/FutureBlocks")
+)
diff --git a/ethdb/database.go b/ethdb/database.go
index 8f55d43c3f..9ff90d167b 100644
--- a/ethdb/database.go
+++ b/ethdb/database.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package ethdb
 
 import (
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/compression/rle"
@@ -19,12 +21,15 @@ type LDBDatabase struct {
 	fn string      // filename for reporting
 	db *leveldb.DB // LevelDB instance
 
-	GetTimer   metrics.Timer // Timer for measuring the database get request counts and latencies
-	PutTimer   metrics.Timer // Timer for measuring the database put request counts and latencies
-	DelTimer   metrics.Timer // Timer for measuring the database delete request counts and latencies
-	MissMeter  metrics.Meter // MEter for measuring the missed database get requests
-	ReadMeter  metrics.Meter // Meter for measuring the database get request data usage
-	WriteMeter metrics.Meter // Meter for measuring the database put request data usage
+	GetTimer       metrics.Timer // Timer for measuring the database get request counts and latencies
+	PutTimer       metrics.Timer // Timer for measuring the database put request counts and latencies
+	DelTimer       metrics.Timer // Timer for measuring the database delete request counts and latencies
+	MissMeter      metrics.Meter // Meter for measuring the missed database get requests
+	ReadMeter      metrics.Meter // Meter for measuring the database get request data usage
+	WriteMeter     metrics.Meter // Meter for measuring the database put request data usage
+	CompTimeMeter  metrics.Meter // Meter for measuring the total time spent in database compaction
+	CompReadMeter  metrics.Meter // Meter for measuring the data read during compaction
+	CompWriteMeter metrics.Meter // Meter for measuring the data written during compaction
 }
 
 // NewLDBDatabase returns a LevelDB wrapped object. LDBDatabase does not persist data by
@@ -45,6 +50,7 @@ func NewLDBDatabase(file string) (*LDBDatabase, error) {
 		fn: file,
 		db: db,
 	}
+	go database.meter(3 * time.Second)
 
