diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 43ee218022..26315bef1d 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -13,8 +13,11 @@
    (CASSANDRA-4128)
  * Move CfDef and KsDef validation out of thrift (CASSANDRA-4037)
 Merged from 1.0:
+ * add auto_snapshot option allowing disabling snapshot before drop/truncate
+   (CASSANDRA-3710)
  * allow short snitch names (CASSANDRA-4130)
 
+
 1.1-beta2
  * rename loaded sstables to avoid conflicts with local snapshots
    (CASSANDRA-3967)
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 02a68ae8cb..2286b2707b 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -655,7 +655,7 @@
         The build target builds all the .class files
     -->
     <target name="build"
-        depends="maven-ant-tasks-retrieve-build,avro-generate,build-subprojects,build-project" description="Compile Cassandra classes"/>
+        depends="maven-ant-tasks-retrieve-build,avro-generate,build-subprojects,build-project,stress-build" description="Compile Cassandra classes"/>
     <target name="build-subprojects" description="Compile Cassandra contrib projects"/>
     <target name="codecoverage" depends="cobertura-instrument,test,cobertura-report" description="Create code coverage report"/>
 
@@ -684,12 +684,34 @@
         <antcall target="createVersionPropFile"/>
     </target>
 
+    <!-- Stress build file -->
+    <property name="stress.build.src" value="${basedir}/tools/stress/src" />
+    <property name="stress.build.classes" value="${build.classes}/stress" />
+	<property name="stress.manifest" value="${basedir}/tools/stress/MANIFEST.MF" />
+    <path id="cassandra.classes">
+        <pathelement location="${basedir}/build/classes/main" />
+        <pathelement location="${basedir}/build/classes/thrift" />
+    </path>
+    <target name="stress-build">
+    	<mkdir dir="${stress.build.classes}" />
+        <javac destdir="${stress.build.classes}" includeantruntime="true">
+            <src path="${stress.build.src}" />
+            <classpath>
+                <path refid="cassandra.classes" />
+                <path>
+                    <fileset dir="${build.lib}">
+                        <include name="**/*.jar" />
+                    </fileset>
+                </path>
+            </classpath>
+        </javac>
+    </target>
 
     <!--
         The jar target makes cassandra.jar output.
     -->
     <target name="jar"
-            depends="maven-declare-dependencies,build, build-test"
+            depends="maven-declare-dependencies,build, build-test, stress-build"
             description="Assemble Cassandra JAR files">
       <mkdir dir="${build.classes.main}/META-INF" />
       <mkdir dir="${build.classes.thrift}/META-INF" />
@@ -751,6 +773,20 @@
           <attribute name="Implementation-Vendor" value="Apache"/>
         </manifest>
       </jar>
+
+      <!-- Stress jar -->
+      <manifest file="${stress.manifest}">
+        <attribute name="Built-By" value="Pavel Yaskevich"/>
+        <attribute name="Main-Class" value="org.apache.cassandra.stress.Stress"/>
+      </manifest>
+      <mkdir dir="${stress.build.classes}/META-INF" />
+      <mkdir dir="${build.dir}/tools/stress" />
+      <jar destfile="${build.dir}/tools/stress/stress.jar" manifest="${stress.manifest}">
+        <fileset dir="${stress.build.classes}"/>
+        <fileset dir="${basedir}/build/classes/main" />
+        <fileset dir="${basedir}/build/classes/thrift" />
+        <zipgroupfileset dir="${build.lib}" includes="*.jar" />
+      </jar>
     </target>
 
     <!--
@@ -862,7 +898,14 @@
           <include name="*.txt" />
         </fileset>
       </copy>
-
+      <copy todir="${dist.dir}/tools/stress">
+        <fileset dir="${basedir}/tools/stress">
+            <include name="bin/**" />
+        </fileset>
+      	<fileset dir="${build.dir}/tools/stress/">
+      	    <include name="*.jar" />
+      	</fileset>
+      </copy>
       <artifact:writepom pomRefId="dist-pom" 
             file="${build.dir}/${final.name}-dist.pom"/>
       <tar compression="gzip" longfile="gnu"
diff --git a/conf/cassandra.yaml b/conf/cassandra.yaml
index af6072ac2c..158010915f 100644
--- a/conf/cassandra.yaml
+++ b/conf/cassandra.yaml
@@ -326,6 +326,12 @@ incremental_backups: false
 # is a data format change.
 snapshot_before_compaction: false
 
