diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index 92447dfaad..0216c56102 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@ akka.cluster.sharding {
   # e.g. '/user/sharding'
   guardian-name = sharding
   
+  # Specifies that entries runs on cluster nodes with a specific role.
+  # If the role is not specified (or empty) all nodes in the cluster are used.
+  role = ""
+  
+  # When this is set to 'on' the active entry actors will automatically be restarted
+  # upon Shard restart. i.e. if the Shard is started on a different ShardRegion
+  # due to rebalance or crash.
+  remember-entries = off
+  
   # If the coordinator can't store state changes it will be stopped
   # and started again after this duration.
   coordinator-failure-backoff = 10 s
@@ -21,13 +30,14 @@ akka.cluster.sharding {
   # The ShardRegion retries registration and shard location requests to the
   # ShardCoordinator with this interval if it does not reply.
   retry-interval = 2 s
+  
   # Maximum number of messages that are buffered by a ShardRegion actor.
   buffer-size = 100000
   
   # Timeout of the shard rebalancing process.
   handoff-timeout = 60 s
   
-  # Time given to a region to acknowdge it's hosting a shard.
+  # Time given to a region to acknowledge it's hosting a shard.
   shard-start-timeout = 10 s
   
   # If the shard can't store state changes it will retry the action
@@ -43,6 +53,18 @@ akka.cluster.sharding {
   # Rebalance check is performed periodically with this interval.
   rebalance-interval = 10 s
   
+  # Absolute path to the journal plugin configuration entry that is to be
+  # used for the internal persistence of ClusterSharding. If not defined
+  # the default journal plugin is used. Note that this is not related to 
+  # persistence used by the entry actors.
+  journal-plugin-id = ""
+  
+  # Absolute path to the snapshot plugin configuration entry that is to be
+  # used for the internal persistence of ClusterSharding. If not defined
+  # the default snapshot plugin is used. Note that this is not related to 
+  # persistence used by the entry actors.
+  snapshot-plugin-id = ""
+  
   # How often the coordinator saves persistent snapshots, which are
   # used to reduce recovery times
   snapshot-interval = 3600 s
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterSharding.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterSharding.scala
index a39c441716..90d8a5341d 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterSharding.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterSharding.scala
@@ -5,17 +5,20 @@ package akka.cluster.sharding
 
 import java.net.URLEncoder
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap
-import akka.cluster.sharding.Shard.{ ShardCommand, StateChange }
-import akka.cluster.sharding.ShardCoordinator.Internal.SnapshotTick
+
 import scala.collection.immutable
 import scala.concurrent.Await
+import scala.concurrent.Future
 import scala.concurrent.duration._
-import scala.concurrent.forkjoin.ThreadLocalRandom
+import scala.util.Success
+
 import akka.actor.Actor
 import akka.actor.ActorLogging
 import akka.actor.ActorRef
 import akka.actor.ActorSelection
 import akka.actor.ActorSystem
+import akka.actor.Cancellable
+import akka.actor.Deploy
 import akka.actor.ExtendedActorSystem
 import akka.actor.Extension
 import akka.actor.ExtensionId
@@ -27,22 +30,22 @@ import akka.actor.ReceiveTimeout
 import akka.actor.RootActorPath
 import akka.actor.Terminated
 import akka.cluster.Cluster
+import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent.ClusterDomainEvent
+import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent.ClusterShuttingDown
 import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent.CurrentClusterState
 import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent.MemberEvent
 import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent.MemberRemoved
 import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent.MemberUp
-import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent.ClusterShuttingDown
 import akka.cluster.Member
 import akka.cluster.MemberStatus
-import akka.pattern.ask
-import akka.persistence._
-import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent.ClusterDomainEvent
+import akka.cluster.sharding.Shard.{ ShardCommand, StateChange }
+import akka.cluster.sharding.ShardCoordinator.Internal.SnapshotTick
 import akka.cluster.singleton.ClusterSingletonManager
 import akka.cluster.singleton.ClusterSingletonManagerSettings
-import scala.concurrent.Future
 import akka.dispatch.ExecutionContexts
+import akka.persistence._
+import akka.pattern.ask
 import akka.pattern.pipe
-import scala.util.Success
 import akka.util.ByteString
 
 /**
@@ -165,6 +168,7 @@ object ClusterSharding extends ExtensionId[ClusterSharding] with ExtensionIdProv
 
   override def createExtension(system: ExtendedActorSystem): ClusterSharding =
     new ClusterSharding(system)
+
 }
 
 /**
@@ -177,31 +181,11 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
 
   private val cluster = Cluster(system)
 
