diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index bee4b72f8c5..01b6136034a 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -700,7 +700,7 @@ Release 0.92.0 - Unreleased
    HBASE-4694  Some cleanup of log messages in RS and M
    HBASE-4603  Uneeded sleep time for tests in
                hbase.master.ServerManager#waitForRegionServers (nkeywal)
-       
+   HBASE-4703  Improvements in tests (nkeywal)
 
   TASKS
    HBASE-3559  Move report of split to master OFF the heartbeat channel
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index ee1abcc62c6..7ef1e100d21 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -770,7 +770,6 @@
     <jetty.jspapi.version>6.1.14</jetty.jspapi.version>
     <jersey.version>1.4</jersey.version>
     <jruby.version>1.6.0</jruby.version>
-    <jsr311.version>1.1.1</jsr311.version>
     <junit.version>4.8.2</junit.version>
     <log4j.version>1.2.16</log4j.version>
     <mockito-all.version>1.8.5</mockito-all.version>
@@ -1035,11 +1034,6 @@
       <artifactId>jersey-server</artifactId>
       <version>${jersey.version}</version>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>javax.ws.rs</groupId>
-      <artifactId>jsr311-api</artifactId>
-      <version>${jsr311.version}</version>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>javax.xml.bind</groupId>
       <artifactId>jaxb-api</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegionServer.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegionServer.java
index 60af1f7558c..f870ab22ebe 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegionServer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegionServer.java
@@ -1286,12 +1286,14 @@ public class HRegionServer implements HRegionInterface, HBaseRPCErrorHandler,
       new HDFSBlocksDistribution();
     long totalStaticIndexSize = 0;
     long totalStaticBloomSize = 0;
+    long totalMslabWaste = 0;
 
     long tmpfiles;
     long tmpindex;
     long tmpfilesize;
     long tmpbloomsize;
     long tmpstaticsize;
+    long tmpMslabWaste;
     String cfname;
 
     // Note that this is a map of Doubles instead of Longs. This is because we
@@ -1315,6 +1317,7 @@ public class HRegionServer implements HRegionInterface, HBaseRPCErrorHandler,
           tmpfilesize = store.getStorefilesSize();
           tmpbloomsize = store.getTotalStaticBloomSize();
           tmpstaticsize = store.getTotalStaticIndexSize();
+          tmpMslabWaste = store.memstore.getMslabWaste();
 
           // Note that there is only one store per CF so setting is safe
           cfname = "cf." + store.toString();
@@ -1329,11 +1332,14 @@ public class HRegionServer implements HRegionInterface, HBaseRPCErrorHandler,
               (store.getMemStoreSize() / (1024.0 * 1024)));
           this.incrMap(tempVals, cfname + ".staticIndexSizeKB",
               tmpstaticsize / 1024.0);
+          this.incrMap(tempVals, cfname + ".mslabWasteKB",
+              tmpMslabWaste / 1024.0);
 
           storefiles += tmpfiles;
           storefileIndexSize += tmpindex;
           totalStaticIndexSize += tmpstaticsize;
           totalStaticBloomSize += tmpbloomsize;
+          totalMslabWaste += tmpMslabWaste;
         }
       }
 
@@ -1353,6 +1359,8 @@ public class HRegionServer implements HRegionInterface, HBaseRPCErrorHandler,
         (int) (totalStaticIndexSize / 1024));
     this.metrics.totalStaticBloomSizeKB.set(
         (int) (totalStaticBloomSize / 1024));
+    this.metrics.totalMslabWasteKB.set(
+        (int) (totalMslabWaste / 1024));
     this.metrics.readRequestsCount.set(readRequestsCount);
     this.metrics.writeRequestsCount.set(writeRequestsCount);
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/MemStore.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/MemStore.java
index 747a90b783d..48e1acc86be 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/MemStore.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/MemStore.java
@@ -124,6 +124,18 @@ public class MemStore implements HeapSize {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @return the number of bytes "wasted" by external fragmentation
+   * in the MSLAB, if configured.
+   */
+  long getMslabWaste() {
+    if (allocator != null) {
+      return allocator.getWastedBytes();
+    } else {
+      return 0;
+    }
+  }
+
   void dump() {
     for (KeyValue kv: this.kvset) {
       LOG.info(kv);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/MemStoreLAB.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/MemStoreLAB.java
index cbb76e8be09..d5d1fd30fc0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/MemStoreLAB.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/MemStoreLAB.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 package org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver;
 
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
@@ -56,7 +57,9 @@ public class MemStoreLAB {
   final static String MAX_ALLOC_KEY = "hbase.hregion.memstore.mslab.max.allocation";
   final static int MAX_ALLOC_DEFAULT = 256  * 1024; // allocs bigger than this don't go through allocator
   final int maxAlloc;
-
+  
+  private final AtomicLong wastedSpace = new AtomicLong();
+  
   public MemStoreLAB() {
     this(new Configuration());
   }
@@ -103,22 +106,35 @@ public class MemStoreLAB {
     }
   }
 
+  public long getWastedBytes() {
+    Chunk cur = curChunk.get();
+    long ret = wastedSpace.get();
+    if (cur != null) {
+      ret += cur.getFreeSpace();
+    }
+    return ret;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Try to retire the current chunk if it is still
    * <code>c</code>. Postcondition is that curChunk.get()
    * != c
    */
   private void tryRetireChunk(Chunk c) {
-    @SuppressWarnings("unused")
     boolean weRetiredIt = curChunk.compareAndSet(c, null);
     // If the CAS succeeds, that means that we won the race
-    // to retire the chunk. We could use this opportunity to
-    // update metrics on external fragmentation.
-    //
+    // to retire the chunk.
     // If the CAS fails, that means that someone else already
     // retired the chunk for us.
+    if (weRetiredIt) {
+      // This isn't quite right, since another thread may
+      // have a small allocation concurrently with our retiring
+      // the chunk. But it should be very close to right,
+      // and this is just for metrics.
+      wastedSpace.addAndGet(c.getFreeSpace());
+    }
   }
-
+  
   /**
    * Get the current chunk, or, if there is no current chunk,
    * allocate a new one from the JVM.
@@ -239,6 +255,15 @@ public class MemStoreLAB {
         " allocs=" + allocCount.get() + "waste=" +
         (data.length - nextFreeOffset.get());
     }
+    
+    private int getFreeSpace() {
+      int off = nextFreeOffset.get();
+      if (off >= 0) {
+        return data.length - off;
+      } else {
+        return 0;
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/metrics/RegionServerMetrics.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/metrics/RegionServerMetrics.java
index d512686001a..03afaae8e6a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/metrics/RegionServerMetrics.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/metrics/RegionServerMetrics.java
@@ -155,6 +155,9 @@ public class RegionServerMetrics implements Updater {
   public final MetricsIntValue totalStaticBloomSizeKB =
     new MetricsIntValue("totalStaticBloomSizeKB", registry);
 
+  /** Total amount of memory wasted by external fragmentation in MSLABs */
+  public final MetricsIntValue totalMslabWasteKB =
+    new MetricsIntValue("totalMslabWasteKB", registry);
   /**
    * HDFS blocks locality index
    */
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HBaseTestingUtility.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HBaseTestingUtility.java
index 20569ab16d8..0a6f703be46 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HBaseTestingUtility.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HBaseTestingUtility.java
@@ -251,13 +251,12 @@ public class HBaseTestingUtility {
     }
 
     String randomStr = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
-    Path testDir= new Path(
+    Path testPath= new Path(
       getBaseTestDir(),
       randomStr
     );
 
-    dataTestDir = new File(testDir.toString()).getAbsoluteFile();
-    // Have it cleaned up on exit
+    dataTestDir = new File(testPath.toString()).getAbsoluteFile();
     dataTestDir.deleteOnExit();
   }
 
