diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index eaccf6bb7b..53339fa233 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/notification"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/retrieval"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/rules"
-	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric/tiered"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/remote"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/remote/opentsdb"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/web"
@@ -85,10 +85,10 @@ type prometheus struct {
 	ruleManager     rules.RuleManager
 	targetManager   retrieval.TargetManager
 	notifications   chan notification.NotificationReqs
-	storage         *metric.TieredStorage
+	storage         *tiered.TieredStorage
 	remoteTSDBQueue *remote.TSDBQueueManager
 
-	curationState metric.CurationStateUpdater
+	curationState tiered.CurationStateUpdater
 
 	closeOnce sync.Once
 }
@@ -124,13 +124,13 @@ func (p *prometheus) compact(olderThan time.Duration, groupSize int) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	processor := metric.NewCompactionProcessor(&metric.CompactionProcessorOptions{
+	processor := tiered.NewCompactionProcessor(&tiered.CompactionProcessorOptions{
 		MaximumMutationPoolBatch: groupSize * 3,
 		MinimumGroupSize:         groupSize,
 	})
 	defer processor.Close()
 
-	curator := metric.NewCurator(&metric.CuratorOptions{
+	curator := tiered.NewCurator(&tiered.CuratorOptions{
 		Stop: p.stopBackgroundOperations,
 
 		ViewQueue: p.storage.ViewQueue,
@@ -158,12 +158,12 @@ func (p *prometheus) delete(olderThan time.Duration, batchSize int) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	processor := metric.NewDeletionProcessor(&metric.DeletionProcessorOptions{
+	processor := tiered.NewDeletionProcessor(&tiered.DeletionProcessorOptions{
 		MaximumMutationPoolBatch: batchSize,
 	})
 	defer processor.Close()
 
-	curator := metric.NewCurator(&metric.CuratorOptions{
+	curator := tiered.NewCurator(&tiered.CuratorOptions{
 		Stop: p.stopBackgroundOperations,
 
 		ViewQueue: p.storage.ViewQueue,
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ func main() {
 		glog.Fatalf("Error loading configuration from %s: %v", *configFile, err)
 	}
 
-	ts, err := metric.NewTieredStorage(uint(*diskAppendQueueCapacity), 100, *arenaFlushInterval, *arenaTTL, *metricsStoragePath)
+	ts, err := tiered.NewTieredStorage(uint(*diskAppendQueueCapacity), 100, *arenaFlushInterval, *arenaTTL, *metricsStoragePath)
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Fatal("Error opening storage: ", err)
 	}
diff --git a/rules/alerting.go b/rules/alerting.go
index 2afe198b1d..f7391f7eee 100644
--- a/rules/alerting.go
+++ b/rules/alerting.go
@@ -118,11 +118,11 @@ func (rule *AlertingRule) Name() string {
 	return rule.name
 }
 
-func (rule *AlertingRule) EvalRaw(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage *metric.TieredStorage) (ast.Vector, error) {
+func (rule *AlertingRule) EvalRaw(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence) (ast.Vector, error) {
 	return ast.EvalVectorInstant(rule.vector, timestamp, storage, stats.NewTimerGroup())
 }
 
-func (rule *AlertingRule) Eval(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage *metric.TieredStorage) (ast.Vector, error) {
+func (rule *AlertingRule) Eval(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence) (ast.Vector, error) {
 	// Get the raw value of the rule expression.
 	exprResult, err := rule.EvalRaw(timestamp, storage)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/rules/ast/ast.go b/rules/ast/ast.go
index a0dbab33bf..c03602db6e 100644
--- a/rules/ast/ast.go
+++ b/rules/ast/ast.go
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ func labelsToKey(labels clientmodel.Metric) uint64 {
 }
 
 // EvalVectorInstant evaluates a VectorNode with an instant query.
-func EvalVectorInstant(node VectorNode, timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage *metric.TieredStorage, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (vector Vector, err error) {
+func EvalVectorInstant(node VectorNode, timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (vector Vector, err error) {
 	viewAdapter, err := viewAdapterForInstantQuery(node, timestamp, storage, queryStats)
 	if err != nil {
 		return
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ func EvalVectorInstant(node VectorNode, timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage
 }
 
 // EvalVectorRange evaluates a VectorNode with a range query.
-func EvalVectorRange(node VectorNode, start clientmodel.Timestamp, end clientmodel.Timestamp, interval time.Duration, storage *metric.TieredStorage, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (Matrix, error) {
+func EvalVectorRange(node VectorNode, start clientmodel.Timestamp, end clientmodel.Timestamp, interval time.Duration, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (Matrix, error) {
 	// Explicitly initialize to an empty matrix since a nil Matrix encodes to
 	// null in JSON.
 	matrix := Matrix{}
diff --git a/rules/ast/printer.go b/rules/ast/printer.go
index 17a31a8b29..00a406f24c 100644
--- a/rules/ast/printer.go
+++ b/rules/ast/printer.go
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ func TypedValueToJSON(data interface{}, typeStr string) string {
 }
 
 // EvalToString evaluates the given node into a string of the given format.
-func EvalToString(node Node, timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, format OutputFormat, storage *metric.TieredStorage, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) string {
+func EvalToString(node Node, timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, format OutputFormat, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) string {
 	viewTimer := queryStats.GetTimer(stats.TotalViewBuildingTime).Start()
 	viewAdapter, err := viewAdapterForInstantQuery(node, timestamp, storage, queryStats)
 	viewTimer.Stop()
diff --git a/rules/ast/query_analyzer.go b/rules/ast/query_analyzer.go
index 14bb280a46..8d909ba595 100644
--- a/rules/ast/query_analyzer.go
+++ b/rules/ast/query_analyzer.go
@@ -48,13 +48,13 @@ type QueryAnalyzer struct {
 	IntervalRanges IntervalRangeMap
 	// The underlying storage to which the query will be applied. Needed for
 	// extracting timeseries fingerprint information during query analysis.
-	storage *metric.TieredStorage
+	storage metric.Persistence
 }
 
 // NewQueryAnalyzer returns a pointer to a newly instantiated
 // QueryAnalyzer. The storage is needed to extract timeseries
 // fingerprint information during query analysis.
-func NewQueryAnalyzer(storage *metric.TieredStorage) *QueryAnalyzer {
+func NewQueryAnalyzer(storage metric.Persistence) *QueryAnalyzer {
 	return &QueryAnalyzer{
 		FullRanges:     FullRangeMap{},
 		IntervalRanges: IntervalRangeMap{},
@@ -104,14 +104,14 @@ func (analyzer *QueryAnalyzer) AnalyzeQueries(node Node) {
 	Walk(analyzer, node)
 }
 
-func viewAdapterForInstantQuery(node Node, timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage *metric.TieredStorage, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (*viewAdapter, error) {
+func viewAdapterForInstantQuery(node Node, timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (*viewAdapter, error) {
 	analyzeTimer := queryStats.GetTimer(stats.QueryAnalysisTime).Start()
 	analyzer := NewQueryAnalyzer(storage)
 	analyzer.AnalyzeQueries(node)
 	analyzeTimer.Stop()
 
 	requestBuildTimer := queryStats.GetTimer(stats.ViewRequestBuildTime).Start()
-	viewBuilder := metric.NewViewRequestBuilder()
+	viewBuilder := storage.NewViewRequestBuilder()
 	for fingerprint, rangeDuration := range analyzer.FullRanges {
 		viewBuilder.GetMetricRange(&fingerprint, timestamp.Add(-rangeDuration), timestamp)
 	}
@@ -121,8 +121,7 @@ func viewAdapterForInstantQuery(node Node, timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, stor
 	requestBuildTimer.Stop()
 
 	buildTimer := queryStats.GetTimer(stats.InnerViewBuildingTime).Start()
-	// BUG(julius): Clear Law of Demeter violation.
-	view, err := analyzer.storage.MakeView(viewBuilder, 60*time.Second, queryStats)
+	view, err := viewBuilder.Execute(60*time.Second, queryStats)
 	buildTimer.Stop()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -130,14 +129,14 @@ func viewAdapterForInstantQuery(node Node, timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, stor
 	return NewViewAdapter(view, storage, queryStats), nil
 }
 
-func viewAdapterForRangeQuery(node Node, start clientmodel.Timestamp, end clientmodel.Timestamp, interval time.Duration, storage *metric.TieredStorage, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (*viewAdapter, error) {
+func viewAdapterForRangeQuery(node Node, start clientmodel.Timestamp, end clientmodel.Timestamp, interval time.Duration, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (*viewAdapter, error) {
 	analyzeTimer := queryStats.GetTimer(stats.QueryAnalysisTime).Start()
 	analyzer := NewQueryAnalyzer(storage)
 	analyzer.AnalyzeQueries(node)
 	analyzeTimer.Stop()
 
 	requestBuildTimer := queryStats.GetTimer(stats.ViewRequestBuildTime).Start()
-	viewBuilder := metric.NewViewRequestBuilder()
+	viewBuilder := storage.NewViewRequestBuilder()
 	for fingerprint, rangeDuration := range analyzer.FullRanges {
 		if interval < rangeDuration {
 			viewBuilder.GetMetricRange(&fingerprint, start.Add(-rangeDuration), end)
@@ -151,7 +150,7 @@ func viewAdapterForRangeQuery(node Node, start clientmodel.Timestamp, end client
 	requestBuildTimer.Stop()
 
 	buildTimer := queryStats.GetTimer(stats.InnerViewBuildingTime).Start()
-	view, err := analyzer.storage.MakeView(viewBuilder, time.Duration(60)*time.Second, queryStats)
+	view, err := viewBuilder.Execute(time.Duration(60)*time.Second, queryStats)
 	buildTimer.Stop()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/rules/ast/view_adapter.go b/rules/ast/view_adapter.go
index ea8fbae0bc..ca16c490a3 100644
--- a/rules/ast/view_adapter.go
+++ b/rules/ast/view_adapter.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ type viewAdapter struct {
 	stalenessPolicy StalenessPolicy
 	// AST-global storage to use for operations that are not supported by views
 	// (i.e. fingerprint->metric lookups).
-	storage *metric.TieredStorage
+	storage metric.Persistence
 	// The materialized view which contains all timeseries data required for
 	// executing a query.
 	view metric.View
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ func (v *viewAdapter) GetRangeValues(fingerprints clientmodel.Fingerprints, inte
 
 // NewViewAdapter returns an initialized view adapter with a default
 // staleness policy (based on the --defaultStalenessDelta flag).
-func NewViewAdapter(view metric.View, storage *metric.TieredStorage, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) *viewAdapter {
+func NewViewAdapter(view metric.View, storage metric.Persistence, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) *viewAdapter {
 	stalenessPolicy := StalenessPolicy{
 		DeltaAllowance: time.Duration(*defaultStalenessDelta) * time.Second,
 	}
diff --git a/rules/helpers_test.go b/rules/helpers_test.go
index 05f661bcec..02d7aca9a0 100644
--- a/rules/helpers_test.go
+++ b/rules/helpers_test.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func getTestVectorFromTestMatrix(matrix ast.Matrix) ast.Vector {
 	return vector
 }
 
-func storeMatrix(storage metric.TieredStorage, matrix ast.Matrix) (err error) {
+func storeMatrix(storage metric.Persistence, matrix ast.Matrix) (err error) {
 	pendingSamples := clientmodel.Samples{}
 	for _, sampleSet := range matrix {
 		for _, sample := range sampleSet.Values {
diff --git a/rules/manager.go b/rules/manager.go
index e06f6c1d7f..b138d06407 100644
--- a/rules/manager.go
+++ b/rules/manager.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ type ruleManager struct {
 	done chan bool
 
 	interval time.Duration
-	storage  *metric.TieredStorage
+	storage  metric.PreloadingPersistence
 
 	results       chan<- *extraction.Result
 	notifications chan<- notification.NotificationReqs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ type ruleManager struct {
 
 type RuleManagerOptions struct {
 	EvaluationInterval time.Duration
-	Storage            *metric.TieredStorage
+	Storage            metric.PreloadingPersistence
 
 	Notifications chan<- notification.NotificationReqs
 	Results       chan<- *extraction.Result
diff --git a/rules/recording.go b/rules/recording.go
index 49d8298b0d..881407a293 100644
--- a/rules/recording.go
+++ b/rules/recording.go
@@ -34,11 +34,11 @@ type RecordingRule struct {
 
 func (rule RecordingRule) Name() string { return rule.name }
 
-func (rule RecordingRule) EvalRaw(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage *metric.TieredStorage) (ast.Vector, error) {
+func (rule RecordingRule) EvalRaw(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence) (ast.Vector, error) {
 	return ast.EvalVectorInstant(rule.vector, timestamp, storage, stats.NewTimerGroup())
 }
 