+# Whether or not a snapshot is taken of the data before keyspace truncation
+# or dropping of column families. The STRONGLY advised default of true 
+# should be used to provide data safety. If you set this flag to false, you will
+# lose data on truncation or drop.
+auto_snapshot: true
+
 # Add column indexes to a row after its contents reach this size.
 # Increase if your column values are large, or if you have a very large
 # number of columns.  The competing causes are, Cassandra has to
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/Config.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/Config.java
index 91b96f16d8..aa7b84ac3c 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/Config.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/Config.java
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ public class Config
     public Integer thrift_max_message_length_in_mb = 16;
     public Integer thrift_framed_transport_size_in_mb = 15;
     public Boolean snapshot_before_compaction = false;
+    public Boolean auto_snapshot = true;
 
     /* if the size of columns or super-columns are more than this, indexing will kick in */
     public Integer column_index_size_in_kb = 64;
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
index 2eb89ba07b..a4b2a16812 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
@@ -871,6 +871,10 @@ public class DatabaseDescriptor
         return conf.snapshot_before_compaction;
     }
 
+    public static boolean isAutoSnapshot() {
+        return conf.auto_snapshot;
+    }
+
     public static boolean isAutoBootstrap()
     {
         return conf.auto_bootstrap;
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
index 4ab9eba5aa..cea2fee6fc 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/ColumnFamilyStore.java
@@ -1683,7 +1683,8 @@ public class ColumnFamilyStore implements ColumnFamilyStoreMBean
             throw new AssertionError(e);
         }
         long truncatedAt = System.currentTimeMillis();
-        snapshot(Table.getTimestampedSnapshotName(columnFamily));
+        if (DatabaseDescriptor.isAutoSnapshot())
+            snapshot(Table.getTimestampedSnapshotName(columnFamily));
 
         return CompactionManager.instance.submitTruncate(this, truncatedAt);
     }
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/DefsTable.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/DefsTable.java
index ddab690f6e..f9e266bf47 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/DefsTable.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/DefsTable.java
@@ -482,7 +482,8 @@ public class DefsTable
 
             if (!StorageService.instance.isClientMode())
             {
-                cfs.snapshot(snapshotName);
+                if (DatabaseDescriptor.isAutoSnapshot())
+                    cfs.snapshot(snapshotName);
                 Table.open(ksm.name).dropCf(cfm.cfId);
             }
         }
@@ -507,7 +508,8 @@ public class DefsTable
 
         if (!StorageService.instance.isClientMode())
         {
-            cfs.snapshot(Table.getTimestampedSnapshotName(cfs.columnFamily));
+            if (DatabaseDescriptor.isAutoSnapshot())
+                cfs.snapshot(Table.getTimestampedSnapshotName(cfs.columnFamily));
             Table.open(ksm.name).dropCf(cfm.cfId);
         }
     }
diff --git a/tools/stress/bin/stress b/tools/stress/bin/stress
index 4e606864f0..811e3d762c 100755
--- a/tools/stress/bin/stress
+++ b/tools/stress/bin/stress
@@ -17,21 +17,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 if [ "x$CLASSPATH" = "x" ]; then
-    # Cassandra class files.
-    if [ ! -d `dirname $0`/../../../build/classes/main ]; then
-        echo "Unable to locate cassandra class files" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-
-    # Stress class files.
-    if [ ! -d `dirname $0`/../build/classes ]; then
-        echo "Unable to locate stress class files" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-
-    CLASSPATH=`dirname $0`/../../../build/classes/main
-    CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:`dirname $0`/../../../build/classes/thrift
-    CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:`dirname $0`/../build/classes
+    CLASSPATH=`dirname $0`/../stress.jar
     for jar in `dirname $0`/../../../lib/*.jar; do
         CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:$jar
     done
diff --git a/tools/stress/bin/stress.bat b/tools/stress/bin/stress.bat
index f7b04218d7..03731255a3 100644
--- a/tools/stress/bin/stress.bat
+++ b/tools/stress/bin/stress.bat
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@
 if NOT DEFINED CASSANDRA_HOME set CASSANDRA_HOME=%CD%\..\..
 if NOT DEFINED STRESS_HOME set STRESS_HOME=%CD%
 
