diff --git a/storage/file.js b/storage/file.js
index 74f794cca..2a8802c8c 100644
--- a/storage/file.js
+++ b/storage/file.js
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ var Path = require("path");
 var nThen = require("nthen");
 var Semaphore = require("saferphore");
 var Util = require("../lib/common-util");
+
+const WriteQueue = require("../lib/write-queue");
 const Readline = require("readline");
 const ToPull = require('stream-to-pull-stream');
 const Pull = require('pull-stream');
@@ -169,6 +171,7 @@ var readMessages = function (path, msgHandler, cb) {
     could have been amended
 */
 var getChannelMetadata = function (Env, channelId, cb) {
+    // XXX queue
     var path = mkPath(Env, channelId);
 
     // gets metadata embedded in a file
@@ -177,6 +180,7 @@ var getChannelMetadata = function (Env, channelId, cb) {
 
 // low level method for getting just the dedicated metadata channel
 var getDedicatedMetadata = function (env, channelId, handler, cb) {
+    // XXX queue
     var metadataPath = mkMetadataPath(env, channelId);
     readMessages(metadataPath, function (line) {
         if (!line) { return; }
@@ -219,6 +223,7 @@ How to proceed
 
 */
 
+    // XXX queue
     nThen(function (w) {
         // returns the first line of a channel, parsed...
         getChannelMetadata(env, channelId, w(function (err, data) {
@@ -263,6 +268,7 @@ var writeMetadata = function (env, channelId, data, cb) {
 // TODO see if we could improve performance by using libnewline
 const NEWLINE_CHR = ('\n').charCodeAt(0);
 const mkBufferSplit = () => {
+    // XXX queue lock
     let remainder = null;
     return Pull((read) => {
         return (abort, cb) => {
@@ -314,6 +320,7 @@ const mkOffsetCounter = () => {
 const readMessagesBin = (env, id, start, msgHandler, cb) => {
     const stream = Fs.createReadStream(mkPath(env, id), { start: start });
     let keepReading = true;
+    // XXX queue lock
     Pull(
         ToPull.read(stream),
         mkBufferSplit(),
@@ -837,6 +844,7 @@ var message = function (env, chanName, msg, cb) {
 
 // stream messages from a channel log
 var getMessages = function (env, chanName, handler, cb) {
+    // XXX queue lock
     getChannel(env, chanName, function (err, chan) {
         if (!chan) {
             cb(err);
@@ -878,6 +886,7 @@ module.exports.create = function (conf, cb) {
         openFiles: 0,
         openFileLimit: conf.openFileLimit || 2048,
     };
+    var queue = env.queue = WriteQueue();
     var it;
 
     nThen(function (w) {
@@ -899,10 +908,13 @@ module.exports.create = function (conf, cb) {
             // write a new message to a log
             message: function (channelName, content, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                message(env, channelName, content, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    message(env, channelName, content, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
             // iterate over all the messages in a log
             getMessages: function (channelName, msgHandler, cb) {
+                // XXX queue lock
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
                 getMessages(env, channelName, msgHandler, cb);
             },
@@ -911,10 +923,13 @@ module.exports.create = function (conf, cb) {
             // write a new message to a log
             messageBin: (channelName, content, cb) => {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                messageBin(env, channelName, content, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    messageBin(env, channelName, content, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
             // iterate over the messages in a log
             readMessagesBin: (channelName, start, asyncMsgHandler, cb) => {
+                // XXX queue lock
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
                 readMessagesBin(env, channelName, start, asyncMsgHandler, cb);
             },
@@ -923,19 +938,23 @@ module.exports.create = function (conf, cb) {
             // remove a channel and its associated metadata log if present
             removeChannel: function (channelName, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                removeChannel(env, channelName, function (err) {
-                    cb(err);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    removeChannel(env, channelName, Util.both(cb, next));
                 });
             },
             // remove a channel and its associated metadata log from the archive directory
             removeArchivedChannel: function (channelName, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                removeArchivedChannel(env, channelName, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    removeArchivedChannel(env, channelName, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
             // clear all data for a channel but preserve its metadata
             clearChannel: function (channelName, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                clearChannel(env, channelName, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    clearChannel(env, channelName, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
 
             // check if a channel exists in the database
@@ -943,47 +962,62 @@ module.exports.create = function (conf, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
                 // construct the path
                 var filepath = mkPath(env, channelName);
-                channelExists(filepath, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    channelExists(filepath, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
             // check if a channel exists in the archive
             isChannelArchived: function (channelName, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
                 // construct the path
                 var filepath = mkArchivePath(env, channelName);
-                channelExists(filepath, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    channelExists(filepath, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
             // move a channel from the database to the archive, along with its metadata
             archiveChannel: function (channelName, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                archiveChannel(env, channelName, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    archiveChannel(env, channelName, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
             // restore a channel from the archive to the database, along with its metadata
             restoreArchivedChannel: function (channelName, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                unarchiveChannel(env, channelName, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    unarchiveChannel(env, channelName, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
 
         // METADATA METHODS
             // fetch the metadata for a channel
             getChannelMetadata: function (channelName, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                getChannelMetadata(env, channelName, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    getChannelMetadata(env, channelName, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
             // iterate over lines of metadata changes from a dedicated log
             readDedicatedMetadata: function (channelName, handler, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                getDedicatedMetadata(env, channelName, handler, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    getDedicatedMetadata(env, channelName, handler, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
 
             // iterate over multiple lines of metadata changes
             readChannelMetadata: function (channelName, handler, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
+                // XXX queue
                 readMetadata(env, channelName, handler, cb);
             },
             // write a new line to a metadata log
             writeMetadata: function (channelName, data, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                writeMetadata(env, channelName, data, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    writeMetadata(env, channelName, data, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
 
         // CHANNEL ITERATION
@@ -996,13 +1030,17 @@ module.exports.create = function (conf, cb) {
 
             getChannelSize: function (channelName, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                channelBytes(env, channelName, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    channelBytes(env, channelName, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
         // OTHER DATABASE FUNCTIONALITY
             // remove a particular channel from the cache
             closeChannel: function (channelName, cb) {
                 if (!isValidChannelId(channelName)) { return void cb(new Error('EINVAL')); }
-                closeChannel(env, channelName, cb);
+                queue(channelName, function (next) {
+                    closeChannel(env, channelName, Util.both(cb, next));
+                });
             },
             // iterate over open channels and close any that are not active
             flushUnusedChannels: function (cb) {