diff --git a/bench b/bench
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..71ebca83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bench
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# 
+# Wrapper for automating benchmarking runs.
+# Usage:   bench [passes] [uid] [gid] [script]
+# 
+# ..where passes is the number of times to run each script; uid/gid
+# gives credentials to use when running the script; and script is a
+# simple wrapper around each actual benchmark tool (eg. see run.*),
+# if this is ommited, all run.* scripts are used in turn.
+# 
+# Each run.foo script should report a comma-separated-value list of
+# benchmark results on stdout or fail with a non-zero exit code;
+# unless the -i option is supplied in which case it should instead
+# report a comma-separated-value list of column headers (for report
+# generation purposes).
+# 
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Copyright (c) 2002 Silicon Graphics, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
+# 
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+# under the terms of version 2 of the GNU General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation.
+# 
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it would be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+# 
+# Further, this software is distributed without any warranty that it is
+# free of the rightful claim of any third person regarding infringement
+# or the like.  Any license provided herein, whether implied or
+# otherwise, applies only to this software file.  Patent licenses, if
+# any, provided herein do not apply to combinations of this program with
+# other software, or any other product whatsoever.
+# 
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+# with this program; if not, write the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59
+# Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston MA 02111-1307, USA.
+# 
+# Contact information: Silicon Graphics, Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy,
+# Mountain View, CA  94043, or:
+# 
+# http://www.sgi.com 
+# 
+# For further information regarding this notice, see: 
+# 
+# http://oss.sgi.com/projects/GenInfo/SGIGPLNoticeExplan/
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+#
+# creator
+owner=nathans@sgi.com
+
+tmp=/tmp/$$
+seq=bench
+here=`pwd`
+status=1	# failure is the default!
+
+# get standard environment, filters and checks
+. ./common.rc
+. ./common.filter
+
+_cleanup()
+{
+    echo "        *** umount"
+    umount $SCRATCH_DEV >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
+
+trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
+
+ROOT="."
+LOG="$ROOT/soak.log"
+FULL="$ROOT/soak.full"
+
+_log()
+{
+    echo "$*" 1>&2
+    echo "$*" >>$LOG
+    echo "$*" >>$FULL
+    sync
+}
+
+_logp()
+{
+    tee -a $FULL
+}
+
+_fail()
+{
+    _log "$*"
+    status=1
+    exit 1
+}
+
+_run_benchmark()
+{
+    pass=1
+    
+    while [ $pass -le $passes -o $passes -lt 0 ]
+    do
+        _log "        *** clean scratch device [starting pass $pass]"
+        mkfs_xfs -f $SCRATCH_DEV 2>&1 |  _fix_malloc >>$FULL \
+                        || _fail "            !!! failed to mkfs SCRATCH_DEV"
+
+        _log "        *** mounting scratch device"
+        mount -t xfs $SCRATCH_DEV $SCRATCH_MNT \
+                            || _fail "            !!! failed to mount"
+        
+        _log "        *** mkdir"
+        mkdir $SCRATCH_MNT/bench \
+                            || _fail "            !!! couldn't mkdir bench dir"
+        chown -R $user.$group $SCRATCH_MNT/bench \
+                            || _fail "            !!! couldn't chown bench dir"
+        cd $SCRATCH_MNT/bench
+
+        _log "        *** bench"
+        $here/src/runas -u $user -g $group $here/run.$bench > $FULL
+        [ $? -eq 0 ]        || _fail "            !!! non-zero $bench exit code"
+        cd $here
+
+        _log "        *** unmounting scratch device"
+        umount $SCRATCH_DEV 2>&1 | _logp \
+                            || _fail "            !!! failed to umount"
+
+        _log "        *** post-umount filesystem check"
+        _check_fs $SCRATCH_DEV
+        
+        let "pass = pass + 1"
+    done
+}
+
+# real QA test starts here
+
+_require_scratch
+
+passes=-1
+user=root
+group=root
+benches=`echo run.*`
+
+[ $# -gt 0 ] && passes=$1
+[ $# -gt 1 ] && user=$3
+[ $# -gt 2 ] && group=$4
+[ $# -gt 3 ] && benches=$2
+
+for bench in "$benches"
+do 
+    echo "" >$FULL
+    echo "" >$LOG
+    _log "*** benchmark started (passes=$passes, benchmark=$bench)"
+    _log "***     (`date`)"
+    _log "        *** unmounting scratch device"
+    umount $SCRATCH_DEV 2>&1 |  _fix_malloc >>$FULL
+    
+    _run_benchmark  # $passes $bench $user $group
+
+    _log "*** done $bench"
+done
diff --git a/common.config b/common.config
index 934f3168..269e6b0b 100644
--- a/common.config
+++ b/common.config
@@ -53,35 +53,32 @@
 
