diff --git a/etcdserver/metrics.go b/etcdserver/metrics.go
index 42a27166a6a..bb2fa2db6b4 100644
--- a/etcdserver/metrics.go
+++ b/etcdserver/metrics.go
@@ -41,6 +41,18 @@ var (
 		Name:      "leader_changes_seen_total",
 		Help:      "The number of leader changes seen.",
 	})
+	heartbeatSendFailures = prometheus.NewCounter(prometheus.CounterOpts{
+		Namespace: "etcd",
+		Subsystem: "server",
+		Name:      "heartbeat_send_failures_total",
+		Help:      "The total number of leader heartbeat send failures (likely overloaded from slow disk).",
+	})
+	slowApplies = prometheus.NewCounter(prometheus.CounterOpts{
+		Namespace: "etcd",
+		Subsystem: "server",
+		Name:      "slow_apply_total",
+		Help:      "The total number of slow apply requests (likely overloaded from slow disk).",
+	})
 	proposalsCommitted = prometheus.NewGauge(prometheus.GaugeOpts{
 		Namespace: "etcd",
 		Subsystem: "server",
@@ -96,6 +108,8 @@ func init() {
 	prometheus.MustRegister(hasLeader)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(isLeader)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(leaderChanges)
+	prometheus.MustRegister(heartbeatSendFailures)
+	prometheus.MustRegister(slowApplies)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(proposalsCommitted)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(proposalsApplied)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(proposalsPending)
diff --git a/etcdserver/raft.go b/etcdserver/raft.go
index 6c67275de30..5e2ab3d176f 100644
--- a/etcdserver/raft.go
+++ b/etcdserver/raft.go
@@ -346,6 +346,7 @@ func (r *raftNode) processMessages(ms []raftpb.Message) []raftpb.Message {
 				// TODO: limit request rate.
 				plog.Warningf("failed to send out heartbeat on time (exceeded the %v timeout for %v)", r.heartbeat, exceed)
 				plog.Warningf("server is likely overloaded")
+				heartbeatSendFailures.Inc()
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/etcdserver/util.go b/etcdserver/util.go
index 708fee4cb60..79bb6b859ca 100644
--- a/etcdserver/util.go
+++ b/etcdserver/util.go
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ func warnOfExpensiveGenericRequest(now time.Time, reqStringer fmt.Stringer, pref
 			result = resp
 		}
 		plog.Warningf("%srequest %q with result %q took too long (%v) to execute", prefix, reqStringer.String(), result, d)
+		slowApplies.Inc()
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/mvcc/backend/backend.go b/mvcc/backend/backend.go
index e55768f2995..a240c8e6280 100644
--- a/mvcc/backend/backend.go
+++ b/mvcc/backend/backend.go
@@ -288,6 +288,8 @@ func (b *backend) Defrag() error {
 }
 
 func (b *backend) defrag() error {
+	now := time.Now()
+
 	// TODO: make this non-blocking?
 	// lock batchTx to ensure nobody is using previous tx, and then
 	// close previous ongoing tx.
@@ -351,6 +353,9 @@ func (b *backend) defrag() error {
 	atomic.StoreInt64(&b.size, size)
 	atomic.StoreInt64(&b.sizeInUse, size-(int64(db.Stats().FreePageN)*int64(db.Info().PageSize)))
 
+	took := time.Since(now)
+	defragDurations.Observe(took.Seconds())
+
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/mvcc/backend/batch_tx.go b/mvcc/backend/batch_tx.go
index 32f5d0c8b2f..4119f2e3065 100644
--- a/mvcc/backend/batch_tx.go
+++ b/mvcc/backend/batch_tx.go
@@ -141,15 +141,15 @@ func unsafeForEach(tx *bolt.Tx, bucket []byte, visitor func(k, v []byte) error)
 // Commit commits a previous tx and begins a new writable one.
 func (t *batchTx) Commit() {
 	t.Lock()
-	defer t.Unlock()
 	t.commit(false)
+	t.Unlock()
 }
 
 // CommitAndStop commits the previous tx and does not create a new one.
 func (t *batchTx) CommitAndStop() {
 	t.Lock()
-	defer t.Unlock()
 	t.commit(true)
+	t.Unlock()
 }
 
 func (t *batchTx) Unlock() {
@@ -167,9 +167,11 @@ func (t *batchTx) commit(stop bool) {
 		}
 
 		start := time.Now()
+
 		// gofail: var beforeCommit struct{}
 		err := t.tx.Commit()
 		// gofail: var afterCommit struct{}
+
 		commitDurations.Observe(time.Since(start).Seconds())
 		atomic.AddInt64(&t.backend.commits, 1)
 
