diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 495187379..3e070a51a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ collect data every 2 seconds, and flush every 60 seconds.
 - `precision` and `utc` are no longer valid agent config values. `precision` has
 moved to the `influxdb` output config, where it will continue to default to "s"
 - debug and test output will now print the raw line-protocol string
+- Telegraf will now, by default, round the collection interval to the nearest
+even interval. This means that `interval="10s"` will collect every :00, :10, etc.
+To ease scale concerns, flushing will be "jittered" by a random amount so that
+all Telegraf instances do not flush at the same time. Both of these options can
+be controlled via the `round_interval` and `flush_jitter` config options.
 
 ### Features
 - [#205](https://github.com/influxdb/telegraf/issues/205): Include per-db redis keyspace info
diff --git a/agent.go b/agent.go
index 00b0c6ace..00e42d8cd 100644
--- a/agent.go
+++ b/agent.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package telegraf
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
+	"math/rand"
 	"os"
 	"sort"
 	"sync"
@@ -32,12 +33,19 @@ type Agent struct {
 	// Interval at which to gather information
 	Interval duration.Duration
 
+	// RoundInterval rounds collection interval to 'interval'.
+	//     ie, if Interval=10s then always collect on :00, :10, :20, etc.
+	RoundInterval bool
+
 	// Interval at which to flush data
 	FlushInterval duration.Duration
 
 	// FlushRetries is the number of times to retry each data flush
 	FlushRetries int
 
+	// FlushJitter tells
+	FlushJitter duration.Duration
+
 	// TODO(cam): Remove UTC and Precision parameters, they are no longer
 	// valid for the agent config. Leaving them here for now for backwards-
 	// compatability
@@ -64,10 +72,10 @@ func NewAgent(config *Config) (*Agent, error) {
 	agent := &Agent{
 		Tags:          make(map[string]string),
 		Interval:      duration.Duration{10 * time.Second},
+		RoundInterval: true,
 		FlushInterval: duration.Duration{10 * time.Second},
 		FlushRetries:  2,
-		UTC:           true,
-		Precision:     "s",
+		FlushJitter:   duration.Duration{5 * time.Second},
 	}
 
 	// Apply the toml table to the agent config, overriding defaults
@@ -294,30 +302,37 @@ func (a *Agent) Test() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// writeOutput writes a list of points to a single output, with retries
+// writeOutput writes a list of points to a single output, with retries.
+// Optionally takes a `done` channel to indicate that it is done writing.
 func (a *Agent) writeOutput(
 	points []*client.Point,
 	ro *runningOutput,
 	shutdown chan struct{},
+	wg *sync.WaitGroup,
 ) {
+	defer wg.Done()
+	if len(points) == 0 {
+		return
+	}
 	retry := 0
 	retries := a.FlushRetries
 	start := time.Now()
 
 	for {
 		err := ro.output.Write(points)
+		if err == nil {
+			// Write successful
+			elapsed := time.Since(start)
+			log.Printf("Flushed %d metrics to output %s in %s\n",
+				len(points), ro.name, elapsed)
+			return
+		}
 
 		select {
 		case <-shutdown:
 			return
 		default:
-			if err == nil {
-				// Write successful
-				elapsed := time.Since(start)
-				log.Printf("Flushed %d metrics to output %s in %s\n",
-					len(points), ro.name, elapsed)
-				return
-			} else if retry >= retries {
+			if retry >= retries {
 				// No more retries
 				msg := "FATAL: Write to output [%s] failed %d times, dropping" +
 					" %d metrics\n"
@@ -336,13 +351,18 @@ func (a *Agent) writeOutput(
 }
 
 // flush writes a list of points to all configured outputs
-func (a *Agent) flush(points []*client.Point, shutdown chan struct{}) {
-	if len(points) == 0 {
-		return
-	}
-
+func (a *Agent) flush(
+	points []*client.Point,
+	shutdown chan struct{},
+	wait bool,
+) {
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
 	for _, o := range a.outputs {
-		go a.writeOutput(points, o, shutdown)
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go a.writeOutput(points, o, shutdown, &wg)
+	}
+	if wait {
+		wg.Wait()
 	}
 }
 
@@ -353,14 +373,23 @@ func (a *Agent) flusher(shutdown chan struct{}, pointChan chan *client.Point) er
 	time.Sleep(time.Millisecond * 100)
 	ticker := time.NewTicker(a.FlushInterval.Duration)
 	points := make([]*client.Point, 0)
+	jitter := rand.Int63n(int64(a.FlushJitter.Duration))
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-shutdown:
 			log.Println("Hang on, flushing any cached points before shutdown")
-			a.flush(points, shutdown)
+			a.flush(points, shutdown, true)
 			return nil
 		case <-ticker.C:
-			a.flush(points, shutdown)
+			timer := time.NewTimer(time.Duration(jitter))
+			select {
+			case <-timer.C:
+				a.flush(points, shutdown, false)
+			case <-shutdown:
+				log.Println("Hang on, flushing any cached points before shutdown")
+				a.flush(points, shutdown, true)
+				return nil
+			}
 			points = make([]*client.Point, 0)
 		case pt := <-pointChan:
 			points = append(points, pt)
@@ -375,6 +404,13 @@ func (a *Agent) Run(shutdown chan struct{}) error {
 	// channel shared between all plugin threads for accumulating points
 	pointChan := make(chan *client.Point, 1000)
 