@@ -400,7 +399,6 @@ public class HBaseTestingUtility {
       throws Exception {
     File zkClusterFile = new File(getClusterTestDir().toString());
     return startMiniZKCluster(zkClusterFile, zooKeeperServerNum);
-
   }
   
   private MiniZooKeeperCluster startMiniZKCluster(final File dir)
@@ -1389,7 +1387,7 @@ public class HBaseTestingUtility {
     while (!admin.isTableAvailable(table)) {
       assertTrue("Timed out waiting for table " + Bytes.toStringBinary(table),
           System.currentTimeMillis() - startWait < timeoutMillis);
-      Thread.sleep(500);
+      Thread.sleep(200);
     }
   }
 
@@ -1402,13 +1400,14 @@ public class HBaseTestingUtility {
    */
   public boolean ensureSomeRegionServersAvailable(final int num)
       throws IOException {
-    if (this.getHBaseCluster().getLiveRegionServerThreads().size() < num) {
-      // Need at least "num" servers.
-      LOG.info("Started new server=" +
-        this.getHBaseCluster().startRegionServer());
-      return true;
+    boolean startedServer = false;
+
+    for (int i=hbaseCluster.getLiveRegionServerThreads().size(); i<num; ++i){
+      LOG.info("Started new server=" + hbaseCluster.startRegionServer());
+      startedServer = true;
     }
-    return false;
+
+    return startedServer;
   }
 
 
@@ -1503,7 +1502,7 @@ public class HBaseTestingUtility {
         break;
       }
       LOG.info("Found=" + rows);
-      Threads.sleep(1000);
+      Threads.sleep(200);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/MiniHBaseCluster.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/MiniHBaseCluster.java
index 7194c0259e9..c0634f4e153 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/MiniHBaseCluster.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/MiniHBaseCluster.java
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ public class MiniHBaseCluster {
    */
   public boolean waitForActiveAndReadyMaster() throws InterruptedException {
     List<JVMClusterUtil.MasterThread> mts;
-    while ((mts = getMasterThreads()).size() > 0) {
+    while (!(mts = getMasterThreads()).isEmpty()) {
       for (JVMClusterUtil.MasterThread mt : mts) {
         if (mt.getMaster().isActiveMaster() && mt.getMaster().isInitialized()) {
           return true;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestGlobalMemStoreSize.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestGlobalMemStoreSize.java
index c70e0c25235..caba582ee35 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestGlobalMemStoreSize.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestGlobalMemStoreSize.java
@@ -99,6 +99,8 @@ public class TestGlobalMemStoreSize {
       assertEquals(server.getRegionServerAccounting().getGlobalMemstoreSize(),
           0);
     }
+
+    TEST_UTIL.shutdownMiniCluster();
   }
   
   /** figure out how many regions are currently being served. */
@@ -128,7 +130,7 @@ public class TestGlobalMemStoreSize {
     while (getRegionCount() < totalRegionNum) {
       LOG.debug("Waiting for there to be "+totalRegionNum+" regions, but there are " + getRegionCount() + " right now.");
       try {
-        Thread.sleep(1000);
+        Thread.sleep(100);
       } catch (InterruptedException e) {}
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestSerialization.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestSerialization.java
index 51b90969e53..75027d512ce 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestSerialization.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TestSerialization.java
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ public class TestSerialization {
     byte[] val = "val".getBytes();
 
     Put put = new Put(row);
+    put.setWriteToWAL(false);
     put.add(fam, qf1, ts, val);
     put.add(fam, qf2, ts, val);
     put.add(fam, qf3, ts, val);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TimestampTestBase.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TimestampTestBase.java
index 974e2c1cc6f..633d7a99003 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TimestampTestBase.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/TimestampTestBase.java
@@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ public class TimestampTestBase extends HBaseTestCase {
     final long ts)
   throws IOException {
     Put put = new Put(ROW, ts, null);
+    put.setWriteToWAL(false);
     put.add(FAMILY_NAME, QUALIFIER_NAME, bytes);
     loader.put(put);
   }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/avro/TestAvroServer.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/avro/TestAvroServer.java
index 06427ab6587..de8b25f762d 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/avro/TestAvroServer.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/avro/TestAvroServer.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public class TestAvroServer {
    */
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestAdmin.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestAdmin.java
index 06591329643..ac4793855df 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestAdmin.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestAdmin.java
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ public class TestAdmin {
     while (!done.get()) {
       synchronized (done) {
         try {
-          done.wait(1000);
+          done.wait(100);
         } catch (InterruptedException e) {
           e.printStackTrace();
         }
@@ -678,6 +678,7 @@ public class TestAdmin {
         for (int i = 0; i < rowCounts[index]; i++) {
           byte[] k = Bytes.toBytes(i);
           Put put = new Put(k);
+          put.setWriteToWAL(false);
           put.add(familyNames[index], new byte[0], k);
           table.put(put);
         }
@@ -867,7 +868,7 @@ public class TestAdmin {
     for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
       while(threads[i].isAlive()) {
         try {
-          Thread.sleep(1000);
+          Thread.sleep(100);
         } catch (InterruptedException e) {
           // continue
         }
@@ -1067,10 +1068,16 @@ public class TestAdmin {
         }
       }
     }
-    Thread.sleep(1000);
-    onlineRegions = rs.getOnlineRegions();
+
+    boolean isInList = rs.getOnlineRegions().contains(info);
+    long timeout = System.currentTimeMillis() + 2000;
+    while ((System.currentTimeMillis() < timeout) && (isInList)) {
+      Thread.sleep(100);
+      isInList = rs.getOnlineRegions().contains(info);
+    }
+
     assertFalse("The region should not be present in online regions list.",
-        onlineRegions.contains(info));
+      isInList);
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -1305,6 +1312,7 @@ public class TestAdmin {
         .toBytes(tableName));
     for (int i = 1; i <= 256; i++) { // 256 writes should cause 8 log rolls
       Put put = new Put(Bytes.toBytes("row" + String.format("%1$04d", i)));
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY, null, value);
       table.put(put);
       if (i % 32 == 0) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestFromClientSide.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestFromClientSide.java
index 659a408ea06..c91ed657efe 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestFromClientSide.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestFromClientSide.java
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
    */
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
+    // We need more than one region server in this test
     TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
   }
 
@@ -480,6 +481,7 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
       System.out.println(String.format("Saving row: %s, with value %s", row,
           value));
       Put put = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(Bytes.toBytes("trans-blob"), null, Bytes
           .toBytes("value for blob"));
       put.add(Bytes.toBytes("trans-type"), null, Bytes.toBytes("statement"));
@@ -656,7 +658,6 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
     Result result = scanner.next();
     assertTrue("Expected null result", result == null);
     scanner.close();
-    System.out.println("Done.");
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -695,6 +696,7 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
     };
     for(int i=0;i<10;i++) {
       Put put = new Put(ROWS[i]);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(FAMILY, QUALIFIERS[i], VALUE);
       ht.put(put);
     }
@@ -730,6 +732,7 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
     };
     for(int i=0;i<10;i++) {
       Put put = new Put(ROWS[i]);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(FAMILY, QUALIFIERS[i], VALUE);
       ht.put(put);
     }
@@ -1954,6 +1957,7 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
     for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
       byte [] bytes = Bytes.toBytes(i);
       put = new Put(bytes);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(FAMILIES[0], QUALIFIER, bytes);
       ht.put(put);
     }
@@ -2061,6 +2065,7 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
 
