diff --git a/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/DefaultNettyEventLoopConfig.java b/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/DefaultNettyEventLoopConfig.java
index 87e554048f2..416e0caa210 100644
--- a/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/DefaultNettyEventLoopConfig.java
+++ b/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/DefaultNettyEventLoopConfig.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import org.apache.hbase.thirdparty.io.netty.channel.EventLoopGroup;
 import org.apache.hbase.thirdparty.io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoopGroup;
 import org.apache.hbase.thirdparty.io.netty.channel.socket.nio.NioSocketChannel;
 import org.apache.hbase.thirdparty.io.netty.util.concurrent.DefaultThreadFactory;
-
 import org.apache.yetus.audience.InterfaceAudience;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.Pair;
 
@@ -31,10 +30,16 @@ import org.apache.hadoop.hbase.util.Pair;
  */
 @InterfaceAudience.Private
 class DefaultNettyEventLoopConfig {
+  /**
+   * Name of system property to set to change default netty eventloop pool size.
+   * Default is 0.
+   */
+  public static final String HBASE_NETTY_EVENTLOOP_DEFAULT_POOL_KEY =
+    "hbase.netty.eventloop.default.pool";
 
   public static final Pair<EventLoopGroup, Class<? extends Channel>> GROUP_AND_CHANNEL_CLASS = Pair
       .<EventLoopGroup, Class<? extends Channel>> newPair(
-        new NioEventLoopGroup(0,
-            new DefaultThreadFactory("Default-IPC-NioEventLoopGroup", true, Thread.MAX_PRIORITY)),
-        NioSocketChannel.class);
+        new NioEventLoopGroup(Integer.getInteger(HBASE_NETTY_EVENTLOOP_DEFAULT_POOL_KEY, 0),
+            new DefaultThreadFactory("Default-IPC-NioEventLoopGroup", true,
+              Thread.NORM_PRIORITY)), NioSocketChannel.class);
 }
diff --git a/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/NettyRpcClient.java b/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/NettyRpcClient.java
index c4f70b05aaa..c4c614e188d 100644
--- a/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/NettyRpcClient.java
+++ b/hbase-client/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/NettyRpcClient.java
@@ -58,8 +58,11 @@ public class NettyRpcClient extends AbstractRpcClient<NettyRpcConnection> {
         .getEventLoopConfig(conf);
     if (groupAndChannelClass == null) {
       // Use our own EventLoopGroup.
-      this.group = new NioEventLoopGroup(0,
-          new DefaultThreadFactory("IPC-NioEventLoopGroup", true, Thread.MAX_PRIORITY));
+      int count =
+        Integer.getInteger(DefaultNettyEventLoopConfig.HBASE_NETTY_EVENTLOOP_DEFAULT_POOL_KEY, 0);
+      System.out.println("COUNT="+ count);
+      this.group = new NioEventLoopGroup(count,
+          new DefaultThreadFactory("IPC-NioEventLoopGroup", true, Thread.NORM_PRIORITY));
       this.channelClass = NioSocketChannel.class;
       this.shutdownGroupWhenClose = true;
     } else {
diff --git a/hbase-examples/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/example/HttpProxyExample.java b/hbase-examples/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/example/HttpProxyExample.java
index 4ada5990cbc..00d01a861d7 100644
--- a/hbase-examples/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/example/HttpProxyExample.java
+++ b/hbase-examples/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/example/HttpProxyExample.java
@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ public class HttpProxyExample {
     channelGroup = new DefaultChannelGroup(GlobalEventExecutor.INSTANCE);
     serverChannel = new ServerBootstrap().group(bossGroup, workerGroup)
         .channel(NioServerSocketChannel.class).childOption(ChannelOption.TCP_NODELAY, true)
+        .childOption(ChannelOption.SO_REUSEADDR, true)
         .childHandler(new ChannelInitializer<Channel>() {
 