-  /**
-   * INTERNAL API
-   */
-  private[akka] object Settings {
-    val config = system.settings.config.getConfig("akka.cluster.sharding")
-
-    val GuardianName: String = config.getString("guardian-name")
-    val CoordinatorFailureBackoff = config.getDuration("coordinator-failure-backoff", MILLISECONDS).millis
-    val RetryInterval: FiniteDuration = config.getDuration("retry-interval", MILLISECONDS).millis
-    val BufferSize: Int = config.getInt("buffer-size")
-    val HandOffTimeout: FiniteDuration = config.getDuration("handoff-timeout", MILLISECONDS).millis
-    val ShardStartTimeout: FiniteDuration = config.getDuration("shard-start-timeout", MILLISECONDS).millis
-    val ShardFailureBackoff = config.getDuration("shard-failure-backoff", MILLISECONDS).millis
-    val EntryRestartBackoff = config.getDuration("entry-restart-backoff", MILLISECONDS).millis
-    val RebalanceInterval: FiniteDuration = config.getDuration("rebalance-interval", MILLISECONDS).millis
-    val SnapshotInterval: FiniteDuration = config.getDuration("snapshot-interval", MILLISECONDS).millis
-    val LeastShardAllocationRebalanceThreshold: Int =
-      config.getInt("least-shard-allocation-strategy.rebalance-threshold")
-    val LeastShardAllocationMaxSimultaneousRebalance: Int =
-      config.getInt("least-shard-allocation-strategy.max-simultaneous-rebalance")
-  }
-
-  import Settings._
   private val regions: ConcurrentHashMap[String, ActorRef] = new ConcurrentHashMap
-  private lazy val guardian = system.actorOf(Props[ClusterShardingGuardian], Settings.GuardianName)
+  private lazy val guardian = {
+    val guardianName: String = system.settings.config.getString("akka.cluster.sharding.guardian-name")
+    system.actorOf(Props[ClusterShardingGuardian], guardianName)
+  }
 
   private[akka] def requireClusterRole(role: Option[String]): Unit =
     require(role.forall(cluster.selfRoles.contains),
@@ -219,11 +203,7 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
    * @param entryProps the `Props` of the entry actors that will be created by the `ShardRegion`
    * @param role specifies that this entry type requires cluster nodes with a specific role.
    *   If the role is not specified all nodes in the cluster are used.
-   * @param rememberEntries true if entry actors shall created be automatically restarted upon `Shard`
-   *   restart. i.e. if the `Shard` is started on a different `ShardRegion` due to rebalance or crash.
-   * @param idExtractor partial function to extract the entry id and the message to send to the
-   *   entry from the incoming message, if the partial function does not match the message will
-   *   be `unhandled`, i.e. posted as `Unhandled` messages on the event stream
+   * @param settings configuration settings, see [[ClusterShardingSettings]]
    * @param shardResolver function to determine the shard id for an incoming message, only messages
    *   that passed the `idExtractor` will be used
    * @param allocationStrategy possibility to use a custom shard allocation and
@@ -235,16 +215,15 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
   def start(
     typeName: String,
     entryProps: Props,
-    role: Option[String],
-    rememberEntries: Boolean,
+    settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
     idExtractor: ShardRegion.IdExtractor,
     shardResolver: ShardRegion.ShardResolver,
     allocationStrategy: ShardAllocationStrategy,
     handOffStopMessage: Any): ActorRef = {
 
-    requireClusterRole(role)
+    requireClusterRole(settings.role)
     implicit val timeout = system.settings.CreationTimeout
-    val startMsg = Start(typeName, entryProps, role, rememberEntries,
+    val startMsg = Start(typeName, entryProps, settings,
       idExtractor, shardResolver, allocationStrategy, handOffStopMessage)
     val Started(shardRegion) = Await.result(guardian ? startMsg, timeout.duration)
     regions.put(typeName, shardRegion)
@@ -264,10 +243,7 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
    *
    * @param typeName the name of the entry type
    * @param entryProps the `Props` of the entry actors that will be created by the `ShardRegion`
-   * @param role specifies that this entry type requires cluster nodes with a specific role.
-   *   If the role is not specified all nodes in the cluster are used.
-   * @param rememberEntries true if entry actors shall created be automatically restarted upon `Shard`
-   *   restart. i.e. if the `Shard` is started on a different `ShardRegion` due to rebalance or crash.
+   * @param settings configuration settings, see [[ClusterShardingSettings]]
    * @param idExtractor partial function to extract the entry id and the message to send to the
    *   entry from the incoming message, if the partial function does not match the message will
    *   be `unhandled`, i.e. posted as `Unhandled` messages on the event stream
@@ -278,14 +254,15 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
   def start(
     typeName: String,
     entryProps: Props,
-    role: Option[String],
-    rememberEntries: Boolean,
+    settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
     idExtractor: ShardRegion.IdExtractor,
     shardResolver: ShardRegion.ShardResolver): ActorRef = {
 
-    start(typeName, entryProps, role, rememberEntries, idExtractor, shardResolver,
-      new LeastShardAllocationStrategy(LeastShardAllocationRebalanceThreshold, LeastShardAllocationMaxSimultaneousRebalance),
-      PoisonPill)
+    val allocationStrategy = new LeastShardAllocationStrategy(
+      settings.tuningParameters.leastShardAllocationRebalanceThreshold,
+      settings.tuningParameters.leastShardAllocationMaxSimultaneousRebalance)
+
+    start(typeName, entryProps, settings, idExtractor, shardResolver, allocationStrategy, PoisonPill)
   }
 
   /**
@@ -298,10 +275,7 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
    *
    * @param typeName the name of the entry type
    * @param entryProps the `Props` of the entry actors that will be created by the `ShardRegion`
-   * @param role specifies that this entry type requires cluster nodes with a specific role.
-   *   If the role is not specified all nodes in the cluster are used.
-   * @param rememberEntries true if entry actors shall created be automatically restarted upon `Shard`
-   *   restart. i.e. if the `Shard` is started on a different `ShardRegion` due to rebalance or crash.
+   * @param settings configuration settings, see [[ClusterShardingSettings]]
    * @param messageExtractor functions to extract the entry id, shard id, and the message to send to the
    *   entry from the incoming message
    * @param allocationStrategy possibility to use a custom shard allocation and
@@ -313,13 +287,12 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
   def start(
     typeName: String,
     entryProps: Props,
-    role: Option[String],
-    rememberEntries: Boolean,
+    settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
     messageExtractor: ShardRegion.MessageExtractor,
     allocationStrategy: ShardAllocationStrategy,
     handOffStopMessage: Any): ActorRef = {
 
