diff --git a/storage/local/index/index.go b/storage/local/index/index.go
index a6ed026ad8..808abd3afc 100644
--- a/storage/local/index/index.go
+++ b/storage/local/index/index.go
@@ -1,14 +1,32 @@
 package index
 
 import (
+	"flag"
+	"os"
+	"path"
 	"sync"
 
+	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility"
 )
 
+const (
+	fingerprintToMetricDir     = "fingerprint_to_metric"
+	labelNameToLabelValuesDir  = "labelname_to_labelvalues"
+	labelPairToFingerprintsDir = "labelpair_to_fingerprints"
+	fingerprintMembershipDir   = "fingerprint_membership"
+)
+
+var (
+	fingerprintToMetricCacheSize     = flag.Int("storage.fingerprintToMetricCacheSizeBytes", 25*1024*1024, "The size in bytes for the fingerprint to metric index cache.")
+	labelNameToLabelValuesCacheSize  = flag.Int("storage.labelNameToLabelValuesCacheSizeBytes", 25*1024*1024, "The size in bytes for the label name to label values index cache.")
+	labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSize = flag.Int("storage.labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSizeBytes", 25*1024*1024, "The size in bytes for the label pair to fingerprints index cache.")
+	fingerprintMembershipCacheSize   = flag.Int("storage.fingerprintMembershipCacheSizeBytes", 5*1024*1024, "The size in bytes for the metric membership index cache.")
+)
+
 // FingerprintMetricMapping is an in-memory map of fingerprints to metrics.
 type FingerprintMetricMapping map[clientmodel.Fingerprint]clientmodel.Metric
 
@@ -208,23 +226,61 @@ func (i *SynchronizedIndexer) IndexMetrics(b FingerprintMetricMapping) error {
 	return i.i.IndexMetrics(b)
 }
 
-// DiskIndexer is a MetricIndexer that indexes all standard facets of a metric
-// that a user or the Prometheus subsystem would want to query against:
+// diskIndexer is a MetricIndexer that keeps all indexes in levelDBs except the
+// fingerprint-to-metric index for non-archived metrics (which is kept in a
+// normal in-memory map, but serialized to disk at shutdown and deserialized at
+// startup).
 //
-//    <Fingerprint> -> <existence marker>
-//    <Label Name> -> {<Label Value>, ...}
-//    <Label Name> <Label Value> -> {<Fingerprint>, ...}
-//    <Fingerprint> -> <Metric>
-//
-// This type supports concurrent queries, but only single writes, and it has no
-// locking semantics to enforce this.
-type DiskIndexer struct {
+// TODO: Talk about concurrency!
+type diskIndexer struct {
 	FingerprintToMetric     *FingerprintMetricIndex
 	LabelNameToLabelValues  *LabelNameLabelValuesIndex
 	LabelPairToFingerprints *LabelPairFingerprintIndex
 	FingerprintMembership   *FingerprintMembershipIndex
 }
 
+func NewDiskIndexer(basePath string) (MetricIndexer, error) {
+	err := os.MkdirAll(basePath, 0700)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	fingerprintToMetricDB, err := NewLevelDB(LevelDBOptions{
+		Path:           path.Join(basePath, fingerprintToMetricDir),
+		CacheSizeBytes: *fingerprintToMetricCacheSize,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	labelNameToLabelValuesDB, err := NewLevelDB(LevelDBOptions{
+		Path:           path.Join(basePath, labelNameToLabelValuesDir),
+		CacheSizeBytes: *labelNameToLabelValuesCacheSize,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	labelPairToFingerprintsDB, err := NewLevelDB(LevelDBOptions{
+		Path:           path.Join(basePath, labelPairToFingerprintsDir),
+		CacheSizeBytes: *labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSize,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	fingerprintMembershipDB, err := NewLevelDB(LevelDBOptions{
+		Path:           path.Join(basePath, fingerprintMembershipDir),
+		CacheSizeBytes: *fingerprintMembershipCacheSize,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &diskIndexer{
+		FingerprintToMetric:     NewFingerprintMetricIndex(fingerprintToMetricDB),
+		LabelNameToLabelValues:  NewLabelNameLabelValuesIndex(labelNameToLabelValuesDB),
+		LabelPairToFingerprints: NewLabelPairFingerprintIndex(labelPairToFingerprintsDB),
+		FingerprintMembership:   NewFingerprintMembershipIndex(fingerprintMembershipDB),
+	}, nil
+}
+
 func findUnindexed(i *FingerprintMembershipIndex, b FingerprintMetricMapping) (FingerprintMetricMapping, error) {
 	out := FingerprintMetricMapping{}
 