-func (rule RecordingRule) Eval(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage *metric.TieredStorage) (ast.Vector, error) {
+func (rule RecordingRule) Eval(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence) (ast.Vector, error) {
 	// Get the raw value of the rule expression.
 	vector, err := rule.EvalRaw(timestamp, storage)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/rules/rules.go b/rules/rules.go
index 1b6526ba84..0c624df30c 100644
--- a/rules/rules.go
+++ b/rules/rules.go
@@ -29,9 +29,9 @@ type Rule interface {
 	Name() string
 	// EvalRaw evaluates the rule's vector expression without triggering any
 	// other actions, like recording or alerting.
-	EvalRaw(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage *metric.TieredStorage) (ast.Vector, error)
+	EvalRaw(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence) (ast.Vector, error)
 	// Eval evaluates the rule, including any associated recording or alerting actions.
-	Eval(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage *metric.TieredStorage) (ast.Vector, error)
+	Eval(timestamp clientmodel.Timestamp, storage metric.PreloadingPersistence) (ast.Vector, error)
 	// ToDotGraph returns a Graphviz dot graph of the rule.
 	ToDotGraph() string
 	// String returns a human-readable string representation of the rule.
diff --git a/rules/rules_test.go b/rules/rules_test.go
index 9119bebb80..2da3f390a1 100644
--- a/rules/rules_test.go
+++ b/rules/rules_test.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/rules/ast"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/stats"
-	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric/tiered"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility/test"
 )
 
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func vectorComparisonString(expected []string, actual []string) string {
 }
 
 type testTieredStorageCloser struct {
-	storage   *metric.TieredStorage
+	storage   *tiered.TieredStorage
 	directory test.Closer
 }
 
@@ -64,10 +64,10 @@ func (t testTieredStorageCloser) Close() {
 
 // This is copied from storage/metric/helpers_test.go, which is unfortunate but
 // presently required to make things work.
-func NewTestTieredStorage(t test.Tester) (storage *metric.TieredStorage, closer test.Closer) {
+func NewTestTieredStorage(t test.Tester) (storage *tiered.TieredStorage, closer test.Closer) {
 	var directory test.TemporaryDirectory
 	directory = test.NewTemporaryDirectory("test_tiered_storage", t)
-	storage, err := metric.NewTieredStorage(2500, 1000, 5*time.Second, 0*time.Second, directory.Path())
+	storage, err := tiered.NewTieredStorage(2500, 1000, 5*time.Second, 0*time.Second, directory.Path())
 
 	if err != nil {
 		if storage != nil {
@@ -91,12 +91,12 @@ func NewTestTieredStorage(t test.Tester) (storage *metric.TieredStorage, closer
 	return
 }
 
-func newTestStorage(t test.Tester) (storage *metric.TieredStorage, closer test.Closer) {
+func newTestStorage(t test.Tester) (storage *tiered.TieredStorage, closer test.Closer) {
 	storage, closer = NewTestTieredStorage(t)
 	if storage == nil {
 		t.Fatal("storage == nil")
 	}
-	storeMatrix(*storage, testMatrix)
+	storeMatrix(storage, testMatrix)
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/storage/metric/.gitignore b/storage/metric/.gitignore
deleted file mode 100644
index 3460f0346d..0000000000
--- a/storage/metric/.gitignore
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-command-line-arguments.test
diff --git a/storage/metric/interface.go b/storage/metric/interface.go
index 3b013e0263..5da0e967fa 100644
--- a/storage/metric/interface.go
+++ b/storage/metric/interface.go
@@ -13,14 +13,17 @@
 
 package metric
 
-import clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
+import (
+	"time"
 
-// AppendBatch models a batch of samples to be stored.
-type AppendBatch map[clientmodel.Fingerprint]SampleSet
+	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
-// MetricPersistence is a system for storing metric samples in a persistence
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/stats"
+)
+
+// Persistence is a system for storing metric samples in a persistence
 // layer.
-type MetricPersistence interface {
+type Persistence interface {
 	// A storage system may rely on external resources and thusly should be
 	// closed when finished.
 	Close()
@@ -42,6 +45,15 @@ type MetricPersistence interface {
 	GetAllValuesForLabel(clientmodel.LabelName) (clientmodel.LabelValues, error)
 }
 
+// PreloadingPersistence is a Persistence which supports building
+// preloaded views.
+type PreloadingPersistence interface {
+	Persistence
+	// NewViewRequestBuilder furnishes a ViewRequestBuilder for remarking what
+	// types of queries to perform.
+	NewViewRequestBuilder() ViewRequestBuilder
+}
+
 // View provides a view of the values in the datastore subject to the request
 // of a preloading operation.
 type View interface {
@@ -55,9 +67,73 @@ type View interface {
 	GetRangeValues(*clientmodel.Fingerprint, Interval) Values
 }
 
-// ViewableMetricPersistence is a MetricPersistence that is able to present the
+// ViewablePersistence is a Persistence that is able to present the
 // samples it has stored as a View.
-type ViewableMetricPersistence interface {
-	MetricPersistence
+type ViewablePersistence interface {
+	Persistence
 	View
 }
+
+// ViewRequestBuilder represents the summation of all datastore queries that
+// shall be performed to extract values. Call the Get... methods to record the
+// queries. Once done, use HasOp and PopOp to retrieve the resulting
+// operations. The operations are sorted by their fingerprint (and, for equal
+// fingerprints, by the StartsAt timestamp of their operation).
+type ViewRequestBuilder interface {
+	// GetMetricAtTime records a query to get, for the given Fingerprint,
+	// either the value at that time if there is a match or the one or two
+	// values adjacent thereto.
+	GetMetricAtTime(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint, time clientmodel.Timestamp)
+	// GetMetricAtInterval records a query to get, for the given
+	// Fingerprint, either the value at that interval from From through
+	// Through if there is a match or the one or two values adjacent for
+	// each point.
+	GetMetricAtInterval(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint, from, through clientmodel.Timestamp, interval time.Duration)
+	// GetMetricRange records a query to get, for the given Fingerprint, the
+	// values that occur inclusively from From through Through.
+	GetMetricRange(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint, from, through clientmodel.Timestamp)
+	// GetMetricRangeAtInterval records a query to get value ranges at
+	// intervals for the given Fingerprint:
+	//
+	//   |----|       |----|       |----|       |----|
+	//   ^    ^            ^       ^    ^            ^
+	//   |    \------------/       \----/            |
+	//  from     interval       rangeDuration     through
+	GetMetricRangeAtInterval(fp *clientmodel.Fingerprint, from, through clientmodel.Timestamp, interval, rangeDuration time.Duration)
+	// Execute materializes a View, subject to a timeout.
+	Execute(deadline time.Duration, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (View, error)
+	// PopOp emits the next operation in the queue (sorted by
+	// fingerprint). If called while HasOps returns false, the
+	// behavior is undefined.
+	PopOp() Op
+	// HasOp returns true if there is at least one more operation in the
+	// queue.
+	HasOp() bool
+}
+
+// Op encapsulates a primitive query operation.
+type Op interface {
+	// Fingerprint returns the fingerprint of the metric this operation
+	// operates on.
+	Fingerprint() *clientmodel.Fingerprint
+	// ExtractSamples extracts samples from a stream of values and advances
+	// the operation time.
+	ExtractSamples(Values) Values
+	// Consumed returns whether the operator has consumed all data it needs.
+	Consumed() bool
+	// CurrentTime gets the current operation time. In a newly created op,
+	// this is the starting time of the operation. During ongoing execution
+	// of the op, the current time is advanced accordingly. Once no
+	// subsequent work associated with the operation remains, nil is
+	// returned.
+	CurrentTime() clientmodel.Timestamp
+}
+
+// CurationState contains high-level curation state information for the
+// heads-up-display.
+type CurationState struct {
+	Active      bool
+	Name        string
+	Limit       time.Duration
+	Fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint
+}
diff --git a/storage/metric/matcher.go b/storage/metric/matcher.go
index 58203ad26a..395f2b9fee 100644
--- a/storage/metric/matcher.go
+++ b/storage/metric/matcher.go
@@ -98,15 +98,3 @@ func (m *LabelMatcher) Filter(in clientmodel.LabelValues) clientmodel.LabelValue
 	}
 	return out
 }
-
-func labelMatchersFromLabelSet(l clientmodel.LabelSet) LabelMatchers {
-	m := make(LabelMatchers, 0, len(l))
-	for k, v := range l {
-		m = append(m, &LabelMatcher{
-			Type:  Equal,
-			Name:  k,
-			Value: v,
-		})
-	}
-	return m
-}
diff --git a/storage/metric/sample.go b/storage/metric/sample.go
index a367a32771..4061cb1d0c 100644
--- a/storage/metric/sample.go
+++ b/storage/metric/sample.go
@@ -15,23 +15,12 @@ package metric
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
-	"math"
 	"sort"
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 )
 
-const (
-	// sampleSize is the number of bytes per sample in marshalled format.
-	sampleSize = 16
-	// formatVersion is used as a version marker in the marshalled format.
-	formatVersion = 1
-	// formatVersionSize is the number of bytes used by the serialized formatVersion.
-	formatVersionSize = 1
-)
-
 // MarshalJSON implements json.Marshaler.
 func (s SamplePair) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	return []byte(fmt.Sprintf("{\"Value\": \"%f\", \"Timestamp\": %d}", s.Value, s.Timestamp)), nil
@@ -121,7 +110,7 @@ func (v Values) InsideInterval(t clientmodel.Timestamp) bool {
 
 // TruncateBefore returns a subslice of the original such that extraneous
 // samples in the collection that occur before the provided time are
-// dropped.  The original slice is not mutated
+// dropped. The original slice is not mutated.
 func (v Values) TruncateBefore(t clientmodel.Timestamp) Values {
 	index := sort.Search(len(v), func(i int) bool {
 		timestamp := v[i].Timestamp
@@ -132,16 +121,6 @@ func (v Values) TruncateBefore(t clientmodel.Timestamp) Values {
 	return v[index:]
 }
 
-// ToSampleKey returns the SampleKey for these Values.
-func (v Values) ToSampleKey(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint) *SampleKey {
-	return &SampleKey{
-		Fingerprint:    f,
-		FirstTimestamp: v[0].Timestamp,
-		LastTimestamp:  v[len(v)-1].Timestamp,
-		SampleCount:    uint32(len(v)),
-	}
-}
-
 func (v Values) String() string {
 	buffer := bytes.Buffer{}
 
@@ -157,48 +136,6 @@ func (v Values) String() string {
 	return buffer.String()
 }
 
-// marshal marshals a group of samples for being written to disk into dest or a
-// new slice if dest is insufficiently small.
-func (v Values) marshal(dest []byte) []byte {
-	sz := formatVersionSize + len(v)*sampleSize
-	if cap(dest) < sz {
-		dest = make([]byte, sz)
-	} else {
-		dest = dest[0:sz]
-	}
-
-	dest[0] = formatVersion
-	for i, val := range v {
-		offset := formatVersionSize + i*sampleSize
-		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(dest[offset:], uint64(val.Timestamp.Unix()))
-		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(dest[offset+8:], math.Float64bits(float64(val.Value)))
-	}
-	return dest
-}
-
-// unmarshalValues decodes marshalled samples into dest and returns either dest
-// or a new slice containing those values if dest is insufficiently small.
-func unmarshalValues(buf []byte, dest Values) Values {
-	if buf[0] != formatVersion {
-		panic("unsupported format version")
-	}
-
-	n := (len(buf) - formatVersionSize) / sampleSize
-
-	if cap(dest) < n {
-		dest = make(Values, n)
-	} else {
-		dest = dest[0:n]
-	}
-
-	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
-		offset := formatVersionSize + i*sampleSize
-		dest[i].Timestamp = clientmodel.TimestampFromUnix(int64(binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(buf[offset:])))
-		dest[i].Value = clientmodel.SampleValue(math.Float64frombits(binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(buf[offset+8:])))
-	}
-	return dest
-}
-
 // SampleSet is Values with a Metric attached.
 type SampleSet struct {
 	Metric clientmodel.Metric
diff --git a/storage/metric/compaction_regression_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/compaction_regression_test.go
similarity index 97%
rename from storage/metric/compaction_regression_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/compaction_regression_test.go
index d84ddc944e..1a78f34ed2 100644
--- a/storage/metric/compaction_regression_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/compaction_regression_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"flag"
@@ -21,13 +21,14 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 )
 
 type nopCurationStateUpdater struct{}
 
-func (n *nopCurationStateUpdater) UpdateCurationState(*CurationState) {}
+func (n *nopCurationStateUpdater) UpdateCurationState(*metric.CurationState) {}
 
 func generateTestSamples(endTime clientmodel.Timestamp, numTs int, samplesPerTs int, interval time.Duration) clientmodel.Samples {
 	samples := make(clientmodel.Samples, 0, numTs*samplesPerTs)
@@ -63,7 +64,7 @@ func (c *compactionChecker) Operate(key, value interface{}) *storage.OperatorErr
 		c.t.Fatalf("Chunk FirstTimestamp (%v) is after LastTimestamp (%v): %v", sampleKey.FirstTimestamp.Unix(), sampleKey.LastTimestamp.Unix(), sampleKey)
 	}
 	fp := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
-	for _, sample := range value.(Values) {
+	for _, sample := range value.(metric.Values) {
 		if sample.Timestamp.Before(sampleKey.FirstTimestamp) || sample.Timestamp.After(sampleKey.LastTimestamp) {
 			c.t.Fatalf("Sample not within chunk boundaries: chunk FirstTimestamp (%v), chunk LastTimestamp (%v) vs. sample Timestamp (%v)", sampleKey.FirstTimestamp.Unix(), sampleKey.LastTimestamp.Unix(), sample.Timestamp)
 		}
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ func (c *compactionChecker) Operate(key, value interface{}) *storage.OperatorErr
 			c.t.Fatalf("%d. Expected fingerprint %s, got %s", c.sampleIdx, fp, sampleKey.Fingerprint)
 		}
 