-    start(typeName, entryProps, role, rememberEntries,
+    start(typeName, entryProps, settings,
       idExtractor = {
         case msg if messageExtractor.entryId(msg) ne null ⇒
           (messageExtractor.entryId(msg), messageExtractor.entryMessage(msg))
@@ -342,10 +315,7 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
    *
    * @param typeName the name of the entry type
    * @param entryProps the `Props` of the entry actors that will be created by the `ShardRegion`
-   * @param role specifies that this entry type requires cluster nodes with a specific role.
-   *   If the role is not specified all nodes in the cluster are used.
-   * @param rememberEntries true if entry actors shall created be automatically restarted upon `Shard`
-   *   restart. i.e. if the `Shard` is started on a different `ShardRegion` due to rebalance or crash.
+   * @param settings configuration settings, see [[ClusterShardingSettings]]
    * @param messageExtractor functions to extract the entry id, shard id, and the message to send to the
    *   entry from the incoming message
    * @return the actor ref of the [[ShardRegion]] that is to be responsible for the shard
@@ -353,13 +323,14 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
   def start(
     typeName: String,
     entryProps: Props,
-    role: Option[String],
-    rememberEntries: Boolean,
+    settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
     messageExtractor: ShardRegion.MessageExtractor): ActorRef = {
 
-    start(typeName, entryProps, role, rememberEntries, messageExtractor,
-      new LeastShardAllocationStrategy(LeastShardAllocationRebalanceThreshold, LeastShardAllocationMaxSimultaneousRebalance),
-      PoisonPill)
+    val allocationStrategy = new LeastShardAllocationStrategy(
+      settings.tuningParameters.leastShardAllocationRebalanceThreshold,
+      settings.tuningParameters.leastShardAllocationMaxSimultaneousRebalance)
+
+    start(typeName, entryProps, settings, messageExtractor, allocationStrategy, PoisonPill)
   }
 
   /**
@@ -388,7 +359,8 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
     shardResolver: ShardRegion.ShardResolver): ActorRef = {
 
     implicit val timeout = system.settings.CreationTimeout
-    val startMsg = StartProxy(typeName, role, idExtractor, shardResolver)
+    val settings = ClusterShardingSettings(system).withRole(role)
+    val startMsg = StartProxy(typeName, settings, idExtractor, shardResolver)
     val Started(shardRegion) = Await.result(guardian ? startMsg, timeout.duration)
     regions.put(typeName, shardRegion)
     shardRegion
@@ -441,11 +413,11 @@ class ClusterSharding(system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
  */
 private[akka] object ClusterShardingGuardian {
   import ShardCoordinator.ShardAllocationStrategy
-  final case class Start(typeName: String, entryProps: Props, role: Option[String], rememberEntries: Boolean,
+  final case class Start(typeName: String, entryProps: Props, settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
                          idExtractor: ShardRegion.IdExtractor, shardResolver: ShardRegion.ShardResolver,
                          allocationStrategy: ShardAllocationStrategy, handOffStopMessage: Any)
     extends NoSerializationVerificationNeeded
-  final case class StartProxy(typeName: String, role: Option[String],
+  final case class StartProxy(typeName: String, settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
                               idExtractor: ShardRegion.IdExtractor, shardResolver: ShardRegion.ShardResolver)
     extends NoSerializationVerificationNeeded
   final case class Started(shardRegion: ActorRef) extends NoSerializationVerificationNeeded
@@ -460,7 +432,6 @@ private[akka] class ClusterShardingGuardian extends Actor {
 
   val cluster = Cluster(context.system)
   val sharding = ClusterSharding(context.system)
-  import sharding.Settings._
 
   private def coordinatorSingletonManagerName(encName: String): String =
     encName + "Coordinator"
@@ -469,15 +440,16 @@ private[akka] class ClusterShardingGuardian extends Actor {
     (self.path / coordinatorSingletonManagerName(encName) / "singleton" / "coordinator").toStringWithoutAddress
 
   def receive = {
-    case Start(typeName, entryProps, role, rememberEntries, idExtractor, shardResolver, allocationStrategy, handOffStopMessage) ⇒
+    case Start(typeName, entryProps, settings, idExtractor, shardResolver, allocationStrategy, handOffStopMessage) ⇒
+      import settings.role
+      import settings.tuningParameters.coordinatorFailureBackoff
       val encName = URLEncoder.encode(typeName, ByteString.UTF_8)
       val cName = coordinatorSingletonManagerName(encName)
       val cPath = coordinatorPath(encName)
       val shardRegion = context.child(encName).getOrElse {
         if (context.child(cName).isEmpty) {
-          val coordinatorProps = ShardCoordinator.props(handOffTimeout = HandOffTimeout, shardStartTimeout = ShardStartTimeout,
-            rebalanceInterval = RebalanceInterval, snapshotInterval = SnapshotInterval, allocationStrategy)
-          val singletonProps = ShardCoordinatorSupervisor.props(CoordinatorFailureBackoff, coordinatorProps)
+          val coordinatorProps = ShardCoordinator.props(settings, allocationStrategy)
+          val singletonProps = ShardCoordinatorSupervisor.props(coordinatorFailureBackoff, coordinatorProps)
           val singletonSettings = ClusterSingletonManagerSettings(context.system)
             .withSingletonName("singleton").withRole(role)
           context.actorOf(ClusterSingletonManager.props(
@@ -490,14 +462,8 @@ private[akka] class ClusterShardingGuardian extends Actor {
         context.actorOf(ShardRegion.props(
           typeName = typeName,
           entryProps = entryProps,
-          role = role,
+          settings = settings,
           coordinatorPath = cPath,
-          retryInterval = RetryInterval,
-          snapshotInterval = SnapshotInterval,
-          shardFailureBackoff = ShardFailureBackoff,
-          entryRestartBackoff = EntryRestartBackoff,
-          bufferSize = BufferSize,
-          rememberEntries = rememberEntries,
           idExtractor = idExtractor,
           shardResolver = shardResolver,
           handOffStopMessage = handOffStopMessage),
@@ -505,17 +471,15 @@ private[akka] class ClusterShardingGuardian extends Actor {
       }
       sender() ! Started(shardRegion)
 
