diff --git a/chunks/chunk_store.go b/chunks/chunk_store.go
index 6b96e617a4..458cb576d2 100644
--- a/chunks/chunk_store.go
+++ b/chunks/chunk_store.go
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 package chunks
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/binary"
 	"io"
 
+	"github.com/attic-labs/noms/d"
 	"github.com/attic-labs/noms/ref"
 )
 
@@ -24,14 +27,66 @@ type RootTracker interface {
 type ChunkSource interface {
 	// Get gets a reader for the value of the Ref in the store. If the ref is absent from the store nil is returned.
 	Get(ref ref.Ref) io.ReadCloser
+
+	// Returns true iff the value at the address |ref| is contained in the source
+	Has(ref ref.Ref) bool
 }
 
 // ChunkSink is a place to put chunks.
 type ChunkSink interface {
 	Put() ChunkWriter
+}
 
-	// Returns true iff the value at the address |ref| is contained in the source
-	Has(ref ref.Ref) bool
+/*
+	Chunk Serialization:
+		Chunk 0
+		Chunk 1
+		 ..
+		Chunk N
+
+	Chunk:
+		Len   // 4-byte int
+		Data  // len(Data) == Len
+*/
+
+func Serialize(w io.Writer, refs map[ref.Ref]bool, cs ChunkSource) {
+	// TODO: If ChunkSource could provide the length of a chunk without having to buffer it, this could be completely streaming.
+	chunk := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	for r, _ := range refs {
+		chunk.Reset()
+		r := cs.Get(r)
+		if r == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		_, err := io.Copy(chunk, r)
+		d.Chk.NoError(err)
+
+		// Because of chunking at higher levels, no chunk should never be more than 4GB
+		chunkSize := uint32(len(chunk.Bytes()))
+		err = binary.Write(w, binary.LittleEndian, chunkSize)
+		d.Chk.NoError(err)
+
+		n, err := io.Copy(w, chunk)
+		d.Chk.NoError(err)
+		d.Chk.Equal(uint32(n), chunkSize)
+	}
+}
+
+func Deserialize(r io.Reader, cs ChunkSink) {
+	for {
+		chunkSize := uint32(0)
+		err := binary.Read(r, binary.LittleEndian, &chunkSize)
+		if err == io.EOF {
+			break
+		}
+		d.Chk.NoError(err)
+
+		w := cs.Put()
+		_, err = io.CopyN(w, r, int64(chunkSize))
+		d.Chk.NoError(err)
+		w.Close()
+	}
 }
 
 // NewFlags creates a new instance of Flags, which declares a number of ChunkStore-related command-line flags using the golang flag package. Call this before flag.Parse().
diff --git a/chunks/chunk_writer.go b/chunks/chunk_writer.go
index d7e86ae614..4009965ace 100644
--- a/chunks/chunk_writer.go
+++ b/chunks/chunk_writer.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ type ChunkWriter interface {
 }
 
 // ChunkWriter wraps an io.WriteCloser, additionally providing the ability to grab a Ref for all data written through the interface. Calling Ref() or Close() on an instance disallows further writing.
-type writeFn func(ref ref.Ref, buff *bytes.Buffer)
+type writeFn func(ref ref.Ref, data []byte)
 
 type chunkWriter struct {
 	write  writeFn
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func (w *chunkWriter) Close() error {
 	}
 
 	w.ref = ref.FromHash(w.hash)
-	w.write(w.ref, w.buffer)
+	w.write(w.ref, w.buffer.Bytes())
 	w.buffer = nil
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/chunks/http_store.go b/chunks/http_store.go
index d6310c4363..b64c6d4dd6 100644
--- a/chunks/http_store.go
+++ b/chunks/http_store.go
@@ -3,10 +3,8 @@ package chunks
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"compress/gzip"
-	"encoding/binary"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
-	"hash/crc32"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net"
@@ -24,8 +22,10 @@ const (
 	rootPath         = "/root/"
 	refPath          = "/ref/"
 	getRefsPath      = "/getRefs/"
+	postRefsPath     = "/postRefs/"
 	targetBufferSize = 1 << 16 // 64k (compressed)
 	readBufferSize   = 1 << 12 // 4k
+	writeBufferSize  = 1 << 12 // 4k
 	readLimit        = 6       // Experimentally, 5 was dimishing returns, 1 for good measure
 	writeLimit       = 6
 )
@@ -35,12 +35,41 @@ type readRequest struct {
 	ch chan io.ReadCloser
 }
 