-		sp := &SamplePair{
+		sp := &metric.SamplePair{
 			Value:     expected.Value,
 			Timestamp: expected.Timestamp,
 		}
diff --git a/storage/metric/curator.go b/storage/metric/tiered/curator.go
similarity index 97%
rename from storage/metric/curator.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/curator.go
index 7102cb5862..4fa4ae8384 100644
--- a/storage/metric/curator.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/curator.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw/leveldb"
 
@@ -38,16 +39,7 @@ var errIllegalIterator = errors.New("iterator invalid")
 
 // CurationStateUpdater receives updates about the curation state.
 type CurationStateUpdater interface {
-	UpdateCurationState(*CurationState)
-}
-
-// CurationState contains high-level curation state information for the
-// heads-up-display.
-type CurationState struct {
-	Active      bool
-	Name        string
-	Limit       time.Duration
-	Fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint
+	UpdateCurationState(*metric.CurationState)
 }
 
 // CuratorOptions bundles the parameters needed to create a Curator.
@@ -144,7 +136,7 @@ func (c *Curator) Run(ignoreYoungerThan time.Duration, instant clientmodel.Times
 		curationDurations.Add(labels, duration)
 	}(time.Now())
 
-	defer status.UpdateCurationState(&CurationState{Active: false})
+	defer status.UpdateCurationState(&metric.CurationState{Active: false})
 
 	iterator, err := samples.NewIterator(true)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -271,7 +263,7 @@ func (w *watermarkScanner) Filter(key, value interface{}) (r storage.FilterResul
 
 		curationFilterOperations.Increment(labels)
 
-		w.status.UpdateCurationState(&CurationState{
+		w.status.UpdateCurationState(&metric.CurationState{
 			Active:      true,
 			Name:        w.processor.Name(),
 			Limit:       w.ignoreYoungerThan,
diff --git a/storage/metric/dto.go b/storage/metric/tiered/dto.go
similarity index 99%
rename from storage/metric/dto.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/dto.go
index e1e1954fd7..c96b69f0be 100644
--- a/storage/metric/dto.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/dto.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"sort"
diff --git a/storage/metric/end_to_end_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/end_to_end_test.go
similarity index 79%
rename from storage/metric/end_to_end_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/end_to_end_test.go
index cd24447ea9..94f5698bf8 100644
--- a/storage/metric/end_to_end_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/end_to_end_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"sort"
@@ -20,10 +20,11 @@ import (
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility/test"
 )
 
-func GetFingerprintsForLabelSetTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
+func GetFingerprintsForLabelSetTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
 	metrics := []clientmodel.Metric{
 		{
 			clientmodel.MetricNameLabel: "test_metric",
@@ -47,8 +48,8 @@ func GetFingerprintsForLabelSetTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 		},
 	}
 
-	newTestLabelMatcher := func(matchType MatchType, name clientmodel.LabelName, value clientmodel.LabelValue) *LabelMatcher {
-		m, err := NewLabelMatcher(matchType, name, value)
+	newTestLabelMatcher := func(matchType metric.MatchType, name clientmodel.LabelName, value clientmodel.LabelValue) *metric.LabelMatcher {
+		m, err := metric.NewLabelMatcher(matchType, name, value)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("Couldn't create label matcher: %v", err)
 		}
@@ -56,61 +57,61 @@ func GetFingerprintsForLabelSetTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 	}
 
 	scenarios := []struct {
-		in         LabelMatchers
+		in         metric.LabelMatchers
 		outIndexes []int
 	}{
 		{
-			in: LabelMatchers{
-				newTestLabelMatcher(Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
+			in: metric.LabelMatchers{
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
 			},
 			outIndexes: []int{0, 1, 2, 3},
 		},
 		{
-			in: LabelMatchers{
-				newTestLabelMatcher(Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "non_existent_metric"),
+			in: metric.LabelMatchers{
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "non_existent_metric"),
 			},
 			outIndexes: []int{},
 		},
 		{
-			in: LabelMatchers{
-				newTestLabelMatcher(Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "non_existent_metric"),
-				newTestLabelMatcher(Equal, "result", "success"),
+			in: metric.LabelMatchers{
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "non_existent_metric"),
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, "result", "success"),
 			},
 			outIndexes: []int{},
 		},
 		{
-			in: LabelMatchers{
-				newTestLabelMatcher(Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
-				newTestLabelMatcher(Equal, "result", "success"),
+			in: metric.LabelMatchers{
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, "result", "success"),
 			},
 			outIndexes: []int{0, 2},
 		},
 		{
-			in: LabelMatchers{
-				newTestLabelMatcher(Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
-				newTestLabelMatcher(NotEqual, "result", "success"),
+			in: metric.LabelMatchers{
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.NotEqual, "result", "success"),
 			},
 			outIndexes: []int{1, 3},
 		},
 		{
-			in: LabelMatchers{
-				newTestLabelMatcher(Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
-				newTestLabelMatcher(RegexMatch, "result", "foo|success|bar"),
+			in: metric.LabelMatchers{
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.RegexMatch, "result", "foo|success|bar"),
 			},
 			outIndexes: []int{0, 2},
 		},
 		{
-			in: LabelMatchers{
-				newTestLabelMatcher(Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
-				newTestLabelMatcher(RegexNoMatch, "result", "foo|success|bar"),
+			in: metric.LabelMatchers{
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.RegexNoMatch, "result", "foo|success|bar"),
 			},
 			outIndexes: []int{1, 3},
 		},
 		{
-			in: LabelMatchers{
-				newTestLabelMatcher(Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
-				newTestLabelMatcher(RegexNoMatch, "result", "foo|success|bar"),
-				newTestLabelMatcher(RegexMatch, "method", "os"),
+			in: metric.LabelMatchers{
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.Equal, clientmodel.MetricNameLabel, "test_metric"),
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.RegexNoMatch, "result", "foo|success|bar"),
+				newTestLabelMatcher(metric.RegexMatch, "method", "os"),
 			},
 			outIndexes: []int{3},
 		},
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ func GetFingerprintsForLabelSetTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 	}
 }
 
-func GetLabelValuesForLabelNameTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
+func GetLabelValuesForLabelNameTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
 	testAppendSamples(p, &clientmodel.Sample{
 		Value:     0,
 		Timestamp: 0,
@@ -196,7 +197,7 @@ func GetLabelValuesForLabelNameTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 	}
 }
 
-func GetMetricForFingerprintTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
+func GetMetricForFingerprintTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
 	testAppendSamples(p, &clientmodel.Sample{
 		Value:     0,
 		Timestamp: 0,
@@ -214,8 +215,8 @@ func GetMetricForFingerprintTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 		},
 	}, t)
 
-	result, err := p.GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(LabelMatchers{{
-		Type:  Equal,
+	result, err := p.GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(metric.LabelMatchers{{
+		Type:  metric.Equal,
 		Name:  "request_type",
 		Value: "your_mom",
 	}})
@@ -228,25 +229,25 @@ func GetMetricForFingerprintTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 		t.Errorf("Expected one element.")
 	}
 
-	metric, err := p.GetMetricForFingerprint(result[0])
+	m, err := p.GetMetricForFingerprint(result[0])
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
 	}
 
-	if metric == nil {
+	if m == nil {
 		t.Fatal("Did not expect nil.")
 	}
 
-	if len(metric) != 1 {
+	if len(m) != 1 {
 		t.Errorf("Expected one-dimensional metric.")
 	}
 
-	if metric["request_type"] != "your_mom" {
+	if m["request_type"] != "your_mom" {
 		t.Errorf("Expected metric to match.")
 	}
 
-	result, err = p.GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(LabelMatchers{{
-		Type:  Equal,
+	result, err = p.GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(metric.LabelMatchers{{
+		Type:  metric.Equal,
 		Name:  "request_type",
 		Value: "your_dad",
 	}})
@@ -259,9 +260,9 @@ func GetMetricForFingerprintTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 		t.Errorf("Expected one element.")
 	}
 
-	metric, err = p.GetMetricForFingerprint(result[0])
+	m, err = p.GetMetricForFingerprint(result[0])
 
-	if metric == nil {
+	if m == nil {
 		t.Fatal("Did not expect nil.")
 	}
 
@@ -269,24 +270,24 @@ func GetMetricForFingerprintTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 		t.Error(err)
 	}
 
-	if len(metric) != 2 {
+	if len(m) != 2 {
 		t.Errorf("Expected two-dimensional metric.")
 	}
 
-	if metric["request_type"] != "your_dad" {
+	if m["request_type"] != "your_dad" {
 		t.Errorf("Expected metric to match.")
 	}
 
-	if metric["one-off"] != "value" {
+	if m["one-off"] != "value" {
 		t.Errorf("Expected metric to match.")
 	}
 
 	// Verify that mutating a returned metric does not result in the mutated
 	// metric to be returned at the next GetMetricForFingerprint() call.
-	metric["one-off"] = "new value"
-	metric, err = p.GetMetricForFingerprint(result[0])
+	m["one-off"] = "new value"
+	m, err = p.GetMetricForFingerprint(result[0])
 
-	if metric == nil {
+	if m == nil {
 		t.Fatal("Did not expect nil.")
 	}
 
@@ -294,21 +295,21 @@ func GetMetricForFingerprintTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 		t.Error(err)
 	}
 
-	if len(metric) != 2 {
+	if len(m) != 2 {
 		t.Errorf("Expected two-dimensional metric.")
 	}
 
-	if metric["request_type"] != "your_dad" {
+	if m["request_type"] != "your_dad" {
 		t.Errorf("Expected metric to match.")
 	}
 
-	if metric["one-off"] != "value" {
+	if m["one-off"] != "value" {
 		t.Errorf("Expected metric to match.")
 	}
 }
 
-func AppendRepeatingValuesTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
-	metric := clientmodel.Metric{
+func AppendRepeatingValuesTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
+	m := clientmodel.Metric{
 		clientmodel.MetricNameLabel: "errors_total",
 		"controller":                "foo",
 		"operation":                 "bar",
@@ -323,14 +324,14 @@ func AppendRepeatingValuesTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 			testAppendSamples(p, &clientmodel.Sample{
 				Value:     clientmodel.SampleValue(i),
 				Timestamp: time,
-				Metric:    metric,
+				Metric:    m,
 			}, t)
 		}
 	}
 
-	v, ok := p.(View)
+	v, ok := p.(metric.View)
 	if !ok {
-		// It's purely a benchmark for a MetricPersistence that is not viewable.
+		// It's purely a benchmark for a Persistence that is not viewable.
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -367,8 +368,8 @@ func AppendRepeatingValuesTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 	}
 }
 
-func AppendsRepeatingValuesTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
-	metric := clientmodel.Metric{
+func AppendsRepeatingValuesTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
+	m := clientmodel.Metric{
 		clientmodel.MetricNameLabel: "errors_total",
 		"controller":                "foo",
 		"operation":                 "bar",
@@ -384,14 +385,14 @@ func AppendsRepeatingValuesTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 			s = append(s, &clientmodel.Sample{
 				Value:     clientmodel.SampleValue(i),
 				Timestamp: time,
-				Metric:    metric,
+				Metric:    m,
 			})
 		}
 	}
 
 	p.AppendSamples(s)
 
-	v, ok := p.(View)
+	v, ok := p.(metric.View)
 	if !ok {
 		// It's purely a benchmark for a MetricPersistance that is not viewable.
 		return
diff --git a/storage/metric/freelist.go b/storage/metric/tiered/freelist.go
similarity index 99%
rename from storage/metric/freelist.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/freelist.go
index 174b58def0..18e2c02127 100644
--- a/storage/metric/freelist.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/freelist.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"time"
diff --git a/storage/metric/freelist_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/freelist_test.go
similarity index 98%
rename from storage/metric/freelist_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/freelist_test.go
index 81459b73dc..c575583cc2 100644
--- a/storage/metric/freelist_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/freelist_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"testing"
diff --git a/storage/metric/helpers_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/helpers_test.go
similarity index 74%
rename from storage/metric/helpers_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/helpers_test.go
index 55e7a52a4c..ae15f2832d 100644
--- a/storage/metric/helpers_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/helpers_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility/test"
 )
 
@@ -28,18 +29,18 @@ var (
 	testInstant  = clientmodel.TimestampFromTime(time.Date(1972, 7, 18, 19, 5, 45, 0, usEastern).In(time.UTC))
 )
 
-func testAppendSamples(p MetricPersistence, s *clientmodel.Sample, t test.Tester) {
+func testAppendSamples(p metric.Persistence, s *clientmodel.Sample, t test.Tester) {
 	err := p.AppendSamples(clientmodel.Samples{s})
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 }
 
-func buildLevelDBTestPersistencesMaker(name string, t test.Tester) func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
-	return func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
+func buildLevelDBTestPersistencesMaker(name string, t test.Tester) func() (metric.Persistence, test.Closer) {
+	return func() (metric.Persistence, test.Closer) {
 		temporaryDirectory := test.NewTemporaryDirectory("get_value_at_time", t)
 
-		p, err := NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(temporaryDirectory.Path())
+		p, err := NewLevelDBPersistence(temporaryDirectory.Path())
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("Could not start up LevelDB: %q\n", err)
 		}
@@ -48,13 +49,13 @@ func buildLevelDBTestPersistencesMaker(name string, t test.Tester) func() (Metri
 	}
 }
 
-func buildLevelDBTestPersistence(name string, f func(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester)) func(t test.Tester) {
+func buildLevelDBTestPersistence(name string, f func(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester)) func(t test.Tester) {
 	return func(t test.Tester) {
 
 		temporaryDirectory := test.NewTemporaryDirectory(fmt.Sprintf("test_leveldb_%s", name), t)
 		defer temporaryDirectory.Close()
 
-		p, err := NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(temporaryDirectory.Path())
+		p, err := NewLevelDBPersistence(temporaryDirectory.Path())
 
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("Could not create LevelDB Metric Persistence: %q\n", err)
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@ func buildLevelDBTestPersistence(name string, f func(p MetricPersistence, t test
 	}
 }
 
-func buildMemoryTestPersistence(f func(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester)) func(t test.Tester) {
+func buildMemoryTestPersistence(f func(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester)) func(t test.Tester) {
 	return func(t test.Tester) {
 
 		p := NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{})
@@ -115,3 +116,15 @@ func NewTestTieredStorage(t test.Tester) (*TieredStorage, test.Closer) {
 
 	return storage, closer
 }
+
+func labelMatchersFromLabelSet(l clientmodel.LabelSet) metric.LabelMatchers {
+	m := make(metric.LabelMatchers, 0, len(l))
+	for k, v := range l {
+		m = append(m, &metric.LabelMatcher{
+			Type:  metric.Equal,
+			Name:  k,
+			Value: v,
+		})
+	}
+	return m
+}
diff --git a/storage/metric/index.go b/storage/metric/tiered/index.go
similarity index 96%
rename from storage/metric/index.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/index.go
index 4fe2c0088f..cc3eb45bf7 100644
--- a/storage/metric/index.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/index.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"io"
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"code.google.com/p/goprotobuf/proto"
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw/leveldb"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility"
@@ -182,7 +183,7 @@ func NewLevelDBLabelNameLabelValuesIndex(o leveldb.LevelDBOptions) (*LevelDBLabe
 
 // LabelPairFingerprintMapping is an in-memory map of LabelPairs to
 // Fingerprints.
-type LabelPairFingerprintMapping map[LabelPair]clientmodel.Fingerprints
+type LabelPairFingerprintMapping map[metric.LabelPair]clientmodel.Fingerprints
 
 // LabelPairFingerprintIndex models a database mapping LabelPairs to
 // Fingerprints.
@@ -192,8 +193,8 @@ type LabelPairFingerprintIndex interface {
 	raw.Pruner
 
 	IndexBatch(LabelPairFingerprintMapping) error
-	Lookup(*LabelPair) (m clientmodel.Fingerprints, ok bool, err error)
-	Has(*LabelPair) (ok bool, err error)
+	Lookup(*metric.LabelPair) (m clientmodel.Fingerprints, ok bool, err error)
+	Has(*metric.LabelPair) (ok bool, err error)
 }
 
 // LevelDBLabelPairFingerprintIndex implements LabelPairFingerprintIndex using
@@ -228,7 +229,7 @@ func (i *LevelDBLabelPairFingerprintIndex) IndexBatch(m LabelPairFingerprintMapp
 }
 
 // Lookup implements LabelPairFingerprintMapping.
-func (i *LevelDBLabelPairFingerprintIndex) Lookup(p *LabelPair) (m clientmodel.Fingerprints, ok bool, err error) {
+func (i *LevelDBLabelPairFingerprintIndex) Lookup(p *metric.LabelPair) (m clientmodel.Fingerprints, ok bool, err error) {
 	k := &dto.LabelPair{
 		Name:  proto.String(string(p.Name)),
 		Value: proto.String(string(p.Value)),
@@ -254,7 +255,7 @@ func (i *LevelDBLabelPairFingerprintIndex) Lookup(p *LabelPair) (m clientmodel.F
 }
 
 // Has implements LabelPairFingerprintMapping.
-func (i *LevelDBLabelPairFingerprintIndex) Has(p *LabelPair) (ok bool, err error) {
+func (i *LevelDBLabelPairFingerprintIndex) Has(p *metric.LabelPair) (ok bool, err error) {
 	k := &dto.LabelPair{
 		Name:  proto.String(string(p.Name)),
 		Value: proto.String(string(p.Value)),
@@ -615,11 +616,11 @@ func extendLabelNameToLabelValuesIndex(i LabelNameLabelValuesIndex, b Fingerprin
 }
 
 func extendLabelPairIndex(i LabelPairFingerprintIndex, b FingerprintMetricMapping) (LabelPairFingerprintMapping, error) {
-	collection := map[LabelPair]utility.Set{}
+	collection := map[metric.LabelPair]utility.Set{}
 
 	for fp, m := range b {
 		for n, v := range m {
-			pair := LabelPair{
+			pair := metric.LabelPair{
 				Name:  n,
 				Value: v,
 			}
diff --git a/storage/metric/instrumentation.go b/storage/metric/tiered/instrumentation.go
similarity index 99%
rename from storage/metric/instrumentation.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/instrumentation.go
index 809d9b0d65..d273775ac9 100644
--- a/storage/metric/instrumentation.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/instrumentation.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"time"
diff --git a/storage/metric/interface_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/interface_test.go
similarity index 77%
rename from storage/metric/interface_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/interface_test.go
index eb7dd29c98..6752c9a6f6 100644
--- a/storage/metric/interface_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/interface_test.go
@@ -11,13 +11,15 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 )
 
 func TestInterfaceAdherence(t *testing.T) {
-	var _ MetricPersistence = &LevelDBMetricPersistence{}
-	var _ MetricPersistence = NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{})
+	var _ metric.Persistence = &LevelDBPersistence{}
+	var _ metric.Persistence = NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{})
 }
diff --git a/storage/metric/leveldb.go b/storage/metric/tiered/leveldb.go
similarity index 89%
rename from storage/metric/leveldb.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/leveldb.go
index 4fdee58143..b242c79fac 100644
--- a/storage/metric/leveldb.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/leveldb.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"flag"
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw/leveldb"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility"
@@ -35,8 +36,8 @@ import (
 
 const sortConcurrency = 2
 
-// LevelDBMetricPersistence is a leveldb-backed persistence layer for metrics.
-type LevelDBMetricPersistence struct {
+// LevelDBPersistence is a leveldb-backed persistence layer for metrics.
+type LevelDBPersistence struct {
 	CurationRemarks         CurationRemarker
 	FingerprintToMetrics    FingerprintMetricIndex
 	LabelNameToLabelValues  LabelNameLabelValuesIndex
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@ type LevelDBMetricPersistence struct {
 	//
 	// type FingerprintResolver interface {
 	// 	GetFingerprintForMetric(clientmodel.Metric) (*clientmodel.Fingerprint, bool, error)
-	// 	GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(LabelPair) (clientmodel.Fingerprints, bool, error)
+	// 	GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(metric.LabelPair) (clientmodel.Fingerprints, bool, error)
 	// }
 
 	// type MetricResolver interface {
@@ -77,8 +78,8 @@ var (
 type leveldbOpener func()
 
 // Close closes all the underlying persistence layers. It implements the
-// MetricPersistence interface.
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) Close() {
+// Persistence interface.
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) Close() {
 	var persistences = []raw.Database{
 		l.CurationRemarks,
 		l.FingerprintToMetrics,
@@ -106,12 +107,12 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) Close() {
 	closerGroup.Wait()
 }
 
-// NewLevelDBMetricPersistence returns a LevelDBMetricPersistence object ready
+// NewLevelDBPersistence returns a LevelDBPersistence object ready
 // to use.
-func NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(baseDirectory string) (*LevelDBMetricPersistence, error) {
+func NewLevelDBPersistence(baseDirectory string) (*LevelDBPersistence, error) {
 	workers := utility.NewUncertaintyGroup(7)
 
-	emission := &LevelDBMetricPersistence{}
+	emission := &LevelDBPersistence{}
 
 	var subsystemOpeners = []struct {
 		name   string
@@ -245,8 +246,8 @@ func NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(baseDirectory string) (*LevelDBMetricPersistenc
 	return emission, nil
 }
 
-// AppendSample implements the MetricPersistence interface.
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) AppendSample(sample *clientmodel.Sample) (err error) {
+// AppendSample implements the Persistence interface.
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) AppendSample(sample *clientmodel.Sample) (err error) {
 	defer func(begin time.Time) {
 		duration := time.Since(begin)
 
@@ -292,7 +293,7 @@ func groupByFingerprint(samples clientmodel.Samples) map[clientmodel.Fingerprint
 	return fingerprintToSamples
 }
 
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) refreshHighWatermarks(groups map[clientmodel.Fingerprint]clientmodel.Samples) (err error) {
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) refreshHighWatermarks(groups map[clientmodel.Fingerprint]clientmodel.Samples) (err error) {
 	defer func(begin time.Time) {
 		duration := time.Since(begin)
 
@@ -312,7 +313,7 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) refreshHighWatermarks(groups map[clientmodel.
 }
 
 // AppendSamples appends the given Samples to the database and indexes them.
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) AppendSamples(samples clientmodel.Samples) (err error) {
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) AppendSamples(samples clientmodel.Samples) (err error) {
 	defer func(begin time.Time) {
 		duration := time.Since(begin)
 
@@ -342,7 +343,7 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) AppendSamples(samples clientmodel.Samples) (e
 
 	key := &SampleKey{}
 	keyDto := &dto.SampleKey{}
-	values := make(Values, 0, *leveldbChunkSize)
+	values := make(metric.Values, 0, *leveldbChunkSize)
 
 	for fingerprint, group := range fingerprintToSamples {
 		for {
@@ -369,12 +370,12 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) AppendSamples(samples clientmodel.Samples) (e
 			key.Dump(keyDto)
 
 			for _, sample := range chunk {
-				values = append(values, SamplePair{
+				values = append(values, metric.SamplePair{
 					Timestamp: sample.Timestamp,
 					Value:     sample.Value,
 				})
 			}
-			val := values.marshal(nil)
+			val := marshalValues(values, nil)
 			samplesBatch.PutRaw(keyDto, val)
 		}
 	}
@@ -409,7 +410,7 @@ func extractSampleKey(i leveldb.Iterator) (*SampleKey, error) {
 	return key, nil
 }
 
