diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d8645f3944f..b48aec90ed3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 ### Features
 - [#1755](https://github.com/influxdb/influxdb/pull/1848): Support JSON data ingest over UDP
 - [#1857](https://github.com/influxdb/influxdb/pull/1857): Support retention policies with infinite duration
+- [#1858](https://github.com/influxdb/influxdb/pull/1858): Enable detailed tracing of write path
 
 ## v0.9.0-rc7 [2015-03-02]
 
diff --git a/cmd/influxd/config.go b/cmd/influxd/config.go
index 82547886463..7485dda0294 100644
--- a/cmd/influxd/config.go
+++ b/cmd/influxd/config.go
@@ -96,7 +96,8 @@ type Config struct {
 	} `toml:"cluster"`
 
 	Logging struct {
-		File string `toml:"file"`
+		File              string `toml:"file"`
+		WriteTraceEnabled bool   `toml:"write-tracing"`
 	} `toml:"logging"`
 
 	ContinuousQuery struct {
diff --git a/cmd/influxd/config_test.go b/cmd/influxd/config_test.go
index 10a9bed00aa..4e6b4ac88e2 100644
--- a/cmd/influxd/config_test.go
+++ b/cmd/influxd/config_test.go
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@ enabled = true
 
 [logging]
 file   = "influxdb.log"
+write-tracing = true
 
 # Configure the admin server
 [admin]
diff --git a/cmd/influxd/run.go b/cmd/influxd/run.go
index 447008d3cae..712177c20d5 100644
--- a/cmd/influxd/run.go
+++ b/cmd/influxd/run.go
@@ -80,6 +80,9 @@ func Run(config *Config, join, version string, logWriter *os.File) (*messaging.B
 	// Start the server handler. Attach to broker if listening on the same port.
 	if s != nil {
 		sh := httpd.NewHandler(s, config.Authentication.Enabled, version)
+		sh.SetLogOutput(logWriter)
+		sh.WriteTrace = config.Logging.WriteTraceEnabled
+
 		if h != nil && config.BrokerAddr() == config.DataAddr() {
 			h.serverHandler = sh
 		} else {
@@ -262,6 +265,7 @@ func openServer(config *Config, b *influxdb.Broker, initializing, configExists b
 	// Create and open the server.
 	s := influxdb.NewServer()
 	s.SetLogOutput(w)
+	s.WriteTrace = config.Logging.WriteTraceEnabled
 	s.RecomputePreviousN = config.ContinuousQuery.RecomputePreviousN
 	s.RecomputeNoOlderThan = time.Duration(config.ContinuousQuery.RecomputeNoOlderThan)
 	s.ComputeRunsPerInterval = config.ContinuousQuery.ComputeRunsPerInterval
diff --git a/etc/config.sample.toml b/etc/config.sample.toml
index 8448404bc3d..28444afdc32 100644
--- a/etc/config.sample.toml
+++ b/etc/config.sample.toml
@@ -83,3 +83,4 @@ dir = "/tmp/influxdb/development/state"
 
 [logging]
 file   = "/var/log/influxdb/influxd.log" # Leave blank to redirect logs to stderr.
+write-tracing = false # If true, enables detailed logging of the write system.
diff --git a/httpd/handler.go b/httpd/handler.go
index 94749b7a18d..2cb601e2bb7 100644
--- a/httpd/handler.go
+++ b/httpd/handler.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"math"
 	"net/http"
@@ -43,6 +44,9 @@ type Handler struct {
 	routes                []route
 	mux                   *pat.PatternServeMux
 	requireAuthentication bool
+
+	Logger     *log.Logger
+	WriteTrace bool // Detailed logging of write path
 }
 
 // NewHandler returns a new instance of Handler.
@@ -51,10 +55,9 @@ func NewHandler(s *influxdb.Server, requireAuthentication bool, version string)
 		server: s,
 		mux:    pat.New(),
 		requireAuthentication: requireAuthentication,
+		Logger:                log.New(os.Stderr, "[http] ", log.LstdFlags),
 	}
 
-	weblog := log.New(os.Stderr, `[http] `, 0)
-
 	h.routes = append(h.routes,
 		route{
 			"query", // Query serving route.
@@ -129,9 +132,9 @@ func NewHandler(s *influxdb.Server, requireAuthentication bool, version string)
 		handler = cors(handler)
 		handler = requestID(handler)
 		if r.log {
-			handler = logging(handler, r.name, weblog)
+			handler = logging(handler, r.name, h.Logger)
 		}
-		handler = recovery(handler, r.name, weblog) // make sure recovery is always last
+		handler = recovery(handler, r.name, h.Logger) // make sure recovery is always last
 
 		h.mux.Add(r.method, r.pattern, handler)
 	}
@@ -139,7 +142,12 @@ func NewHandler(s *influxdb.Server, requireAuthentication bool, version string)
 	return h
 }
 