 #
 # - This script is shared by the stress test system and the auto-qa
-#   system
+#   system (includes both regression test and benchmark components).
 # - TEST_DEV & TEST_DIR must be assigned.
 # - this script shouldn't make any assertions about filesystem
 #   validity or mountedness.
 #
 
-_readlink()
-{
-    if [ $# -ne 1 ]
-    then
-	echo "Usage: _readlink filename" 1>&2
-	exit 1
-    fi
+HOST=`hostname -s`
+MODULAR=0		# using XFS as a module or not
+BOOT="/boot"		# install target for kernels
+export EXTRA=${EXTRA:=-xfs-qa}
 
-    perl -e "\$in=\"$1\";" -e '
-	$lnk = readlink($in);
-	if ($lnk =~ m!^/.*!) {
-	  print "$lnk\n";
-	}
-	else {
-	  chomp($dir = `dirname $in`);
-	  print "$dir/$lnk\n";
-	}'
-}
+# general parameters (mainly for auto-qa)
+SOAK_PROC=3		# -p option to fsstress
+SOAK_STRESS=10000	# -n option to fsstress
+SOAK_PASSES=-1		# count of repetitions of fsstress (while soaking)
+BENCH_PASSES=5		# count of repetitions of benchmarks (want averages)
+EMAIL=root@localhost	# where auto-qa will send its status messages
+export MKFS_OPTIONS=${MKFS_OPTIONS:=-bsize=4096}
+export MOUNT_OPTIONS=${MOUNT_OPTIONS:=-ologbufs=2}
+export MALLOCLIB=${MALLOCLIB:=/usr/lib/libefence.a}
 
-
-case `hostname -s`
+case "$HOST"
 in
     bruce)
+	MODULAR=0
+	EMAIL="nathans@larry"
         TEST_DEV=/dev/sda10
 	TEST_DIR=/mnt/xfs1
 	SCRATCH_DEV=/dev/sda9
@@ -99,6 +96,8 @@ in
 	SCRATCH_MNT=/mnt/xfs0
         ;;
     sagan)
+	MODULAR=1
+	EMAIL="tes@larry"
         TEST_DEV=/dev/sda6
 	TEST_DIR=/mnt/xfs0
 	SCRATCH_DEV=/dev/sda7
@@ -109,12 +108,16 @@ in
 	RMT_TAPE_USER=guest
 	;;
     frodo)
+	MODULAR=0
+	EMAIL="nathans@larry"
         TEST_DEV=/dev/hda6
 	TEST_DIR=/mnt/test
         SCRATCH_DEV=/dev/hda7
 	SCRATCH_MNT=/mnt/scratch
 	;;
     troppo)
+	MODULAR=0
+	EMAIL="kaos@larry"
 	TEST_DEV=/dev/hdb13
 	TEST_DIR=/mnt/test
 	SCRATCH_DEV=/dev/hdb14
@@ -186,7 +189,7 @@ in
 	SCRATCH_MNT=/mnt/sda2
 	SCRATCH_LOGDEV=/dev/sda3
 	;;
-   dmfnt2)
+    dmfnt2)
         TEST_DEV=/dev/sda6
 	TEST_DIR=/mnt/test
 	SCRATCH_DEV=/dev/sdc6
@@ -197,7 +200,7 @@ in
 	RMT_TAPE_USER=guest
 	;;
     *)
-	echo "common.config: Error: need to define parameters for host `hostname -s`"
+	echo "common.config: Error: need to define parameters for host $HOST"
 	exit 1
 	;;
 esac
@@ -226,6 +229,25 @@ then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+_readlink()
+{
+    if [ $# -ne 1 ]
+    then
+	echo "Usage: _readlink filename" 1>&2
+	exit 1
+    fi
+
+    perl -e "\$in=\"$1\";" -e '
+	$lnk = readlink($in);
+	if ($lnk =~ m!^/.*!) {
+	  print "$lnk\n";
+	}
+	else {
+	  chomp($dir = `dirname $in`);
+	  print "$dir/$lnk\n";
+	}'
+}
+
 # if devfs is running expand the full /dev/.. pathname - this is what will be
 # returned by utilities such as mount
 [ -L "$TEST_DEV" ] && TEST_DEV=`_readlink $TEST_DEV`
diff --git a/run.dbench b/run.dbench
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..c0f2dd3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run.dbench
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# 
+# Does a dbench run (10 clients if $DBENCH_CLIENTS is not set),
+# then massages the output into CSV format.
+# 
+DBENCH_CLIENTS=${DBENCH_CLIENTS:=10}
+
+run_dbench()
+{
+	mkdir ./dbench || exit 1
+	dbench $DBENCH_CLIENTS || exit 1
+	rm -fr ./dbench || exit 1
+}
+
+# dbench gives:
+# "Throughput 40.6701 MB/sec (NB=50.8376 MB/sec  406.701 MBit/sec)"
+# 
+if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
+	echo "clients,MB/sec"
+	exit 0
+fi
+run_dbench | perl -ne \
+	'if (m/^Throughput (\S+) /) { print '$DBENCH_CLIENTS',",",$1,"\n"; }'
+
diff --git a/run.tar b/run.tar
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..c22676fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/run.tar
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/bin/sh -x
+# 
+# Produces a .tar file (if one doesn't exist as $TARFILE), then
+# times how long it takes to untar it onto the current directory.
+# 
+TARFILE=${TARFILE:=/var/tmp/bench.tar}
+
+barf()
+{
+	echo $@ >2
+	exit 1
+}
+
+new_tar()
+{
+	source="/bin /sbin /lib /dev"
+	if [ ! -f $1 ]; then
+		tar cf $1 $source || barf "tar c failed"
+	fi
+}
+
+run_tar()
+{
+	# %U=user %S=system %E=elapsed
+	mkdir ./tar || exit 1
+	/usr/bin/time -f '%U,%S,%E' tar xf $1 ./tar || exit 1
+	rm -fr ./tar || exit 1
+}
+
+if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
+	echo "user,system,elapsed"
+	exit 0
+fi
+new_tar $TARFILE
+run_tar $TARFILE
diff --git a/tools/auto-qa b/tools/auto-qa
index 3be48496..92ca38f2 100755
--- a/tools/auto-qa
+++ b/tools/auto-qa
@@ -35,19 +35,11 @@
 