-    case StartProxy(typeName, role, idExtractor, shardResolver) ⇒
+    case StartProxy(typeName, settings, idExtractor, shardResolver) ⇒
       val encName = URLEncoder.encode(typeName, ByteString.UTF_8)
       val cName = coordinatorSingletonManagerName(encName)
       val cPath = coordinatorPath(encName)
       val shardRegion = context.child(encName).getOrElse {
         context.actorOf(ShardRegion.proxyProps(
           typeName = typeName,
-          role = role,
+          settings = settings,
           coordinatorPath = cPath,
-          retryInterval = RetryInterval,
-          bufferSize = BufferSize,
           idExtractor = idExtractor,
           shardResolver = shardResolver),
           name = encName)
@@ -538,19 +502,13 @@ object ShardRegion {
   private[akka] def props(
     typeName: String,
     entryProps: Props,
-    role: Option[String],
+    settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
     coordinatorPath: String,
-    retryInterval: FiniteDuration,
-    shardFailureBackoff: FiniteDuration,
-    entryRestartBackoff: FiniteDuration,
-    snapshotInterval: FiniteDuration,
-    bufferSize: Int,
-    rememberEntries: Boolean,
     idExtractor: ShardRegion.IdExtractor,
     shardResolver: ShardRegion.ShardResolver,
     handOffStopMessage: Any): Props =
-    Props(new ShardRegion(typeName, Some(entryProps), role, coordinatorPath, retryInterval, shardFailureBackoff, entryRestartBackoff,
-      snapshotInterval, bufferSize, rememberEntries, idExtractor, shardResolver, handOffStopMessage))
+    Props(new ShardRegion(typeName, Some(entryProps), settings, coordinatorPath, idExtractor,
+      shardResolver, handOffStopMessage)).withDeploy(Deploy.local)
 
   /**
    * INTERNAL API
@@ -559,14 +517,12 @@ object ShardRegion {
    */
   private[akka] def proxyProps(
     typeName: String,
-    role: Option[String],
+    settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
     coordinatorPath: String,
-    retryInterval: FiniteDuration,
-    bufferSize: Int,
     idExtractor: ShardRegion.IdExtractor,
     shardResolver: ShardRegion.ShardResolver): Props =
-    Props(new ShardRegion(typeName, None, role, coordinatorPath, retryInterval, Duration.Zero, Duration.Zero,
-      Duration.Zero, bufferSize, false, idExtractor, shardResolver, PoisonPill))
+    Props(new ShardRegion(typeName, None, settings, coordinatorPath, idExtractor, shardResolver, PoisonPill))
+      .withDeploy(Deploy.local)
 
   /**
    * Marker type of entry identifier (`String`).
@@ -688,7 +644,7 @@ object ShardRegion {
 
   private[akka] def handOffStopperProps(
     shard: String, replyTo: ActorRef, entries: Set[ActorRef], stopMessage: Any): Props =
-    Props(new HandOffStopper(shard, replyTo, entries, stopMessage))
+    Props(new HandOffStopper(shard, replyTo, entries, stopMessage)).withDeploy(Deploy.local)
 }
 
 /**
@@ -701,20 +657,16 @@ object ShardRegion {
 class ShardRegion(
   typeName: String,
   entryProps: Option[Props],
-  role: Option[String],
+  settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
   coordinatorPath: String,
-  retryInterval: FiniteDuration,
-  shardFailureBackoff: FiniteDuration,
-  entryRestartBackoff: FiniteDuration,
-  snapshotInterval: FiniteDuration,
-  bufferSize: Int,
-  rememberEntries: Boolean,
   idExtractor: ShardRegion.IdExtractor,
   shardResolver: ShardRegion.ShardResolver,
   handOffStopMessage: Any) extends Actor with ActorLogging {
 
   import ShardCoordinator.Internal._
   import ShardRegion._
+  import settings._
+  import settings.tuningParameters._
 
   val cluster = Cluster(context.system)
 
