diff --git a/benchmarking-tests/benchmark_utils.py b/benchmarking-tests/benchmark_utils.py
index 50ea586b..38017e2f 100644
--- a/benchmarking-tests/benchmark_utils.py
+++ b/benchmarking-tests/benchmark_utils.py
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
-import sys
 import multiprocessing as mp
 import uuid
+import json
+import argparse
+
+from os.path import expanduser
+
 from bigchaindb import Bigchain
 from bigchaindb.util import ProcessGroup
+from bigchaindb.commands import utils
 
 
 def create_write_transaction(tx_left):
@@ -15,12 +20,40 @@ def create_write_transaction(tx_left):
         tx_left -= 1
 
 
-def add_to_backlog(num_transactions=10000):
-    tx_left = num_transactions // mp.cpu_count()
+def run_add_backlog(args):
+    tx_left = args.num_transactions // mp.cpu_count()
     workers = ProcessGroup(target=create_write_transaction, args=(tx_left,))
     workers.start()
 
 
-if __name__ == '__main__':
-    add_to_backlog(int(sys.argv[1]))
+def run_update_statsd(args):
+    with open(expanduser('~') + '/.bigchaindb', 'r') as f:
+        conf = json.load(f)
+
+    conf['statsd']['host'] = args.statsd_host
+    with open(expanduser('~') + '/.bigchaindb', 'w') as f:
+        json.dump(conf, f)
+
+
+def main():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='BigchainDB benchmarking utils')
+    subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(title='Commands', dest='command')
+
+    # add transactions to backlog
+    backlog_parser = subparsers.add_parser('add-backlog',
+                                           help='Add transactions to the backlog')
+    backlog_parser.add_argument('num_transactions', metavar='num_transactions', type=int, default=0,
+                                help='Number of transactions to add to the backlog')
+
+    # update statsd configuration
+    statsd_parser = subparsers.add_parser('update-statsd',
+                                          help='Update statsd host')
+    statsd_parser.add_argument('statsd_host', metavar='statsd_host', default='localhost',
+                               help='Hostname of the statsd server')
+
+    utils.start(parser, globals())
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
 
diff --git a/benchmarking-tests/fabfile.py b/benchmarking-tests/fabfile.py
index 71c682c1..770ed218 100644
--- a/benchmarking-tests/fabfile.py
+++ b/benchmarking-tests/fabfile.py
@@ -27,13 +27,27 @@ def prepare_test():
     put('benchmark_utils.py')
 
 
+@task
+@parallel
+def update_statsd_conf(statsd_host='localhost'):
+    run('python3 benchmark_utils.py update-statsd {}'.format(statsd_host))
+    print('update configuration')
+    run('bigchaindb show-config')
+
+
 @task
 @parallel
 def prepare_backlog(num_transactions=10000):
-    run('python3 benchmark_utils.py {}'.format(num_transactions))
+    run('python3 benchmark_utils.py add-backlog {}'.format(num_transactions))
 
 
 @task
 @parallel
 def start_bigchaindb():
     run('screen -d -m bigchaindb start &', pty=False)
+
+
+@task
+@parallel
+def kill_bigchaindb():
+    run('killall bigchaindb')
diff --git a/benchmarking-tests/hostlist.py b/benchmarking-tests/hostlist.py
index 00a48196..4d3d1641 100644
--- a/benchmarking-tests/hostlist.py
+++ b/benchmarking-tests/hostlist.py
@@ -5,4 +5,4 @@ BigchainDB cluster/federation.
 
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
-public_dns_names = ['ec2-52-58-162-146.eu-central-1.compute.amazonaws.com', 'ec2-52-58-15-239.eu-central-1.compute.amazonaws.com', 'ec2-52-58-160-205.eu-central-1.compute.amazonaws.com']
+public_dns_names = ['ec2-52-58-110-9.eu-central-1.compute.amazonaws.com', 'ec2-52-58-154-94.eu-central-1.compute.amazonaws.com', 'ec2-52-58-166-93.eu-central-1.compute.amazonaws.com']