diff --git a/model/data.proto b/model/data.proto
index 6be584836..8bad15d27 100644
--- a/model/data.proto
+++ b/model/data.proto
@@ -50,14 +50,6 @@ message SampleKey {
   optional fixed32     sample_count   = 4;
 }
 
-message SampleValueSeries {
-  message Value {
-    optional int64  timestamp = 1;
-    optional double value     = 2;
-  }
-  repeated Value value = 1;
-}
-
 message MembershipIndexValue {
 }
 
@@ -69,7 +61,7 @@ message MetricHighWatermark {
 // corpus that ensures that sparse samples.
 message CompactionProcessorDefinition {
   // minimum_group_size identifies how minimally samples should be grouped
-  // together to write a new SampleValueSeries chunk.
+  // together to write a new samples chunk.
   optional uint32 minimum_group_size = 1;
 }
 
diff --git a/model/generated/data.pb.go b/model/generated/data.pb.go
index a2ae871bd..7171aced8 100644
--- a/model/generated/data.pb.go
+++ b/model/generated/data.pb.go
@@ -2,6 +2,27 @@
 // source: data.proto
 // DO NOT EDIT!
 
+/*
+Package io_prometheus is a generated protocol buffer package.
+
+It is generated from these files:
+	data.proto
+
+It has these top-level messages:
+	LabelPair
+	LabelName
+	Metric
+	Fingerprint
+	FingerprintCollection
+	LabelSet
+	SampleKey
+	MembershipIndexValue
+	MetricHighWatermark
+	CompactionProcessorDefinition
+	CurationKey
+	CurationValue
+	DeletionProcessorDefinition
+*/
 package io_prometheus
 
 import proto "code.google.com/p/goprotobuf/proto"
@@ -119,6 +140,9 @@ func (m *LabelSet) GetMember() []*LabelPair {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// The default LevelDB comparator sorts not only lexicographically, but also by
+// key length (which takes precedence). Thus, no variable-length fields may be
+// introduced into the key definition below.
 type SampleKey struct {
 	Fingerprint      *Fingerprint `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=fingerprint" json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
 	Timestamp        []byte       `protobuf:"bytes,2,opt,name=timestamp" json:"timestamp,omitempty"`
@@ -159,46 +183,6 @@ func (m *SampleKey) GetSampleCount() uint32 {
 	return 0
 }
 
-type SampleValueSeries struct {
-	Value            []*SampleValueSeries_Value `protobuf:"bytes,1,rep,name=value" json:"value,omitempty"`
-	XXX_unrecognized []byte                     `json:"-"`
-}
-
-func (m *SampleValueSeries) Reset()         { *m = SampleValueSeries{} }
-func (m *SampleValueSeries) String() string { return proto.CompactTextString(m) }
-func (*SampleValueSeries) ProtoMessage()    {}
-
-func (m *SampleValueSeries) GetValue() []*SampleValueSeries_Value {
-	if m != nil {
-		return m.Value
-	}
-	return nil
-}
-
-type SampleValueSeries_Value struct {
-	Timestamp        *int64   `protobuf:"varint,1,opt,name=timestamp" json:"timestamp,omitempty"`
-	Value            *float64 `protobuf:"fixed64,2,opt,name=value" json:"value,omitempty"`
-	XXX_unrecognized []byte   `json:"-"`
-}
-
-func (m *SampleValueSeries_Value) Reset()         { *m = SampleValueSeries_Value{} }
-func (m *SampleValueSeries_Value) String() string { return proto.CompactTextString(m) }
-func (*SampleValueSeries_Value) ProtoMessage()    {}
-
-func (m *SampleValueSeries_Value) GetTimestamp() int64 {
-	if m != nil && m.Timestamp != nil {
-		return *m.Timestamp
-	}
-	return 0
-}
-
-func (m *SampleValueSeries_Value) GetValue() float64 {
-	if m != nil && m.Value != nil {
-		return *m.Value
-	}
-	return 0
-}
-
 type MembershipIndexValue struct {
 	XXX_unrecognized []byte `json:"-"`
 }
@@ -223,7 +207,11 @@ func (m *MetricHighWatermark) GetTimestamp() int64 {
 	return 0
 }
 