     for(int i=0;i<numRows;i++) {
       Put put = new Put(ROWS[i]);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for(int j=0;j<numColsPerRow;j++) {
         put.add(FAMILY, QUALIFIERS[j], QUALIFIERS[j]);
       }
@@ -3607,6 +3612,7 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
     for (int i = 0; i < NB_BATCH_ROWS; i++) {
       byte[] row = Bytes.toBytes("row" + i);
       Put put = new Put(row);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(CONTENTS_FAMILY, null, value);
       rowsUpdate.add(put);
     }
@@ -3634,6 +3640,7 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
     for (int i = 0; i < NB_BATCH_ROWS * 10; i++) {
       byte[] row = Bytes.toBytes("row" + i);
       Put put = new Put(row);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(CONTENTS_FAMILY, null, value);
       rowsUpdate.add(put);
     }
@@ -3675,6 +3682,7 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
     for (int i = 0; i < NB_BATCH_ROWS * 10; i++) {
       byte[] row = Bytes.toBytes("row" + i);
       Put put = new Put(row);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(CONTENTS_FAMILY, null, value);
       rowsUpdate.add(put);
     }
@@ -3870,6 +3878,7 @@ public class TestFromClientSide {
     try {
       for (Result r : s) {
         put = new Put(r.getRow());
+        put.setWriteToWAL(false);
         for (KeyValue kv : r.raw()) {
           put.add(kv);
         }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestHTableUtil.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestHTableUtil.java
index f0be2c86747..90ad08970f3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestHTableUtil.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestHTableUtil.java
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ public class TestHTableUtil {
    */
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMetaMigrationRemovingHTD.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMetaMigrationRemovingHTD.java
index dca791b4589..0dcfdf946f9 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMetaMigrationRemovingHTD.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMetaMigrationRemovingHTD.java
@@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ public class TestMetaMigrationRemovingHTD {
       HRegionInfo090x hri = new HRegionInfo090x(htd,
         startKeys[i], startKeys[j]);
       Put put = new Put(hri.getRegionName());
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY, HConstants.REGIONINFO_QUALIFIER,
         Writables.getBytes(hri));
       meta.put(put);
@@ -341,6 +342,7 @@ public class TestMetaMigrationRemovingHTD {
       HRegionInfo hri = new HRegionInfo(htd.getName(),
         startKeys[i], startKeys[j]);
       Put put = new Put(hri.getRegionName());
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY, HConstants.REGIONINFO_QUALIFIER,
         Writables.getBytes(hri));
       meta.put(put);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMultiParallel.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMultiParallel.java
index a3680686258..e56e1467232 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMultiParallel.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMultiParallel.java
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ public class TestMultiParallel {
     UTIL.createMultiRegions(t, Bytes.toBytes(FAMILY));
   }
 
-  @AfterClass public static void afterClass() throws IOException {
-    UTIL.getMiniHBaseCluster().shutdown();
+  @AfterClass public static void afterClass() throws Exception {
+    UTIL.shutdownMiniCluster();
   }
 
   @Before public void before() throws IOException {
@@ -472,7 +472,6 @@ public class TestMultiParallel {
   private void validateLoadedData(HTable table) throws IOException {
     // get the data back and validate that it is correct
     for (byte[] k : KEYS) {
-      LOG.info("Assert=" + Bytes.toString(k));
       Get get = new Get(k);
       get.addColumn(BYTES_FAMILY, QUALIFIER);
       Result r = table.get(get);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMultipleTimestamps.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMultipleTimestamps.java
index 1c33e90302a..1ea11966311 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMultipleTimestamps.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestMultipleTimestamps.java
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public class TestMultipleTimestamps {
    */
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
   }
 
   /**
@@ -451,6 +451,7 @@ public class TestMultipleTimestamps {
     for (int rowIdx: rowIndexes) {
       byte row[] = Bytes.toBytes("row:" + rowIdx);
       Put put = new Put(row);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for(int colIdx: columnIndexes) {
         byte column[] = Bytes.toBytes("column:" + colIdx);
         for (long version: versions) {
@@ -472,6 +473,7 @@ public class TestMultipleTimestamps {
     byte row[] = Bytes.toBytes("row:" + rowIdx);
     byte column[] = Bytes.toBytes("column:" + colIdx);
     Put put = new Put(row);
+    put.setWriteToWAL(false);
 
     for (long idx = versionStart; idx <= versionEnd; idx++) {
       put.add(cf, column, idx, Bytes.toBytes("value-version-" + idx));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestScannerTimeout.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestScannerTimeout.java
index c33c2efe0c4..78b54896393 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestScannerTimeout.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestScannerTimeout.java
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ public class TestScannerTimeout {
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
     Configuration c = TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration();
     c.setInt("hbase.regionserver.lease.period", SCANNER_TIMEOUT);
+    // We need more than one region server for this test
     TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(2);
     HTable table = TEST_UTIL.createTable(TABLE_NAME, SOME_BYTES);
      for (int i = 0; i < NB_ROWS; i++) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestTimestampsFilter.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestTimestampsFilter.java
index 9f6b28f159f..7509e64d3f1 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestTimestampsFilter.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestTimestampsFilter.java
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ public class TestTimestampsFilter {
    */
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
   }
 
   /**
@@ -363,6 +363,7 @@ public class TestTimestampsFilter {
     byte row[] = Bytes.toBytes("row:" + rowIdx);
     byte column[] = Bytes.toBytes("column:" + colIdx);
     Put put = new Put(row);
+    put.setWriteToWAL(false);
 
     for (long idx = versionStart; idx <= versionEnd; idx++) {
       put.add(cf, column, idx, Bytes.toBytes("value-version-" + idx));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestAggregateProtocol.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestAggregateProtocol.java
index e2cc29e6605..855031ac41f 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestAggregateProtocol.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestAggregateProtocol.java
@@ -87,10 +87,12 @@ public class TestAggregateProtocol {
      */
     for (int i = 0; i < ROWSIZE; i++) {
       Put put = new Put(ROWS[i]);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       Long l = new Long(i);
       put.add(TEST_FAMILY, TEST_QUALIFIER, Bytes.toBytes(l));
       table.put(put);
       Put p2 = new Put(ROWS[i]);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       p2.add(TEST_FAMILY, Bytes.add(TEST_MULTI_CQ, Bytes.toBytes(l)), Bytes
           .toBytes(l * 10));
       table.put(p2);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestCoprocessorEndpoint.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestCoprocessorEndpoint.java
index a8f2a9c9588..eb04f477a04 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestCoprocessorEndpoint.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestCoprocessorEndpoint.java
@@ -75,12 +75,17 @@ public class TestCoprocessorEndpoint {
 
     for (int i = 0; i < ROWSIZE; i++) {
       Put put = new Put(ROWS[i]);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(TEST_FAMILY, TEST_QUALIFIER, Bytes.toBytes(i));
       table.put(put);
     }
 
     // sleep here is an ugly hack to allow region transitions to finish
-    Thread.sleep(5000);
+    long timeout = System.currentTimeMillis() + (15 * 1000);
+    while ((System.currentTimeMillis() < timeout) &&
+      (table.getRegionsInfo().size() != 2)) {
+      Thread.sleep(250);
+    }
   }
 
   @AfterClass
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterCoprocessorExceptionWithAbort.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterCoprocessorExceptionWithAbort.java
index 0bc89847ced..9160b389417 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterCoprocessorExceptionWithAbort.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterCoprocessorExceptionWithAbort.java
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ public class TestMasterCoprocessorExceptionWithAbort {
     conf.set(CoprocessorHost.MASTER_COPROCESSOR_CONF_KEY,
         BuggyMasterObserver.class.getName());
     conf.set("hbase.coprocessor.abortonerror", "true");
-    UTIL.startMiniCluster(2);
+    UTIL.startMiniCluster();
   }
 
   @AfterClass
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterCoprocessorExceptionWithRemove.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterCoprocessorExceptionWithRemove.java
index 1f9b77cf2b1..091d3156865 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterCoprocessorExceptionWithRemove.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterCoprocessorExceptionWithRemove.java
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ public class TestMasterCoprocessorExceptionWithRemove {
     Configuration conf = UTIL.getConfiguration();
     conf.set(CoprocessorHost.MASTER_COPROCESSOR_CONF_KEY,
         BuggyMasterObserver.class.getName());
-    UTIL.startMiniCluster(2);
+    UTIL.startMiniCluster();
   }
 