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) hasIndexMetric(m clientmodel.Metric) (value bool, err error) {
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) hasIndexMetric(m clientmodel.Metric) (value bool, err error) {
 	defer func(begin time.Time) {
 		duration := time.Since(begin)
 
@@ -422,8 +423,8 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) hasIndexMetric(m clientmodel.Metric) (value b
 // GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers returns the Fingerprints for the given
 // LabelMatchers by querying the underlying LabelPairFingerprintIndex and
 // possibly the LabelNameLabelValuesIndex for each matcher. It implements the
-// MetricPersistence interface.
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(labelMatchers LabelMatchers) (fps clientmodel.Fingerprints, err error) {
+// Persistence interface.
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(labelMatchers metric.LabelMatchers) (fps clientmodel.Fingerprints, err error) {
 	defer func(begin time.Time) {
 		duration := time.Since(begin)
 
@@ -436,8 +437,8 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(labelMatchers
 		set := utility.Set{}
 
 		switch matcher.Type {
-		case Equal:
-			fps, _, err := l.LabelPairToFingerprints.Lookup(&LabelPair{
+		case metric.Equal:
+			fps, _, err := l.LabelPairToFingerprints.Lookup(&metric.LabelPair{
 				Name:  matcher.Name,
 				Value: matcher.Value,
 			})
@@ -458,7 +459,7 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(labelMatchers
 				return nil, nil
 			}
 			for _, v := range matches {
-				fps, _, err := l.LabelPairToFingerprints.Lookup(&LabelPair{
+				fps, _, err := l.LabelPairToFingerprints.Lookup(&metric.LabelPair{
 					Name:  matcher.Name,
 					Value: v,
 				})
@@ -492,8 +493,8 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(labelMatchers
 
 // GetLabelValuesForLabelName returns the LabelValues for the given LabelName
 // from the underlying LabelNameLabelValuesIndex. It implements the
-// MetricPersistence interface.
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetLabelValuesForLabelName(labelName clientmodel.LabelName) (clientmodel.LabelValues, error) {
+// Persistence interface.
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) GetLabelValuesForLabelName(labelName clientmodel.LabelName) (clientmodel.LabelValues, error) {
 	var err error
 	defer func(begin time.Time) {
 		duration := time.Since(begin)
@@ -507,9 +508,9 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetLabelValuesForLabelName(labelName clientmo
 }
 
 // GetMetricForFingerprint returns the Metric for the given Fingerprint from the
-// underlying FingerprintMetricIndex. It implements the MetricPersistence
+// underlying FingerprintMetricIndex. It implements the Persistence
 // interface.
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetMetricForFingerprint(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint) (m clientmodel.Metric, err error) {
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) GetMetricForFingerprint(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint) (m clientmodel.Metric, err error) {
 	defer func(begin time.Time) {
 		duration := time.Since(begin)
 
@@ -524,7 +525,7 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetMetricForFingerprint(f *clientmodel.Finger
 
 // GetAllValuesForLabel gets all label values that are associated with the
 // provided label name.
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetAllValuesForLabel(labelName clientmodel.LabelName) (values clientmodel.LabelValues, err error) {
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) GetAllValuesForLabel(labelName clientmodel.LabelName) (values clientmodel.LabelValues, err error) {
 	filter := &LabelNameFilter{
 		labelName: labelName,
 	}
@@ -543,7 +544,7 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) GetAllValuesForLabel(labelName clientmodel.La
 //
 // Beware that it would probably be imprudent to run this on a live user-facing
 // server due to latency implications.
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) Prune() {
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) Prune() {
 	l.CurationRemarks.Prune()
 	l.FingerprintToMetrics.Prune()
 	l.LabelNameToLabelValues.Prune()
@@ -554,7 +555,7 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) Prune() {
 }
 
 // Sizes returns the sum of all sizes of the underlying databases.
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) Sizes() (total uint64, err error) {
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) Sizes() (total uint64, err error) {
 	size := uint64(0)
 
 	if size, err = l.CurationRemarks.Size(); err != nil {
@@ -596,7 +597,7 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) Sizes() (total uint64, err error) {
 }
 
 // States returns the DatabaseStates of all underlying databases.
-func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) States() raw.DatabaseStates {
+func (l *LevelDBPersistence) States() raw.DatabaseStates {
 	return raw.DatabaseStates{
 		l.CurationRemarks.State(),
 		l.FingerprintToMetrics.State(),
@@ -617,7 +618,7 @@ type CollectLabelValuesOp struct {
 // Operate implements storage.RecordOperator. 'key' is required to be a
 // LabelPair. Its Value is appended to a slice of collected LabelValues.
 func (op *CollectLabelValuesOp) Operate(key, value interface{}) (err *storage.OperatorError) {
-	labelPair := key.(LabelPair)
+	labelPair := key.(metric.LabelPair)
 	op.labelValues = append(op.labelValues, labelPair.Value)
 	return
 }
@@ -634,7 +635,7 @@ func (d *MetricKeyDecoder) DecodeKey(in interface{}) (out interface{}, err error
 		return
 	}
 
-	out = LabelPair{
+	out = metric.LabelPair{
 		Name:  clientmodel.LabelName(*unmarshaled.Name),
 		Value: clientmodel.LabelValue(*unmarshaled.Value),
 	}
@@ -690,7 +691,7 @@ type LabelNameFilter struct {
 // LabelPair. The result is ACCEPT if the Name of the LabelPair matches the
 // LabelName of this LabelNameFilter.
 func (f LabelNameFilter) Filter(key, value interface{}) (filterResult storage.FilterResult) {
-	labelPair, ok := key.(LabelPair)
+	labelPair, ok := key.(metric.LabelPair)
 	if ok && labelPair.Name == f.labelName {
 		return storage.Accept
 	}
diff --git a/storage/metric/tiered/marshal.go b/storage/metric/tiered/marshal.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1b19738c31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/marshal.go
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+// Copyright 2013 Prometheus Team
+// Licensed 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.
+
+package tiered
+
+import (
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"math"
+
+	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
+
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
+)
+
+const (
+	// sampleSize is the number of bytes per sample in marshalled format.
+	sampleSize = 16
+	// formatVersion is used as a version marker in the marshalled format.
+	formatVersion = 1
+	// formatVersionSize is the number of bytes used by the serialized formatVersion.
+	formatVersionSize = 1
+)
+
+// marshal marshals a group of samples for being written to disk into dest or a
+// new slice if dest has insufficient capacity.
+func marshalValues(v metric.Values, dest []byte) []byte {
+	sz := formatVersionSize + len(v)*sampleSize
+	if cap(dest) < sz {
+		dest = make([]byte, sz)
+	} else {
+		dest = dest[0:sz]
+	}
+
+	dest[0] = formatVersion
+	for i, val := range v {
+		offset := formatVersionSize + i*sampleSize
+		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(dest[offset:], uint64(val.Timestamp.Unix()))
+		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint64(dest[offset+8:], math.Float64bits(float64(val.Value)))
+	}
+	return dest
+}
+
+// unmarshalValues decodes marshalled samples into dest and returns either dest
+// or a new slice containing those values if dest has insufficient capacity.
+func unmarshalValues(buf []byte, dest metric.Values) metric.Values {
+	if buf[0] != formatVersion {
+		panic("unsupported format version")
+	}
+
+	n := (len(buf) - formatVersionSize) / sampleSize
+
+	if cap(dest) < n {
+		dest = make(metric.Values, n)
+	} else {
+		dest = dest[0:n]
+	}
+
+	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
+		offset := formatVersionSize + i*sampleSize
+		dest[i].Timestamp = clientmodel.TimestampFromUnix(int64(binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(buf[offset:])))
+		dest[i].Value = clientmodel.SampleValue(math.Float64frombits(binary.LittleEndian.Uint64(buf[offset+8:])))
+	}
+	return dest
+}
diff --git a/storage/metric/memory.go b/storage/metric/tiered/memory.go
similarity index 82%
rename from storage/metric/memory.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/memory.go
index c21470b5cf..896c1f8e74 100644
--- a/storage/metric/memory.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/memory.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"sort"
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility"
 )
 
@@ -27,50 +28,50 @@ import (
 const initialSeriesArenaSize = 4 * 60
 
 type stream interface {
-	add(Values)
+	add(metric.Values)
 
-	clone() Values
-	expunge(age clientmodel.Timestamp) Values
+	clone() metric.Values
+	expunge(age clientmodel.Timestamp) metric.Values
 
 	size() int
 	clear()
 
 	metric() clientmodel.Metric
 
-	getValueAtTime(t clientmodel.Timestamp) Values
-	getBoundaryValues(in Interval) Values
-	getRangeValues(in Interval) Values
+	getValueAtTime(t clientmodel.Timestamp) metric.Values
+	getBoundaryValues(in metric.Interval) metric.Values
+	getRangeValues(in metric.Interval) metric.Values
 }
 
 type arrayStream struct {
 	sync.RWMutex
 
 	m      clientmodel.Metric
-	values Values
+	values metric.Values
 }
 
 func (s *arrayStream) metric() clientmodel.Metric {
 	return s.m
 }
 
-func (s *arrayStream) add(v Values) {
+func (s *arrayStream) add(v metric.Values) {
 	s.Lock()
 	defer s.Unlock()
 
 	s.values = append(s.values, v...)
 }
 
-func (s *arrayStream) clone() Values {
+func (s *arrayStream) clone() metric.Values {
 	s.RLock()
 	defer s.RUnlock()
 
-	clone := make(Values, len(s.values))
+	clone := make(metric.Values, len(s.values))
 	copy(clone, s.values)
 
 	return clone
 }
 
-func (s *arrayStream) expunge(t clientmodel.Timestamp) Values {
+func (s *arrayStream) expunge(t clientmodel.Timestamp) metric.Values {
 	s.Lock()
 	defer s.Unlock()
 
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ func (s *arrayStream) expunge(t clientmodel.Timestamp) Values {
 	return expunged
 }
 
-func (s *arrayStream) getValueAtTime(t clientmodel.Timestamp) Values {
+func (s *arrayStream) getValueAtTime(t clientmodel.Timestamp) metric.Values {
 	s.RLock()
 	defer s.RUnlock()
 
@@ -93,29 +94,29 @@ func (s *arrayStream) getValueAtTime(t clientmodel.Timestamp) Values {
 	l := len(s.values)
 	switch l {
 	case 0:
-		return Values{}
+		return metric.Values{}
 	case 1:
-		return Values{s.values[0]}
+		return metric.Values{s.values[0]}
 	default:
 		index := sort.Search(l, func(i int) bool {
 			return !s.values[i].Timestamp.Before(t)
 		})
 
 		if index == 0 {
-			return Values{s.values[0]}
+			return metric.Values{s.values[0]}
 		}
 		if index == l {
-			return Values{s.values[l-1]}
+			return metric.Values{s.values[l-1]}
 		}
 
 		if s.values[index].Timestamp.Equal(t) {
-			return Values{s.values[index]}
+			return metric.Values{s.values[index]}
 		}
-		return Values{s.values[index-1], s.values[index]}
+		return metric.Values{s.values[index-1], s.values[index]}
 	}
 }
 
-func (s *arrayStream) getBoundaryValues(in Interval) Values {
+func (s *arrayStream) getBoundaryValues(in metric.Interval) metric.Values {
 	s.RLock()
 	defer s.RUnlock()
 
@@ -130,15 +131,15 @@ func (s *arrayStream) getBoundaryValues(in Interval) Values {
 	resultRange := s.values[oldest:newest]
 	switch len(resultRange) {
 	case 0:
-		return Values{}
+		return metric.Values{}
 	case 1:
-		return Values{resultRange[0]}
+		return metric.Values{resultRange[0]}
 	default:
-		return Values{resultRange[0], resultRange[len(resultRange)-1]}
+		return metric.Values{resultRange[0], resultRange[len(resultRange)-1]}
 	}
 }
 
-func (s *arrayStream) getRangeValues(in Interval) Values {
+func (s *arrayStream) getRangeValues(in metric.Interval) metric.Values {
 	s.RLock()
 	defer s.RUnlock()
 
@@ -150,7 +151,7 @@ func (s *arrayStream) getRangeValues(in Interval) Values {
 		return s.values[i].Timestamp.After(in.NewestInclusive)
 	})
 