@@ -969,11 +921,7 @@ class ShardRegion(
             typeName,
             id,
             props,
-            shardFailureBackoff,
-            entryRestartBackoff,
-            snapshotInterval,
-            bufferSize,
-            rememberEntries,
+            settings,
             idExtractor,
             shardResolver,
             handOffStopMessage),
@@ -1050,16 +998,12 @@ private[akka] object Shard {
   def props(typeName: String,
             shardId: ShardRegion.ShardId,
             entryProps: Props,
-            shardFailureBackoff: FiniteDuration,
-            entryRestartBackoff: FiniteDuration,
-            snapshotInterval: FiniteDuration,
-            bufferSize: Int,
-            rememberEntries: Boolean,
+            settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
             idExtractor: ShardRegion.IdExtractor,
             shardResolver: ShardRegion.ShardResolver,
             handOffStopMessage: Any): Props =
-    Props(new Shard(typeName, shardId, entryProps, shardFailureBackoff, entryRestartBackoff, snapshotInterval,
-      bufferSize, rememberEntries, idExtractor, shardResolver, handOffStopMessage))
+    Props(new Shard(typeName, shardId, entryProps, settings, idExtractor, shardResolver, handOffStopMessage))
+      .withDeploy(Deploy.local)
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1074,11 +1018,7 @@ private[akka] class Shard(
   typeName: String,
   shardId: ShardRegion.ShardId,
   entryProps: Props,
-  shardFailureBackoff: FiniteDuration,
-  entryRestartBackoff: FiniteDuration,
-  snapshotInterval: FiniteDuration,
-  bufferSize: Int,
-  rememberEntries: Boolean,
+  settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
   idExtractor: ShardRegion.IdExtractor,
   shardResolver: ShardRegion.ShardResolver,
   handOffStopMessage: Any) extends PersistentActor with ActorLogging {
@@ -1090,11 +1030,17 @@ private[akka] class Shard(
   import akka.cluster.sharding.ShardRegion.ShardRegionCommand
   import akka.persistence.RecoveryCompleted
 
+  import settings.rememberEntries
+  import settings.tuningParameters._
   import context.dispatcher
   val snapshotTask = context.system.scheduler.schedule(snapshotInterval, snapshotInterval, self, SnapshotTick)
 
   override def persistenceId = s"/sharding/${typeName}Shard/${shardId}"
 
+  override def journalPluginId: String = settings.journalPluginId
+
+  override def snapshotPluginId: String = settings.snapshotPluginId
+
   var state = State.Empty
   var idByRef = Map.empty[ActorRef, EntryId]
   var refById = Map.empty[EntryId, ActorRef]
@@ -1309,6 +1255,7 @@ private[akka] object ShardCoordinatorSupervisor {
    */
   def props(failureBackoff: FiniteDuration, coordinatorProps: Props): Props =
     Props(new ShardCoordinatorSupervisor(failureBackoff, coordinatorProps))
+      .withDeploy(Deploy.local)
 
   /**
    * INTERNAL API
@@ -1348,9 +1295,9 @@ object ShardCoordinator {
    * INTERNAL API
    * Factory method for the [[akka.actor.Props]] of the [[ShardCoordinator]] actor.
    */
-  private[akka] def props(handOffTimeout: FiniteDuration, shardStartTimeout: FiniteDuration, rebalanceInterval: FiniteDuration, snapshotInterval: FiniteDuration,
+  private[akka] def props(settings: ClusterShardingSettings,
                           allocationStrategy: ShardAllocationStrategy): Props =
-    Props(new ShardCoordinator(handOffTimeout, shardStartTimeout, rebalanceInterval, snapshotInterval, allocationStrategy))
+    Props(new ShardCoordinator(settings, allocationStrategy)).withDeploy(Deploy.local)
 
   /**
    * Interface of the pluggable shard allocation and rebalancing logic used by the [[ShardCoordinator]].
@@ -1670,16 +1617,19 @@ object ShardCoordinator {
  *
  * @see [[ClusterSharding$ ClusterSharding extension]]
  */
-class ShardCoordinator(handOffTimeout: FiniteDuration, shardStartTimeout: FiniteDuration, rebalanceInterval: FiniteDuration,
-                       snapshotInterval: FiniteDuration, allocationStrategy: ShardCoordinator.ShardAllocationStrategy)
+class ShardCoordinator(settings: ClusterShardingSettings, allocationStrategy: ShardCoordinator.ShardAllocationStrategy)
   extends PersistentActor with ActorLogging {
   import ShardCoordinator._
   import ShardCoordinator.Internal._
   import ShardRegion.ShardId
-  import akka.actor.Cancellable
+  import settings.tuningParameters._
 