   @AfterClass
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterObserver.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterObserver.java
index db56e6b2492..666d3587f1d 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterObserver.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestMasterObserver.java
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ public class TestMasterObserver {
     Configuration conf = UTIL.getConfiguration();
     conf.set(CoprocessorHost.MASTER_COPROCESSOR_CONF_KEY,
         CPMasterObserver.class.getName());
-
+    // We need more than one data server on this test
     UTIL.startMiniCluster(2);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestRegionObserverInterface.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestRegionObserverInterface.java
index 1f4e02d61ea..2fe24140cf8 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestRegionObserverInterface.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/coprocessor/TestRegionObserverInterface.java
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ public class TestRegionObserverInterface {
     conf.set(CoprocessorHost.REGION_COPROCESSOR_CONF_KEY,
         "org.apache.hadoop.hbase.coprocessor.SimpleRegionObserver");
 
-    util.startMiniCluster(2);
+    util.startMiniCluster();
     cluster = util.getMiniHBaseCluster();
   }
 
@@ -327,9 +327,10 @@ public class TestRegionObserverInterface {
     HTable table = new HTable(util.getConfiguration(), compactTable);
     for (long i=1; i<=10; i++) {
       byte[] iBytes = Bytes.toBytes(i);
-      Put p = new Put(iBytes);
-      p.add(A, A, iBytes);
-      table.put(p);
+      Put put = new Put(iBytes);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
+      put.add(A, A, iBytes);
+      table.put(put);
     }
 
     HRegion firstRegion = cluster.getRegions(compactTable).get(0);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestColumnPrefixFilter.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestColumnPrefixFilter.java
index 1be42aec9c4..7d2b300e2d6 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestColumnPrefixFilter.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestColumnPrefixFilter.java
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ public class TestColumnPrefixFilter {
 
     for (String row: rows) {
       Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for (String column: columns) {
         for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
           KeyValue kv = KeyValueTestUtil.create(row, family, column, timestamp,
@@ -126,6 +127,7 @@ public class TestColumnPrefixFilter {
 
     for (String row: rows) {
       Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for (String column: columns) {
         for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
           KeyValue kv = KeyValueTestUtil.create(row, family, column, timestamp,
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestColumnRangeFilter.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestColumnRangeFilter.java
index a526db4b559..30fef5a6add 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestColumnRangeFilter.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestColumnRangeFilter.java
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ public class TestColumnRangeFilter {
    */
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
   }
 
   /**
@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ public class TestColumnRangeFilter {
 
     for (String row : rows) {
       Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for (String column : columns) {
         for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
           KeyValue kv = KeyValueTestUtil.create(row, family, column, timestamp,
@@ -200,11 +201,6 @@ public class TestColumnRangeFilter {
     }
 
     TEST_UTIL.flush();
-    try {
-      Thread.sleep(3000);
-    } catch (InterruptedException i) {
-        // ignore
-    }
 
     ColumnRangeFilter filter;
     Scan scan = new Scan();
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestFilter.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestFilter.java
index 09a785dc262..2c513d588a5 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestFilter.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestFilter.java
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ public class TestFilter extends HBaseTestCase {
     // Insert first half
     for(byte [] ROW : ROWS_ONE) {
       Put p = new Put(ROW);
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for(byte [] QUALIFIER : QUALIFIERS_ONE) {
         p.add(FAMILIES[0], QUALIFIER, VALUES[0]);
       }
@@ -105,6 +106,7 @@ public class TestFilter extends HBaseTestCase {
     }
     for(byte [] ROW : ROWS_TWO) {
       Put p = new Put(ROW);
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for(byte [] QUALIFIER : QUALIFIERS_TWO) {
         p.add(FAMILIES[1], QUALIFIER, VALUES[1]);
       }
@@ -117,6 +119,7 @@ public class TestFilter extends HBaseTestCase {
     // Insert second half (reverse families)
     for(byte [] ROW : ROWS_ONE) {
       Put p = new Put(ROW);
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for(byte [] QUALIFIER : QUALIFIERS_ONE) {
         p.add(FAMILIES[1], QUALIFIER, VALUES[0]);
       }
@@ -124,6 +127,7 @@ public class TestFilter extends HBaseTestCase {
     }
     for(byte [] ROW : ROWS_TWO) {
       Put p = new Put(ROW);
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for(byte [] QUALIFIER : QUALIFIERS_TWO) {
         p.add(FAMILIES[0], QUALIFIER, VALUES[1]);
       }
@@ -1182,7 +1186,9 @@ public class TestFilter extends HBaseTestCase {
     };
 
     for(KeyValue kv : srcKVs) {
-      this.region.put(new Put(kv.getRow()).add(kv));
+      Put put = new Put(kv.getRow()).add(kv);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
+      this.region.put(put);
     }
 
     // Match VALUES[0] against QUALIFIERS_ONE[0] with filterIfMissing = false
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter.java
index 94616a2bca4..424dfb027f3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/filter/TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter.java
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ public class TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter {
 
     for (String row: rows) {
       Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for (String column: columns) {
         for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
           KeyValue kv = KeyValueTestUtil.create(row, family, column, timestamp,
@@ -131,6 +132,7 @@ public class TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter {
 
     for (String row: rows) {
       Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for (String column: columns) {
         for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
           double rand = Math.random();
@@ -185,6 +187,7 @@ public class TestMultipleColumnPrefixFilter {
 
     for (String row: rows) {
       Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for (String column: columns) {
         for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
           KeyValue kv = KeyValueTestUtil.create(row, family, column, timestamp,
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestHFileBlock.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestHFileBlock.java
index 0aff9c72837..3c1e34d81f6 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestHFileBlock.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestHFileBlock.java
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 public class TestHFileBlock {
-
+  // change this value to activate more logs
+  private static final boolean detailedLogging = false;
   private static final boolean[] BOOLEAN_VALUES = new boolean[] { false, true };
 
   private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(TestHFileBlock.class);
@@ -250,7 +251,7 @@ public class TestHFileBlock {
           List<ByteBuffer> expectedContents = cacheOnWrite
               ? new ArrayList<ByteBuffer>() : null;
           long totalSize = writeBlocks(rand, algo, path, expectedOffsets,
-              expectedPrevOffsets, expectedTypes, expectedContents, true);
+              expectedPrevOffsets, expectedTypes, expectedContents);
 
           FSDataInputStream is = fs.open(path);
           HFileBlock.FSReader hbr = new HFileBlock.FSReaderV2(is, algo,
@@ -263,10 +264,13 @@ public class TestHFileBlock {
             }
 
             assertEquals(expectedOffsets.get(i).longValue(), curOffset);
-
-            LOG.info("Reading block #" + i + " at offset " + curOffset);
+            if (detailedLogging) {
+              LOG.info("Reading block #" + i + " at offset " + curOffset);
+            }
             HFileBlock b = hbr.readBlockData(curOffset, -1, -1, pread);
-            LOG.info("Block #" + i + ": " + b);
+            if (detailedLogging) {
+              LOG.info("Block #" + i + ": " + b);
+            }
             assertEquals("Invalid block #" + i + "'s type:",
                 expectedTypes.get(i), b.getBlockType());
             assertEquals("Invalid previous block offset for block " + i
@@ -388,8 +392,9 @@ public class TestHFileBlock {
           ++numWithOnDiskSize;
       }
       LOG.info("Client " + clientId + " successfully read " + numBlocksRead +
-          " blocks (with pread: " + numPositionalRead + ", with onDiskSize " +
-          "specified: " + numWithOnDiskSize + ")");
+        " blocks (with pread: " + numPositionalRead + ", with onDiskSize " +
+        "specified: " + numWithOnDiskSize + ")");
+
       return true;
     }
 
