diff --git a/agent/agent_cetcd.go b/agent/agent_cetcd.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0330fc07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/agent/agent_cetcd.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Copyright 2017 CoreOS, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package agent
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/coreos/dbtester/agent/agentpb"
+)
+
+// startCetcd starts cetcd. This assumes that etcd is already started.
+func startCetcd(fs *flags, t *transporterServer, req *agentpb.Request) (*exec.Cmd, error) {
+	if !exist(fs.cetcdExec) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cetcd binary %q does not exist", globalFlags.cetcdExec)
+	}
+	peerIPs := strings.Split(req.PeerIPString, "___")
+	clientURLs := make([]string, len(peerIPs))
+	for i, u := range peerIPs {
+		clientURLs[i] = fmt.Sprintf("http://%s:2379", u)
+	}
+
+	flags := []string{
+		// "-consuladdr", "0.0.0.0:8500",
+		"-consuladdr", fmt.Sprintf("%s:8500", peerIPs[t.req.ServerIndex]),
+		"-etcd", clientURLs[t.req.ServerIndex], // etcd endpoint
+	}
+	flagString := strings.Join(flags, " ")
+
+	cmd := exec.Command(fs.cetcdExec, flags...)
+	cmd.Stdout = t.proxyDatabaseLogfile
+	cmd.Stderr = t.proxyDatabaseLogfile
+	cs := fmt.Sprintf("%s %s", cmd.Path, flagString)
+
+	plog.Infof("starting database %q", cs)
+	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	t.proxyCmd = cmd
+	t.proxyPid = int64(cmd.Process.Pid)
+	plog.Infof("started database %q (PID: %d)", cs, t.pid)
+
+	return cmd, nil
+}
diff --git a/agent/agent_etcd.go b/agent/agent_etcd.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0005ee7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/agent/agent_etcd.go
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+// Copyright 2017 CoreOS, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package agent
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/coreos/dbtester/agent/agentpb"
+)
+
+// startEtcd starts etcd v2 and v3.
+func startEtcd(fs *flags, t *transporterServer, req *agentpb.Request) (*exec.Cmd, error) {
+	if err := os.RemoveAll(fs.etcdDataDir); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if !exist(fs.etcdExec) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("etcd binary %q does not exist", globalFlags.etcdExec)
+	}
+	peerIPs := strings.Split(req.PeerIPString, "___")
+
+	names := make([]string, len(peerIPs))
+	clientURLs := make([]string, len(peerIPs))
+	peerURLs := make([]string, len(peerIPs))
+	members := make([]string, len(peerIPs))
+	for i, u := range peerIPs {
+		names[i] = fmt.Sprintf("etcd-%d", i+1)
+		clientURLs[i] = fmt.Sprintf("http://%s:2379", u)
+		peerURLs[i] = fmt.Sprintf("http://%s:2380", u)
+		members[i] = fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", names[i], peerURLs[i])
+	}
+
+	flags := []string{
+		"--name", names[req.ServerIndex],
+		"--data-dir", fs.etcdDataDir,
+
+		"--listen-client-urls", clientURLs[req.ServerIndex],
+		"--advertise-client-urls", clientURLs[req.ServerIndex],
+
+		"--listen-peer-urls", peerURLs[req.ServerIndex],
+		"--initial-advertise-peer-urls", peerURLs[req.ServerIndex],
+
+		"--initial-cluster-token", "dbtester-etcd-token",
+		"--initial-cluster", strings.Join(members, ","),
+		"--initial-cluster-state", "new",
+	}
+	flagString := strings.Join(flags, " ")
+
+	cmd := exec.Command(fs.etcdExec, flags...)
+	cmd.Stdout = t.databaseLogFile
+	cmd.Stderr = t.databaseLogFile
+	cs := fmt.Sprintf("%s %s", cmd.Path, flagString)
+
+	plog.Infof("starting database %q", cs)
+	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	t.cmd = cmd
+	t.pid = int64(cmd.Process.Pid)
+	plog.Infof("started database %q (PID: %d)", cs, t.pid)
+
+	return cmd, nil
+}
diff --git a/agent/agent_zetcd.go b/agent/agent_zetcd.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1ac69c37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/agent/agent_zetcd.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Copyright 2017 CoreOS, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package agent
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/coreos/dbtester/agent/agentpb"
+)
+
+// startZetcd starts zetcd. This assumes that etcd is already started.
+func startZetcd(fs *flags, t *transporterServer, req *agentpb.Request) (*exec.Cmd, error) {
+	if !exist(fs.zetcdExec) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("zetcd binary %q does not exist", globalFlags.zetcdExec)
+	}
+	peerIPs := strings.Split(req.PeerIPString, "___")
+	clientURLs := make([]string, len(peerIPs))
+	for i, u := range peerIPs {
+		clientURLs[i] = fmt.Sprintf("http://%s:2379", u)
+	}
+
+	flags := []string{
+		// "-zkaddr", "0.0.0.0:2181",
+		"-zkaddr", fmt.Sprintf("%s:2181", peerIPs[t.req.ServerIndex]),
+		"-endpoint", clientURLs[t.req.ServerIndex],
+	}
+	flagString := strings.Join(flags, " ")
+
+	cmd := exec.Command(fs.zetcdExec, flags...)
+	cmd.Stdout = t.proxyDatabaseLogfile
+	cmd.Stderr = t.proxyDatabaseLogfile
+	cs := fmt.Sprintf("%s %s", cmd.Path, flagString)
+
+	plog.Infof("starting database %q", cs)
+	if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	t.proxyCmd = cmd
+	t.proxyPid = int64(cmd.Process.Pid)
+	plog.Infof("started database %q (PID: %d)", cs, t.pid)
+
+	return cmd, nil
+}