   override def persistenceId = self.path.toStringWithoutAddress
 
+  override def journalPluginId: String = settings.journalPluginId
+
+  override def snapshotPluginId: String = settings.snapshotPluginId
+
   var persistentState = State.empty
   var rebalanceInProgress = Set.empty[ShardId]
   var unAckedHostShards = Map.empty[ShardId, Cancellable]
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSettings.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSettings.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1601386578
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSettings.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
+ */
+package akka.cluster.sharding
+
+import scala.concurrent.duration._
+import scala.concurrent.duration.FiniteDuration
+
+import akka.actor.ActorSystem
+import akka.actor.NoSerializationVerificationNeeded
+import com.typesafe.config.Config
+
+object ClusterShardingSettings {
+  /**
+   * Create settings from the default configuration
+   * `akka.cluster.sharding`.
+   */
+  def apply(system: ActorSystem): ClusterShardingSettings =
+    apply(system.settings.config.getConfig("akka.cluster.sharding"))
+
+  /**
+   * Create settings from a configuration with the same layout as
+   * the default configuration `akka.cluster.sharding`.
+   */
+  def apply(config: Config): ClusterShardingSettings = {
+    val tuningParameters = new TuningParameters(
+      coordinatorFailureBackoff = config.getDuration("coordinator-failure-backoff", MILLISECONDS).millis,
+      retryInterval = config.getDuration("retry-interval", MILLISECONDS).millis,
+      bufferSize = config.getInt("buffer-size"),
+      handOffTimeout = config.getDuration("handoff-timeout", MILLISECONDS).millis,
+      shardStartTimeout = config.getDuration("shard-start-timeout", MILLISECONDS).millis,
+      shardFailureBackoff = config.getDuration("shard-failure-backoff", MILLISECONDS).millis,
+      entryRestartBackoff = config.getDuration("entry-restart-backoff", MILLISECONDS).millis,
+      rebalanceInterval = config.getDuration("rebalance-interval", MILLISECONDS).millis,
+      snapshotInterval = config.getDuration("snapshot-interval", MILLISECONDS).millis,
+      leastShardAllocationRebalanceThreshold =
+        config.getInt("least-shard-allocation-strategy.rebalance-threshold"),
+      leastShardAllocationMaxSimultaneousRebalance =
+        config.getInt("least-shard-allocation-strategy.max-simultaneous-rebalance"))
+
+    new ClusterShardingSettings(
+      role = roleOption(config.getString("role")),
+      rememberEntries = config.getBoolean("remember-entries"),
+      journalPluginId = config.getString("journal-plugin-id"),
+      snapshotPluginId = config.getString("snapshot-plugin-id"),
+      tuningParameters)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Java API: Create settings from the default configuration
+   * `akka.cluster.sharding`.
+   */
+  def create(system: ActorSystem): ClusterShardingSettings = apply(system)
+
+  /**
+   * Java API: Create settings from a configuration with the same layout as
+   * the default configuration `akka.cluster.sharding`.
+   */
+  def create(config: Config): ClusterShardingSettings = apply(config)
+
+  /**
+   * INTERNAL API
+   */
+  private[akka] def roleOption(role: String): Option[String] =
+    if (role == "") None else Option(role)
+
+  class TuningParameters(
+    val coordinatorFailureBackoff: FiniteDuration,
+    val retryInterval: FiniteDuration,
+    val bufferSize: Int,
+    val handOffTimeout: FiniteDuration,
+    val shardStartTimeout: FiniteDuration,
+    val shardFailureBackoff: FiniteDuration,
+    val entryRestartBackoff: FiniteDuration,
+    val rebalanceInterval: FiniteDuration,
+    val snapshotInterval: FiniteDuration,
+    val leastShardAllocationRebalanceThreshold: Int,
+    val leastShardAllocationMaxSimultaneousRebalance: Int)
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param role specifies that this entry type requires cluster nodes with a specific role.
+ *   If the role is not specified all nodes in the cluster are used.
+ * @param rememberEntries true if active entry actors shall be automatically restarted upon `Shard`
+ *   restart. i.e. if the `Shard` is started on a different `ShardRegion` due to rebalance or crash.
+ * @param journalPluginId Absolute path to the journal plugin configuration entry that is to
+ *   be used for the internal persistence of ClusterSharding. If not defined the default
+ *   journal plugin is used. Note that this is not related to persistence used by the entry
+ *   actors.
+ * @param snapshotPluginId Absolute path to the snapshot plugin configuration entry that is to
+ *   be used for the internal persistence of ClusterSharding. If not defined the default
+ *   snapshot plugin is used. Note that this is not related to persistence used by the entry
+ *   actors.
+ * @param tuningParameters additional tuning parameters, see descriptions in reference.conf
+ */
+final class ClusterShardingSettings(
+  val role: Option[String],
+  val rememberEntries: Boolean,
+  val journalPluginId: String,
+  val snapshotPluginId: String,
+  val tuningParameters: ClusterShardingSettings.TuningParameters) extends NoSerializationVerificationNeeded {
+
+  def withRole(role: String): ClusterShardingSettings = copy(role = ClusterShardingSettings.roleOption(role))
+
+  def withRole(role: Option[String]): ClusterShardingSettings = copy(role = role)
+
+  def withRememberEntries(rememberEntries: Boolean): ClusterShardingSettings =
+    copy(rememberEntries = rememberEntries)
+
+  def withJournalPluginId(journalPluginId: String): ClusterShardingSettings =
+    copy(journalPluginId = journalPluginId)
+
+  def withSnapshotPluginId(snapshotPluginId: String): ClusterShardingSettings =
+    copy(snapshotPluginId = snapshotPluginId)
+
+  def withTuningParameters(tuningParameters: ClusterShardingSettings.TuningParameters): ClusterShardingSettings =
+    copy(tuningParameters = tuningParameters)
+
+  private def copy(role: Option[String] = role,
+                   rememberEntries: Boolean = rememberEntries,
+                   journalPluginId: String = journalPluginId,
+                   snapshotPluginId: String = snapshotPluginId,
+                   tuningParameters: ClusterShardingSettings.TuningParameters = tuningParameters): ClusterShardingSettings =
+    new ClusterShardingSettings(
+      role,
+      rememberEntries,
+      journalPluginId,
+      snapshotPluginId,
+      tuningParameters)
+}
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingCustomShardAllocationSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingCustomShardAllocationSpec.scala
index 65f35d23e7..36ee134ebb 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingCustomShardAllocationSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingCustomShardAllocationSpec.scala
@@ -135,8 +135,7 @@ class ClusterShardingCustomShardAllocationSpec extends MultiNodeSpec(ClusterShar
     ClusterSharding(system).start(
       typeName = "Entity",
       entryProps = Props[Entity],
-      role = None,
-      rememberEntries = false,
+      settings = ClusterShardingSettings(system),
       idExtractor = idExtractor,
       shardResolver = shardResolver,
       allocationStrategy = TestAllocationStrategy(allocator),
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingFailureSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingFailureSpec.scala
index 7448c73c4b..edaeaf6170 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingFailureSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingFailureSpec.scala
@@ -112,8 +112,7 @@ class ClusterShardingFailureSpec extends MultiNodeSpec(ClusterShardingFailureSpe
     ClusterSharding(system).start(
       typeName = "Entity",
       entryProps = Props[Entity],
-      role = None,
-      rememberEntries = true,
+      settings = ClusterShardingSettings(system).withRememberEntries(true),
       idExtractor = idExtractor,
       shardResolver = shardResolver)
   }
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingGracefulShutdownSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingGracefulShutdownSpec.scala
index 5530f32794..b6e3043687 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingGracefulShutdownSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingGracefulShutdownSpec.scala
@@ -122,8 +122,7 @@ class ClusterShardingGracefulShutdownSpec extends MultiNodeSpec(ClusterShardingG
     ClusterSharding(system).start(
       typeName = "Entity",
       entryProps = Props[Entity],
-      role = None,
-      rememberEntries = false,
+      settings = ClusterShardingSettings(system),
       idExtractor = idExtractor,
       shardResolver = shardResolver,
       allocationStrategy,
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingLeavingSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingLeavingSpec.scala
index e39fbe99eb..4376d3a069 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingLeavingSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingLeavingSpec.scala
@@ -124,8 +124,7 @@ class ClusterShardingLeavingSpec extends MultiNodeSpec(ClusterShardingLeavingSpe
     ClusterSharding(system).start(
       typeName = "Entity",
       entryProps = Props[Entity],
-      role = None,
-      rememberEntries = false,
+      settings = ClusterShardingSettings(system),
       idExtractor = idExtractor,
       shardResolver = shardResolver)
   }
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSpec.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSpec.scala
index c00d9bb70d..97814ca3d0 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingSpec.scala
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ object ClusterShardingSpec extends MultiNodeConfig {
     akka.persistence.snapshot-store.plugin = "akka.persistence.snapshot-store.local"
     akka.persistence.snapshot-store.local.dir = "target/snapshots-ClusterShardingSpec"
     akka.cluster.sharding {
-      role = backend
       retry-interval = 1 s
       handoff-timeout = 10 s
       shard-start-timeout = 5s
@@ -183,11 +182,17 @@ class ClusterShardingSpec extends MultiNodeSpec(ClusterShardingSpec) with STMult
   }
 