+// CompactionProcessorDefinition models a curation process across the sample
+// corpus that ensures that sparse samples.
 type CompactionProcessorDefinition struct {
+	// minimum_group_size identifies how minimally samples should be grouped
+	// together to write a new samples chunk.
 	MinimumGroupSize *uint32 `protobuf:"varint,1,opt,name=minimum_group_size" json:"minimum_group_size,omitempty"`
 	XXX_unrecognized []byte  `json:"-"`
 }
@@ -239,12 +227,38 @@ func (m *CompactionProcessorDefinition) GetMinimumGroupSize() uint32 {
 	return 0
 }
 
+// CurationKey models the state of curation for a given metric fingerprint and
+// its associated samples.  The time series database only knows about compaction
+// and resampling behaviors that are explicitly defined to it in its runtime
+// configuration, meaning it never scans on-disk tables for CurationKey
+// policies; rather, it looks up via the CurationKey tuple to find out what the
+// effectuation state for a given metric fingerprint is.
+//
+// For instance, how far along as a rule for (Fingerprint A, Samples Older Than
+// B, and Curation Processor) has been effectuated on-disk.
 type CurationKey struct {
-	Fingerprint              *Fingerprint `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=fingerprint" json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
-	ProcessorMessageTypeName *string      `protobuf:"bytes,2,opt,name=processor_message_type_name" json:"processor_message_type_name,omitempty"`
-	ProcessorMessageRaw      []byte       `protobuf:"bytes,3,opt,name=processor_message_raw" json:"processor_message_raw,omitempty"`
-	IgnoreYoungerThan        *int64       `protobuf:"varint,4,opt,name=ignore_younger_than" json:"ignore_younger_than,omitempty"`
-	XXX_unrecognized         []byte       `json:"-"`
+	// fingerprint identifies the fingerprint for the given policy.
+	Fingerprint *Fingerprint `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=fingerprint" json:"fingerprint,omitempty"`
+	// processor_message_type_name identifies the underlying message type that
+	// was used to encode processor_message_raw.
+	ProcessorMessageTypeName *string `protobuf:"bytes,2,opt,name=processor_message_type_name" json:"processor_message_type_name,omitempty"`
+	// processor_message_raw identifies the serialized ProcessorSignature for this
+	// operation.
+	ProcessorMessageRaw []byte `protobuf:"bytes,3,opt,name=processor_message_raw" json:"processor_message_raw,omitempty"`
+	// ignore_younger_than represents in seconds relative to when the curation
+	// cycle start when the curator should stop operating.  For instance, if
+	// the curation cycle starts at time T and the curation remark dictates that
+	// the curation should starts processing samples at time S, the curator should
+	// work from S until ignore_younger_than seconds before T:
+	//
+	// PAST                        NOW               FUTURE
+	//
+	// S--------------->|----------T
+	//                  |---IYT----|
+	//
+	// [Curation Resumption Time (S), T - IYT)
+	IgnoreYoungerThan *int64 `protobuf:"varint,4,opt,name=ignore_younger_than" json:"ignore_younger_than,omitempty"`
+	XXX_unrecognized  []byte `json:"-"`
 }
 
 func (m *CurationKey) Reset()         { *m = CurationKey{} }
@@ -279,7 +293,11 @@ func (m *CurationKey) GetIgnoreYoungerThan() int64 {
 	return 0
 }
 
+// CurationValue models the progress for a given CurationKey.
 type CurationValue struct {
+	// last_completion_timestamp represents the seconds since the epoch UTC at
+	// which the curator last completed its duty cycle for a given metric
+	// fingerprint.
 	LastCompletionTimestamp *int64 `protobuf:"varint,1,opt,name=last_completion_timestamp" json:"last_completion_timestamp,omitempty"`
 	XXX_unrecognized        []byte `json:"-"`
 }
@@ -295,6 +313,8 @@ func (m *CurationValue) GetLastCompletionTimestamp() int64 {
 	return 0
 }
 