@@ -403,7 +408,7 @@ public class TestHFileBlock {
       Random rand = defaultRandom();
       List<Long> offsets = new ArrayList<Long>();
       List<BlockType> types = new ArrayList<BlockType>();
-      writeBlocks(rand, compressAlgo, path, offsets, null, types, null, false);
+      writeBlocks(rand, compressAlgo, path, offsets, null, types, null);
       FSDataInputStream is = fs.open(path);
       long fileSize = fs.getFileStatus(path).getLen();
       HFileBlock.FSReader hbr = new HFileBlock.FSReaderV2(is, compressAlgo,
@@ -421,9 +426,11 @@ public class TestHFileBlock {
       for (int i = 0; i < NUM_READER_THREADS; ++i) {
         Future<Boolean> result = ecs.take();
         assertTrue(result.get());
-        LOG.info(String.valueOf(i + 1)
+        if (detailedLogging) {
+          LOG.info(String.valueOf(i + 1)
             + " reader threads finished successfully (algo=" + compressAlgo
             + ")");
+        }
       }
 
       is.close();
@@ -432,8 +439,8 @@ public class TestHFileBlock {
 
   private long writeBlocks(Random rand, Compression.Algorithm compressAlgo,
       Path path, List<Long> expectedOffsets, List<Long> expectedPrevOffsets,
-      List<BlockType> expectedTypes, List<ByteBuffer> expectedContents,
-      boolean detailedLogging) throws IOException {
+      List<BlockType> expectedTypes, List<ByteBuffer> expectedContents
+  ) throws IOException {
     boolean cacheOnWrite = expectedContents != null;
     FSDataOutputStream os = fs.create(path);
     HFileBlock.Writer hbw = new HFileBlock.Writer(compressAlgo);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestLruBlockCache.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestLruBlockCache.java
index 7357d4e4a55..8e67ed57713 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestLruBlockCache.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestLruBlockCache.java
@@ -53,9 +53,8 @@ public class TestLruBlockCache extends TestCase {
     // Let the eviction run
     int n = 0;
     while(cache.getEvictionCount() == 0) {
-      System.out.println("sleep");
-      Thread.sleep(1000);
-      assertTrue(n++ < 2);
+      Thread.sleep(200);
+      assertTrue(n++ < 10);
     }
     System.out.println("Background Evictions run: " + cache.getEvictionCount());
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestReseekTo.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestReseekTo.java
index 19bb0abb2b2..f2f32bb2c27 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestReseekTo.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/io/hfile/TestReseekTo.java
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ public class TestReseekTo {
       String value = valueList.get(i);
       long start = System.nanoTime();
       scanner.seekTo(Bytes.toBytes(key));
-      System.out.println("Seek Finished in: " + (System.nanoTime() - start)/1000 + " micro s");
       assertEquals(value, scanner.getValueString());
     }
 
@@ -83,7 +82,6 @@ public class TestReseekTo {
       String value = valueList.get(i);
       long start = System.nanoTime();
       scanner.reseekTo(Bytes.toBytes(key));
-      System.out.println("Reseek Finished in: " + (System.nanoTime() - start)/1000 + " micro s");
       assertEquals(value, scanner.getValueString());
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapred/TestTableInputFormat.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapred/TestTableInputFormat.java
index 558b3edf74e..09ad4685493 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapred/TestTableInputFormat.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapred/TestTableInputFormat.java
@@ -67,12 +67,12 @@ public class TestTableInputFormat {
 
   @BeforeClass
   public static void beforeClass() throws Exception {
-    UTIL.startMiniCluster(1);
+    UTIL.startMiniCluster();
   }
 
   @AfterClass
-  public static void afterClass() throws IOException {
-    UTIL.getMiniHBaseCluster().shutdown();
+  public static void afterClass() throws Exception {
+    UTIL.shutdownMiniCluster();
   }
 
   @Before
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestHFileOutputFormat.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestHFileOutputFormat.java
index 72dca7f13e9..a277649d578 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestHFileOutputFormat.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestHFileOutputFormat.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Map.Entry;
 import java.util.Random;
 
+import junit.framework.Assert;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
@@ -410,7 +411,7 @@ public class TestHFileOutputFormat  {
         admin.disableTable(table.getTableName());
         while(util.getMiniHBaseCluster().getMaster().getAssignmentManager().
             isRegionsInTransition()) {
-          Threads.sleep(1000);
+          Threads.sleep(200);
           LOG.info("Waiting on table to finish disabling");
         }
         byte[][] newStartKeys = generateRandomStartKeys(15);
@@ -419,7 +420,7 @@ public class TestHFileOutputFormat  {
         admin.enableTable(table.getTableName());
         while (table.getRegionsInfo().size() != 15 ||
             !admin.isTableAvailable(table.getTableName())) {
-          Thread.sleep(1000);
+          Thread.sleep(200);
           LOG.info("Waiting for new region assignment to happen");
         }
       }
@@ -449,7 +450,7 @@ public class TestHFileOutputFormat  {
       // Cause regions to reopen
       admin.disableTable(TABLE_NAME);
       while (!admin.isTableDisabled(TABLE_NAME)) {
-        Thread.sleep(1000);
+        Thread.sleep(200);
         LOG.info("Waiting for table to disable"); 
       }
       admin.enableTable(TABLE_NAME);
@@ -469,9 +470,11 @@ public class TestHFileOutputFormat  {
     setupRandomGeneratorMapper(job);
     HFileOutputFormat.configureIncrementalLoad(job, table);
     FileOutputFormat.setOutputPath(job, outDir);
-    
+
+    Assert.assertFalse( util.getTestFileSystem().exists(outDir)) ;
+
     assertEquals(table.getRegionsInfo().size(),
-        job.getNumReduceTasks());
+      job.getNumReduceTasks());
     
     assertTrue(job.waitForCompletion(true));
   }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestTableInputFormatScan.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestTableInputFormatScan.java
index cf53671b90a..aa0092317b2 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestTableInputFormatScan.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestTableInputFormatScan.java
@@ -86,20 +86,6 @@ public class TestTableInputFormatScan {
     TEST_UTIL.shutdownMiniCluster();
   }
 
-  @Before
-  public void setUp() throws Exception {
-    // nothing
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * @throws java.lang.Exception
-   */
-  @After
-  public void tearDown() throws Exception {
-    Configuration c = TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration();
-    FileUtil.fullyDelete(new File(c.get("hadoop.tmp.dir")));
-  }
-
   /**
    * Pass the key and value to reduce.
    */
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestTimeRangeMapRed.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestTimeRangeMapRed.java
index 621ada01868..dfe036957f3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestTimeRangeMapRed.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TestTimeRangeMapRed.java
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ public class TestTimeRangeMapRed {
 
       for (Long ts : tsList) {
         Put put = new Put(key.get());
+        put.setWriteToWAL(false);
         put.add(FAMILY_NAME, COLUMN_NAME, ts, Bytes.toBytes(true));
         table.put(put);
       }
@@ -163,6 +164,7 @@ public class TestTimeRangeMapRed {
   private void prepareTest(final HTable table) throws IOException {
     for (Map.Entry<Long, Boolean> entry : TIMESTAMP.entrySet()) {
       Put put = new Put(KEY);
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(FAMILY_NAME, COLUMN_NAME, entry.getKey(), Bytes.toBytes(false));
       table.put(put);
     }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TsvImporterCustomTestMapper.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TsvImporterCustomTestMapper.java
index 62b587ea629..a9e0ac24880 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TsvImporterCustomTestMapper.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/mapreduce/TsvImporterCustomTestMapper.java
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ public class TsvImporterCustomTestMapper extends TsvImporterMapper {
     ImmutableBytesWritable rowKey =
       new ImmutableBytesWritable(Bytes.toBytes(valueTokens[0]));
     Put put = new Put(rowKey.copyBytes());
+    put.setWriteToWAL(false);
 
