diff --git a/spring-cql/src/main/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/config/spring-cql-1.0.xsd b/spring-cql/src/main/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/config/spring-cql-1.0.xsd
index 530fdd7e7..21222888d 100644
--- a/spring-cql/src/main/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/config/spring-cql-1.0.xsd
+++ b/spring-cql/src/main/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/config/spring-cql-1.0.xsd
@@ -263,6 +263,24 @@ LoadBalancingPolicy implementation.
 				<xsd:union memberTypes="xsd:string" />
 			</xsd:simpleType>
 		</xsd:attribute>
+		<xsd:attribute name="netty-options-ref" use="optional">
+			<xsd:annotation>
+				<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+NettyOptions implementation reference.
+				]]></xsd:documentation>
+			</xsd:annotation>
+			<xsd:simpleType>
+				<xsd:annotation>
+					<xsd:appinfo>
+						<tool:annotation kind="ref">
+							<tool:assignable-to
+								type="com.datastax.driver.core.NettyOptions" />
+						</tool:annotation>
+					</xsd:appinfo>
+				</xsd:annotation>
+				<xsd:union memberTypes="xsd:string" />
+			</xsd:simpleType>
+		</xsd:attribute>
 		<xsd:attribute name="max-queue-size" type="xsd:string" default="256" use="optional">
 			<xsd:annotation>
 				<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
diff --git a/spring-cql/src/test/java/org/springframework/cassandra/config/xml/CassandraCqlClusterParserUnitTests.java b/spring-cql/src/test/java/org/springframework/cassandra/config/xml/CassandraCqlClusterParserUnitTests.java
index 6b20939ed..8e1e4fe0e 100644
--- a/spring-cql/src/test/java/org/springframework/cassandra/config/xml/CassandraCqlClusterParserUnitTests.java
+++ b/spring-cql/src/test/java/org/springframework/cassandra/config/xml/CassandraCqlClusterParserUnitTests.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import org.w3c.dom.NodeList;
  * Test suite of Unit tests testing the contract and functionality of the {@link CassandraCqlClusterParser}.
  *
  * @author John Blum
+ * @author Mark Paluch
  */
 // TODO add more tests!
 @RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
@@ -92,6 +93,7 @@ public class CassandraCqlClusterParserUnitTests {
 		when(mockElement.getAttribute("host-state-listener-ref")).thenReturn("testHostStateListener");
 		when(mockElement.getAttribute("latency-tracker-ref")).thenReturn("testLatencyTracker");
 		when(mockElement.getAttribute("load-balancing-policy-ref")).thenReturn("testLoadBalancingPolicy");
+		when(mockElement.getAttribute("netty-options-ref")).thenReturn("testNettyOptions");
 		when(mockElement.getAttribute("reconnection-policy-ref")).thenReturn("testReconnectionPolicy");
 		when(mockElement.getAttribute("retry-policy-ref")).thenReturn("testRetryPolicy");
 		when(mockElement.getAttribute("speculative-execution-policy-ref")).thenReturn("testSpeculativeExecutionPolicy");
@@ -129,6 +131,7 @@ public class CassandraCqlClusterParserUnitTests {
 		assertThat(getPropertyValueAsString(beanDefinition, "hostStateListener"), is(equalTo("testHostStateListener")));
 		assertThat(getPropertyValueAsString(beanDefinition, "latencyTracker"), is(equalTo("testLatencyTracker")));
 		assertThat(getPropertyValueAsString(beanDefinition, "loadBalancingPolicy"), is(equalTo("testLoadBalancingPolicy")));
+		assertThat(getPropertyValueAsString(beanDefinition, "nettyOptions"), is(equalTo("testNettyOptions")));
 		assertThat(getPropertyValueAsString(beanDefinition, "reconnectionPolicy"), is(equalTo("testReconnectionPolicy")));
 		assertThat(getPropertyValueAsString(beanDefinition, "retryPolicy"), is(equalTo("testRetryPolicy")));
 		assertThat(getPropertyValueAsString(beanDefinition, "speculativeExecutionPolicy"), is(equalTo("testSpeculativeExecutionPolicy")));
@@ -152,6 +155,7 @@ public class CassandraCqlClusterParserUnitTests {
 		verify(mockElement).getAttribute(eq("host-state-listener-ref"));
 		verify(mockElement).getAttribute(eq("latency-tracker-ref"));
 		verify(mockElement).getAttribute(eq("load-balancing-policy-ref"));
+		verify(mockElement).getAttribute(eq("netty-options-ref"));
 		verify(mockElement).getAttribute(eq("reconnection-policy-ref"));
 		verify(mockElement).getAttribute(eq("retry-policy-ref"));
 		verify(mockElement).getAttribute(eq("speculative-execution-policy-ref"));
diff --git a/spring-cql/src/test/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/test/integration/config/xml/FullySpecifiedKeyspaceCreatingXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml b/spring-cql/src/test/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/test/integration/config/xml/FullySpecifiedKeyspaceCreatingXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
index 05662131e..982a0e793 100644
--- a/spring-cql/src/test/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/test/integration/config/xml/FullySpecifiedKeyspaceCreatingXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-cql/src/test/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/test/integration/config/xml/FullySpecifiedKeyspaceCreatingXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@
 	<context:property-placeholder
 		location="classpath:/config/cassandra-connection.properties,classpath:/org/springframework/cassandra/test/integration/config/xml/FullySpecifiedKeyspaceCreatingXmlConfigIntegrationTests.properties" />
 