+// DeletionProcessorDefinition models a curation process across the sample
+// corpus that deletes old values.
 type DeletionProcessorDefinition struct {
 	XXX_unrecognized []byte `json:"-"`
 }
diff --git a/model/generated/descriptor.blob b/model/generated/descriptor.blob
index 044e1c72b..ec90e3898 100644
Binary files a/model/generated/descriptor.blob and b/model/generated/descriptor.blob differ
diff --git a/storage/metric/leveldb.go b/storage/metric/leveldb.go
index 422e97b86..55cc7accc 100644
--- a/storage/metric/leveldb.go
+++ b/storage/metric/leveldb.go
@@ -323,12 +323,11 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) AppendSamples(samples clientmodel.Samples) (e
 
 	key := &SampleKey{}
 	keyDto := &dto.SampleKey{}
-	value := &dto.SampleValueSeries{}
+	values := make(Values, 0, *leveldbChunkSize)
 
 	for fingerprint, group := range fingerprintToSamples {
 		for {
-			value.Reset()
-
+			values := values[:0]
 			lengthOfGroup := len(group)
 
 			if lengthOfGroup == 0 {
@@ -348,16 +347,16 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) AppendSamples(samples clientmodel.Samples) (e
 			key.LastTimestamp = chunk[take-1].Timestamp
 			key.SampleCount = uint32(take)
 
+			key.Dump(keyDto)
+
 			for _, sample := range chunk {
-				// XXX: Candidate for allocation reduction.
-				value.Value = append(value.Value, &dto.SampleValueSeries_Value{
-					Timestamp: proto.Int64(sample.Timestamp.Unix()),
-					Value:     proto.Float64(float64(sample.Value)),
+				values = append(values, &SamplePair{
+					Timestamp: sample.Timestamp,
+					Value:     sample.Value,
 				})
 			}
-
-			key.Dump(keyDto)
-			samplesBatch.Put(keyDto, value)
+			val := values.marshal()
+			samplesBatch.PutRaw(keyDto, val)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -391,15 +390,6 @@ func extractSampleKey(i leveldb.Iterator) (*SampleKey, error) {
 	return key, nil
 }
 
-func extractSampleValues(i leveldb.Iterator) (Values, error) {
-	v := &dto.SampleValueSeries{}
-	if err := i.Value(v); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return NewValuesFromDTO(v), nil
-}
-
 func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) hasIndexMetric(m clientmodel.Metric) (value bool, err error) {
 	defer func(begin time.Time) {
 		duration := time.Since(begin)
@@ -625,13 +615,7 @@ func (d *MetricSamplesDecoder) DecodeKey(in interface{}) (interface{}, error) {
 // DecodeValue implements storage.RecordDecoder. It requires 'in' to be a
 // SampleValueSeries protobuf. 'out' is of type metric.Values.
 func (d *MetricSamplesDecoder) DecodeValue(in interface{}) (interface{}, error) {
-	values := &dto.SampleValueSeries{}
-	err := proto.Unmarshal(in.([]byte), values)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return NewValuesFromDTO(values), nil
+	return unmarshalValues(in.([]byte)), nil
 }
 
 // AcceptAllFilter implements storage.RecordFilter and accepts all records.
diff --git a/storage/metric/processor.go b/storage/metric/processor.go
index c18f7e30a..5b483a1d9 100644
--- a/storage/metric/processor.go
+++ b/storage/metric/processor.go
@@ -118,10 +118,7 @@ func (p *CompactionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPers
 
 	sampleKey.Load(sampleKeyDto)
 
-	unactedSamples, err = extractSampleValues(sampleIterator)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
+	unactedSamples = unmarshalValues(sampleIterator.RawValue())
 
 	for lastCurated.Before(stopAt) && lastTouchedTime.Before(stopAt) && sampleKey.Fingerprint.Equal(fingerprint) {
 		switch {
@@ -147,10 +144,7 @@ func (p *CompactionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPers
 				break
 			}
 
-			unactedSamples, err = extractSampleValues(sampleIterator)
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
+			unactedSamples = unmarshalValues(sampleIterator.RawValue())
 
 		// If the number of pending mutations exceeds the allowed batch amount,
 		// commit to disk and delete the batch.  A new one will be recreated if
@@ -188,9 +182,8 @@ func (p *CompactionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPers
 			k := &dto.SampleKey{}
 			newSampleKey := pendingSamples.ToSampleKey(fingerprint)
 			newSampleKey.Dump(k)
-			b := &dto.SampleValueSeries{}
-			pendingSamples.dump(b)
-			pendingBatch.Put(k, b)
+			b := pendingSamples.marshal()
+			pendingBatch.PutRaw(k, b)
 
 			pendingMutations++
 			lastCurated = newSampleKey.FirstTimestamp
@@ -238,9 +231,8 @@ func (p *CompactionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPers
 		k := &dto.SampleKey{}
 		newSampleKey := pendingSamples.ToSampleKey(fingerprint)
 		newSampleKey.Dump(k)
-		b := &dto.SampleValueSeries{}
-		pendingSamples.dump(b)
-		pendingBatch.Put(k, b)
+		b := pendingSamples.marshal()
+		pendingBatch.PutRaw(k, b)
 		pendingSamples = Values{}
 		pendingMutations++
 		lastCurated = newSampleKey.FirstTimestamp
@@ -347,10 +339,7 @@ func (p *DeletionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPersis
 	}
 	sampleKey.Load(sampleKeyDto)
 