+// readBatch represents a set of queued read requests, each of which are blocking on a receive channel for a response. It implements ChunkSink so that the responses can be directly deserialized and streamed back to callers.
+type readBatch map[ref.Ref][]chan io.ReadCloser
+
+func (rrg *readBatch) Put() ChunkWriter {
+	return newChunkWriter(rrg.write)
+}
+
+func (rrg *readBatch) write(r ref.Ref, data []byte) {
+	for _, ch := range (*rrg)[r] {
+		ch <- ioutil.NopCloser(bytes.NewReader(data))
+	}
+
+	delete(*rrg, r)
+}
+
+// Callers to Get() must receive nil if the corresponding chunk wasn't in the response from the server (i.e. it wasn't found).
+func (rrq *readBatch) respondToFailedReads() {
+	for _, chs := range *rrq {
+		for _, ch := range chs {
+			ch <- nil
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+type writeRequest struct {
+	r    ref.Ref
+	data []byte
+}
+
 type httpStoreClient struct {
 	host       *url.URL
 	readQueue  chan readRequest
-	cb         *chunkBuffer
+	writeQueue chan writeRequest
 	wg         *sync.WaitGroup
-	writeLimit chan int
+	written    map[ref.Ref]bool
 	wmu        *sync.Mutex
 }
 
@@ -59,9 +88,9 @@ func NewHttpStoreClient(host string) *httpStoreClient {
 	client := &httpStoreClient{
 		u,
 		make(chan readRequest, readBufferSize),
-		newChunkBuffer(),
+		make(chan writeRequest, writeBufferSize),
 		&sync.WaitGroup{},
-		make(chan int, writeLimit),
+		map[ref.Ref]bool{},
 		&sync.Mutex{},
 	}
 
@@ -69,6 +98,10 @@ func NewHttpStoreClient(host string) *httpStoreClient {
 		go client.sendReadRequests()
 	}
 
+	for i := 0; i < writeLimit; i++ {
+		go client.sendWriteRequests()
+	}
+
 	return client
 }
 
@@ -86,29 +119,27 @@ func (c *httpStoreClient) Get(r ref.Ref) io.ReadCloser {
 
 func (c *httpStoreClient) sendReadRequests() {
 	for req := range c.readQueue {
-		reqs := []readRequest{req}
+		reqs := readBatch{}
+		refs := map[ref.Ref]bool{}
+
+		addReq := func(req readRequest) {
+			reqs[req.r] = append(reqs[req.r], req.ch)
+			refs[req.r] = true
+		}
+		addReq(req)
 
 	loop:
 		for {
 			select {
 			case req := <-c.readQueue:
-				reqs = append(reqs, req)
+				addReq(req)
 			default:
 				break loop
 			}
 		}
 
-		refs := make(map[ref.Ref]bool)
-		for _, req := range reqs {
-			refs[req.r] = true
-		}
-
-		cs := &MemoryStore{}
-		c.getRefs(refs, cs)
-
-		for _, req := range reqs {
-			req.ch <- cs.Get(req.r)
-		}
+		c.getRefs(refs, &reqs)
+		reqs.respondToFailedReads()
 	}
 }
 
@@ -126,35 +157,66 @@ func (c *httpStoreClient) Put() ChunkWriter {
 	return newChunkWriter(c.write)
 }
 
-func (c *httpStoreClient) write(r ref.Ref, buff *bytes.Buffer) {
+func (c *httpStoreClient) write(r ref.Ref, data []byte) {
 	c.wmu.Lock()
 	defer c.wmu.Unlock()
+	if c.written[r] {
+		return
+	}
+	c.written[r] = true
 
-	c.cb.appendChunk(buff)
-	if c.cb.isFull() {
-		c.flushBuffered()
+	c.wg.Add(1)
+	c.writeQueue <- writeRequest{r, data}
+}
+
+func (c *httpStoreClient) sendWriteRequests() {
+	for req := range c.writeQueue {
+		ms := &MemoryStore{}
+		refs := map[ref.Ref]bool{}
+
+		addReq := func(req writeRequest) {
+			ms.write(req.r, req.data)
+			refs[req.r] = true
+		}
+		addReq(req)
+
+	loop:
+		for {
+			select {
+			case req := <-c.writeQueue:
+				addReq(req)
+			default:
+				break loop
+			}
+		}
+
+		c.postRefs(refs, ms)
+
+		for _, _ = range refs {
+			c.wg.Done()
+		}
 	}
 }
 