+	// Round collection to nearest interval by sleeping
+	if a.RoundInterval {
+		i := int64(a.Interval.Duration)
+		time.Sleep(time.Duration(i - (time.Now().UnixNano() % i)))
+	}
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(a.Interval.Duration)
+
 	wg.Add(1)
 	go func() {
 		defer wg.Done()
@@ -412,8 +448,6 @@ func (a *Agent) Run(shutdown chan struct{}) error {
 
 	defer wg.Wait()
 
-	ticker := time.NewTicker(a.Interval.Duration)
-
 	for {
 		if err := a.gatherParallel(pointChan); err != nil {
 			log.Printf(err.Error())
diff --git a/agent_test.go b/agent_test.go
index 691834ce0..6cd5cddda 100644
--- a/agent_test.go
+++ b/agent_test.go
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ func TestAgent_LoadPlugin(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(pluginsEnabled))
 }
 
-// TODO enable these unit tests, currently disabled because of a circular import
 func TestAgent_LoadOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	// load a dedicated configuration file
 	config, _ := LoadConfig("./testdata/telegraf-agent.toml")
@@ -56,63 +55,3 @@ func TestAgent_LoadOutput(t *testing.T) {
 	outputsEnabled, _ = a.LoadOutputs([]string{"influxdb", "foo", "kafka", "bar"}, config)
 	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(outputsEnabled))
 }
-
-/*
-func TestAgent_DrivesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
-	var (
-		plugin  plugins.MockPlugin
-	)
-
-	defer plugin.AssertExpectations(t)
-	defer metrics.AssertExpectations(t)
-
-	a := &Agent{
-		plugins: []plugins.Plugin{&plugin},
-		Config:  &Config{},
-	}
-
-	plugin.On("Add", "foo", 1.2, nil).Return(nil)
-	plugin.On("Add", "bar", 888, nil).Return(nil)
-
-	err := a.gather()
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-
-func TestAgent_AppliesTags(t *testing.T) {
-	var (
-		plugin  plugins.MockPlugin
-		metrics MockMetrics
-	)
-
-	defer plugin.AssertExpectations(t)
-	defer metrics.AssertExpectations(t)
-
-	a := &Agent{
-		plugins: []plugins.Plugin{&plugin},
-		metrics: &metrics,
-		Config: &Config{
-			Tags: map[string]string{
-				"dc": "us-west-1",
-			},
-		},
-	}
-
-	m1 := cypress.Metric()
-	m1.Add("name", "foo")
-	m1.Add("value", 1.2)
-
-	msgs := []*cypress.Message{m1}
-
-	m2 := cypress.Metric()
-	m2.Timestamp = m1.Timestamp
-	m2.Add("name", "foo")
-	m2.Add("value", 1.2)
-	m2.AddTag("dc", "us-west-1")
-
-	plugin.On("Read").Return(msgs, nil)
-	metrics.On("Receive", m2).Return(nil)
-
-	err := a.gather()
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}
-*/
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 9bd095e0b..6853c99a8 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -226,11 +226,19 @@ var header = `# Telegraf configuration
 [agent]
   # Default data collection interval for all plugins
   interval = "10s"
+  # Rounds collection interval to 'interval'
+  # ie, if interval="10s" then always collect on :00, :10, :20, etc.
+  round_interval = true
+
   # Default data flushing interval for all outputs
   flush_interval = "10s"
+  # Jitter the flush interval by a random range
+  # ie, a jitter of 5s and interval 10s means flush will happen every 10-15s
+  flush_jitter = "5s"
   # Number of times to retry each data flush
   flush_retries = 2
-  # run telegraf in debug mode
+
+  # Run telegraf in debug mode
   debug = false
   # Override default hostname, if empty use os.Hostname()
   hostname = ""
diff --git a/etc/config.sample.toml b/etc/config.sample.toml
index 160d56630..6e3ee74f6 100644
--- a/etc/config.sample.toml
+++ b/etc/config.sample.toml
@@ -27,11 +27,19 @@
 [agent]
   # Default data collection interval for all plugins
   interval = "10s"
+  # Rounds collection interval to 'interval'
+  # ie, if interval="10s" then always collect on :00, :10, :20, etc.
+  round_interval = true
+
   # Default data flushing interval for all outputs
   flush_interval = "10s"
+  # Jitter the flush interval by a random range
+  # ie, a jitter of 5s and interval 10s means flush will happen every 10-15s
+  flush_jitter = "5s"
   # Number of times to retry each data flush
   flush_retries = 2
-  # run telegraf in debug mode
+
+  # Run telegraf in debug mode
   debug = false
   # Override default hostname, if empty use os.Hostname()
   hostname = ""
diff --git a/outputs/influxdb/influxdb.go b/outputs/influxdb/influxdb.go
index f40f4f25b..94b8662a6 100644
--- a/outputs/influxdb/influxdb.go
+++ b/outputs/influxdb/influxdb.go
@@ -33,10 +33,11 @@ var sampleConfig = `
   urls = ["http://localhost:8086"] # required
   # The target database for metrics (telegraf will create it if not exists)
   database = "telegraf" # required
+  # Precision of writes, valid values are n, u, ms, s, m, and h
+  # note: using second precision greatly helps InfluxDB compression
   precision = "s"
 
   # Connection timeout (for the connection with InfluxDB), formatted as a string.
-  # Valid time units are "ns", "us" (or "µs"), "ms", "s", "m", "h".
   # If not provided, will default to 0 (no timeout)
   # timeout = "5s"
   # username = "telegraf"