-	sampleValues, err := extractSampleValues(sampleIterator)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
+	sampleValues := unmarshalValues(sampleIterator.RawValue())
 
 	pendingMutations := 0
 
@@ -374,10 +363,7 @@ func (p *DeletionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPersis
 			}
 			sampleKey.Load(sampleKeyDto)
 
-			sampleValues, err = extractSampleValues(sampleIterator)
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
+			sampleValues = unmarshalValues(sampleIterator.RawValue())
 
 		// If the number of pending mutations exceeds the allowed batch
 		// amount, commit to disk and delete the batch.  A new one will
@@ -412,10 +398,9 @@ func (p *DeletionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPersis
 				k := &dto.SampleKey{}
 				sampleKey = sampleValues.ToSampleKey(fingerprint)
 				sampleKey.Dump(k)
-				v := &dto.SampleValueSeries{}
-				sampleValues.dump(v)
 				lastCurated = sampleKey.FirstTimestamp
-				pendingBatch.Put(k, v)
+				v := sampleValues.marshal()
+				pendingBatch.PutRaw(k, v)
 				pendingMutations++
 			} else {
 				lastCurated = sampleKey.LastTimestamp
diff --git a/storage/metric/processor_test.go b/storage/metric/processor_test.go
index 1dbbeae5a..b7639fea1 100644
--- a/storage/metric/processor_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/processor_test.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ type out struct {
 	sampleGroups   []sampleGroup
 }
 
-func (c curationState) Get() (key, value proto.Message) {
+func (c curationState) Get() (key proto.Message, value interface{}) {
 	signature := c.processor.Signature()
 	fingerprint := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
 	fingerprint.LoadFromString(c.fingerprint)
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ func (c curationState) Get() (key, value proto.Message) {
 	return k, v
 }
 
-func (w watermarkState) Get() (key, value proto.Message) {
+func (w watermarkState) Get() (key proto.Message, value interface{}) {
 	fingerprint := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
 	fingerprint.LoadFromString(w.fingerprint)
 	k := &dto.Fingerprint{}
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func (w watermarkState) Get() (key, value proto.Message) {
 	return k, v
 }
 
-func (s sampleGroup) Get() (key, value proto.Message) {
+func (s sampleGroup) Get() (key proto.Message, value interface{}) {
 	fingerprint := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
 	fingerprint.LoadFromString(s.fingerprint)
 	keyRaw := SampleKey{
@@ -106,10 +106,7 @@ func (s sampleGroup) Get() (key, value proto.Message) {
 	k := &dto.SampleKey{}
 	keyRaw.Dump(k)
 
-	v := &dto.SampleValueSeries{}
-	s.values.dump(v)
-
-	return k, v
+	return k, s.values.marshal()
 }
 
 type noopUpdater struct{}
@@ -963,10 +960,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("%d.%d. error %s", i, j, err)
 			}
-			sampleValues, err := extractSampleValues(iterator)
-			if err != nil {
-				t.Fatalf("%d.%d. error %s", i, j, err)
-			}
+			sampleValues := unmarshalValues(iterator.RawValue())
 
 			expectedFingerprint := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
 			expectedFingerprint.LoadFromString(expected.fingerprint)
@@ -1493,10 +1487,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 			if err != nil {
 				t.Fatalf("%d.%d. error %s", i, j, err)
 			}
-			sampleValues, err := extractSampleValues(iterator)
-			if err != nil {
-				t.Fatalf("%d.%d. error %s", i, j, err)
-			}
+			sampleValues := unmarshalValues(iterator.RawValue())
 
 			expectedFingerprint := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
 			expectedFingerprint.LoadFromString(expected.fingerprint)
diff --git a/storage/metric/sample.go b/storage/metric/sample.go
index d0afd9e0e..c36cbaaac 100644
--- a/storage/metric/sample.go
+++ b/storage/metric/sample.go
@@ -15,16 +15,17 @@ package metric
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
+	"math"
 	"sort"
 