@@ -214,21 +216,21 @@ func (t *batchTxBuffered) Unlock() {
 
 func (t *batchTxBuffered) Commit() {
 	t.Lock()
-	defer t.Unlock()
 	t.commit(false)
+	t.Unlock()
 }
 
 func (t *batchTxBuffered) CommitAndStop() {
 	t.Lock()
-	defer t.Unlock()
 	t.commit(true)
+	t.Unlock()
 }
 
 func (t *batchTxBuffered) commit(stop bool) {
 	// all read txs must be closed to acquire boltdb commit rwlock
 	t.backend.readTx.mu.Lock()
-	defer t.backend.readTx.mu.Unlock()
 	t.unsafeCommit(stop)
+	t.backend.readTx.mu.Unlock()
 }
 
 func (t *batchTxBuffered) unsafeCommit(stop bool) {
diff --git a/mvcc/backend/metrics.go b/mvcc/backend/metrics.go
index 30a38801476..34157080499 100644
--- a/mvcc/backend/metrics.go
+++ b/mvcc/backend/metrics.go
@@ -22,7 +22,22 @@ var (
 		Subsystem: "disk",
 		Name:      "backend_commit_duration_seconds",
 		Help:      "The latency distributions of commit called by backend.",
-		Buckets:   prometheus.ExponentialBuckets(0.001, 2, 14),
+
+		// lowest bucket start of upper bound 0.001 sec (1 ms) with factor 2
+		// highest bucket start of 0.001 sec * 2^13 == 8.192 sec
+		Buckets: prometheus.ExponentialBuckets(0.001, 2, 14),
+	})
+
+	defragDurations = prometheus.NewHistogram(prometheus.HistogramOpts{
+		Namespace: "etcd",
+		Subsystem: "disk",
+		Name:      "backend_defrag_duration_seconds",
+		Help:      "The latency distribution of backend defragmentation.",
+
+		// 100 MB usually takes 1 sec, so start with 10 MB of 100 ms
+		// lowest bucket start of upper bound 0.1 sec (100 ms) with factor 2
+		// highest bucket start of 0.1 sec * 2^12 == 409.6 sec
+		Buckets: prometheus.ExponentialBuckets(.1, 2, 13),
 	})
 
 	snapshotDurations = prometheus.NewHistogram(prometheus.HistogramOpts{
@@ -30,12 +45,15 @@ var (
 		Subsystem: "disk",
 		Name:      "backend_snapshot_duration_seconds",
 		Help:      "The latency distribution of backend snapshots.",
-		// 10 ms -> 655 seconds
+
+		// lowest bucket start of upper bound 0.01 sec (10 ms) with factor 2
+		// highest bucket start of 0.01 sec * 2^16 == 655.36 sec
 		Buckets: prometheus.ExponentialBuckets(.01, 2, 17),
 	})
 )
 
 func init() {
 	prometheus.MustRegister(commitDurations)
+	prometheus.MustRegister(defragDurations)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(snapshotDurations)
 }
diff --git a/mvcc/kvstore.go b/mvcc/kvstore.go
index aa93147a7ee..c68256685f8 100644
--- a/mvcc/kvstore.go
+++ b/mvcc/kvstore.go
@@ -150,8 +150,12 @@ func (s *store) compactBarrier(ctx context.Context, ch chan struct{}) {
 }
 
 func (s *store) Hash() (hash uint32, revision int64, err error) {
+	start := time.Now()
+
 	s.b.ForceCommit()
 	h, err := s.b.Hash(DefaultIgnores)
+
+	hashDurations.Observe(time.Since(start).Seconds())
 	return h, s.currentRev, err
 }
 
diff --git a/mvcc/metrics.go b/mvcc/metrics.go
index bd875dddda3..90bf9ecae46 100644
--- a/mvcc/metrics.go
+++ b/mvcc/metrics.go
@@ -173,7 +173,19 @@ var (
 	)
 	// overridden by mvcc initialization
 	reportDbTotalSizeInUseInBytesMu sync.RWMutex
-	reportDbTotalSizeInUseInBytes   = func() float64 { return 0 }
+	reportDbTotalSizeInUseInBytes   func() float64 = func() float64 { return 0 }
+
+	hashDurations = prometheus.NewHistogram(prometheus.HistogramOpts{
+		Namespace: "etcd",
+		Subsystem: "mvcc",
+		Name:      "hash_duration_seconds",
+		Help:      "The latency distribution of storage hash operation.",
+
+		// 100 MB usually takes 100 ms, so start with 10 MB of 10 ms
+		// lowest bucket start of upper bound 0.01 sec (10 ms) with factor 2
+		// highest bucket start of 0.01 sec * 2^14 == 163.84 sec
+		Buckets: prometheus.ExponentialBuckets(.01, 2, 15),
+	})
 )
 
 func init() {
@@ -193,6 +205,7 @@ func init() {
 	prometheus.MustRegister(dbTotalSizeDebugging)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(dbTotalSize)
 	prometheus.MustRegister(dbTotalSizeInUse)
+	prometheus.MustRegister(hashDurations)
 }
 
 // ReportEventReceived reports that an event is received.