-	result := make(Values, newest-oldest)
+	result := make(metric.Values, newest-oldest)
 	copy(result, s.values[oldest:newest])
 
 	return result
@@ -161,13 +162,13 @@ func (s *arrayStream) size() int {
 }
 
 func (s *arrayStream) clear() {
-	s.values = Values{}
+	s.values = metric.Values{}
 }
 
-func newArrayStream(metric clientmodel.Metric) *arrayStream {
+func newArrayStream(m clientmodel.Metric) *arrayStream {
 	return &arrayStream{
-		m:      metric,
-		values: make(Values, 0, initialSeriesArenaSize),
+		m:      m,
+		values: make(metric.Values, 0, initialSeriesArenaSize),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -176,7 +177,7 @@ type memorySeriesStorage struct {
 
 	wmCache                 *watermarkCache
 	fingerprintToSeries     map[clientmodel.Fingerprint]stream
-	labelPairToFingerprints map[LabelPair]utility.Set
+	labelPairToFingerprints map[metric.LabelPair]utility.Set
 	labelNameToLabelValues  map[clientmodel.LabelName]utility.Set
 }
 
@@ -203,8 +204,8 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) AppendSample(sample *clientmodel.Sample) error {
 	fingerprint := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
 	fingerprint.LoadFromMetric(sample.Metric)
 	series := s.getOrCreateSeries(sample.Metric, fingerprint)
-	series.add(Values{
-		SamplePair{
+	series.add(metric.Values{
+		metric.SamplePair{
 			Value:     sample.Value,
 			Timestamp: sample.Timestamp,
 		},
@@ -231,15 +232,15 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) CreateEmptySeries(metric clientmodel.Metric) {
 	s.getOrCreateSeries(m, fingerprint)
 }
 
-func (s *memorySeriesStorage) getOrCreateSeries(metric clientmodel.Metric, fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint) stream {
-	series, ok := s.fingerprintToSeries[*fingerprint]
+func (s *memorySeriesStorage) getOrCreateSeries(m clientmodel.Metric, fp *clientmodel.Fingerprint) stream {
+	series, ok := s.fingerprintToSeries[*fp]
 
 	if !ok {
-		series = newArrayStream(metric)
-		s.fingerprintToSeries[*fingerprint] = series
+		series = newArrayStream(m)
+		s.fingerprintToSeries[*fp] = series
 
-		for k, v := range metric {
-			labelPair := LabelPair{
+		for k, v := range m {
+			labelPair := metric.LabelPair{
 				Name:  k,
 				Value: v,
 			}
@@ -249,7 +250,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) getOrCreateSeries(metric clientmodel.Metric, finge
 				fps = utility.Set{}
 				s.labelPairToFingerprints[labelPair] = fps
 			}
-			fps.Add(*fingerprint)
+			fps.Add(*fp)
 
 			values, ok := s.labelNameToLabelValues[k]
 			if !ok {
@@ -318,7 +319,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) dropSeries(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint) {
 	}
 
 	for k, v := range series.metric() {
-		labelPair := LabelPair{
+		labelPair := metric.LabelPair{
 			Name:  k,
 			Value: v,
 		}
@@ -335,7 +336,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) dropSeries(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint) {
 
 // Append raw samples, bypassing indexing. Only used to add data to views,
 // which don't need to lookup by metric.
-func (s *memorySeriesStorage) appendSamplesWithoutIndexing(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint, samples Values) {
+func (s *memorySeriesStorage) appendSamplesWithoutIndexing(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint, samples metric.Values) {
 	s.Lock()
 	defer s.Unlock()
 
@@ -349,15 +350,15 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) appendSamplesWithoutIndexing(fingerprint *clientmo
 	series.add(samples)
 }
 
-func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(labelMatchers LabelMatchers) (clientmodel.Fingerprints, error) {
+func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(labelMatchers metric.LabelMatchers) (clientmodel.Fingerprints, error) {
 	s.RLock()
 	defer s.RUnlock()
 
 	sets := []utility.Set{}
 	for _, matcher := range labelMatchers {
 		switch matcher.Type {
-		case Equal:
-			set, ok := s.labelPairToFingerprints[LabelPair{
+		case metric.Equal:
+			set, ok := s.labelPairToFingerprints[metric.LabelPair{
 				Name:  matcher.Name,
 				Value: matcher.Value,
 			}]
@@ -377,7 +378,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(labelMatchers Labe
 			}
 			set := utility.Set{}
 			for _, v := range matches {
-				subset, ok := s.labelPairToFingerprints[LabelPair{
+				subset, ok := s.labelPairToFingerprints[metric.LabelPair{
 					Name:  matcher.Name,
 					Value: v,
 				}]
@@ -452,7 +453,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) HasFingerprint(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint) bool {
 	return has
 }
 
-func (s *memorySeriesStorage) CloneSamples(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint) Values {
+func (s *memorySeriesStorage) CloneSamples(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint) metric.Values {
 	s.RLock()
 	defer s.RUnlock()
 
@@ -464,7 +465,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) CloneSamples(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint) Values {
 	return series.clone()
 }
 
-func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetValueAtTime(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint, t clientmodel.Timestamp) Values {
+func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetValueAtTime(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint, t clientmodel.Timestamp) metric.Values {
 	s.RLock()
 	defer s.RUnlock()
 
@@ -476,7 +477,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetValueAtTime(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint, t clien
 	return series.getValueAtTime(t)
 }
 
-func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetBoundaryValues(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint, i Interval) Values {
+func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetBoundaryValues(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint, i metric.Interval) metric.Values {
 	s.RLock()
 	defer s.RUnlock()
 
@@ -488,7 +489,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetBoundaryValues(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint, i In
 	return series.getBoundaryValues(i)
 }
 
-func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetRangeValues(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint, i Interval) Values {
+func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetRangeValues(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint, i metric.Interval) metric.Values {
 	s.RLock()
 	defer s.RUnlock()
 
@@ -531,7 +532,7 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetAllValuesForLabel(labelName clientmodel.LabelNa
 func NewMemorySeriesStorage(o MemorySeriesOptions) *memorySeriesStorage {
 	return &memorySeriesStorage{
 		fingerprintToSeries:     make(map[clientmodel.Fingerprint]stream),
-		labelPairToFingerprints: make(map[LabelPair]utility.Set),
+		labelPairToFingerprints: make(map[metric.LabelPair]utility.Set),
 		labelNameToLabelValues:  make(map[clientmodel.LabelName]utility.Set),
 		wmCache:                 o.WatermarkCache,
 	}
diff --git a/storage/metric/memory_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/memory_test.go
similarity index 96%
rename from storage/metric/memory_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/memory_test.go
index de477ca127..e948d12675 100644
--- a/storage/metric/memory_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/memory_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
@@ -20,14 +20,16 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
+
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 )
 
 func BenchmarkStreamAdd(b *testing.B) {
 	b.StopTimer()
 	s := newArrayStream(clientmodel.Metric{})
-	samples := make(Values, b.N)
+	samples := make(metric.Values, b.N)
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
-		samples = append(samples, SamplePair{
+		samples = append(samples, metric.SamplePair{
 			Timestamp: clientmodel.TimestampFromTime(time.Date(i, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)),
 			Value:     clientmodel.SampleValue(i),
 		})
diff --git a/storage/metric/objective.go b/storage/metric/tiered/objective.go
similarity index 99%
rename from storage/metric/objective.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/objective.go
index 657d5a8f10..5220d4575e 100644
--- a/storage/metric/objective.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/objective.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
diff --git a/storage/metric/operation.go b/storage/metric/tiered/operation.go
similarity index 87%
rename from storage/metric/operation.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/operation.go
index d6cb93638a..234976b1cb 100644
--- a/storage/metric/operation.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/operation.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
@@ -19,35 +19,19 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
-)
 
-// op encapsulates a primitive query operation.
-type op interface {
-	// Fingerprint returns the fingerprint of the metric this operation
-	// operates on.
-	Fingerprint() *clientmodel.Fingerprint
-	// ExtractSamples extracts samples from a stream of values and advances
-	// the operation time.
-	ExtractSamples(Values) Values
-	// Consumed returns whether the operator has consumed all data it needs.
-	Consumed() bool
-	// CurrentTime gets the current operation time. In a newly created op,
-	// this is the starting time of the operation. During ongoing execution
-	// of the op, the current time is advanced accordingly. Once no
-	// subsequent work associated with the operation remains, nil is
-	// returned.
-	CurrentTime() clientmodel.Timestamp
-}
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
+)
 
 // durationOperator encapsulates a general operation that occurs over a
 // duration.
 type durationOperator interface {
-	op
+	metric.Op
 	Through() clientmodel.Timestamp
 }
 
 // ops is a heap of operations, primary sorting key is the fingerprint.
-type ops []op
+type ops []metric.Op
 
 // Len implements sort.Interface and heap.Interface.
 func (o ops) Len() int {
@@ -75,7 +59,7 @@ func (o ops) Swap(i, j int) {
 func (o *ops) Push(x interface{}) {
 	// Push and Pop use pointer receivers because they modify the slice's
 	// length, not just its contents.
-	*o = append(*o, x.(op))
+	*o = append(*o, x.(metric.Op))
 }
 
 // Push implements heap.Interface.
@@ -124,7 +108,7 @@ func (g *getValuesAtTimeOp) String() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("getValuesAtTimeOp at %s", g.current)
 }
 
-func (g *getValuesAtTimeOp) ExtractSamples(in Values) (out Values) {
+func (g *getValuesAtTimeOp) ExtractSamples(in metric.Values) (out metric.Values) {
 	if len(in) == 0 {
 		return
 	}
@@ -151,7 +135,7 @@ func (g *getValuesAlongRangeOp) Through() clientmodel.Timestamp {
 	return g.through
 }
 
-func (g *getValuesAlongRangeOp) ExtractSamples(in Values) (out Values) {
+func (g *getValuesAlongRangeOp) ExtractSamples(in metric.Values) (out metric.Values) {
 	if len(in) == 0 {
 		return
 	}
@@ -199,7 +183,7 @@ func (g *getValuesAtIntervalOp) String() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("getValuesAtIntervalOp from %s each %s through %s", g.current, g.interval, g.through)
 }
 
-func (g *getValuesAtIntervalOp) ExtractSamples(in Values) (out Values) {
+func (g *getValuesAtIntervalOp) ExtractSamples(in metric.Values) (out metric.Values) {
 	if len(in) == 0 {
 		return
 	}
@@ -208,7 +192,7 @@ func (g *getValuesAtIntervalOp) ExtractSamples(in Values) (out Values) {
 
 	if g.current.After(lastChunkTime) {
 		g.current = g.through.Add(clientmodel.MinimumTick)
-		return Values{in[len(in)-1]}
+		return metric.Values{in[len(in)-1]}
 	}
 
 	for len(in) > 0 {
@@ -259,7 +243,7 @@ func (g *getValueRangeAtIntervalOp) advanceToNextInterval() {
 	g.current = g.rangeThrough.Add(-g.rangeDuration)
 }
 