-	"code.google.com/p/goprotobuf/proto"
-
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
-
-	dto "github.com/prometheus/prometheus/model/generated"
 )
 
+// bytesPerSample is the number of bytes per sample in marshalled format.
+const bytesPerSample = 16
+
 // MarshalJSON implements json.Marshaler.
 func (s SamplePair) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	return []byte(fmt.Sprintf("{\"Value\": \"%f\", \"Timestamp\": %d}", s.Value, s.Timestamp)), nil
@@ -32,8 +33,8 @@ func (s SamplePair) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 
 // SamplePair pairs a SampleValue with a Timestamp.
 type SamplePair struct {
-	Value     clientmodel.SampleValue
 	Timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp
+	Value     clientmodel.SampleValue
 }
 
 // Equal returns true if this SamplePair and o have equal Values and equal
@@ -46,14 +47,6 @@ func (s *SamplePair) Equal(o *SamplePair) bool {
 	return s.Value.Equal(o.Value) && s.Timestamp.Equal(o.Timestamp)
 }
 
-func (s *SamplePair) dump(d *dto.SampleValueSeries_Value) {
-	d.Reset()
-
-	d.Timestamp = proto.Int64(s.Timestamp.Unix())
-	d.Value = proto.Float64(float64(s.Value))
-
-}
-
 func (s *SamplePair) String() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("SamplePair at %s of %s", s.Timestamp, s.Value)
 }
@@ -133,16 +126,6 @@ func (v Values) TruncateBefore(t clientmodel.Timestamp) Values {
 	return v[index:]
 }
 
-func (v Values) dump(d *dto.SampleValueSeries) {
-	d.Reset()
-
-	for _, value := range v {
-		element := &dto.SampleValueSeries_Value{}
-		value.dump(element)
-		d.Value = append(d.Value, element)
-	}
-}
-
 // ToSampleKey returns the SampleKey for these Values.
 func (v Values) ToSampleKey(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint) *SampleKey {
 	return &SampleKey{
@@ -168,19 +151,32 @@ func (v Values) String() string {
 	return buffer.String()
 }
 
-// NewValuesFromDTO deserializes Values from a DTO.
-func NewValuesFromDTO(d *dto.SampleValueSeries) Values {
-	// BUG(matt): Incogruent from the other load/dump API types, but much
-	// more performant.
-	v := make(Values, 0, len(d.Value))
-
-	for _, value := range d.Value {
-		v = append(v, &SamplePair{
-			Timestamp: clientmodel.TimestampFromUnix(value.GetTimestamp()),
-			Value:     clientmodel.SampleValue(value.GetValue()),
-		})
+// marshal marshals a group of samples for being written to disk.
+func (v Values) marshal() []byte {
+	buf := make([]byte, len(v)*bytesPerSample)
+	for i, val := range v {
+		offset := i * 16
+		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(buf[offset:], uint64(val.Timestamp.Unix()))
+		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(buf[offset+8:], math.Float64bits(float64(val.Value)))
 	}
+	return buf
+}
 
+// unmarshalValues decodes marshalled samples and returns them as Values.
+func unmarshalValues(buf []byte) Values {
+	n := len(buf) / bytesPerSample
+	// Setting the value of a given slice index is around 15% faster than doing
+	// an append, even if the slice already has the required capacity. For this
+	// reason, we already set the full target length here.
+	v := make(Values, n)
+
+	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
+		offset := i * 16
+		v[i] = &SamplePair{
+			Timestamp: clientmodel.TimestampFromUnix(int64(binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(buf[offset:]))),
+			Value:     clientmodel.SampleValue(math.Float64frombits(binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(buf[offset+8:]))),
+		}
+	}
 	return v
 }
 