-set CLASSPATH="%STRESS_HOME%\build\classes"
-set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;"%CASSANDRA_HOME%\build\classes\main"
-set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;"%CASSANDRA_HOME%\build\classes\thrift"
+set CLASSPATH="%STRESS_HOME%\..\*.jar"
 for %%i in ("%CASSANDRA_HOME%\lib\*.jar") do call :append "%%i"
     set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;"%%i"
 goto start
diff --git a/tools/stress/bin/stressd b/tools/stress/bin/stressd
index 5cc3ff2d46..b7ff6f5fcb 100755
--- a/tools/stress/bin/stressd
+++ b/tools/stress/bin/stressd
@@ -19,21 +19,7 @@
 DESC="Stress Test Daemon"
 
 if [ "x$CLASSPATH" = "x" ]; then
-    # Cassandra class files.
-    if [ ! -d `dirname $0`/../../../build/classes/main ]; then
-        echo "Unable to locate cassandra class files" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-
-    # Stress class files.
-    if [ ! -d `dirname $0`/../build/classes ]; then
-        echo "Unable to locate stress class files" >&2
-        exit 1
-    fi
-
-    CLASSPATH=`dirname $0`/../../../build/classes/main
-    CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:`dirname $0`/../../../build/classes/thrift
-    CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:`dirname $0`/../build/classes
+    CLASSPATH=`dirname $0`/../stress.jar
     for jar in `dirname $0`/../../../lib/*.jar; do
         CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:$jar
     done
diff --git a/tools/stress/build.xml b/tools/stress/build.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index a186ecfa59..0000000000
--- a/tools/stress/build.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,70 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<!--
- ~ Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
- ~ or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
- ~ distributed with this work for additional information
- ~ regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
- ~ to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
- ~ "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
- ~ with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
- ~
- ~    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- ~
- ~ Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- ~ software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- ~ "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- ~ KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- ~ specific language governing permissions and limitations
- ~ under the License.
- -->
-<project basedir="." default="jar" name="stress">
-    <property name="cassandra.dir" value="../.." />
-    <property name="cassandra.lib" value="${cassandra.dir}/lib" />
-    <property name="build.src" value="${basedir}/src" />
-    <property name="build.out" value="${basedir}/build" />
-    <property name="build.classes" value="${build.out}/classes" />
-    <property name="final.name" value="stress" />
-
-    <path id="cassandra.classes">
-        <pathelement location="${cassandra.dir}/build/classes/main" />
-        <pathelement location="${cassandra.dir}/build/classes/thrift" />
-    </path>
-
-    <target name="init">
-        <mkdir dir="${build.classes}" />
-    </target>
-
-    <target depends="init" name="build">
-        <javac destdir="${build.classes}">
-            <src path="${build.src}" />
-            <classpath>
-                <path refid="cassandra.classes" />
-                <path>
-                    <fileset dir="${cassandra.lib}">
-                        <include name="**/*.jar" />
-                    </fileset>
-                </path>
-            </classpath>
-        </javac>
-    </target>
-
-    <target name="jar" depends="build">
-        <manifest file="MANIFEST.MF">
-            <attribute name="Built-By" value="Pavel Yaskevich"/>
-            <attribute name="Main-Class" value="org.apache.cassandra.stress.Stress"/>
-        </manifest>
-
-        <mkdir dir="${build.classes}/META-INF" />
-
-        <jar destfile="${build.out}/${final.name}.jar" manifest="MANIFEST.MF">
-            <fileset dir="${build.classes}"/>
-            <fileset dir="${cassandra.dir}/build/classes/main" />
-            <fileset dir="${cassandra.dir}/build/classes/thrift" />
-            <zipgroupfileset dir="${cassandra.lib}" includes="*.jar" />
-        </jar>
-    </target>
-
-    <target name="clean">
-        <delete dir="${build.out}" />
-    </target>
-</project>