 	return database, nil
 }
@@ -53,8 +59,7 @@ func NewLDBDatabase(file string) (*LDBDatabase, error) {
 func (self *LDBDatabase) Put(key []byte, value []byte) error {
 	// Measure the database put latency, if requested
 	if self.PutTimer != nil {
-		start := time.Now()
-		defer self.PutTimer.UpdateSince(start)
+		defer self.PutTimer.UpdateSince(time.Now())
 	}
 	// Generate the data to write to disk, update the meter and write
 	dat := rle.Compress(value)
@@ -69,8 +74,7 @@ func (self *LDBDatabase) Put(key []byte, value []byte) error {
 func (self *LDBDatabase) Get(key []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	// Measure the database get latency, if requested
 	if self.GetTimer != nil {
-		start := time.Now()
-		defer self.GetTimer.UpdateSince(start)
+		defer self.GetTimer.UpdateSince(time.Now())
 	}
 	// Retrieve the key and increment the miss counter if not found
 	dat, err := self.db.Get(key, nil)
@@ -91,8 +95,7 @@ func (self *LDBDatabase) Get(key []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 func (self *LDBDatabase) Delete(key []byte) error {
 	// Measure the database delete latency, if requested
 	if self.DelTimer != nil {
-		start := time.Now()
-		defer self.DelTimer.UpdateSince(start)
+		defer self.DelTimer.UpdateSince(time.Now())
 	}
 	// Execute the actual operation
 	return self.db.Delete(key, nil)
@@ -111,7 +114,6 @@ func (self *LDBDatabase) Close() {
 	if err := self.Flush(); err != nil {
 		glog.V(logger.Error).Infof("error: flush '%s': %v\n", self.fn, err)
 	}
-
 	self.db.Close()
 	glog.V(logger.Error).Infoln("flushed and closed db:", self.fn)
 }
@@ -119,3 +121,72 @@ func (self *LDBDatabase) Close() {
 func (self *LDBDatabase) LDB() *leveldb.DB {
 	return self.db
 }
+
+// meter periodically retrieves internal leveldb counters and reports them to
+// the metrics subsystem.
+//
+// This is how a stats table look like (currently):
+//   Compactions
+//    Level |   Tables   |    Size(MB)   |    Time(sec)  |    Read(MB)   |   Write(MB)
+//   -------+------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------
+//      0   |          0 |       0.00000 |       1.27969 |       0.00000 |      12.31098
+//      1   |         85 |     109.27913 |      28.09293 |     213.92493 |     214.26294
+//      2   |        523 |    1000.37159 |       7.26059 |      66.86342 |      66.77884
+//      3   |        570 |    1113.18458 |       0.00000 |       0.00000 |       0.00000
+func (self *LDBDatabase) meter(refresh time.Duration) {
+	// Create the counters to store current and previous values
+	counters := make([][]float64, 2)
+	for i := 0; i < 2; i++ {
+		counters[i] = make([]float64, 3)
+	}
+	// Iterate ad infinitum and collect the stats
+	for i := 1; ; i++ {
+		// Retrieve the database stats
+		stats, err := self.db.GetProperty("leveldb.stats")
+		if err != nil {
+			glog.V(logger.Error).Infof("failed to read database stats: %v", err)
+			return
+		}
+		// Find the compaction table, skip the header
+		lines := strings.Split(stats, "\n")
+		for len(lines) > 0 && strings.TrimSpace(lines[0]) != "Compactions" {
+			lines = lines[1:]
+		}
+		if len(lines) <= 3 {
+			glog.V(logger.Error).Infof("compaction table not found")
+			return
+		}
+		lines = lines[3:]
+
+		// Iterate over all the table rows, and accumulate the entries
+		for j := 0; j < len(counters[i%2]); j++ {
+			counters[i%2][j] = 0
+		}
+		for _, line := range lines {
+			parts := strings.Split(line, "|")
+			if len(parts) != 6 {
+				break
+			}
+			for idx, counter := range parts[3:] {
+				if value, err := strconv.ParseFloat(strings.TrimSpace(counter), 64); err != nil {
+					glog.V(logger.Error).Infof("compaction entry parsing failed: %v", err)
+					return
+				} else {
+					counters[i%2][idx] += value
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		// Update all the requested meters
+		if self.CompTimeMeter != nil {
+			self.CompTimeMeter.Mark(int64((counters[i%2][0] - counters[(i-1)%2][0]) * 1000 * 1000 * 1000))
+		}
+		if self.CompReadMeter != nil {
+			self.CompReadMeter.Mark(int64((counters[i%2][1] - counters[(i-1)%2][1]) * 1024 * 1024))
+		}
+		if self.CompWriteMeter != nil {
+			self.CompWriteMeter.Mark(int64((counters[i%2][2] - counters[(i-1)%2][2]) * 1024 * 1024))
+		}
+		// Sleep a bit, then repeat the stats collection
+		time.Sleep(refresh)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/metrics/disk.go b/metrics/disk.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1b6c56773f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics/disk.go
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+package metrics
+
+// DiskStats is the per process disk io stats.
+type DiskStats struct {
+	ReadCount  int64 // Number of read operations executed
+	ReadBytes  int64 // Total number of bytes read
+	WriteCount int64 // Number of write operations executed
+	WriteBytes int64 // Total number of byte written
+}
diff --git a/metrics/disk_linux.go b/metrics/disk_linux.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..82b2045344
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics/disk_linux.go
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// Contains the Linux implementation of process disk IO counter retrieval.
+
+package metrics
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// ReadDiskStats retrieves the disk IO stats belonging to the current process.
+func ReadDiskStats(stats *DiskStats) error {
+	// Open the process disk IO counter file
+	inf, err := os.Open(fmt.Sprintf("/proc/%d/io", os.Getpid()))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	in := bufio.NewReader(inf)
+
+	// Iterate over the IO counter, and extract what we need
+	for {
+		// Read the next line and split to key and value
+		line, err := in.ReadString('\n')
+		if err != nil {
+			if err == io.EOF {
+				return nil
+			}
+			return err
+		}
+		key, value := "", int64(0)
+		if parts := strings.Split(line, ":"); len(parts) != 2 {
+			continue
+		} else {
+			key = strings.TrimSpace(parts[0])
+			if value, err = strconv.ParseInt(strings.TrimSpace(parts[1]), 10, 64); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+		// Update the counter based on the key
+		switch key {
+		case "syscr":
+			stats.ReadCount = value
+		case "syscw":
+			stats.WriteCount = value
+		case "rchar":
+			stats.ReadBytes = value
+		case "wchar":