-//ServeHTTP responds to HTTP request to the handler.
+// SetLogOutput sets writer for all handler log output.
+func (h *Handler) SetLogOutput(w io.Writer) {
+	h.Logger = log.New(w, "[http] ", log.LstdFlags)
+}
+
+// ServeHTTP responds to HTTP request to the handler.
 func (h *Handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	h.mux.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 }
@@ -168,8 +176,19 @@ func (h *Handler) serveQuery(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, user *influ
 // serveWrite receives incoming series data and writes it to the database.
 func (h *Handler) serveWrite(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, user *influxdb.User) {
 	var bp influxdb.BatchPoints
+	var dec *json.Decoder
 
-	dec := json.NewDecoder(r.Body)
+	if h.WriteTrace {
+		b, err := ioutil.ReadAll(r.Body)
+		if err != nil {
+			h.Logger.Print("write handler failed to read bytes from request body")
+		} else {
+			h.Logger.Printf("write body received by handler: %s", string(b))
+		}
+		dec = json.NewDecoder(strings.NewReader(string(b)))
+	} else {
+		dec = json.NewDecoder(r.Body)
+	}
 
 	var writeError = func(result influxdb.Result, statusCode int) {
 		w.WriteHeader(statusCode)
diff --git a/server.go b/server.go
index 4abf9c67287..66c49cdf8e6 100644
--- a/server.go
+++ b/server.go
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ type Server struct {
 
 	shards map[uint64]*Shard // shards by shard id
 
-	Logger *log.Logger
+	Logger     *log.Logger
+	WriteTrace bool // Detailed logging of write path
 
 	authenticationEnabled bool
 
@@ -1369,6 +1370,11 @@ type Point struct {
 // WriteSeries writes series data to the database.
 // Returns the messaging index the data was written to.
 func (s *Server) WriteSeries(database, retentionPolicy string, points []Point) (uint64, error) {
+	if s.WriteTrace {
+		log.Printf("received write for database '%s', retention policy '%s', with %d points",
+			database, retentionPolicy, len(points))
+	}
+
 	// Make sure every point has at least one field.
 	for _, p := range points {
 		if len(p.Fields) == 0 {
@@ -1391,11 +1397,17 @@ func (s *Server) WriteSeries(database, retentionPolicy string, points []Point) (
 	if err := s.createMeasurementsIfNotExists(database, retentionPolicy, points); err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
+	if s.WriteTrace {
+		log.Printf("measurements and series created on database '%s'", database)
+	}
 
 	// Ensure all the required shard groups exist. TODO: this should be done async.
 	if err := s.createShardGroupsIfNotExists(database, retentionPolicy, points); err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
+	if s.WriteTrace {
+		log.Printf("shard groups created for database '%s'", database)
+	}
 
 	// Build writeRawSeriesMessageType publish commands.
 	shardData := make(map[uint64][]byte, 0)
@@ -1420,9 +1432,15 @@ func (s *Server) WriteSeries(database, retentionPolicy string, points []Point) (
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
+			if s.WriteTrace {
+				log.Printf("shard group located: %v", g)
+			}
 
 			// Find appropriate shard within the shard group.
 			sh := g.ShardBySeriesID(series.ID)
+			if s.WriteTrace {
+				log.Printf("shard located: %v", sh)
+			}
 
 			// Many points are likely to have the same Measurement name. Re-use codecs if possible.
 			var codec *FieldCodec
@@ -1445,6 +1463,9 @@ func (s *Server) WriteSeries(database, retentionPolicy string, points []Point) (
 				shardData[sh.ID] = make([]byte, 0)
 			}
 			shardData[sh.ID] = append(shardData[sh.ID], data...)
+			if s.WriteTrace {
+				log.Printf("data appended to buffer for shard %d", sh.ID)
+			}
 		}
 
 		return nil
@@ -1467,6 +1488,9 @@ func (s *Server) WriteSeries(database, retentionPolicy string, points []Point) (
 		if index > maxIndex {
 			maxIndex = index
 		}
+		if s.WriteTrace {
+			log.Printf("write series message published successfully for topic %d", i)
+		}
 	}
 
 	return maxIndex, err
@@ -1481,10 +1505,16 @@ func (s *Server) applyWriteRawSeries(m *messaging.Message) error {
 	if sh == nil {
 		return ErrShardNotFound
 	}
+	if s.WriteTrace {
+		log.Printf("received write message for application, shard %d", sh.ID)
+	}
 
 	if err := sh.writeSeries(m.Data); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if s.WriteTrace {
+		log.Printf("write message successfully applied to shard %d", sh.ID)
+	}
 
 	return nil
 }