diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 99e9739c..b1d9188c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -73,3 +73,4 @@ deploy-cluster-aws/conf/rethinkdb.conf
 deploy-cluster-aws/hostlist.py
 deploy-cluster-aws/confiles/
 deploy-cluster-aws/client_confile
+benchmarking-tests/hostlist.py
diff --git a/benchmarking-tests/README.md b/benchmarking-tests/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ae00969
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmarking-tests/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Benchmarking tests
+
+This folder contains util files and test case folders to benchmark the performance of a BigchainDB federation.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/benchmarking-tests/benchmark_utils.py b/benchmarking-tests/benchmark_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f05ee0f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmarking-tests/benchmark_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+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):
+    b = Bigchain()
+    while tx_left > 0:
+        # use uuid to prevent duplicate transactions (transactions with the same hash)
+        tx = b.create_transaction(b.me, b.me, None, 'CREATE',
+                                  payload={'msg': str(uuid.uuid4())})
+        tx_signed = b.sign_transaction(tx, b.me_private)
+        b.write_transaction(tx_signed)
+        tx_left -= 1
+
+
+def run_add_backlog(args):
+    tx_left = args.num_transactions // mp.cpu_count()
+    workers = ProcessGroup(target=create_write_transaction, args=(tx_left,))
+    workers.start()
+
+
+def run_set_statsd_host(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')
+
+    # set statsd host
+    statsd_parser = subparsers.add_parser('set-statsd-host',
+                                          help='Set 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
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ddfb36dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmarking-tests/fabfile.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+from __future__ import with_statement, unicode_literals
+
+from fabric.api import sudo, env, hosts
+from fabric.api import task, parallel
+from fabric.contrib.files import sed
+from fabric.operations import run, put
+from fabric.context_managers import settings
+
+from hostlist import public_dns_names
+
+# Ignore known_hosts
+# http://docs.fabfile.org/en/1.10/usage/env.html#disable-known-hosts
+env.disable_known_hosts = True
+
+# What remote servers should Fabric connect to? With what usernames?
+env.user = 'ubuntu'
+env.hosts = public_dns_names
+
+# SSH key files to try when connecting:
+# http://docs.fabfile.org/en/1.10/usage/env.html#key-filename
+env.key_filename = 'pem/bigchaindb.pem'
+
+
+@task
+@parallel
+def put_benchmark_utils():
+    put('benchmark_utils.py')
+
+
+@task
+@parallel
+def set_statsd_host(statsd_host='localhost'):
+    run('python3 benchmark_utils.py set-statsd-host {}'.format(statsd_host))
+    print('update configuration')
+    run('bigchaindb show-config')
+
+
+@task
+@parallel
+def prepare_backlog(num_transactions=10000):
+    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/test1/README.md b/benchmarking-tests/test1/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..12d08ce2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmarking-tests/test1/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# Transactions per second
+
+Measure how many blocks per second are created on the _bigchain_ with a pre filled backlog.
+
+1. Deploy an aws cluster http://bigchaindb.readthedocs.io/en/latest/deploy-on-aws.html
+2. Make a symbolic link to hostlist.py: `ln -s ../deploy-cluster-aws/hostlist.py .`
+3. Make a symbolic link to bigchaindb.pem:
+```bash
+mkdir pem
+cd pem
+ln -s ../deploy-cluster-aws/pem/bigchaindb.pem .
+```
+
+Then:
+
+```bash
+fab put_benchmark_utils
+fab set_statsd_host:<hostname of the statsd server>
+fab prepare_backlog:<num txs per node> # wait for process to finish
+fab start_bigchaindb
+```
\ No newline at end of file