 # configuration (you could tune this)
 
-BOOT="/boot"
-SOAK_PASSES="-1"
-SOAK_STRESS="10000"
-SOAK_PROC="3"
-export EXTRA=${EXTRA:=-xfs-qa}
-export MKFS_OPTIONS=${MKFS_OPTIONS:=-bsize=4096}
-export MOUNT_OPTIONS=${MOUNT_OPTIONS:=-ologbufs=2}
-export MALLOCLIB=${MALLOCLIB:=/usr/lib/libefence.a}
-
 _log()
 {
     echo "$*" >&2
     echo "$*" >> $LOG
+    sync
 }
 
 _fail()
@@ -64,7 +56,7 @@ _fail()
     case $state
     in
 	cron*)
-	    mail -s "XFS QA status report" $ADMINEMAIL \
+	    mail -s "XFS QA status report" $EMAIL \
 		< $LOG 2>&1
 	;;
     esac
@@ -113,35 +105,6 @@ COMMON_CONFIG="$WORKAREA/cmd/xfstests/common.config"
 SH="/bin/sh"
 LOG="$ROOT/qa.log"
 
-# need to add auto-qa hosts here
-
-case $HOST
-in
-    bruce)
-	EMAIL="nathans@larry"
-	ADMINEMAIL="nathans@larry"
-	MODULAR=0
-	;;
-    sagan)
-	EMAIL="tes@larry"
-	ADMINEMAIL="tes@larry"
-	MODULAR=1
-	;;
-    troppo)
-	EMAIL="kaos@larry"
-	ADMINEMAIL="kaos@larry"
-	MODULAR=0
-	;;
-    frodo)
-	EMAIL="nathans@larry"
-	ADMINEMAIL="nathans@larry"
-	MODULAR=0
-	;;
-    *)
-	_fail "auto-qa: no configuration information for host '$HOST'"
-	;;
-esac
-
 # do some cleanup on exit
 
 _cleanup()
@@ -427,7 +390,7 @@ do
 	    
 	*restart)
 	    _log "	    *** select qa kernel"
-	    _sudo /sbin/lilo -R linux-xfs-qa 2>&1 \
+	    _sudo /sbin/lilo -R linux-xfs-qa $KERNEL_OPTIONS 2>&1 \
 			|| _fail "	    !!! lilo failed"
 	    
 	    _log "	    *** prepare to restart"
@@ -510,12 +473,21 @@ do
 	    new_state="run"
 	    ;;
 	    
-	    
 	soak-run)
 	    cd $QADIR
 	    
 	    _log "	    *** run soak test"
-	    _sudo ./soak $SOAK_PASSES $SOAK_STRESS $SOAK_PROC\
+	    _sudo ./soak $SOAK_PASSES $SOAK_STRESS $SOAK_PROC \
+			|| _fail "	    !!! failed to run soak test"
+
+	    new_state="done"
+	    ;;
+	    
+	bench-run)
+	    cd $QADIR
+	    
+	    _log "	    *** run benchmarks"
+	    _sudo ./bench $BENCH_PASSES `id -u && id -g` \
 			|| _fail "	    !!! failed to run soak test"
 
 	    new_state="done"