-func (c *httpStoreClient) flushBuffered() {
-	if c.cb.count == 0 {
-		return
-	}
+func (c *httpStoreClient) postRefs(refs map[ref.Ref]bool, cs ChunkSource) {
+	body := &bytes.Buffer{}
+	gw := gzip.NewWriter(body)
+	Serialize(gw, refs, cs)
+	gw.Close()
 
-	c.cb.finish()
+	url := *c.host
+	url.Path = postRefsPath
+	req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", url.String(), body)
+	d.Chk.NoError(err)
 
-	c.wg.Add(1)
-	c.writeLimit <- 1 // TODO: This may block writes, fix so that when the upload limit is hit, incoming writes simply buffer but return immediately
-	go func(body *bytes.Buffer) {
-		res := c.requestRef(ref.Ref{}, "POST", body)
-		defer closeResponse(res)
+	req.Header.Set("Content-Encoding", "gzip")
+	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream")
 
-		d.Chk.Equal(res.StatusCode, http.StatusCreated, "Unexpected response: %s", http.StatusText(res.StatusCode))
+	res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
+	d.Chk.NoError(err)
 
-		<-c.writeLimit
-		c.wg.Done()
-	}(c.cb.buff)
-	c.cb = newChunkBuffer()
+	d.Chk.Equal(res.StatusCode, http.StatusCreated, "Unexpected response: %s", http.StatusText(res.StatusCode))
+	closeResponse(res)
 }
 
 func (c *httpStoreClient) requestRef(r ref.Ref, method string, body io.Reader) *http.Response {
@@ -176,8 +238,8 @@ func (c *httpStoreClient) requestRef(r ref.Ref, method string, body io.Reader) *
 	return res
 }
 
-func (c *httpStoreClient) getRefs(refs map[ref.Ref]bool, cs ChunkStore) {
-	// POST http://<host>/getRefs/. Post query: ref=sha1---&ref=sha1---& Response will be chunk data if present, 404 if absent.
+func (c *httpStoreClient) getRefs(refs map[ref.Ref]bool, cs ChunkSink) {
+	// POST http://<host>/getRefs/. Post body: ref=sha1---&ref=sha1---& Response will be chunk data if present, 404 if absent.
 	u := *c.host
 	u.Path = getRefsPath
 	values := &url.Values{}
@@ -186,15 +248,24 @@ func (c *httpStoreClient) getRefs(refs map[ref.Ref]bool, cs ChunkStore) {
 	}
 
 	req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", u.String(), strings.NewReader(values.Encode()))
+	req.Header.Add("Accept-Encoding", "gzip")
 	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")
 	d.Chk.NoError(err)
 
 	res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
 	d.Chk.NoError(err)
+	defer closeResponse(res)
 	d.Chk.Equal(http.StatusOK, res.StatusCode, "Unexpected response: %s", http.StatusText(res.StatusCode))
 
-	deserializeToChunkStore(res.Body, cs)
-	closeResponse(res)
+	reader := res.Body
+	if strings.Contains(res.Header.Get("Content-Encoding"), "gzip") {
+		gr, err := gzip.NewReader(reader)
+		d.Chk.NoError(err)
+		defer gr.Close()
+		reader = gr
+	}
+
+	Deserialize(reader, cs)
 }
 
 func (c *httpStoreClient) Root() ref.Ref {
@@ -210,8 +281,12 @@ func (c *httpStoreClient) Root() ref.Ref {
 
 func (c *httpStoreClient) UpdateRoot(current, last ref.Ref) bool {
 	// POST http://<host>root?current=<ref>&last=<ref>. Response will be 200 on success, 409 if current is outdated.
-	c.flushBuffered()
 	c.wg.Wait()
+
+	c.wmu.Lock()
+	c.written = map[ref.Ref]bool{}
+	c.wmu.Unlock()
+
 	res := c.requestRoot("POST", current, last)
 	defer closeResponse(res)
 