   def createCoordinator(): Unit = {
-    val allocationStrategy = new ShardCoordinator.LeastShardAllocationStrategy(rebalanceThreshold = 2, maxSimultaneousRebalance = 1)
-    def coordinatorProps(rebalanceEnabled: Boolean) =
-      ShardCoordinator.props(handOffTimeout = 10.seconds, shardStartTimeout = 10.seconds,
-        rebalanceInterval = if (rebalanceEnabled) 2.seconds else 3600.seconds,
-        snapshotInterval = 3600.seconds, allocationStrategy)
+    def coordinatorProps(rebalanceEnabled: Boolean) = {
+      val allocationStrategy = new ShardCoordinator.LeastShardAllocationStrategy(rebalanceThreshold = 2, maxSimultaneousRebalance = 1)
+      val cfg = ConfigFactory.parseString(s"""
+      handoff-timeout = 10s
+      shard-start-timeout = 10s
+      rebalance-interval = ${if (rebalanceEnabled) "2s" else "3600s"}
+      snapshot-interval = 3600s
+      """).withFallback(system.settings.config.getConfig("akka.cluster.sharding"))
+      val settings = ClusterShardingSettings(cfg)
+      ShardCoordinator.props(settings, allocationStrategy)
+    }
 
     List("counter", "rebalancingCounter", "PersistentCounterEntries", "AnotherPersistentCounter",
       "PersistentCounter", "RebalancingPersistentCounter", "AutoMigrateRegionTest").foreach { coordinatorName ⇒
@@ -200,21 +205,26 @@ class ClusterShardingSpec extends MultiNodeSpec(ClusterShardingSpec) with STMult
       }
   }
 
-  def createRegion(typeName: String, rememberEntries: Boolean): ActorRef = system.actorOf(ShardRegion.props(
-    typeName = typeName,
-    entryProps = Props[Counter],
-    role = None,
-    coordinatorPath = "/user/" + typeName + "Coordinator/singleton/coordinator",
-    retryInterval = 1.second,
-    shardFailureBackoff = 1.second,
-    entryRestartBackoff = 1.second,
-    snapshotInterval = 1.hour,
-    bufferSize = 1000,
-    rememberEntries = rememberEntries,
-    idExtractor = idExtractor,
-    shardResolver = shardResolver,
-    handOffStopMessage = PoisonPill),
-    name = typeName + "Region")
+  def createRegion(typeName: String, rememberEntries: Boolean): ActorRef = {
+    val cfg = ConfigFactory.parseString("""
+      retry-interval = 1s
+      shard-failure-backoff = 1s
+      entry-restart-backoff = 1s
+      snapshot-interval = 3600s
+      buffer-size = 1000
+      """).withFallback(system.settings.config.getConfig("akka.cluster.sharding"))
+    val settings = ClusterShardingSettings(cfg)
+      .withRememberEntries(rememberEntries)
+    system.actorOf(ShardRegion.props(
+      typeName = typeName,
+      entryProps = Props[Counter],
+      settings = settings,
+      coordinatorPath = "/user/" + typeName + "Coordinator/singleton/coordinator",
+      idExtractor = idExtractor,
+      shardResolver = shardResolver,
+      handOffStopMessage = PoisonPill),
+      name = typeName + "Region")
+  }
 
   lazy val region = createRegion("counter", rememberEntries = false)
   lazy val rebalancingRegion = createRegion("rebalancingCounter", rememberEntries = false)
@@ -319,12 +329,15 @@ class ClusterShardingSpec extends MultiNodeSpec(ClusterShardingSpec) with STMult
 