     //The value should look like this: VALUE1 or VALUE2. Let's multiply
     //the integer by 3
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/TestMasterTransitions.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/TestMasterTransitions.java
index 01abc64b86f..2924323dbb1 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/TestMasterTransitions.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/TestMasterTransitions.java
@@ -489,6 +489,7 @@ public class TestMasterTransitions {
       // If start key, add 'aaa'.
       byte [] row = getStartKey(hri);
       Put p = new Put(row);
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       p.add(getTestFamily(), getTestQualifier(), row);
       t.put(p);
       rows++;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/TestZKBasedOpenCloseRegion.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/TestZKBasedOpenCloseRegion.java
index 2c5ed801a00..fd0300152d1 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/TestZKBasedOpenCloseRegion.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/master/TestZKBasedOpenCloseRegion.java
@@ -360,6 +360,7 @@ public class TestZKBasedOpenCloseRegion {
       // If start key, add 'aaa'.
       byte [] row = getStartKey(hri);
       Put p = new Put(row);
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       p.add(getTestFamily(), getTestQualifier(), row);
       t.put(p);
       rows++;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/monitoring/TestMemoryBoundedLogMessageBuffer.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/monitoring/TestMemoryBoundedLogMessageBuffer.java
index bf3068f49c4..22cd0285daf 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/monitoring/TestMemoryBoundedLogMessageBuffer.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/monitoring/TestMemoryBoundedLogMessageBuffer.java
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ public class TestMemoryBoundedLogMessageBuffer {
     StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
     buf.dumpTo(new PrintWriter(sw));
     String dump = sw.toString();
-    System.out.println(dump);
     assertFalse("The early log messages should be evicted",
         dump.contains("hello 1\n"));
     assertTrue("The late log messages should be retained",
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestBlocksRead.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestBlocksRead.java
index fda8cf56ae6..e3eb0099127 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestBlocksRead.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestBlocksRead.java
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ public class TestBlocksRead extends HBaseTestCase {
       long versionEnd) throws IOException {
     byte columnBytes[] = Bytes.toBytes(col);
     Put put = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+    put.setWriteToWAL(false);
 
     for (long version = versionStart; version <= versionEnd; version++) {
       put.add(cf, columnBytes, version, genValue(row, col, version));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestColumnSeeking.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestColumnSeeking.java
index 1cf32cce9ae..d2945fa8d5a 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestColumnSeeking.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestColumnSeeking.java
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ public class TestColumnSeeking {
     for (String value : values) {
       for (String row : rows) {
         Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+        p.setWriteToWAL(false);
         for (String column : allColumns) {
           for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
             KeyValue kv =
@@ -205,6 +206,7 @@ public class TestColumnSeeking {
 
     for (String row : rows) {
       Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      p.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for (String column : allColumns) {
         for (long timestamp = 1; timestamp <= maxTimestamp; timestamp++) {
           KeyValue kv =
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestCompaction.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestCompaction.java
index 0479453c2ef..35b8a6c8547 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestCompaction.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestCompaction.java
@@ -394,6 +394,7 @@ public class TestCompaction extends HBaseTestCase {
       for (int i = 0; i < compactionThreshold; i++) {
         HRegionIncommon loader = new HRegionIncommon(r);
         Put p = new Put(Bytes.add(STARTROW, Bytes.toBytes(i)));
+        p.setWriteToWAL(false);
         for (int j = 0; j < jmax; j++) {
           p.add(COLUMN_FAMILY, Bytes.toBytes(j), pad);
         }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestGetClosestAtOrBefore.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestGetClosestAtOrBefore.java
index a22e83ceada..0f198152522 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestGetClosestAtOrBefore.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestGetClosestAtOrBefore.java
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ public class TestGetClosestAtOrBefore extends HBaseTestCase {
           i == 0? HConstants.EMPTY_BYTE_ARRAY: Bytes.toBytes((byte)i),
           i == last? HConstants.EMPTY_BYTE_ARRAY: Bytes.toBytes((byte)i + interval));
         Put put = new Put(hri.getRegionName());
+        put.setWriteToWAL(false);
         put.add(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY, HConstants.REGIONINFO_QUALIFIER,
                 Writables.getBytes(hri));
         mr.put(put, false);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestHRegion.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestHRegion.java
index 0cb3115c3c6..9aa2b4aed49 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestHRegion.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestHRegion.java
@@ -319,6 +319,7 @@ public class TestHRegion extends HBaseTestCase {
       System.out.println(String.format("Saving row: %s, with value %s", row,
         value));
       Put put = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(row));
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(Bytes.toBytes("trans-blob"), null,
         Bytes.toBytes("value for blob"));
       put.add(Bytes.toBytes("trans-type"), null, Bytes.toBytes("statement"));
@@ -2452,6 +2453,7 @@ public class TestHRegion extends HBaseTestCase {
     boolean toggle=true;
     for (long i = 0; i < numRows; i++) {
       Put put = new Put(Bytes.toBytes(i));
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(family, qual1, Bytes.toBytes(i % 10));
       region.put(put);
 
@@ -2662,6 +2664,7 @@ public class TestHRegion extends HBaseTestCase {
           for (int r = 0; r < numRows; r++) {
             byte[] row = Bytes.toBytes("row" + r);
             Put put = new Put(row);
+            put.setWriteToWAL(false);
             byte[] value = Bytes.toBytes(String.valueOf(numPutsFinished));
             for (byte[] family : families) {
               for (byte[] qualifier : qualifiers) {
@@ -2879,6 +2882,7 @@ public class TestHRegion extends HBaseTestCase {
       for (int i = 0; i < duplicate_multiplier; i ++) {
         for (int j = 0; j < num_unique_rows; j++) {
           Put put = new Put(Bytes.toBytes("row" + j));
+          put.setWriteToWAL(false);
     			put.add(fam1, qf1, version++, val1);
           region.put(put);
         }
@@ -2932,6 +2936,7 @@ public class TestHRegion extends HBaseTestCase {
     byte row[] = Bytes.toBytes("row:" + 0);
     byte column[] = Bytes.toBytes("column:" + 0);
     Put put = new Put(row);
+    put.setWriteToWAL(false);
     for (long idx = 1; idx <= 4; idx++) {
       put.add(FAMILY, column, idx, Bytes.toBytes("value-version-" + idx));
     }
@@ -3057,6 +3062,7 @@ public class TestHRegion extends HBaseTestCase {
   throws IOException {
     for(int i=startRow; i<startRow+numRows; i++) {
       Put put = new Put(Bytes.toBytes("" + i));
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       for(byte [] family : families) {
         put.add(family, qf, null);
       }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestMemStoreLAB.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestMemStoreLAB.java
index 26c3c26cab3..eb69ed09639 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestMemStoreLAB.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestMemStoreLAB.java
@@ -46,7 +46,9 @@ public class TestMemStoreLAB {
   public void testLABRandomAllocation() {
     Random rand = new Random();
     MemStoreLAB mslab = new MemStoreLAB();
+    assertEquals(0, mslab.getWastedBytes());
     int expectedOff = 0;
+    int slabsUsed = 0;
     byte[] lastBuffer = null;
     // 100K iterations by 0-1K alloc -> 50MB expected
     // should be reasonable for unit test and also cover wraparound
@@ -58,12 +60,21 @@ public class TestMemStoreLAB {
       if (alloc.getData() != lastBuffer) {
         expectedOff = 0;
         lastBuffer = alloc.getData();
+        slabsUsed++;
       }
       assertEquals(expectedOff, alloc.getOffset());
       assertTrue("Allocation " + alloc + " overruns buffer",
           alloc.getOffset() + size <= alloc.getData().length);
       expectedOff += size;
     }
+
+    // maximum waste is 1KB per slab plus
+    // whatever's left in current slab
+    long expectedWaste = slabsUsed * 1000 +
+        (lastBuffer.length - expectedOff);
+    long waste = mslab.getWastedBytes();
+    assertTrue("waste should be less than " + expectedWaste +
+        " but was: " + waste, waste < expectedWaste);
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestSeekOptimizations.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestSeekOptimizations.java
index b8cf95d3b74..3d9ddbff29d 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestSeekOptimizations.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestSeekOptimizations.java
@@ -229,9 +229,11 @@ public class TestSeekOptimizations {
             + columnRestrictionStr + ", " + rowRestrictionStr
             + ", maxVersions=" + maxVersions + ", lazySeek=" + lazySeekEnabled;
     long seekCount = StoreFileScanner.getSeekCount() - initialSeekCount;
-    System.err.println("Seek count: " + seekCount + ", KVs returned: "
+    if (VERBOSE) {
+      System.err.println("Seek count: " + seekCount + ", KVs returned: "
         + actualKVs.size() + ". " + testDesc +
         (lazySeekEnabled ? "\n" : ""));
+    }
     if (lazySeekEnabled) {
       totalSeekLazy += seekCount;
     } else {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestWideScanner.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestWideScanner.java
index c0a8fea0936..d39a231ab2e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestWideScanner.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestWideScanner.java
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ public class TestWideScanner extends HBaseTestCase {
         byte[] b = Bytes.toBytes(String.format("%10d", i));
         for (j = 0; j < 100; j++) {
           Put put = new Put(row);
+          put.setWriteToWAL(false);
           put.add(COLUMNS[rng.nextInt(COLUMNS.length)], b, ++ts, b);
           region.put(put);
           count++;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/replication/regionserver/TestReplicationSink.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/replication/regionserver/TestReplicationSink.java
index d3394c0b19f..a0bd6236497 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/replication/regionserver/TestReplicationSink.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/replication/regionserver/TestReplicationSink.java
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ import org.junit.Test;
 public class TestReplicationSink {
   private static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(TestReplicationSink.class);
   private static final int BATCH_SIZE = 10;
-  private static final long SLEEP_TIME = 500;
 
