diff --git a/server/src/com/cloud/agent/manager/ClusteredAgentManagerImpl.java b/server/src/com/cloud/agent/manager/ClusteredAgentManagerImpl.java
index 488886ca1fd..c681e8dc10a 100644
--- a/server/src/com/cloud/agent/manager/ClusteredAgentManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/com/cloud/agent/manager/ClusteredAgentManagerImpl.java
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ import com.cloud.cluster.ClusterManager;
 import com.cloud.cluster.ClusterManagerListener;
 import com.cloud.cluster.ManagementServerHostVO;
 import com.cloud.cluster.dao.ManagementServerHostDao;
+import com.cloud.configuration.Config;
+import com.cloud.configuration.dao.ConfigurationDao;
 import com.cloud.exception.AgentUnavailableException;
 import com.cloud.host.HostVO;
 import com.cloud.host.Status;
@@ -40,6 +42,8 @@ import com.cloud.host.Status.Event;
 import com.cloud.resource.ResourceService;
 import com.cloud.resource.ServerResource;
 import com.cloud.storage.resource.DummySecondaryStorageResource;
+import com.cloud.utils.NumbersUtil;
+import com.cloud.utils.component.ComponentLocator;
 import com.cloud.utils.component.Inject;
 import com.cloud.utils.db.DB;
 import com.cloud.utils.db.GlobalLock;
@@ -56,7 +60,7 @@ public class ClusteredAgentManagerImpl extends AgentManagerImpl implements Clust
 	public final static long STARTUP_DELAY = 5000;
 	public final static long SCAN_INTERVAL = 90000;  // 90 seconds, it takes 60 sec for xenserver to fail login
 	public final static int ACQUIRE_GLOBAL_LOCK_TIMEOUT_FOR_COOPERATION = 5; 	// 5 seconds
-	public final static long LOAD_SIZE = 100;
+	public long _loadSize = 100;
 	
     @Inject protected ClusterManager _clusterMgr = null;
     
@@ -70,15 +74,20 @@ public class ClusteredAgentManagerImpl extends AgentManagerImpl implements Clust
     }
 
 	@Override
-	public boolean configure(String name, Map<String, Object> params) throws ConfigurationException {
+	public boolean configure(String name, Map<String, Object> xmlParams) throws ConfigurationException {
 		_peers = new HashMap<String, SocketChannel>(7);
         _nodeId = _clusterMgr.getManagementNodeId();
+        
+        ConfigurationDao configDao = ComponentLocator.getCurrentLocator().getDao(ConfigurationDao.class);
+        Map<String, String> params = configDao.getConfiguration(xmlParams);
+        String value = params.get(Config.DirectAgentLoadSize.key());
+        _loadSize = NumbersUtil.parseInt(value, 16);
 		
         ClusteredAgentAttache.initialize(this);
         
         _clusterMgr.registerListener(this);
         
-        return super.configure(name, params);
+        return super.configure(name, xmlParams);
 	}
 	
 	@Override
@@ -112,11 +121,11 @@ public class ClusteredAgentManagerImpl extends AgentManagerImpl implements Clust
 
 		// for agents that are self-managed, threshold to be considered as disconnected is 3 ping intervals
 		long cutSeconds = (System.currentTimeMillis() >> 10) - (_pingInterval*3);
-    	List<HostVO> hosts =  _hostDao.findDirectAgentToLoad(_clusterMgr.getManagementNodeId(), cutSeconds, LOAD_SIZE);
-    	if ( hosts != null && hosts.size() == LOAD_SIZE ) {
-    	    Long clusterId = hosts.get((int)(LOAD_SIZE-1)).getClusterId();
+    	List<HostVO> hosts =  _hostDao.findDirectAgentToLoad(_clusterMgr.getManagementNodeId(), cutSeconds, _loadSize);
+    	if ( hosts != null && hosts.size() == _loadSize ) {
+    	    Long clusterId = hosts.get((int)(_loadSize-1)).getClusterId();
     	    if ( clusterId != null) {
-                for ( int i = (int)(LOAD_SIZE-1); i > 0; i-- ) {
+                for ( int i = (int)(_loadSize-1); i > 0; i-- ) {
                     if ( hosts.get(i).getClusterId() == clusterId ) {
                         hosts.remove(i);
                     } else {
diff --git a/server/src/com/cloud/configuration/Config.java b/server/src/com/cloud/configuration/Config.java
index 8f6c2f114a1..047319bfc80 100755
--- a/server/src/com/cloud/configuration/Config.java
+++ b/server/src/com/cloud/configuration/Config.java
@@ -227,7 +227,8 @@ public enum Config {
 	DefaultMaxAccountPublicIPs("Account Defaults", ManagementServer.class, Long.class, "max.account.public.ips", "20", "The default maximum number of public IPs that can be consumed by an account", null),
 	DefaultMaxAccountTemplates("Account Defaults", ManagementServer.class, Long.class, "max.account.templates", "20", "The default maximum number of templates that can be deployed for an account", null),
 	DefaultMaxAccountSnapshots("Account Defaults", ManagementServer.class, Long.class, "max.account.snapshots", "20", "The default maximum number of snapshots that can be created for an account", null),
-	DefaultMaxAccountVolumes("Account Defaults", ManagementServer.class, Long.class, "max.account.volumes", "20", "The default maximum number of volumes that can be created for an account", null);
+	DefaultMaxAccountVolumes("Account Defaults", ManagementServer.class, Long.class, "max.account.volumes", "20", "The default maximum number of volumes that can be created for an account", null),
+	DirectAgentLoadSize("Advanced", ManagementServer.class, Integer.class, "direct.agent.load.size", "16", "The number of direct agents to load each time", null);
 	
 	private final String _category;
 	private final Class<?> _componentClass;