-	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}" compression="LZ4">
+	<bean id="nettyOptions" class="org.springframework.cassandra.test.integration.support.FastShutdownNettyOptions" />
+
+	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}" compression="LZ4" netty-options-ref="nettyOptions">
 		<cass:keyspace action="CREATE_DROP" durable-writes="true"
 			name="full1">
 			<cass:replication class="SIMPLE_STRATEGY">
diff --git a/spring-cql/src/test/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/test/integration/config/xml/XmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml b/spring-cql/src/test/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/test/integration/config/xml/XmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
index 5fc254343..1d55c6f01 100644
--- a/spring-cql/src/test/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/test/integration/config/xml/XmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-cql/src/test/resources/org/springframework/cassandra/test/integration/config/xml/XmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 
 	<bean name="testTimestampGenerator" class="com.datastax.driver.core.AtomicMonotonicTimestampGenerator"/>
 
+	<bean id="nettyOptions" class="org.springframework.cassandra.test.integration.support.FastShutdownNettyOptions" />
+
 	<cassandra:cluster
 		cluster-name="skynet" contact-points="localhost" port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}"
 		address-translator-ref="testAddressTranslator"
@@ -33,7 +35,9 @@
 		max-schema-agreement-wait-seconds="2"
 		pool-timeout-milliseconds="15000"
 		speculative-execution-policy-ref="testSpeculativeExecutionPolicy"
-		timestamp-generator-ref="testTimestampGenerator">
+		timestamp-generator-ref="testTimestampGenerator"
+		netty-options-ref="nettyOptions"
+		>
 
 		<cassandra:local-pooling-options
 			core-connections="2"
diff --git a/spring-data-cassandra/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/config/spring-cassandra-1.0.xsd b/spring-data-cassandra/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/config/spring-cassandra-1.0.xsd
index 3edcf567b..0b6067393 100644
--- a/spring-data-cassandra/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/config/spring-cassandra-1.0.xsd
+++ b/spring-data-cassandra/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/config/spring-cassandra-1.0.xsd
@@ -272,6 +272,24 @@ LoadBalancingPolicy implementation.
 				<xsd:union memberTypes="xsd:string" />
 			</xsd:simpleType>
 		</xsd:attribute>
+		<xsd:attribute name="netty-options-ref" use="optional">
+			<xsd:annotation>
+				<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+NettyOptions implementation reference.
+				]]></xsd:documentation>
+			</xsd:annotation>
+			<xsd:simpleType>
+				<xsd:annotation>
+					<xsd:appinfo>
+						<tool:annotation kind="ref">
+							<tool:assignable-to
+								type="com.datastax.driver.core.NettyOptions" />
+						</tool:annotation>
+					</xsd:appinfo>
+				</xsd:annotation>
+				<xsd:union memberTypes="xsd:string" />
+			</xsd:simpleType>
+		</xsd:attribute>
 		<xsd:attribute name="max-queue-size" type="xsd:string" default="256" use="optional">
 			<xsd:annotation>
 				<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
diff --git a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/config/spring-data-cassandra-basic.xml b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/config/spring-data-cassandra-basic.xml
index 411354a22..3037a6d31 100644
--- a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/config/spring-data-cassandra-basic.xml
+++ b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/config/spring-data-cassandra-basic.xml
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 		<constructor-arg value="#{T(org.springframework.cassandra.support.RandomKeySpaceName).create()}"/>
 	</bean>
 
+	<bean id="nettyOptions" class="org.springframework.cassandra.test.integration.support.FastShutdownNettyOptions" />
+
 	<context:property-placeholder location="classpath:/config/cassandra-connection.properties"/>
 
 	<cass:converter mapping-ref="cassandraMapping"/>
diff --git a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/config/xml/CassandraNamespaceIntegrationTests-context.xml b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/config/xml/CassandraNamespaceIntegrationTests-context.xml
index 42bcb2e37..f2e4d9eb3 100644
--- a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/config/xml/CassandraNamespaceIntegrationTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/config/xml/CassandraNamespaceIntegrationTests-context.xml
@@ -4,15 +4,16 @@
 	xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
 	xsi:schemaLocation="
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra/spring-cassandra-1.0.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/cassandra http://www.springframework.org/schema/cassandra/spring-cassandra-1.0.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.0.xsd">
 