-func (g *getValueRangeAtIntervalOp) ExtractSamples(in Values) (out Values) {
+func (g *getValueRangeAtIntervalOp) ExtractSamples(in metric.Values) (out metric.Values) {
 	if len(in) == 0 {
 		return
 	}
@@ -319,7 +303,7 @@ func (s getValuesAtIntervalOps) Less(i, j int) bool {
 // are adjacent to it.
 //
 // An assumption of this is that the provided samples are already sorted!
-func extractValuesAroundTime(t clientmodel.Timestamp, in Values) Values {
+func extractValuesAroundTime(t clientmodel.Timestamp, in metric.Values) metric.Values {
 	i := sort.Search(len(in), func(i int) bool {
 		return !in[i].Timestamp.Before(t)
 	})
diff --git a/storage/metric/operation_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/operation_test.go
similarity index 92%
rename from storage/metric/operation_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/operation_test.go
index e44afd42d8..d6e8b69ae2 100644
--- a/storage/metric/operation_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/operation_test.go
@@ -11,18 +11,20 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 )
 
 func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 	var scenarios = []struct {
 		op  getValuesAtTimeOp
-		in  Values
-		out Values
+		in  metric.Values
+		out metric.Values
 	}{
 		// No values.
 		{
@@ -35,13 +37,13 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 			op: getValuesAtTimeOp{
 				baseOp: baseOp{current: testInstant},
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -53,13 +55,13 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 			op: getValuesAtTimeOp{
 				baseOp: baseOp{current: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute)},
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -71,13 +73,13 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 			op: getValuesAtTimeOp{
 				baseOp: baseOp{current: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute)},
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -89,7 +91,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 			op: getValuesAtTimeOp{
 				baseOp: baseOp{current: testInstant},
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -99,7 +101,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -111,7 +113,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 			op: getValuesAtTimeOp{
 				baseOp: baseOp{current: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute)},
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -121,7 +123,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -133,7 +135,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 			op: getValuesAtTimeOp{
 				baseOp: baseOp{current: testInstant.Add(90 * time.Second)},
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -143,7 +145,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -159,7 +161,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 			op: getValuesAtTimeOp{
 				baseOp: baseOp{current: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute)},
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -169,7 +171,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -185,7 +187,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 			op: getValuesAtTimeOp{
 				baseOp: baseOp{current: testInstant.Add(3 * time.Minute)},
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -195,7 +197,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -221,8 +223,8 @@ func TestGetValuesAtTimeOp(t *testing.T) {
 func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 	var scenarios = []struct {
 		op  getValuesAtIntervalOp
-		in  Values
-		out Values
+		in  metric.Values
+		out metric.Values
 	}{
 		// No values.
 		{
@@ -243,7 +245,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				interval: 30 * time.Second,
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -253,7 +255,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -269,7 +271,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				interval: 30 * time.Second,
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -279,7 +281,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -299,7 +301,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				interval: 30 * time.Second,
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant,
 					Value:     1,
@@ -313,7 +315,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -333,7 +335,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				interval: 30 * time.Second,
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -343,7 +345,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -363,7 +365,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				interval: 30 * time.Second,
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant,
 					Value:     1,
@@ -381,7 +383,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -401,7 +403,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				interval: 30 * time.Second,
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant,
 					Value:     1,
@@ -411,7 +413,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -431,7 +433,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				interval: 3 * time.Minute,
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant,
 					Value:     1,
@@ -449,7 +451,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant,
 					Value:     1,
@@ -490,8 +492,8 @@ func TestGetValuesAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 	var scenarios = []struct {
 		op  getValuesAlongRangeOp
-		in  Values
-		out Values
+		in  metric.Values
+		out metric.Values
 	}{
 		// No values.
 		{
@@ -506,7 +508,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 				baseOp:  baseOp{current: testInstant},
 				through: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -516,7 +518,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{},
+			out: metric.Values{},
 		},
 		// Operator range starts before first value, ends within available values.
 		{
@@ -524,7 +526,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 				baseOp:  baseOp{current: testInstant},
 				through: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute),
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -534,7 +536,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -547,7 +549,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 				baseOp:  baseOp{current: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute)},
 				through: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute),
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant,
 					Value:     1,
@@ -561,7 +563,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -574,7 +576,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 				baseOp:  baseOp{current: testInstant},
 				through: testInstant.Add(3 * time.Minute),
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -584,7 +586,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(1 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -601,7 +603,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 				baseOp:  baseOp{current: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute)},
 				through: testInstant.Add(4 * time.Minute),
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant,
 					Value:     1,
@@ -619,7 +621,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -636,7 +638,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 				baseOp:  baseOp{current: testInstant.Add(2 * time.Minute)},
 				through: testInstant.Add(3 * time.Minute),
 			},
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant,
 					Value:     1,
@@ -646,7 +648,7 @@ func TestGetValuesAlongRangeOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     1,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{},
+			out: metric.Values{},
 		},
 	}
 	for i, scenario := range scenarios {
@@ -677,13 +679,13 @@ func TestGetValueRangeAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 
 	var scenarios = []struct {
 		op  getValueRangeAtIntervalOp
-		in  Values
-		out Values
+		in  metric.Values
+		out metric.Values
 	}{
 		// All values before the first range.
 		{
 			op: testOp,
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-4 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -693,12 +695,12 @@ func TestGetValueRangeAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     2,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{},
+			out: metric.Values{},
 		},
-		// Values starting before first range, ending after last.
+		// metric.Values starting before first range, ending after last.
 		{
 			op: testOp,
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-4 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     1,
@@ -756,7 +758,7 @@ func TestGetValueRangeAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 					Value:     14,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-2 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     3,
@@ -795,20 +797,20 @@ func TestGetValueRangeAtIntervalOp(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
-		// Values starting after last range.
+		// metric.Values starting after last range.
 		{
 			op: testOp,
-			in: Values{
+			in: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Timestamp: testInstant.Add(21 * time.Minute),
 					Value:     14,
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{},
+			out: metric.Values{},
 		},
 	}
 	for i, scenario := range scenarios {
-		actual := Values{}
+		actual := metric.Values{}
 		for !scenario.op.Consumed() {
 			actual = append(actual, scenario.op.ExtractSamples(scenario.in)...)
 		}
diff --git a/storage/metric/processor.go b/storage/metric/tiered/processor.go
similarity index 95%
rename from storage/metric/processor.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/processor.go
index 93702a3191..856de17c30 100644
--- a/storage/metric/processor.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/processor.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw/leveldb"
 
@@ -101,8 +102,8 @@ func (p *CompactionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPers
 	}()
 
 	var pendingMutations = 0
-	var pendingSamples Values
-	var unactedSamples Values
+	var pendingSamples metric.Values
+	var unactedSamples metric.Values
 	var lastTouchedTime clientmodel.Timestamp
 	var keyDropped bool
 
@@ -162,7 +163,7 @@ func (p *CompactionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPers
 
 		case len(pendingSamples) == 0 && len(unactedSamples) >= p.minimumGroupSize:
 			lastTouchedTime = unactedSamples[len(unactedSamples)-1].Timestamp
-			unactedSamples = Values{}
+			unactedSamples = metric.Values{}
 
 		case len(pendingSamples)+len(unactedSamples) < p.minimumGroupSize:
 			if !keyDropped {
@@ -174,15 +175,15 @@ func (p *CompactionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPers
 			}
 			pendingSamples = append(pendingSamples, unactedSamples...)
 			lastTouchedTime = unactedSamples[len(unactedSamples)-1].Timestamp
-			unactedSamples = Values{}
+			unactedSamples = metric.Values{}
 			pendingMutations++
 
 		// If the number of pending writes equals the target group size
 		case len(pendingSamples) == p.minimumGroupSize:
 			k := &dto.SampleKey{}
-			newSampleKey := pendingSamples.ToSampleKey(fingerprint)
+			newSampleKey := buildSampleKey(fingerprint, pendingSamples)
 			newSampleKey.Dump(k)
-			b := pendingSamples.marshal(nil)
+			b := marshalValues(pendingSamples, nil)
 			pendingBatch.PutRaw(k, b)
 
 			pendingMutations++
@@ -201,7 +202,7 @@ func (p *CompactionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPers
 				} else {
 					pendingSamples = unactedSamples
 					lastTouchedTime = pendingSamples[len(pendingSamples)-1].Timestamp
-					unactedSamples = Values{}
+					unactedSamples = metric.Values{}
 				}
 			}
 
@@ -229,11 +230,11 @@ func (p *CompactionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPers
 	if len(unactedSamples) > 0 || len(pendingSamples) > 0 {
 		pendingSamples = append(pendingSamples, unactedSamples...)
 		k := &dto.SampleKey{}
-		newSampleKey := pendingSamples.ToSampleKey(fingerprint)
+		newSampleKey := buildSampleKey(fingerprint, pendingSamples)
 		newSampleKey.Dump(k)
-		b := pendingSamples.marshal(nil)
+		b := marshalValues(pendingSamples, nil)
 		pendingBatch.PutRaw(k, b)
-		pendingSamples = Values{}
+		pendingSamples = metric.Values{}
 		pendingMutations++
 		lastCurated = newSampleKey.FirstTimestamp
 	}
@@ -384,7 +385,7 @@ func (p *DeletionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPersis
 			sampleKey.Dump(k)
 			pendingBatch.Drop(k)
 			lastCurated = sampleKey.LastTimestamp
-			sampleValues = Values{}
+			sampleValues = metric.Values{}
 			pendingMutations++
 
 		case sampleKey.MayContain(stopAt):
@@ -396,10 +397,10 @@ func (p *DeletionProcessor) Apply(sampleIterator leveldb.Iterator, samplesPersis
 			sampleValues = sampleValues.TruncateBefore(stopAt)
 			if len(sampleValues) > 0 {
 				k := &dto.SampleKey{}
-				sampleKey = sampleValues.ToSampleKey(fingerprint)
+				sampleKey = buildSampleKey(fingerprint, sampleValues)
 				sampleKey.Dump(k)
 				lastCurated = sampleKey.FirstTimestamp
-				v := sampleValues.marshal(nil)
+				v := marshalValues(sampleValues, nil)
 				pendingBatch.PutRaw(k, v)
 				pendingMutations++
 			} else {
diff --git a/storage/metric/processor_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/processor_test.go
similarity index 93%
rename from storage/metric/processor_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/processor_test.go
index ee62e0ea5c..534545bc07 100644
--- a/storage/metric/processor_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/processor_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw/leveldb"
 
 	dto "github.com/prometheus/prometheus/model/generated"
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ type watermarkState struct {
 
 type sampleGroup struct {
 	fingerprint string
-	values      Values
+	values      metric.Values
 }
 
 type in struct {
@@ -106,12 +107,12 @@ func (s sampleGroup) Get() (key proto.Message, value interface{}) {
 	k := &dto.SampleKey{}
 	keyRaw.Dump(k)
 
-	return k, s.values.marshal(nil)
+	return k, marshalValues(s.values, nil)
 }
 
 type noopUpdater struct{}
 
-func (noopUpdater) UpdateCurationState(*CurationState) {}
+func (noopUpdater) UpdateCurationState(*metric.CurationState) {}
 
 func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 	scenarios := []struct {
@@ -169,7 +170,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 				sampleGroups: fixture.Pairs{
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 90 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0,
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 65 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0.25,
@@ -219,7 +220,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 40 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0.50,
@@ -236,7 +237,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 25 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0.75,
@@ -245,7 +246,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 20 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     -2,
@@ -254,7 +255,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 15 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     -3,
@@ -264,7 +265,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 1
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 90 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0,
@@ -274,7 +275,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 1
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 89 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     1,
@@ -284,7 +285,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 1
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 88 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     2,
@@ -294,7 +295,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 1
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 87 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     3,
@@ -304,7 +305,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 1
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 86 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     4,
@@ -314,7 +315,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 2
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 85 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     5,
@@ -324,7 +325,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 2
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 84 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     6,
@@ -334,7 +335,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 2
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 83 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     7,
@@ -344,7 +345,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 2
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 82 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     8,
@@ -354,7 +355,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 2
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 81 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     9,
@@ -364,7 +365,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 3
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 80 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     10,
@@ -374,7 +375,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 3
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 79 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     11,
@@ -384,7 +385,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 3
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 78 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     12,
@@ -394,7 +395,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 3
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 77 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     13,
@@ -404,7 +405,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Blocks 3 and 4 and 5
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								// Block 3
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 76 * time.Minute),
@@ -445,7 +446,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 5
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 69 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     21,
@@ -455,7 +456,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 5
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 68 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     22,
@@ -465,7 +466,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 5
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 67 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     23,
@@ -475,7 +476,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 5
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 66 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     24,
@@ -485,7 +486,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 6
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 65 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     25,
@@ -495,7 +496,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 6
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 64 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     26,
@@ -505,7 +506,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 6
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 63 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     27,
@@ -515,7 +516,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 6
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 62 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     28,
@@ -525,7 +526,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 6
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 61 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     29,
@@ -535,7 +536,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					sampleGroup{
 						// Moved into Block 7
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 60 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     30,
@@ -577,7 +578,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 				sampleGroups: []sampleGroup{
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 90 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0,
@@ -602,7 +603,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 65 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0.25,
@@ -627,7 +628,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 40 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0.50,
@@ -644,7 +645,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 25 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0.75,
@@ -653,7 +654,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 20 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     -2,
@@ -662,7 +663,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 15 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     -3,
@@ -672,7 +673,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					{
 						// Block 1
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 90 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0,
@@ -698,7 +699,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					{
 						// Block 2
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 85 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     5,
@@ -724,7 +725,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					{
 						// Block 3
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 80 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     10,
@@ -749,7 +750,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 75 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     15,
@@ -774,7 +775,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 70 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     20,
@@ -799,7 +800,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 65 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     25,
@@ -824,7 +825,7 @@ func TestCuratorCompactionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 60 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     30,
@@ -1040,7 +1041,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 				sampleGroups: fixture.Pairs{
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 90 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     90,
@@ -1053,7 +1054,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 15 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     15,
@@ -1062,7 +1063,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 90 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     0,
@@ -1071,7 +1072,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 89 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     1,
@@ -1080,7 +1081,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 88 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     2,
@@ -1089,7 +1090,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 87 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     3,
@@ -1098,7 +1099,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 86 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     4,
@@ -1107,7 +1108,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 85 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     5,
@@ -1116,7 +1117,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 84 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     6,
@@ -1125,7 +1126,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 83 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     7,
@@ -1134,7 +1135,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 82 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     8,
@@ -1143,7 +1144,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 81 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     9,
@@ -1152,7 +1153,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 80 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     10,
@@ -1161,7 +1162,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 79 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     11,
@@ -1170,7 +1171,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 78 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     12,
@@ -1179,7 +1180,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 77 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     13,
@@ -1188,7 +1189,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 76 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     14,
@@ -1221,7 +1222,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 69 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     21,
@@ -1230,7 +1231,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 68 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     22,
@@ -1239,7 +1240,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 67 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     23,
@@ -1248,7 +1249,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 66 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     24,
@@ -1257,7 +1258,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 65 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     25,
@@ -1266,7 +1267,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 64 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     26,
@@ -1275,7 +1276,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 63 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     27,
@@ -1284,7 +1285,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 62 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     28,
@@ -1293,7 +1294,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 61 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     29,
@@ -1302,7 +1303,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					sampleGroup{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 60 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     30,
@@ -1333,7 +1334,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 				sampleGroups: []sampleGroup{
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 30 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     30,
@@ -1342,7 +1343,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0001-A-1-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 15 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     15,
@@ -1351,7 +1352,7 @@ func TestCuratorDeletionProcessor(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 					{
 						fingerprint: "0002-A-2-Z",
-						values: Values{
+						values: metric.Values{
 							{
 								Timestamp: testInstant.Add(-1 * 60 * time.Minute),
 								Value:     30,
diff --git a/storage/metric/regressions_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/regressions_test.go
similarity index 95%
rename from storage/metric/regressions_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/regressions_test.go
index 084a8eedaa..84c4849555 100644
--- a/storage/metric/regressions_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/regressions_test.go
@@ -11,17 +11,18 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"testing"
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility/test"
 )
 