diff --git a/storage/metric/sample_test.go b/storage/metric/sample_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..833cbd463
--- /dev/null
+++ b/storage/metric/sample_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package metric
+
+import (
+	"math/rand"
+	"testing"
+
+	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
+)
+
+const numTestValues = 5000
+
+func TestValuesMarshalAndUnmarshal(t *testing.T) {
+	values := randomValues(numTestValues)
+
+	marshalled := values.marshal()
+	unmarshalled := unmarshalValues(marshalled)
+
+	for i, expected := range values {
+		actual := unmarshalled[i]
+		if !actual.Equal(expected) {
+			t.Fatalf("%d. got: %v, expected: %v", i, actual, expected)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func randomValues(numSamples int) Values {
+	v := make(Values, 0, numSamples)
+	for i := 0; i < numSamples; i++ {
+		v = append(v, &SamplePair{
+			Timestamp: clientmodel.Timestamp(rand.Int63()),
+			Value:     clientmodel.SampleValue(rand.NormFloat64()),
+		})
+	}
+
+	return v
+}
+
+func BenchmarkMarshal(b *testing.B) {
+	v := randomValues(numTestValues)
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		v.marshal()
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkUnmarshal(b *testing.B) {
+	v := randomValues(numTestValues)
+	marshalled := v.marshal()
+	b.ResetTimer()
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		unmarshalValues(marshalled)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/storage/metric/stochastic_test.go b/storage/metric/stochastic_test.go
index 75ed8350c..65db74b03 100644
--- a/storage/metric/stochastic_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/stochastic_test.go
@@ -183,10 +183,7 @@ func levelDBGetRangeValues(l *LevelDBMetricPersistence, fp *clientmodel.Fingerpr
 			break
 		}
 
-		retrievedValues, err := extractSampleValues(iterator)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+		retrievedValues := unmarshalValues(iterator.RawValue())
 		samples = append(samples, retrievedValues...)
 	}
 
diff --git a/storage/metric/tiered.go b/storage/metric/tiered.go
index 79f47ef85..7e5d85d58 100644
--- a/storage/metric/tiered.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered.go
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) loadChunkAroundTime(
 		//
 		// Only do the rewind if there is another chunk before this one.
 		if !seekingKey.MayContain(ts) {
-			postValues, _ := extractSampleValues(iterator)
+			postValues := unmarshalValues(iterator.RawValue())
 			if !seekingKey.Equal(firstBlock) {
 				if !iterator.Previous() {
 					panic("This should never return false.")
@@ -602,13 +602,13 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) loadChunkAroundTime(
 					return postValues, false
 				}
 
-				foundValues, _ = extractSampleValues(iterator)
+				foundValues = unmarshalValues(iterator.RawValue())
 				foundValues = append(foundValues, postValues...)
 				return foundValues, false
 			}
 		}
 
-		foundValues, _ = extractSampleValues(iterator)
+		foundValues = unmarshalValues(iterator.RawValue())
 		return foundValues, false
 	}
 
@@ -627,7 +627,7 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) loadChunkAroundTime(
 				return nil, false
 			}
 
-			foundValues, _ = extractSampleValues(iterator)
+			foundValues = unmarshalValues(iterator.RawValue())
 			return foundValues, false
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/storage/raw/interface.go b/storage/raw/interface.go
index 30655d2cf..5c1328cf5 100644
--- a/storage/raw/interface.go
+++ b/storage/raw/interface.go
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ type Persistence interface {
 	Drop(key proto.Message) error
 	// Put sets the key to a given value.
 	Put(key, value proto.Message) error
+	// PutRaw sets the key to a given raw bytes value.
+	PutRaw(key proto.Message, value []byte) error
 	// Commit applies the Batch operations to the database.
 	Commit(Batch) error
 }
@@ -80,6 +82,8 @@ type Batch interface {
 	Close()
 	// Put follows the same protocol as Persistence.Put.
 	Put(key, value proto.Message)
+	// PutRaw follows the same protocol as Persistence.PutRaw.
+	PutRaw(key proto.Message, value []byte)
 	// Drop follows the same protocol as Persistence.Drop.
 	Drop(key proto.Message)
 }
diff --git a/storage/raw/leveldb/batch.go b/storage/raw/leveldb/batch.go
index d5dafa961..c934cc427 100644
--- a/storage/raw/leveldb/batch.go
+++ b/storage/raw/leveldb/batch.go
@@ -64,7 +64,19 @@ func (b *batch) Put(key, value proto.Message) {
 	b.batch.Put(keyBuf.Bytes(), valBuf.Bytes())
 
 	b.puts++
+}
 
+func (b *batch) PutRaw(key proto.Message, value []byte) {
+	keyBuf, _ := buffers.Get()
+	defer buffers.Give(keyBuf)
+
+	if err := keyBuf.Marshal(key); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	b.batch.Put(keyBuf.Bytes(), value)
+
+	b.puts++
 }
 
 func (b *batch) Close() {
diff --git a/storage/raw/leveldb/iterator.go b/storage/raw/leveldb/iterator.go
index 0992536c1..1ed91568c 100644
--- a/storage/raw/leveldb/iterator.go
+++ b/storage/raw/leveldb/iterator.go
@@ -33,10 +33,9 @@ type Iterator interface {
 	Previous() bool
 