+	<bean id="nettyOptions" class="org.springframework.cassandra.test.integration.support.FastShutdownNettyOptions" />
+
 	<context:property-placeholder
 		location="classpath:/config/cassandra-connection.properties,classpath:/org/springframework/data/cassandra/config/xml/cassandra.properties" />
 
 	<cass:cluster contact-points="${build.cassandra.host}"
-		port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}" compression="SNAPPY">
+		port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}" compression="SNAPPY" netty-options-ref="nettyOptions">
 		<cass:local-pooling-options
 			min-simultaneous-requests="26" max-simultaneous-requests="101"
 			core-connections="3" max-connections="9" />
diff --git a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/composites/CommentRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/composites/CommentRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
index 6386c3ba2..e3220a313 100644
--- a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/composites/CommentRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/composites/CommentRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
 	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:cass="http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra"
-	xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
-	xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
 	xsi:schemaLocation="
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra/spring-cassandra-1.0.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.0.xsd">
+		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd">
 
 	<import resource="classpath:/config/spring-data-cassandra-basic.xml" />
 
@@ -19,7 +15,7 @@
 		</cass:entity>
 	</cass:mapping>
 
-	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}">
+	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}" netty-options-ref="nettyOptions">
 		<cass:keyspace name="CommentRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests"
 			action="CREATE_DROP" durable-writes="true">
 		</cass:keyspace>
diff --git a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/forcequote/compositeprimarykey/ForceQuotedCompositePrimaryKeyRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/forcequote/compositeprimarykey/ForceQuotedCompositePrimaryKeyRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
index e2889294c..620424ac5 100644
--- a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/forcequote/compositeprimarykey/ForceQuotedCompositePrimaryKeyRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/forcequote/compositeprimarykey/ForceQuotedCompositePrimaryKeyRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
 	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:cass="http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra"
-	xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
-	xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
 	xsi:schemaLocation="
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra/spring-cassandra-1.0.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.0.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd
 		">
 
 	<import resource="classpath:/config/spring-data-cassandra-basic.xml" />
@@ -30,7 +26,7 @@
 		</cass:entity>
 	</cass:mapping>
 
-	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}">
+	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}" netty-options-ref="nettyOptions">
 		<cass:keyspace name="#{randomKeyspaceName}"
 			action="CREATE_DROP" durable-writes="true">
 		</cass:keyspace>
diff --git a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/forcequote/config/ForceQuotedRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/forcequote/config/ForceQuotedRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
index a00b2a90e..f13850338 100644
--- a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/forcequote/config/ForceQuotedRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/forcequote/config/ForceQuotedRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
 	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:cass="http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra"
-	xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
-	xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
 	xsi:schemaLocation="
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra/spring-cassandra-1.0.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.0.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd
 		">
 
 	<import resource="classpath:/config/spring-data-cassandra-basic.xml" />
@@ -40,7 +36,7 @@
 		</cass:entity>
 	</cass:mapping>
 
-	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}">
+	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}" netty-options-ref="nettyOptions">
 		<cass:keyspace name="ForceQuoteRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests"
 			action="CREATE_DROP" durable-writes="true">
 		</cass:keyspace>
diff --git a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/repository/simple/UserRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/repository/simple/UserRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
index 3a78b36da..c1cec4720 100644
--- a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/repository/simple/UserRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/repository/simple/UserRepositoryXmlConfigIntegrationTests-context.xml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 		</cass:entity>
 	</cass:mapping>
 
-	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}">
+	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}" netty-options-ref="nettyOptions">
 		<cass:keyspace name="#{randomKeyspaceName}"
 			action="CREATE_DROP" durable-writes="true">
 		</cass:keyspace>
diff --git a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/xmlentityscanning/XmlEntityScanningIntegrationTests-context.xml b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/xmlentityscanning/XmlEntityScanningIntegrationTests-context.xml
index f130aac96..c936e7fb0 100644
--- a/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/xmlentityscanning/XmlEntityScanningIntegrationTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-data-cassandra/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/cassandra/test/integration/xmlentityscanning/XmlEntityScanningIntegrationTests-context.xml
@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
 	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:cass="http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra"
-	xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
-	xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
 	xsi:schemaLocation="
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/cassandra/spring-cassandra-1.0.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.0.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd
 		">
 
 	<import resource="classpath:/config/spring-data-cassandra-basic.xml" />
@@ -15,7 +11,7 @@
 	<cass:mapping
 		entity-base-packages="org.springframework.data.cassandra.test.integration.xmlentityscanning" />
 
-	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}">
+	<cass:cluster port="${build.cassandra.native_transport_port}" netty-options-ref="nettyOptions">
 		<cass:keyspace name="#{randomKeyspaceName}"
 			action="CREATE_DROP" durable-writes="true">
 		</cass:keyspace>