   private final static HBaseTestingUtility TEST_UTIL =
       new HBaseTestingUtility();
@@ -112,7 +111,6 @@ public class TestReplicationSink {
   public void setUp() throws Exception {
     table1 = TEST_UTIL.truncateTable(TABLE_NAME1);
     table2 = TEST_UTIL.truncateTable(TABLE_NAME2);
-    Thread.sleep(SLEEP_TIME);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestGzipFilter.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestGzipFilter.java
index cd9d3e30481..3ce7f877e50 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestGzipFilter.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestGzipFilter.java
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public class TestGzipFilter {
 
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
     REST_TEST_UTIL.startServletContainer(TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration());
     client = new Client(new Cluster().add("localhost",
       REST_TEST_UTIL.getServletPort()));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestMultiRowResource.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestMultiRowResource.java
index ea10e69abae..12f99bf7520 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestMultiRowResource.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestMultiRowResource.java
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ public class TestMultiRowResource {
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
     conf = TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration();
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
     REST_TEST_UTIL.startServletContainer(conf);
     context = JAXBContext.newInstance(
             CellModel.class,
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestScannerResource.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestScannerResource.java
index 4b9c9bd85ca..721aba41e19 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestScannerResource.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestScannerResource.java
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ public class TestScannerResource {
             k[1] = b2;
             k[2] = b3;
             Put put = new Put(k);
+            put.setWriteToWAL(false);
             put.add(famAndQf[0], famAndQf[1], k);
             table.put(put);
             count++;
@@ -149,7 +150,7 @@ public class TestScannerResource {
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
     conf = TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration();
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
     REST_TEST_UTIL.startServletContainer(conf);
     client = new Client(new Cluster().add("localhost",
       REST_TEST_UTIL.getServletPort()));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestScannersWithFilters.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestScannersWithFilters.java
index 1a539adf4a8..6e13f3bcacc 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestScannersWithFilters.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestScannersWithFilters.java
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ public class TestScannersWithFilters {
       // Insert first half
       for(byte [] ROW : ROWS_ONE) {
         Put p = new Put(ROW);
+        p.setWriteToWAL(false);
         for(byte [] QUALIFIER : QUALIFIERS_ONE) {
           p.add(FAMILIES[0], QUALIFIER, VALUES[0]);
         }
@@ -146,6 +147,7 @@ public class TestScannersWithFilters {
       }
       for(byte [] ROW : ROWS_TWO) {
         Put p = new Put(ROW);
+        p.setWriteToWAL(false);
         for(byte [] QUALIFIER : QUALIFIERS_TWO) {
           p.add(FAMILIES[1], QUALIFIER, VALUES[1]);
         }
@@ -155,6 +157,7 @@ public class TestScannersWithFilters {
       // Insert second half (reverse families)
       for(byte [] ROW : ROWS_ONE) {
         Put p = new Put(ROW);
+        p.setWriteToWAL(false);
         for(byte [] QUALIFIER : QUALIFIERS_ONE) {
           p.add(FAMILIES[1], QUALIFIER, VALUES[0]);
         }
@@ -162,6 +165,7 @@ public class TestScannersWithFilters {
       }
       for(byte [] ROW : ROWS_TWO) {
         Put p = new Put(ROW);
+        p.setWriteToWAL(false);
         for(byte [] QUALIFIER : QUALIFIERS_TWO) {
           p.add(FAMILIES[0], QUALIFIER, VALUES[1]);
         }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestSchemaResource.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestSchemaResource.java
index 14d24bab53f..749b8db0d15 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestSchemaResource.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestSchemaResource.java
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ public class TestSchemaResource {
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
     conf = TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration();
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
     REST_TEST_UTIL.startServletContainer(conf);
     client = new Client(new Cluster().add("localhost",
       REST_TEST_UTIL.getServletPort()));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestStatusResource.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestStatusResource.java
index 6933f781ee9..c5c81035458 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestStatusResource.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestStatusResource.java
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ public class TestStatusResource {
 
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
     REST_TEST_UTIL.startServletContainer(TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration());
     client = new Client(new Cluster().add("localhost", 
       REST_TEST_UTIL.getServletPort()));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestTableResource.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestTableResource.java
index c55cb187e44..83cb3255486 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestTableResource.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestTableResource.java
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ public class TestTableResource {
           k[1] = b2;
           k[2] = b3;
           Put put = new Put(k);
+          put.setWriteToWAL(false);
           put.add(famAndQf[0], famAndQf[1], k);
           table.put(put);
         }
@@ -109,13 +110,18 @@ public class TestTableResource {
     // tell the master to split the table
     admin.split(TABLE);
     // give some time for the split to happen
-    try {
-      Thread.sleep(15 * 1000);
-    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
-      LOG.warn(StringUtils.stringifyException(e));
+
+    long timeout = System.currentTimeMillis() + (15 * 1000);
+    while (System.currentTimeMillis() < timeout && m.size()!=2){
+      try {
+        Thread.sleep(250);
+      } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+        LOG.warn(StringUtils.stringifyException(e));
+      }
+      // check again
+      m = table.getRegionsInfo();
     }
-    // check again
-    m = table.getRegionsInfo();
+
     // should have two regions now
     assertEquals(m.size(), 2);
     regionMap = m;
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestTransform.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestTransform.java
index a65a9245a0b..d556de48df1 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestTransform.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestTransform.java
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ public class TestTransform {
 
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
     REST_TEST_UTIL.startServletContainer(TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration());
     client = new Client(new Cluster().add("localhost", 
       REST_TEST_UTIL.getServletPort()));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestVersionResource.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestVersionResource.java
index f9fb489eb36..7ba0b9fe156 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestVersionResource.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/TestVersionResource.java
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public class TestVersionResource {
 
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
     REST_TEST_UTIL.startServletContainer(TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration());
     client = new Client(new Cluster().add("localhost", 
       REST_TEST_UTIL.getServletPort()));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/client/TestRemoteAdmin.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/client/TestRemoteAdmin.java
index 38295ceeeaf..507e86a081e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/client/TestRemoteAdmin.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/client/TestRemoteAdmin.java
@@ -34,43 +34,25 @@ import org.junit.BeforeClass;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 public class TestRemoteAdmin {
-
   private static final String TABLE_1 = "TestRemoteAdmin_Table_1";
-  private static final String TABLE_2 = "TestRemoteAdmin_Table_2";
   private static final byte[] COLUMN_1 = Bytes.toBytes("a");
-
-  static final HTableDescriptor DESC_1;
-  static {
-    DESC_1 = new HTableDescriptor(TABLE_1);
-    DESC_1.addFamily(new HColumnDescriptor(COLUMN_1));
-  }
-  static final HTableDescriptor DESC_2;
-  static {
-    DESC_2 = new HTableDescriptor(TABLE_2);
-    DESC_2.addFamily(new HColumnDescriptor(COLUMN_1));
-  }
-
-  private static final HBaseTestingUtility TEST_UTIL = new HBaseTestingUtility();
+  static final HTableDescriptor DESC_1 =  new HTableDescriptor(TABLE_1);
+  private static final HBaseTestingUtility TEST_UTIL =
+    new HBaseTestingUtility();
   private static final HBaseRESTTestingUtility REST_TEST_UTIL = 
     new HBaseRESTTestingUtility();
-  private static HBaseAdmin localAdmin;
   private static RemoteAdmin remoteAdmin;
 