 	Key(proto.Message) error
-	Value(proto.Message) error
+	RawValue() []byte
 
 	Close() error
 
 	rawKey() []byte
-	rawValue() []byte
 }
diff --git a/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go b/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go
index 95db1f9a4..6b049537d 100644
--- a/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go
+++ b/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go
@@ -163,10 +163,6 @@ func (i *levigoIterator) rawKey() (key []byte) {
 	return i.iterator.Key()
 }
 
-func (i *levigoIterator) rawValue() (value []byte) {
-	return i.iterator.Value()
-}
-
 func (i *levigoIterator) Error() (err error) {
 	return i.iterator.GetError()
 }
@@ -180,13 +176,8 @@ func (i *levigoIterator) Key(m proto.Message) error {
 	return buf.Unmarshal(m)
 }
 
-func (i *levigoIterator) Value(m proto.Message) error {
-	buf, _ := buffers.Get()
-	defer buffers.Give(buf)
-
-	buf.SetBuf(i.iterator.Value())
-
-	return buf.Unmarshal(m)
+func (i *levigoIterator) RawValue() []byte {
+	return i.iterator.Value()
 }
 
 func (i *levigoIterator) Valid() bool {
@@ -373,6 +364,18 @@ func (l *LevelDBPersistence) Put(k, v proto.Message) error {
 	return l.storage.Put(l.writeOptions, keyBuf.Bytes(), valBuf.Bytes())
 }
 
+// PutRaw implements raw.Persistence.
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) PutRaw(key proto.Message, value []byte) error {
+	keyBuf, _ := buffers.Get()
+	defer buffers.Give(keyBuf)
+
+	if err := keyBuf.Marshal(key); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	return l.storage.Put(l.writeOptions, keyBuf.Bytes(), value)
+}
+
 // Commit implements raw.Persistence.
 func (l *LevelDBPersistence) Commit(b raw.Batch) (err error) {
 	// XXX: This is a wart to clean up later.  Ideally, after doing
@@ -492,7 +495,7 @@ func (l *LevelDBPersistence) ForEach(decoder storage.RecordDecoder, filter stora
 		if decodeErr != nil {
 			continue
 		}
-		decodedValue, decodeErr := decoder.DecodeValue(iterator.rawValue())
+		decodedValue, decodeErr := decoder.DecodeValue(iterator.RawValue())
 		if decodeErr != nil {
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/storage/raw/leveldb/test/fixtures.go b/storage/raw/leveldb/test/fixtures.go
index e680050e3..b9121ba8c 100644
--- a/storage/raw/leveldb/test/fixtures.go
+++ b/storage/raw/leveldb/test/fixtures.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ type (
 	// Pair models a prospective (key, value) double that will be committed
 	// to a database.
 	Pair interface {
-		Get() (key, value proto.Message)
+		Get() (key proto.Message, value interface{})
 	}
 
 	// Pairs models a list of Pair for disk committing.
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ type (
 		// fixture data to build.
 		HasNext() (has bool)
 		// Next emits the next (key, value) double for storage.
-		Next() (key, value proto.Message)
+		Next() (key proto.Message, value interface{})
 	}
 
 	preparer struct {
@@ -76,7 +76,14 @@ func (p preparer) Prepare(n string, f FixtureFactory) (t test.TemporaryDirectory
 	for f.HasNext() {
 		key, value := f.Next()
 
-		err = persistence.Put(key, value)
+		switch v := value.(type) {
+		case proto.Message:
+			err = persistence.Put(key, v)
+		case []byte:
+			err = persistence.PutRaw(key, v)
+		default:
+			panic("illegal value type")
+		}
 		if err != nil {
 			defer t.Close()
 			p.tester.Fatal(err)
@@ -92,7 +99,7 @@ func (f cassetteFactory) HasNext() bool {
 }
 
 // Next implements FixtureFactory.
-func (f *cassetteFactory) Next() (key, value proto.Message) {
+func (f *cassetteFactory) Next() (key proto.Message, value interface{}) {
 	key, value = f.pairs[f.index].Get()
 
 	f.index++