+			stats.WriteBytes = value
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/metrics/disk_nop.go b/metrics/disk_nop.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..539ab8d1a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics/disk_nop.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+// +build !linux
+
+package metrics
+
+import "errors"
+
+// ReadDiskStats retrieves the disk IO stats belonging to the current process.
+func ReadDiskStats(stats *DiskStats) error {
+	return errors.New("Not implemented")
+}
diff --git a/metrics/metrics.go b/metrics/metrics.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..33004ee3b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/metrics/metrics.go
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+// Package metrics provides general system and process level metrics collection.
+package metrics
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"runtime"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/logger"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/logger/glog"
+	"github.com/rcrowley/go-metrics"
+)
+
+// MetricsEnabledFlag is the CLI flag name to use to enable metrics collections.
+var MetricsEnabledFlag = "metrics"
+
+// enabled is the flag specifying if metrics are enable or not.
+var enabled = false
+
+// Init enables or disables the metrics system. Since we need this to run before
+// any other code gets to create meters and timers, we'll actually do an ugly hack
+// and peek into the command line args for the metrics flag.
+func init() {
+	for _, arg := range os.Args {
+		if strings.TrimLeft(arg, "-") == MetricsEnabledFlag {
+			glog.V(logger.Info).Infof("Enabling metrics collection")
+			enabled = true
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// NewMeter create a new metrics Meter, either a real one of a NOP stub depending
+// on the metrics flag.
+func NewMeter(name string) metrics.Meter {
+	if !enabled {
+		return new(metrics.NilMeter)
+	}
+	return metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter(name, metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+}
+
+// NewTimer create a new metrics Timer, either a real one of a NOP stub depending
+// on the metrics flag.
+func NewTimer(name string) metrics.Timer {
+	if !enabled {
+		return new(metrics.NilTimer)
+	}
+	return metrics.GetOrRegisterTimer(name, metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+}
+
+// CollectProcessMetrics periodically collects various metrics about the running
+// process.
+func CollectProcessMetrics(refresh time.Duration) {
+	// Short circuit if the metrics system is disabled
+	if !enabled {
+		return
+	}
+	// Create the various data collectors
+	memstats := make([]*runtime.MemStats, 2)
+	diskstats := make([]*DiskStats, 2)
+	for i := 0; i < len(memstats); i++ {
+		memstats[i] = new(runtime.MemStats)
+		diskstats[i] = new(DiskStats)
+	}
+	// Define the various metrics to collect
+	memAllocs := metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/memory/allocs", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+	memFrees := metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/memory/frees", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+	memInuse := metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/memory/inuse", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+	memPauses := metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/memory/pauses", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+
+	var diskReads, diskReadBytes, diskWrites, diskWriteBytes metrics.Meter
+	if err := ReadDiskStats(diskstats[0]); err == nil {
+		diskReads = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/disk/readcount", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+		diskReadBytes = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/disk/readdata", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+		diskWrites = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/disk/writecount", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+		diskWriteBytes = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("system/disk/writedata", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+	} else {
+		glog.V(logger.Debug).Infof("failed to read disk metrics: %v", err)
+	}
+	// Iterate loading the different stats and updating the meters
+	for i := 1; ; i++ {
+		runtime.ReadMemStats(memstats[i%2])
+		memAllocs.Mark(int64(memstats[i%2].Mallocs - memstats[(i-1)%2].Mallocs))
+		memFrees.Mark(int64(memstats[i%2].Frees - memstats[(i-1)%2].Frees))
+		memInuse.Mark(int64(memstats[i%2].Alloc - memstats[(i-1)%2].Alloc))
+		memPauses.Mark(int64(memstats[i%2].PauseTotalNs - memstats[(i-1)%2].PauseTotalNs))
+
+		if ReadDiskStats(diskstats[i%2]) == nil {
+			diskReads.Mark(int64(diskstats[i%2].ReadCount - diskstats[(i-1)%2].ReadCount))
+			diskReadBytes.Mark(int64(diskstats[i%2].ReadBytes - diskstats[(i-1)%2].ReadBytes))
+			diskWrites.Mark(int64(diskstats[i%2].WriteCount - diskstats[(i-1)%2].WriteCount))
+			diskWriteBytes.Mark(int64(diskstats[i%2].WriteBytes - diskstats[(i-1)%2].WriteBytes))
+		}
+		time.Sleep(refresh)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/p2p/metrics.go b/p2p/metrics.go
index fbe5b1e90d..4b519e438e 100644
--- a/p2p/metrics.go
+++ b/p2p/metrics.go
@@ -5,14 +5,14 @@ package p2p
 import (
 	"net"
 
-	"github.com/rcrowley/go-metrics"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/metrics"
 )
 
 var (
-	ingressConnectMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("p2p/InboundConnects", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-	ingressTrafficMeter = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("p2p/InboundTraffic", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-	egressConnectMeter  = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("p2p/OutboundConnects", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
-	egressTrafficMeter  = metrics.GetOrRegisterMeter("p2p/OutboundTraffic", metrics.DefaultRegistry)
+	ingressConnectMeter = metrics.NewMeter("p2p/InboundConnects")
+	ingressTrafficMeter = metrics.NewMeter("p2p/InboundTraffic")
+	egressConnectMeter  = metrics.NewMeter("p2p/OutboundConnects")
+	egressTrafficMeter  = metrics.NewMeter("p2p/OutboundTraffic")
 )
 
 // meteredConn is a wrapper around a network TCP connection that meters both the