     "support proxy only mode" in within(10.seconds) {
       runOn(second) {
+        val cfg = ConfigFactory.parseString("""
+          retry-interval = 1s
+          buffer-size = 1000
+        """).withFallback(system.settings.config.getConfig("akka.cluster.sharding"))
+        val settings = ClusterShardingSettings(cfg)
         val proxy = system.actorOf(ShardRegion.proxyProps(
           typeName = "counter",
-          role = None,
+          settings,
           coordinatorPath = "/user/counterCoordinator/singleton/coordinator",
-          retryInterval = 1.second,
-          bufferSize = 1000,
           idExtractor = idExtractor,
           shardResolver = shardResolver),
           name = "regionProxy")
@@ -491,16 +504,14 @@ class ClusterShardingSpec extends MultiNodeSpec(ClusterShardingSpec) with STMult
       val counterRegion: ActorRef = ClusterSharding(system).start(
         typeName = "Counter",
         entryProps = Props[Counter],
-        role = None,
-        rememberEntries = false,
+        settings = ClusterShardingSettings(system),
         idExtractor = idExtractor,
         shardResolver = shardResolver)
       //#counter-start
       ClusterSharding(system).start(
         typeName = "AnotherCounter",
         entryProps = Props[Counter],
-        role = None,
-        rememberEntries = false,
+        settings = ClusterShardingSettings(system),
         idExtractor = idExtractor,
         shardResolver = shardResolver)
     }
@@ -541,8 +552,7 @@ class ClusterShardingSpec extends MultiNodeSpec(ClusterShardingSpec) with STMult
       val counterRegionViaStart: ActorRef = ClusterSharding(system).start(
         typeName = "ApiTest",
         entryProps = Props[Counter],
-        role = None,
-        rememberEntries = false,
+        settings = ClusterShardingSettings(system),
         idExtractor = idExtractor,
         shardResolver = shardResolver)
 
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/java/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingTest.java b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/java/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingTest.java
index 2db3699c52..c0f862a2ab 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/java/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingTest.java
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/java/akka/cluster/sharding/ClusterShardingTest.java
@@ -70,8 +70,9 @@ public class ClusterShardingTest {
 
     //#counter-start
     Option<String> roleOption = Option.none();
+    ClusterShardingSettings settings = ClusterShardingSettings.create(system);
     ActorRef startedCounterRegion = ClusterSharding.get(system).start("Counter",
-      Props.create(Counter.class), Option.java2ScalaOption(roleOption), false, messageExtractor);
+      Props.create(Counter.class), settings, messageExtractor);
     //#counter-start
 
     //#counter-usage
diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/project/migration-guide-2.3.x-2.4.x.rst b/akka-docs/rst/project/migration-guide-2.3.x-2.4.x.rst
index 7a54fd55c8..f2ec29584f 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/project/migration-guide-2.3.x-2.4.x.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/project/migration-guide-2.3.x-2.4.x.rst
@@ -230,8 +230,10 @@ The configuration properties changed name to ``akka.cluster.sharding``.
 ClusterSharding construction
 ============================
 
-Role is defined as parameter to the ``start`` method of the ``ClusterSharding`` extension
-instead of in configuration, so that it can be defined per entry type.
+Several parameters of the ``start`` method of the ``ClusterSharding`` extension are now defined
+in a settings object ``ClusterShardingSettings``.
+It can be created from system configuration properties and also amended with API.
+These settings can be defined differently per entry type if needed.
 
 Starting the ``ShardRegion`` in proxy mode is now done with the ``startProxy`` method 
 of the ``ClusterSharding`` extension instead of the optional ``entryProps`` parameter.
diff --git a/akka-docs/rst/scala/cluster-sharding.rst b/akka-docs/rst/scala/cluster-sharding.rst
index f692cf8158..27b79e8d8c 100644
--- a/akka-docs/rst/scala/cluster-sharding.rst
+++ b/akka-docs/rst/scala/cluster-sharding.rst
@@ -260,11 +260,13 @@ Remembering Entries
 -------------------
 
 The list of entries in each ``Shard`` can be made persistent (durable) by setting
-the ``rememberEntries`` flag to true when calling ``ClusterSharding.start``. When configured
-to remember entries, whenever a ``Shard`` is rebalanced onto another node or recovers after a
-crash it will recreate all the entries which were previously running in that ``Shard``. To
-permanently stop entries, a ``Passivate`` message must be sent to the parent the ``Shard``, otherwise the
-entry will be automatically restarted after the entry restart backoff specified in the configuration.
+the ``rememberEntries`` flag to true in ``ClusterShardingSettings`` when calling 
+``ClusterSharding.start``. When configured to remember entries, whenever a ``Shard`` 
+is rebalanced onto another node or recovers after a crash it will recreate all the
+entries which were previously running in that ``Shard``. To permanently stop entries, 
+a ``Passivate`` message must be sent to the parent the ``Shard``, otherwise the
+entry will be automatically restarted after the entry restart backoff specified in 
+the configuration.
 
 When ``rememberEntries`` is set to false, a ``Shard`` will not automatically restart any entries
 after a rebalance or recovering from a crash. Entries will only be started once the first message