diff --git a/docs/manual.rst b/docs/manual.rst
index 6a1246d22..3dbf59b21 100644
--- a/docs/manual.rst
+++ b/docs/manual.rst
@@ -3557,6 +3557,7 @@ session_settings
 		int write_cache_line_size;
 
 		int optimistic_disk_retry;
+		bool disable_hash_check;
 	};
 
 ``user_agent`` this is the client identification to the tracker.
@@ -3975,6 +3976,12 @@ libtorrent will only do this automatically for auto managed torrents.
 You can explicitly take a torrent out of upload only mode using
 `set_upload_mode()`_.
 
+``disable_hash_check`` controls if downloaded pieces are verified against
+the piece hashes in the torrent file or not. The default is false, i.e.
+to verify all downloaded data. It may be useful to turn this off for performance
+profiling and simulation scenarios. Do not disable the hash check for regular
+bittorrent clients.
+
 pe_settings
 ===========
 
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp b/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp
index f5839b43d..3bc5fa360 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/session_settings.hpp
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			, read_cache_line_size(16)
 			, write_cache_line_size(32)
 			, optimistic_disk_retry(10 * 60)
+			, disable_hash_checks(false)
 		{}
 
 		// this is the user agent that will be sent to the tracker
@@ -612,6 +613,14 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		// this is the number of seconds a disk failure
 		// occurs until libtorrent will re-try.
 		int optimistic_disk_retry;
+
+		// when set to true, all data downloaded from
+		// peers will be assumed to be correct, and not
+		// tested to match the hashes in the torrent
+		// this is only useful for simulation and
+		// testing purposes (typically combined with
+		// disabled_storage)
+		bool disable_hash_checks;
 	};
 
 #ifndef TORRENT_DISABLE_DHT
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/storage.hpp b/include/libtorrent/storage.hpp
index 586072c04..b55d4167d 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/storage.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/storage.hpp
@@ -195,6 +195,9 @@ namespace libtorrent
 	TORRENT_EXPORT storage_interface* default_storage_constructor(
 		file_storage const&, file_storage const* mapped, fs::path const&, file_pool&);
 
+	TORRENT_EXPORT storage_interface* disabled_storage_constructor(
+		file_storage const&, file_storage const* mapped, fs::path const&, file_pool&);
+
 	struct disk_io_thread;
 
 	class TORRENT_EXPORT piece_manager
diff --git a/src/disk_io_thread.cpp b/src/disk_io_thread.cpp
index 446f06069..318a55bbb 100644
--- a/src/disk_io_thread.cpp
+++ b/src/disk_io_thread.cpp
@@ -1488,7 +1488,8 @@ namespace libtorrent
 						test_error(j);
 						break;
 					}
-					ret = (j.storage->info()->hash_for_piece(j.piece) == h)?ret:-3;
+					if (!m_settings.disable_hash_checks)
+						ret = (j.storage->info()->hash_for_piece(j.piece) == h)?ret:-3;
 					if (ret == -3)
 					{
 						j.storage->mark_failed(j.piece);
@@ -1656,6 +1657,11 @@ namespace libtorrent
 						}
 					}
 					l.unlock();
+					if (m_settings.disable_hash_checks)
+					{
+						ret = 0;
+						break;
+					}
 					sha1_hash h = j.storage->hash_for_piece_impl(j.piece);
 					if (test_error(j))
 					{
@@ -1663,6 +1669,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 						j.storage->mark_failed(j.piece);
 						break;
 					}
+
 					ret = (j.storage->info()->hash_for_piece(j.piece) == h)?0:-2;
 					if (ret == -2) j.storage->mark_failed(j.piece);
 					break;
diff --git a/src/session_impl.cpp b/src/session_impl.cpp
index a7aee3af0..7ee62ca5b 100644
--- a/src/session_impl.cpp
+++ b/src/session_impl.cpp
@@ -648,6 +648,7 @@ namespace aux {
 			|| m_settings.coalesce_writes != s.coalesce_writes
 			|| m_settings.coalesce_reads != s.coalesce_reads
 			|| m_settings.max_queued_disk_bytes != s.max_queued_disk_bytes
+			|| m_settings.disable_hash_checks != s.disable_hash_checks
 #ifndef TORRENT_DISABLE_MLOCK
 			|| m_settings.lock_disk_cache != s.lock_disk_cache
 #endif
diff --git a/src/storage.cpp b/src/storage.cpp
index 06f205162..f1ffb69c2 100644
--- a/src/storage.cpp
+++ b/src/storage.cpp
@@ -1448,6 +1448,85 @@ ret:
 		return new storage(fs, mapped, path, fp);
 	}
 