@@ -242,17 +317,12 @@ func (c *httpStoreClient) requestRoot(method string, current, last ref.Ref) *htt
 func (c *httpStoreClient) Close() error {
 	c.wg.Wait()
 	close(c.readQueue)
+	close(c.writeQueue)
 	return nil
 }
 
 func (s *httpStoreServer) handleRef(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	err := d.Try(func() {
-		if req.Method == "POST" {
-			deserializeToChunkStore(req.Body, s.cs)
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusCreated)
-			return
-		}
-
 		refStr := ""
 		pathParts := strings.Split(req.URL.Path[1:], "/")
 		if len(pathParts) > 1 {
@@ -279,6 +349,8 @@ func (s *httpStoreServer) handleRef(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
 				return
 			}
+		default:
+			d.Exp.Fail("Unexpected method: ", req.Method)
 		}
 	})
 
@@ -288,32 +360,53 @@ func (s *httpStoreServer) handleRef(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	}
 }
 
+func (s *httpStoreServer) handlePostRefs(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
+	err := d.Try(func() {
+		d.Exp.Equal("POST", req.Method)
+
+		var reader io.Reader = req.Body
+		if strings.Contains(req.Header.Get("Content-Encoding"), "gzip") {
+			gr, err := gzip.NewReader(reader)
+			d.Exp.NoError(err)
+			defer gr.Close()
+			reader = gr
+		}
+
+		Deserialize(reader, s.cs)
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusCreated)
+	})
+
+	if err != nil {
+		http.Error(w, fmt.Sprintf("Error: %v", err), http.StatusBadRequest)
+		return
+	}
+}
+
 func (s *httpStoreServer) handleGetRefs(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 	err := d.Try(func() {
 		d.Exp.Equal("POST", req.Method)
 
 		req.ParseForm()
-		refs := req.Form["ref"]
-		d.Exp.True(len(refs) > 0)
+		refStrs := req.PostForm["ref"]
+		d.Exp.True(len(refStrs) > 0)
 
-		cb := newChunkBuffer()
-		for _, refStr := range refs {
+		refs := map[ref.Ref]bool{}
+		for _, refStr := range refStrs {
 			r := ref.Parse(refStr)
-			reader := s.cs.Get(r)
-			if reader != nil {
-				buff := &bytes.Buffer{}
-				_, err := io.Copy(buff, reader)
-				d.Chk.NoError(err)
-				reader.Close()
-				cb.appendChunk(buff)
-			}
+			refs[r] = true
 		}
-		cb.finish()
-
-		_, err := io.Copy(w, cb.buff)
-		d.Chk.NoError(err)
 
 		w.Header().Add("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream")
+
+		writer := w.(io.Writer)
+		if strings.Contains(req.Header.Get("Accept-Encoding"), "gzip") {
+			w.Header().Add("Content-Encoding", "gzip")
+			gw := gzip.NewWriter(w)
+			defer gw.Close()
+			writer = gw
+		}
+
+		Serialize(writer, refs, s.cs)
 	})
 
 	if err != nil {
@@ -379,6 +472,7 @@ func (s *httpStoreServer) Run() {
 
 	mux.HandleFunc(refPath, http.HandlerFunc(s.handleRef))
 	mux.HandleFunc(getRefsPath, http.HandlerFunc(s.handleGetRefs))
+	mux.HandleFunc(postRefsPath, http.HandlerFunc(s.handlePostRefs))
 	mux.HandleFunc(rootPath, http.HandlerFunc(s.handleRoot))
 
 	srv := &http.Server{
@@ -399,76 +493,6 @@ func (s *httpStoreServer) Stop() {
 	}
 }
 