@@ -384,7 +440,7 @@ func extendLabelPairIndex(i *LabelPairFingerprintIndex, b FingerprintMetricMappi
 
 // IndexMetrics adds the facets of all unindexed metrics found in the given
 // FingerprintMetricMapping to the corresponding indices.
-func (i *DiskIndexer) IndexMetrics(b FingerprintMetricMapping) error {
+func (i *diskIndexer) IndexMetrics(b FingerprintMetricMapping) error {
 	unindexed, err := findUnindexed(i.FingerprintMembership, b)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -414,7 +470,7 @@ func (i *DiskIndexer) IndexMetrics(b FingerprintMetricMapping) error {
 }
 
 // UnindexMetrics implements MetricIndexer.
-func (i *DiskIndexer) UnindexMetrics(b FingerprintMetricMapping) error {
+func (i *diskIndexer) UnindexMetrics(b FingerprintMetricMapping) error {
 	indexed, err := findIndexed(i.FingerprintMembership, b)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -440,19 +496,19 @@ func (i *DiskIndexer) UnindexMetrics(b FingerprintMetricMapping) error {
 	return i.FingerprintMembership.UnindexBatch(indexed)
 }
 
-func (i *DiskIndexer) ArchiveMetrics(fp clientmodel.Fingerprint, first, last clientmodel.Timestamp) error {
+func (i *diskIndexer) ArchiveMetrics(fp clientmodel.Fingerprint, first, last clientmodel.Timestamp) error {
 	// TODO: implement.
 	return nil
 }
 
 // GetMetricForFingerprint implements MetricIndexer.
-func (i *DiskIndexer) GetMetricForFingerprint(fp clientmodel.Fingerprint) (clientmodel.Metric, error) {
+func (i *diskIndexer) GetMetricForFingerprint(fp clientmodel.Fingerprint) (clientmodel.Metric, error) {
 	m, _, err := i.FingerprintToMetric.Lookup(fp)
 	return m, err
 }
 
 // GetFingerprintsForLabelPair implements MetricIndexer.
-func (i *DiskIndexer) GetFingerprintsForLabelPair(ln clientmodel.LabelName, lv clientmodel.LabelValue) (clientmodel.Fingerprints, error) {
+func (i *diskIndexer) GetFingerprintsForLabelPair(ln clientmodel.LabelName, lv clientmodel.LabelValue) (clientmodel.Fingerprints, error) {
 	fps, _, err := i.LabelPairToFingerprints.Lookup(&metric.LabelPair{
 		Name:  ln,
 		Value: lv,
@@ -461,23 +517,39 @@ func (i *DiskIndexer) GetFingerprintsForLabelPair(ln clientmodel.LabelName, lv c
 }
 
 // GetLabelValuesForLabelName implements MetricIndexer.
-func (i *DiskIndexer) GetLabelValuesForLabelName(ln clientmodel.LabelName) (clientmodel.LabelValues, error) {
+func (i *diskIndexer) GetLabelValuesForLabelName(ln clientmodel.LabelName) (clientmodel.LabelValues, error) {
 	lvs, _, err := i.LabelNameToLabelValues.Lookup(ln)
 	return lvs, err
 }
 
 // HasFingerprint implements MetricIndexer.
-func (i *DiskIndexer) HasFingerprint(fp clientmodel.Fingerprint) (bool, error) {
+func (i *diskIndexer) HasFingerprint(fp clientmodel.Fingerprint) (bool, error) {
 	// TODO: modify.
 	return i.FingerprintMembership.Has(fp)
 }
 
