diff --git a/conf/storage-conf.xml b/conf/storage-conf.xml
index 129362f506..981e8e546f 100644
--- a/conf/storage-conf.xml
+++ b/conf/storage-conf.xml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
    <RpcTimeoutInMillis>5000</RpcTimeoutInMillis>
    <JobTrackerHost>tdsearch001.sf2p.facebook.com</JobTrackerHost>
    <JobJarFileLocation>C:\Engagements\Cassandra-Nexus</JobJarFileLocation>
+   <ListenAddress>127.0.0.1</ListenAddress>
    <StoragePort>7000</StoragePort>
    <ControlPort>7001</ControlPort>
    <ThriftPort>9160</ThriftPort>
diff --git a/src/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java b/src/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
index d0acc30993..1934ba4bf1 100644
--- a/src/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
+++ b/src/org/apache/cassandra/config/DatabaseDescriptor.java
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ public class DatabaseDescriptor
     private static int controlPort_ = 7001;
     private static int httpPort_ = 7002;
     private static int thriftPort_ = 9160;
+    private static String listenAddress_ = "localhost";
     private static String clusterName_ = "Test";
     private static int replicationFactor_ = 3;
     private static long rpcTimeoutInMillis_ = 2000;
@@ -176,6 +177,11 @@ public class DatabaseDescriptor
             if ( port != null )
                 storagePort_ = Integer.parseInt(port);
 
+            /* Local IP or hostname to bind services to */
+            String listenAddress = xmlUtils.getNodeValue("/Storage/ListenAddress");
+            if ( listenAddress != null)
+                listenAddress_ = listenAddress;
+            
             /* UDP port for control messages */
             port = xmlUtils.getNodeValue("/Storage/ControlPort");
             if ( port != null )
@@ -800,4 +806,9 @@ public class DatabaseDescriptor
             super(message);
         }
     }
+
+    public static String getListenAddress()
+    {
+        return listenAddress_;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/org/apache/cassandra/net/EndPoint.java b/src/org/apache/cassandra/net/EndPoint.java
index 03d9f569f4..0280216ff1 100644
--- a/src/org/apache/cassandra/net/EndPoint.java
+++ b/src/org/apache/cassandra/net/EndPoint.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import org.apache.cassandra.utils.FBUtilities;
 import org.apache.cassandra.utils.LogUtil;
 import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
+import org.apache.cassandra.config.DatabaseDescriptor;
 
 /**
  * Author : Avinash Lakshman ( alakshman@facebook.com) & Prashant Malik ( pmalik@facebook.com )
@@ -80,7 +81,14 @@ public class EndPoint implements Serializable, Comparable<EndPoint>
     {
         try
         {
-            host_ = FBUtilities.getHostName();
+            if(DatabaseDescriptor.getListenAddress() != null)
+            {
+                host_ = DatabaseDescriptor.getListenAddress();
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                host_ = FBUtilities.getHostName();
+            }
             port_ = port;
         }
         catch (UnknownHostException e)
diff --git a/src/org/apache/cassandra/service/CassandraDaemon.java b/src/org/apache/cassandra/service/CassandraDaemon.java
index 7de19674d9..685d42881b 100644
--- a/src/org/apache/cassandra/service/CassandraDaemon.java
+++ b/src/org/apache/cassandra/service/CassandraDaemon.java
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ package org.apache.cassandra.service;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.net.ServerSocket;
+import java.net.InetSocketAddress;
+import java.net.InetAddress;
 
 import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
 import org.apache.thrift.protocol.TBinaryProtocol;
@@ -65,7 +68,22 @@ public class CassandraDaemon
         Cassandra.Processor processor = new Cassandra.Processor(peerStorageServer);
 
         // Transport
-        TServerSocket tServerSocket =  new TServerSocket(listenPort);
+        TServerSocket tServerSocket =  null;
+        try
+        {
+            // Make server socket
+            ServerSocket serverSocket = new ServerSocket();
+            // Prevent 2MSL delay problem on server restarts
+            serverSocket.setReuseAddress(true);
+            // Bind to listening port
+            serverSocket.bind(new InetSocketAddress(DatabaseDescriptor.getListenAddress(), listenPort));
+            tServerSocket =  new TServerSocket(serverSocket);
+        }
+        catch (IOException ioe)
+        {
+            throw new TTransportException("Could not create ServerSocket on address "
+                    + DatabaseDescriptor.getListenAddress() + ".");
+        }
 
         // Protocol factory
         TProtocolFactory tProtocolFactory = new TBinaryProtocol.Factory();
diff --git a/test/conf/storage-conf.xml b/test/conf/storage-conf.xml
index 0cb962d4e6..a61cfabc72 100644
--- a/test/conf/storage-conf.xml
+++ b/test/conf/storage-conf.xml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
    <RpcTimeoutInMillis>5000</RpcTimeoutInMillis>
    <JobTrackerHost>tdsearch001.sf2p.facebook.com</JobTrackerHost>
    <JobJarFileLocation>C:\Engagements\Cassandra-Nexus</JobJarFileLocation>
+   <ListenAddress>127.0.0.1</ListenAddress>
    <StoragePort>7000</StoragePort>
    <ControlPort>7001</ControlPort>
    <ThriftPort>7001</ThriftPort>