-/*
-	ChunkBuffer:
-		Chunk 0
-		Chunk 1
-		 ..
-		Chunk N
-		Footer
-
-	Chunk:
-		Len   // 4-byte int
-		Data  // len(Data) == Len
-
-	The entire ChunkBuffer is gzip'd when serialized and un-gzip'd on deserializeToChunkStore
-*/
-
-var crcTable = crc32.MakeTable(crc32.Castagnoli)
-
-type chunkBuffer struct {
-	buff  *bytes.Buffer
-	w     io.WriteCloser
-	count uint32
-}
-
-func newChunkBuffer() *chunkBuffer {
-	buff := &bytes.Buffer{}
-	return &chunkBuffer{buff, gzip.NewWriter(buff), 0}
-}
-
-func (cb *chunkBuffer) appendChunk(chunk *bytes.Buffer) {
-	d.Chk.True(len(chunk.Bytes()) < 1<<32) // Because of chunking at higher levels, no chunk should never be more than 4GB
-	cb.count++
-
-	chunkSize := uint32(chunk.Len())
-	err := binary.Write(cb.w, binary.LittleEndian, chunkSize)
-	d.Chk.NoError(err)
-
-	n, err := io.Copy(cb.w, chunk)
-	d.Chk.NoError(err)
-	d.Chk.Equal(uint32(n), chunkSize)
-}
-
-func (cb *chunkBuffer) isFull() bool {
-	return cb.buff.Len() >= targetBufferSize
-}
-
-func (cb *chunkBuffer) finish() {
-	cb.w.Close()
-	cb.w = nil
-}
-
-func deserializeToChunkStore(body io.Reader, cs ChunkStore) {
-	r, err := gzip.NewReader(body)
-	d.Chk.NoError(err)
-
-	for true {
-		chunkSize := uint32(0)
-		err = binary.Read(r, binary.LittleEndian, &chunkSize)
-		if err == io.EOF {
-			break
-		}
-		d.Chk.NoError(err)
-
-		// BUG 206 - Validate the resulting refs match the client's expectation.
-		w := cs.Put()
-		_, err := io.CopyN(w, r, int64(chunkSize))
-		d.Chk.NoError(err)
-		w.Close()
-	}
-}
-
 type httpStoreFlags struct {
 	host *string
 }
diff --git a/chunks/leveldb_store.go b/chunks/leveldb_store.go
index 515d11ce96..79160705fe 100644
--- a/chunks/leveldb_store.go
+++ b/chunks/leveldb_store.go
@@ -88,13 +88,13 @@ func (l *LevelDBStore) Put() ChunkWriter {
 	return newChunkWriter(l.write)
 }
 
-func (l *LevelDBStore) write(ref ref.Ref, buff *bytes.Buffer) {
+func (l *LevelDBStore) write(ref ref.Ref, data []byte) {
 	if l.Has(ref) {
 		return
 	}
 
 	key := toChunkKey(ref)
-	err := l.db.Put(key, buff.Bytes(), nil)
+	err := l.db.Put(key, data, nil)
 	d.Chk.NoError(err)
 	l.putCount += 1
 }
diff --git a/chunks/memory_store.go b/chunks/memory_store.go
index 200387dc61..7c85d1595d 100644
--- a/chunks/memory_store.go
+++ b/chunks/memory_store.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func (ms *MemoryStore) Put() ChunkWriter {
 	return newChunkWriter(ms.write)
 }
 
-func (ms *MemoryStore) write(r ref.Ref, buff *bytes.Buffer) {
+func (ms *MemoryStore) write(r ref.Ref, data []byte) {
 	if ms.Has(r) {
 		return
 	}
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ func (ms *MemoryStore) write(r ref.Ref, buff *bytes.Buffer) {
 	if ms.data == nil {
 		ms.data = map[ref.Ref][]byte{}
 	}
-	ms.data[r] = buff.Bytes()
+	ms.data[r] = data
 }
 
 func (ms *MemoryStore) Len() int {
diff --git a/chunks/memory_store_test.go b/chunks/memory_store_test.go
index 67e80d255c..0849d7dc5a 100644
--- a/chunks/memory_store_test.go
+++ b/chunks/memory_store_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package chunks
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/attic-labs/noms/Godeps/_workspace/src/github.com/stretchr/testify/suite"
@@ -21,3 +22,11 @@ func (suite *MemoryStoreTestSuite) SetupTest() {
 func (suite *MemoryStoreTestSuite) TearDownTest() {
 	suite.store.Close()
 }
+
+func (suite *MemoryStoreTestSuite) TestBadSerialization() {
+	bad := []byte{0, 1} // Not enough bytes to read first length
+	ms := &MemoryStore{}
+	suite.Panics(func() {
+		Deserialize(bytes.NewReader(bad), ms)
+	})
+}
diff --git a/chunks/nop_store.go b/chunks/nop_store.go
index 09cf579825..d31ec8edab 100644
--- a/chunks/nop_store.go
+++ b/chunks/nop_store.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package chunks
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"flag"
 	"io"
 
@@ -29,7 +28,7 @@ func (ms *NopStore) Put() ChunkWriter {
 	return newChunkWriter(ms.write)
 }
 
-func (ms *NopStore) write(ref ref.Ref, buff *bytes.Buffer) {}
+func (ms *NopStore) write(ref ref.Ref, data []byte) {}
 
 func (ms *NopStore) Close() error {
 	return nil