-func (i *DiskIndexer) HasArchivedFingerprint(clientmodel.Fingerprint) (present bool, first, last clientmodel.Timestamp, err error) {
+func (i *diskIndexer) HasArchivedFingerprint(clientmodel.Fingerprint) (present bool, first, last clientmodel.Timestamp, err error) {
 	// TODO: implement.
 	return false, 0, 0, nil
 }
 
-func (i *DiskIndexer) Close() error {
-	// TODO: implement
-	return nil
+func (i *diskIndexer) Close() error {
+	var lastError error
+	if err := i.FingerprintToMetric.Close(); err != nil {
+		glog.Error("Error closing FingerprintToMetric index DB: ", err)
+		lastError = err
+	}
+	if err := i.LabelNameToLabelValues.Close(); err != nil {
+		glog.Error("Error closing LabelNameToLabelValues index DB: ", err)
+		lastError = err
+	}
+	if err := i.LabelPairToFingerprints.Close(); err != nil {
+		glog.Error("Error closing LabelPairToFingerprints index DB: ", err)
+		lastError = err
+	}
+	if err := i.FingerprintMembership.Close(); err != nil {
+		glog.Error("Error closing FingerprintMembership index DB: ", err)
+		lastError = err
+	}
+	return lastError
 }
diff --git a/storage/local/index/index_test.go b/storage/local/index/index_test.go
index 998d208e8c..cd197383a2 100644
--- a/storage/local/index/index_test.go
+++ b/storage/local/index/index_test.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func newTestDB(t *testing.T) (KeyValueStore, test.Closer) {
 	})
 }
 
-func verifyIndexedState(i int, t *testing.T, b incrementalBatch, indexedFpsToMetrics FingerprintMetricMapping, indexer *DiskIndexer) {
+func verifyIndexedState(i int, t *testing.T, b incrementalBatch, indexedFpsToMetrics FingerprintMetricMapping, indexer *diskIndexer) {
 	for fp, m := range indexedFpsToMetrics {
 		// Compare indexed metrics with input metrics.
 		mOut, ok, err := indexer.FingerprintToMetric.Lookup(fp)
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ func TestIndexing(t *testing.T) {
 	fpMsDB, fpMsCloser := newTestDB(t)
 	defer fpMsCloser.Close()
 
-	indexer := DiskIndexer{
+	indexer := diskIndexer{
 		FingerprintToMetric:     NewFingerprintMetricIndex(fpToMetricDB),
 		LabelNameToLabelValues:  NewLabelNameLabelValuesIndex(lnToLvsDB),
 		LabelPairToFingerprints: NewLabelPairFingerprintIndex(lpToFpDB),
diff --git a/storage/local/persistence.go b/storage/local/persistence.go
index 948a83b5cb..7baaedc62e 100644
--- a/storage/local/persistence.go
+++ b/storage/local/persistence.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package storage_ng
 import (
 	"bufio"
 	"encoding/binary"
-	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
@@ -11,8 +10,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 
-	//"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
-
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/local/index"
@@ -24,11 +21,6 @@ const (
 	headsFileName      = "heads.db"
 	indexDirName       = "index"
 
-	fingerprintToMetricDir     = "fingerprint_to_metric"
-	labelNameToLabelValuesDir  = "labelname_to_labelvalues"
-	labelPairToFingerprintsDir = "labelpair_to_fingerprints"
-	fingerprintMembershipDir   = "fingerprint_membership"
-
 	chunkHeaderLen             = 17
 	chunkHeaderTypeOffset      = 0
 	chunkHeaderFirstTimeOffset = 1
@@ -39,16 +31,8 @@ const (
 	headsHeaderTypeOffset        = 8
 )
 