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    DESC_1.addFamily(new HColumnDescriptor(COLUMN_1));
+
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
     REST_TEST_UTIL.startServletContainer(TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration());
-    localAdmin = TEST_UTIL.getHBaseAdmin();
+
     remoteAdmin = new RemoteAdmin(new Client(
       new Cluster().add("localhost", REST_TEST_UTIL.getServletPort())),
       TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration());
-    if (localAdmin.tableExists(TABLE_1)) {
-      localAdmin.disableTable(TABLE_1);
-      localAdmin.deleteTable(TABLE_1);
-    }
-    if (!localAdmin.tableExists(TABLE_2)) {
-      localAdmin.createTable(DESC_2);
-    }
   }
 
   @AfterClass
@@ -80,16 +62,11 @@ public class TestRemoteAdmin {
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testCreateTable() throws Exception {
+  public void testCreateAnDeleteTable() throws Exception {
     assertFalse(remoteAdmin.isTableAvailable(TABLE_1));
     remoteAdmin.createTable(DESC_1);
     assertTrue(remoteAdmin.isTableAvailable(TABLE_1));
-  }
-
-  @Test
-  public void testDeleteTable() throws Exception {
-    assertTrue(remoteAdmin.isTableAvailable(TABLE_2));
-    remoteAdmin.deleteTable(TABLE_2);
-    assertFalse(remoteAdmin.isTableAvailable(TABLE_2));
+    remoteAdmin.deleteTable(TABLE_1);
+    assertFalse(remoteAdmin.isTableAvailable(TABLE_1));
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/client/TestRemoteTable.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/client/TestRemoteTable.java
index 4c6cf9922c6..bdeb77fe3ad 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/client/TestRemoteTable.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/rest/client/TestRemoteTable.java
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ public class TestRemoteTable {
 
   @BeforeClass
   public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
-    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster(3);
+    TEST_UTIL.startMiniCluster();
     REST_TEST_UTIL.startServletContainer(TEST_UTIL.getConfiguration());
     HBaseAdmin admin = TEST_UTIL.getHBaseAdmin();
     LOG.info("Admin Connection=" + admin.getConnection() + ", " + 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestHBaseFsck.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestHBaseFsck.java
index ca6dd4bc72b..93a459038e9 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestHBaseFsck.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestHBaseFsck.java
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ public class TestHBaseFsck {
         // When we find a diff RS, change the assignment and break
         if (startCode != sn.getStartcode()) {
           Put put = new Put(res.getRow());
+          put.setWriteToWAL(false);
           put.add(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY, HConstants.SERVER_QUALIFIER,
             Bytes.toBytes(sn.getHostAndPort()));
           put.add(HConstants.CATALOG_FAMILY, HConstants.STARTCODE_QUALIFIER,
@@ -135,13 +136,12 @@ public class TestHBaseFsck {
     // Try to fix the data
     assertErrors(doFsck(true), new ERROR_CODE[]{
         ERROR_CODE.SERVER_DOES_NOT_MATCH_META});
-    Thread.sleep(15000);
 
     // Should be fixed now
     assertNoErrors(doFsck(false));
 
     // comment needed - what is the purpose of this line
-    new HTable(conf, Bytes.toBytes(table)).getScanner(new Scan());;
+    new HTable(conf, Bytes.toBytes(table)).getScanner(new Scan());
   }
 
   private HRegionInfo createRegion(Configuration conf, final HTableDescriptor
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestIdLock.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestIdLock.java
index a55c2128126..b076abbd11b 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestIdLock.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestIdLock.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public class TestIdLock {
 
   private static final int NUM_IDS = 16;
   private static final int NUM_THREADS = 128;
-  private static final int NUM_SECONDS = 20;
+  private static final int NUM_SECONDS = 15;
 
   private IdLock idLock = new IdLock();
 
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ public class TestIdLock {
       while (System.currentTimeMillis() < endTime) {
         long id = rand.nextInt(NUM_IDS);
 
-        LOG.info(clientId + " is waiting for id " + id);
         IdLock.Entry lockEntry = idLock.getLockEntry(id);
         try {
           int sleepMs = 1 + rand.nextInt(4);
@@ -75,10 +74,7 @@ public class TestIdLock {
           }
 
           idOwner.put(id, clientId);
-          LOG.info(clientId + " took id " + id + ", sleeping for " +
-              sleepMs + "ms");
           Thread.sleep(sleepMs);
-          LOG.info(clientId + " is releasing id " + id);
           idOwner.remove(id);
 
         } finally {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTable.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTable.java
index ffc8d9d699c..21a57caa4d0 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTable.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTable.java
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ public class TestMergeTable {
     LOG.info("Created region " + region.getRegionNameAsString());
     for(int i = firstRow; i < firstRow + nrows; i++) {
       Put put = new Put(Bytes.toBytes("row_" + String.format("%1$05d", i)));
+      put.setWriteToWAL(false);
       put.add(COLUMN_NAME, null,  VALUE);
       region.put(put);
       if (i % 10000 == 0) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTool.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTool.java
index 88dc9de28a8..e4b3d75bcff 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTool.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestMergeTool.java
@@ -27,12 +27,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HBaseTestCase;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HColumnDescriptor;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HConstants;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HRegionInfo;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.HTableDescriptor;
-import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.KeyValue;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.*;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Get;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Put;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.client.Result;
@@ -46,6 +41,7 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.util.ToolRunner;
 /** Test stand alone merge tool that can merge arbitrary regions */
 public class TestMergeTool extends HBaseTestCase {
   static final Log LOG = LogFactory.getLog(TestMergeTool.class);
+  HBaseTestingUtility TEST_UTIL;
 //  static final byte [] COLUMN_NAME = Bytes.toBytes("contents:");
   static final byte [] FAMILY = Bytes.toBytes("contents");
   static final byte [] QUALIFIER = Bytes.toBytes("dc");
@@ -123,7 +119,8 @@ public class TestMergeTool extends HBaseTestCase {
         "row_1000", "row_1000", "row_1000", "row_1000" });
 
     // Start up dfs
-    this.dfsCluster = new MiniDFSCluster(conf, 2, true, (String[])null);
+    TEST_UTIL = new HBaseTestingUtility(conf);
+    this.dfsCluster = TEST_UTIL.startMiniDFSCluster(2);
     this.fs = this.dfsCluster.getFileSystem();
     System.out.println("fs=" + this.fs);
     this.conf.set("fs.defaultFS", fs.getUri().toString());
@@ -162,7 +159,7 @@ public class TestMergeTool extends HBaseTestCase {
       closeRootAndMeta();
 
     } catch (Exception e) {
-      shutdownDfs(dfsCluster);
+      TEST_UTIL.shutdownMiniCluster();
       throw e;
     }
   }
@@ -170,7 +167,7 @@ public class TestMergeTool extends HBaseTestCase {
   @Override
   public void tearDown() throws Exception {
     super.tearDown();
-    shutdownDfs(dfsCluster);
+    TEST_UTIL.shutdownMiniCluster();
   }
 
   /*
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestRegionSplitter.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestRegionSplitter.java
index 12e8ba12e41..8479d9b6c30 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestRegionSplitter.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/TestRegionSplitter.java
@@ -287,6 +287,7 @@ public class TestRegionSplitter {
         for(byte b=Byte.MIN_VALUE; b<Byte.MAX_VALUE; b++) {
             byte[] whateverBytes = new byte[] {b};
             Put p = new Put(whateverBytes);
+            p.setWriteToWAL(false);
             p.add(CF_NAME.getBytes(), whateverBytes, whateverBytes);
             hTable.put(p);
         }