           @Override
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/NettyRpcServer.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/NettyRpcServer.java
index bba1bede118..a3acc8f8c01 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/NettyRpcServer.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/NettyRpcServer.java
@@ -84,13 +84,15 @@ public class NettyRpcServer extends RpcServer {
       eventLoopGroup = config.group();
       channelClass = config.serverChannelClass();
     } else {
-      eventLoopGroup = new NioEventLoopGroup(0,
+      eventLoopGroup = new NioEventLoopGroup(
+        Integer.getInteger(DefaultNettyEventLoopConfig.HBASE_NETTY_EVENTLOOP_DEFAULT_POOL_KEY, 0),
           new DefaultThreadFactory("NettyRpcServer", true, Thread.MAX_PRIORITY));
       channelClass = NioServerSocketChannel.class;
     }
     ServerBootstrap bootstrap = new ServerBootstrap().group(eventLoopGroup).channel(channelClass)
         .childOption(ChannelOption.TCP_NODELAY, tcpNoDelay)
         .childOption(ChannelOption.SO_KEEPALIVE, tcpKeepAlive)
+        .childOption(ChannelOption.SO_REUSEADDR, true)
         .childHandler(new ChannelInitializer<Channel>() {
 
           @Override
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/NettyEventLoopGroupConfig.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/NettyEventLoopGroupConfig.java
index 3e7b4882e31..3e247f3061e 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/NettyEventLoopGroupConfig.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/util/NettyEventLoopGroupConfig.java
@@ -27,9 +27,7 @@ import org.apache.hbase.thirdparty.io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoopGroup;
 import org.apache.hbase.thirdparty.io.netty.channel.socket.nio.NioServerSocketChannel;
 import org.apache.hbase.thirdparty.io.netty.channel.socket.nio.NioSocketChannel;
 import org.apache.hbase.thirdparty.io.netty.util.concurrent.DefaultThreadFactory;
-
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
-
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
 import org.apache.yetus.audience.InterfaceAudience;
 
@@ -38,7 +36,6 @@ import org.apache.yetus.audience.InterfaceAudience;
  */
 @InterfaceAudience.Private
 public class NettyEventLoopGroupConfig {
-
   private final EventLoopGroup group;
 
   private final Class<? extends ServerChannel> serverChannelClass;
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/test/resources/hbase-site.xml b/hbase-server/src/test/resources/hbase-site.xml
index 64a19644358..5ba8b03578d 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/test/resources/hbase-site.xml
+++ b/hbase-server/src/test/resources/hbase-site.xml
@@ -158,4 +158,36 @@
     <name>hbase.hconnection.threads.keepalivetime</name>
     <value>3</value>
   </property>
+  <property>
+    <name>hbase.netty.worker.count</name>
+    <value>5</value>
+    <description>Default is 0</description>
+  </property>
+  <property>
+    <name>hbase.hconnection.threads.max</name>
+    <value>6</value>
+    <description>Default is 256</description>
+  </property>
+  <property>
+    <name>hbase.htable.threads.max</name>
+    <value>6</value>
+    <description>Default is MAX_INTEGER</description>
+  </property>
+  <property>
+    <name>hbase.region.replica.replication.threads.max</name>
+    <value>10</value>
+    <description>Default is 256</description>
+  </property>
+  <property>
+    <name>dfs.datanode.handler.count</name>
+    <value>3</value>
+    <description>Default is 10</description>
+  </property>
+  <property>
+    <name>hbase.rest.threads.max</name>
+    <value>5</value>
+    <description>Default is 100</description>
+  </property>
+
+
 </configuration>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 8886cc4c930..ef842964a0e 100755
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -586,6 +586,8 @@
             <redirectTestOutputToFile>${test.output.tofile}</redirectTestOutputToFile>
             <systemPropertyVariables>
               <test.build.classes>${test.build.classes}</test.build.classes>
+              <!--For testing, set this do a low number: 5-->
+              <hbase.netty.eventloop.default.pool>5</hbase.netty.eventloop.default.pool>
             </systemPropertyVariables>
             <excludes>
               <!-- users can add -D option to skip particular test classes