diff --git a/mdata/aggmetric.go b/mdata/aggmetric.go
index 79765e77f4..3f5687fe25 100644
--- a/mdata/aggmetric.go
+++ b/mdata/aggmetric.go
@@ -356,6 +356,7 @@ func (a *AggMetric) persist(pos int) {
 		chunk:     chunk,
 		ttl:       a.ttl,
 		timestamp: time.Now(),
+		len:       a.ChunkSpan,
 	}
 
 	// if we recently became the primary, there may be older chunks
@@ -375,6 +376,7 @@ func (a *AggMetric) persist(pos int) {
 			chunk:     previousChunk,
 			ttl:       a.ttl,
 			timestamp: time.Now(),
+			len:       a.ChunkSpan,
 		})
 		previousPos--
 		if previousPos < 0 {
diff --git a/mdata/chunk/format.go b/mdata/chunk/format.go
index 90bfe928ea..674f9a971a 100644
--- a/mdata/chunk/format.go
+++ b/mdata/chunk/format.go
@@ -6,8 +6,10 @@ package chunk
 //go:generate stringer -type=Format
 
 type Format uint8
+type Length uint8
 
 // identifier of message format
 const (
 	FormatStandardGoTsz Format = iota
+	FormatWithLen
 )
diff --git a/mdata/cwr.go b/mdata/cwr.go
index ffd6e8d655..9dafb7aa57 100644
--- a/mdata/cwr.go
+++ b/mdata/cwr.go
@@ -20,4 +20,5 @@ type ChunkWriteRequest struct {
 	chunk     *chunk.Chunk
 	ttl       uint32
 	timestamp time.Time
+	len       uint32
 }
diff --git a/mdata/store_cassandra.go b/mdata/store_cassandra.go
index 67365847f0..88effb2656 100644
--- a/mdata/store_cassandra.go
+++ b/mdata/store_cassandra.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 // write aggregated data to cassandra.
 
 const Month_sec = 60 * 60 * 24 * 28
+const LengthPrecision = 10 * 60 // 10min
 
 const keyspace_schema = `CREATE KEYSPACE IF NOT EXISTS %s WITH replication = {'class': 'SimpleStrategy', 'replication_factor': 1}  AND durable_writes = true`
 const table_schema = `CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS %s.metric (
@@ -204,9 +205,10 @@ func (c *cassandraStore) processWriteQueue(queue chan *ChunkWriteRequest, meter
 
 			data := cwr.chunk.Series.Bytes()
 			chunkSizeAtSave.Value(int64(len(data)))
-			version := chunk.FormatStandardGoTsz
+			version := chunk.FormatWithLen
 			buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
-			binary.Write(buf, binary.LittleEndian, uint8(version))
+			binary.Write(buf, binary.LittleEndian, chunk.Format(version))
+			binary.Write(buf, binary.LittleEndian, chunk.Length(cwr.len/LengthPrecision))
 			buf.Write(data)
 			success := false
 			attempts := 0
@@ -359,11 +361,17 @@ func (c *cassandraStore) Search(key string, start, end uint32) ([]iter.Iter, err
 				log.Error(3, errChunkTooSmall.Error())
 				return iters, errChunkTooSmall
 			}
-			if chunk.Format(b[0]) != chunk.FormatStandardGoTsz {
+			switch chunk.Format(b[0]) {
+			case chunk.FormatStandardGoTsz:
+				b = b[1:]
+			case chunk.FormatWithLen:
+				_ = chunk.Length(b[1]) // this is the chunk length in 10min intervals
+				b = b[2:]
+			default:
 				log.Error(3, errUnknownChunkFormat.Error())
 				return iters, errUnknownChunkFormat
 			}
-			it, err := tsz.NewIterator(b[1:])
+			it, err := tsz.NewIterator(b)
 			if err != nil {
 				log.Error(3, "failed to unpack cassandra payload. %s", err)
 				return iters, err
diff --git a/metrictank.go b/metrictank.go
index cabb9c45d0..dca87dad62 100644
--- a/metrictank.go
+++ b/metrictank.go
@@ -250,6 +250,14 @@ func main() {
 	if (mdata.Month_sec % chunkSpan) != 0 {
 		log.Fatal(4, "chunkSpan must fit without remainders into month_sec (28*24*60*60)")
 	}
+	// 153600 is the max because we use 8bit per chunk to store the length with precision of 10min
+	// 2 ^ 8 * 10 * 60 = 153600
+	if chunkSpan > (2^8)*mdata.LengthPrecision {
+		log.Fatal(4, "chunkSpan can not be more than 153600 (2^8*10*60)")
+	}
+	if (chunkSpan % mdata.LengthPrecision) != 0 {
+		log.Fatal(4, "chunkSpan must be a multiple of 10min (600)")
+	}
 
 	set := strings.Split(*aggSettings, ",")
 	finalSettings := make([]mdata.AggSetting, 0)
@@ -269,6 +277,12 @@ func main() {
 		if (mdata.Month_sec % aggChunkSpan) != 0 {
 			log.Fatal(4, "aggChunkSpan must fit without remainders into month_sec (28*24*60*60)")
 		}
+		if aggChunkSpan > (2^8)*mdata.LengthPrecision {
+			log.Fatal(4, "aggChunkSpan can not be more than 153600 (2^8*10*60)")
+		}
+		if (aggChunkSpan % mdata.LengthPrecision) != 0 {
+			log.Fatal(4, "aggChunkSpan must be a multiple of 10min (600)")
+		}
 		highestChunkSpan = util.Max(highestChunkSpan, aggChunkSpan)
 		ready := true
 		if len(fields) == 5 {