+	// this storage implementation does not write anything to disk
+	// and it pretends to read, and just leaves garbage in the buffers
+	// this is useful when simulating many clients on the same machine
+	// or when running stress tests and want to take the cost of the
+	// disk I/O out of the picture. This cannot be used for any kind
+	// of normal bittorrent operation, since it will just send garbage
+	// to peers and throw away all the data it downloads. It would end
+	// up being banned immediately
+	class disabled_storage : public storage_interface, boost::noncopyable
+	{
+	public:
+		disabled_storage(int piece_size) : m_piece_size(piece_size) {}
+		bool has_any_file() { return false; }
+		bool rename_file(int index, std::string const& new_filename) { return false; }
+		bool release_files() { return false; }
+		bool delete_files() { return false; }
+		bool initialize(bool allocate_files) { return false; }
+		bool move_storage(fs::path save_path) { return false; }
+		int read(char* buf, int slot, int offset, int size) { return size; }
+		int write(char const* buf, int slot, int offset, int size) { return size; }
+		int readv(file::iovec_t const* bufs, int slot, int offset, int num_bufs)
+		{
+#ifdef TORRENT_DISK_STATS
+			disk_buffer_pool* pool = disk_pool();
+			if (pool)
+			{
+				pool->m_disk_access_log << log_time() << " read "
+					<< (size_type(slot) * m_piece_size + offset) << std::endl;
+			}
+#endif
+			int ret = 0;
+			for (int i = 0; i < num_bufs; ++i)
+				ret += bufs[i].iov_len;
+#ifdef TORRENT_DISK_STATS
+			if (pool)
+			{
+				pool->m_disk_access_log << log_time() << " read_end "
+					<< (size_type(slot) * m_piece_size + offset + ret) << std::endl;
+			}
+#endif
+			return ret;
+		}
+		int writev(file::iovec_t const* bufs, int slot, int offset, int num_bufs)
+		{
+#ifdef TORRENT_DISK_STATS
+			disk_buffer_pool* pool = disk_pool();
+			if (pool)
+			{
+				pool->m_disk_access_log << log_time() << " write "
+					<< (size_type(slot) * m_piece_size + offset) << std::endl;
+			}
+#endif
+			int ret = 0;
+			for (int i = 0; i < num_bufs; ++i)
+				ret += bufs[i].iov_len;
+#ifdef TORRENT_DISK_STATS
+			if (pool)
+			{
+				pool->m_disk_access_log << log_time() << " write_end "
+					<< (size_type(slot) * m_piece_size + offset + ret) << std::endl;
+			}
+#endif
+			return ret;
+		}
+		bool move_slot(int src_slot, int dst_slot) { return false; }
+		bool swap_slots(int slot1, int slot2) { return false; }
+		bool swap_slots3(int slot1, int slot2, int slot3) { return false; }
+		bool verify_resume_data(lazy_entry const& rd, error_code& error) { return false; }
+		bool write_resume_data(entry& rd) const { return false; }
+
+		int m_piece_size;
+	};
+
+	storage_interface* disabled_storage_constructor(file_storage const& fs
+		, file_storage const* mapped, fs::path const& path, file_pool& fp)
+	{
+		return new disabled_storage(fs.piece_length());
+	}
+
 	// -- piece_manager -----------------------------------------------------
 
 	piece_manager::piece_manager(