-var (
-	fingerprintToMetricCacheSize     = flag.Int("storage.fingerprintToMetricCacheSizeBytes", 25*1024*1024, "The size in bytes for the fingerprint to metric index cache.")
-	labelNameToLabelValuesCacheSize  = flag.Int("storage.labelNameToLabelValuesCacheSizeBytes", 25*1024*1024, "The size in bytes for the label name to label values index cache.")
-	labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSize = flag.Int("storage.labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSizeBytes", 25*1024*1024, "The size in bytes for the label pair to fingerprints index cache.")
-	fingerprintMembershipCacheSize   = flag.Int("storage.fingerprintMembershipCacheSizeBytes", 5*1024*1024, "The size in bytes for the metric membership index cache.")
-)
-
 type diskPersistence struct {
 	index.MetricIndexer
-	indexDBs []index.KeyValueStore
 
 	basePath string
 	chunkLen int
@@ -56,56 +40,16 @@ type diskPersistence struct {
 }
 
 func NewDiskPersistence(basePath string, chunkLen int) (Persistence, error) {
-	err := os.MkdirAll(basePath, 0700)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	fingerprintToMetricDB, err := index.NewLevelDB(index.LevelDBOptions{
-		Path:           path.Join(basePath, fingerprintToMetricDir),
-		CacheSizeBytes: *fingerprintToMetricCacheSize,
-	})
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	labelNameToLabelValuesDB, err := index.NewLevelDB(index.LevelDBOptions{
-		Path:           path.Join(basePath, labelNameToLabelValuesDir),
-		CacheSizeBytes: *labelNameToLabelValuesCacheSize,
-	})
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	labelPairToFingerprintsDB, err := index.NewLevelDB(index.LevelDBOptions{
-		Path:           path.Join(basePath, labelPairToFingerprintsDir),
-		CacheSizeBytes: *labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSize,
-	})
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	fingerprintMembershipDB, err := index.NewLevelDB(index.LevelDBOptions{
-		Path:           path.Join(basePath, fingerprintMembershipDir),
-		CacheSizeBytes: *fingerprintMembershipCacheSize,
-	})
+	metricIndexer, err := index.NewDiskIndexer(basePath)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	return &diskPersistence{
-		basePath: basePath,
-		chunkLen: chunkLen,
-		buf:      make([]byte, binary.MaxVarintLen64), // Also sufficient for uint64.
-		MetricIndexer: &index.DiskIndexer{
-			FingerprintToMetric:     index.NewFingerprintMetricIndex(fingerprintToMetricDB),
-			LabelNameToLabelValues:  index.NewLabelNameLabelValuesIndex(labelNameToLabelValuesDB),
-			LabelPairToFingerprints: index.NewLabelPairFingerprintIndex(labelPairToFingerprintsDB),
-			FingerprintMembership:   index.NewFingerprintMembershipIndex(fingerprintMembershipDB),
-		},
-		indexDBs: []index.KeyValueStore{
-			fingerprintToMetricDB,
-			labelNameToLabelValuesDB,
-			labelPairToFingerprintsDB,
-			fingerprintMembershipDB,
-		},
+		basePath:      basePath,
+		chunkLen:      chunkLen,
+		buf:           make([]byte, binary.MaxVarintLen64), // Also sufficient for uint64.
+		MetricIndexer: metricIndexer,
 	}, nil
 }
 
@@ -396,12 +340,6 @@ func (p *diskPersistence) LoadHeads(fpToSeries map[clientmodel.Fingerprint]*memo
 }
 
 func (d *diskPersistence) Close() error {
-	var lastError error
-	for _, db := range d.indexDBs {
-		if err := db.Close(); err != nil {
-			glog.Error("Error closing index DB: ", err)
-			lastError = err
-		}
-	}
-	return lastError
+	// TODO: Move persistHeads here once fingerprintToSeries map is here.
+	return d.MetricIndexer.Close()
 }
diff --git a/storage/local/storage.go b/storage/local/storage.go
index 6fe69d8ad5..5ae957b11d 100644
--- a/storage/local/storage.go
+++ b/storage/local/storage.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ type memorySeriesStorage struct {
 	persistDone chan bool
 	stopServing chan chan<- bool
 
+	// TODO: These have to go to persistence.
 	fingerprintToSeries     map[clientmodel.Fingerprint]*memorySeries
 	labelPairToFingerprints map[metric.LabelPair]utility.Set
 	labelNameToLabelValues  map[clientmodel.LabelName]utility.Set