-func GetFingerprintsForLabelSetUsesAndForLabelMatchingTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
+func GetFingerprintsForLabelSetUsesAndForLabelMatchingTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
 	metrics := []clientmodel.LabelSet{
 		{clientmodel.MetricNameLabel: "request_metrics_latency_equal_tallying_microseconds", "instance": "http://localhost:9090/metrics.json", "percentile": "0.010000"},
 		{clientmodel.MetricNameLabel: "requests_metrics_latency_equal_accumulating_microseconds", "instance": "http://localhost:9090/metrics.json", "percentile": "0.010000"},
diff --git a/storage/metric/rule_integration_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/rule_integration_test.go
similarity index 96%
rename from storage/metric/rule_integration_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/rule_integration_test.go
index e6799c38b0..dea44ebc82 100644
--- a/storage/metric/rule_integration_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/rule_integration_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"testing"
@@ -19,10 +19,11 @@ import (
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility/test"
 )
 
-func GetValueAtTimeTests(persistenceMaker func() (ViewableMetricPersistence, test.Closer), t test.Tester) {
+func GetValueAtTimeTests(persistenceMaker func() (metric.ViewablePersistence, test.Closer), t test.Tester) {
 	type value struct {
 		year  int
 		month time.Month
@@ -355,7 +356,7 @@ func GetValueAtTimeTests(persistenceMaker func() (ViewableMetricPersistence, tes
 	}
 }
 
-func GetRangeValuesTests(persistenceMaker func() (ViewableMetricPersistence, test.Closer), onlyBoundaries bool, t test.Tester) {
+func GetRangeValuesTests(persistenceMaker func() (metric.ViewablePersistence, test.Closer), onlyBoundaries bool, t test.Tester) {
 	type value struct {
 		year  int
 		month time.Month
@@ -830,12 +831,12 @@ func GetRangeValuesTests(persistenceMaker func() (ViewableMetricPersistence, tes
 				input := behavior.input
 				open := clientmodel.TimestampFromTime(time.Date(input.openYear, input.openMonth, input.openDay, input.openHour, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC))
 				end := clientmodel.TimestampFromTime(time.Date(input.endYear, input.endMonth, input.endDay, input.endHour, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC))
-				in := Interval{
+				in := metric.Interval{
 					OldestInclusive: open,
 					NewestInclusive: end,
 				}
 
-				actualValues := Values{}
+				actualValues := metric.Values{}
 				expectedValues := []output{}
 				fp := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
 				fp.LoadFromMetric(m)
@@ -899,7 +900,7 @@ func GetRangeValuesTests(persistenceMaker func() (ViewableMetricPersistence, tes
 // Test Definitions Follow
 
 func testMemoryGetValueAtTime(t test.Tester) {
-	persistenceMaker := func() (ViewableMetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
+	persistenceMaker := func() (metric.ViewablePersistence, test.Closer) {
 		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{}), test.NilCloser
 	}
 
@@ -927,7 +928,7 @@ func BenchmarkMemoryGetBoundaryValues(b *testing.B) {
 }
 
 func testMemoryGetRangeValues(t test.Tester) {
-	persistenceMaker := func() (ViewableMetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
+	persistenceMaker := func() (metric.ViewablePersistence, test.Closer) {
 		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{}), test.NilCloser
 	}
 
@@ -935,7 +936,7 @@ func testMemoryGetRangeValues(t test.Tester) {
 }
 
 func testMemoryGetBoundaryValues(t test.Tester) {
-	persistenceMaker := func() (ViewableMetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
+	persistenceMaker := func() (metric.ViewablePersistence, test.Closer) {
 		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{}), test.NilCloser
 	}
 
diff --git a/storage/metric/sample_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/sample_test.go
similarity index 85%
rename from storage/metric/sample_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/sample_test.go
index 0ca7f1a37c..1bc7571ab0 100644
--- a/storage/metric/sample_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/sample_test.go
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"math/rand"
 	"testing"
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
+
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 )
 
 const numTestValues = 5000
@@ -12,7 +14,7 @@ const numTestValues = 5000
 func TestValuesMarshalAndUnmarshal(t *testing.T) {
 	values := randomValues(numTestValues)
 
-	marshalled := values.marshal(nil)
+	marshalled := marshalValues(values, nil)
 	unmarshalled := unmarshalValues(marshalled, nil)
 
 	for i, expected := range values {
@@ -23,10 +25,10 @@ func TestValuesMarshalAndUnmarshal(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func randomValues(numSamples int) Values {
-	v := make(Values, 0, numSamples)
+func randomValues(numSamples int) metric.Values {
+	v := make(metric.Values, 0, numSamples)
 	for i := 0; i < numSamples; i++ {
-		v = append(v, SamplePair{
+		v = append(v, metric.SamplePair{
 			Timestamp: clientmodel.Timestamp(rand.Int63()),
 			Value:     clientmodel.SampleValue(rand.NormFloat64()),
 		})
@@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ func benchmarkMarshal(b *testing.B, n int) {
 	// TODO: Reuse buffer to compare performance.
 	//       - Delta is -30 percent time overhead.
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
-		v.marshal(nil)
+		marshalValues(v, nil)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -68,7 +70,7 @@ func BenchmarkMarshal10000(b *testing.B) {
 
 func benchmarkUnmarshal(b *testing.B, n int) {
 	v := randomValues(numTestValues)
-	marshalled := v.marshal(nil)
+	marshalled := marshalValues(v, nil)
 	b.ResetTimer()
 
 	// TODO: Reuse buffer to compare performance.
diff --git a/storage/metric/samplekey.go b/storage/metric/tiered/samplekey.go
similarity index 91%
rename from storage/metric/samplekey.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/samplekey.go
index dd381b437c..83e69c72e1 100644
--- a/storage/metric/samplekey.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/samplekey.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/coding/indexable"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 
 	dto "github.com/prometheus/prometheus/model/generated"
 )
@@ -128,3 +129,13 @@ func (s *SampleKey) Load(d *dto.SampleKey) {
 	s.LastTimestamp = clientmodel.TimestampFromUnix(d.GetLastTimestamp())
 	s.SampleCount = d.GetSampleCount()
 }
+
+// buildSampleKey returns the SampleKey for the given Fingerprint and Values.
+func buildSampleKey(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint, v metric.Values) *SampleKey {
+	return &SampleKey{
+		Fingerprint:    f,
+		FirstTimestamp: v[0].Timestamp,
+		LastTimestamp:  v[len(v)-1].Timestamp,
+		SampleCount:    uint32(len(v)),
+	}
+}
diff --git a/storage/metric/stochastic_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/stochastic_test.go
similarity index 90%
rename from storage/metric/stochastic_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/stochastic_test.go
index 4ef8ac527c..db931f6472 100644
--- a/storage/metric/stochastic_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/stochastic_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/coding/indexable"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility/test"
 
 	dto "github.com/prometheus/prometheus/model/generated"
@@ -31,17 +32,17 @@ import (
 
 const stochasticMaximumVariance = 8
 
-func BasicLifecycleTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
+func BasicLifecycleTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
 	if p == nil {
 		t.Errorf("Received nil Metric Persistence.\n")
 		return
 	}
 }
 
-func ReadEmptyTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
+func ReadEmptyTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
 	hasLabelPair := func(x int) (success bool) {
-		fingerprints, err := p.GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(LabelMatchers{{
-			Type:  Equal,
+		fingerprints, err := p.GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(metric.LabelMatchers{{
+			Type:  metric.Equal,
 			Name:  clientmodel.LabelName(string(x)),
 			Value: clientmodel.LabelValue(string(x)),
 		}})
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ func ReadEmptyTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 	}
 }
 
-func AppendSampleAsPureSparseAppendTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
+func AppendSampleAsPureSparseAppendTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
 	appendSample := func(x int) (success bool) {
 		v := clientmodel.SampleValue(x)
 		ts := clientmodel.TimestampFromUnix(int64(x))
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ func AppendSampleAsPureSparseAppendTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
 	}
 }
 
-func AppendSampleAsSparseAppendWithReadsTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
+func AppendSampleAsSparseAppendWithReadsTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
 	appendSample := func(x int) (success bool) {
 		v := clientmodel.SampleValue(x)
 		ts := clientmodel.TimestampFromUnix(int64(x))
@@ -147,8 +148,8 @@ func AppendSampleAsSparseAppendWithReadsTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester
 			return
 		}
 
-		fingerprints, err := p.GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(LabelMatchers{{
-			Type:  Equal,
+		fingerprints, err := p.GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(metric.LabelMatchers{{
+			Type:  metric.Equal,
 			Name:  labelName,
 			Value: labelValue,
 		}})
@@ -169,7 +170,7 @@ func AppendSampleAsSparseAppendWithReadsTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester
 	}
 }
 
-func AppendSampleAsPureSingleEntityAppendTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester) {
+func AppendSampleAsPureSingleEntityAppendTests(p metric.Persistence, t test.Tester) {
 	appendSample := func(x int) bool {
 		sample := &clientmodel.Sample{
 			Value:     clientmodel.SampleValue(x),
@@ -187,7 +188,7 @@ func AppendSampleAsPureSingleEntityAppendTests(p MetricPersistence, t test.Teste
 	}
 }
 
-func levelDBGetRangeValues(l *LevelDBMetricPersistence, fp *clientmodel.Fingerprint, i Interval) (samples Values, err error) {
+func levelDBGetRangeValues(l *LevelDBPersistence, fp *clientmodel.Fingerprint, i metric.Interval) (samples metric.Values, err error) {
 	fpDto := &dto.Fingerprint{}
 	dumpFingerprint(fpDto, fp)
 	k := &dto.SampleKey{
@@ -236,7 +237,7 @@ func (t timeslice) Less(i, j int) bool {
 	return t[i].Before(t[j])
 }
 
-func StochasticTests(persistenceMaker func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer), t test.Tester) {
+func StochasticTests(persistenceMaker func() (metric.Persistence, test.Closer), t test.Tester) {
 	stochastic := func(x int) (success bool) {
 		p, closer := persistenceMaker()
 		defer closer.Close()
@@ -328,8 +329,8 @@ func StochasticTests(persistenceMaker func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer), t
 			metricNewestSample[metricIndex] = newestSample
 
 			for sharedLabelIndex := 0; sharedLabelIndex < numberOfSharedLabels; sharedLabelIndex++ {
-				matchers := LabelMatchers{{
-					Type:  Equal,
+				matchers := metric.LabelMatchers{{
+					Type:  metric.Equal,
 					Name:  clientmodel.LabelName(fmt.Sprintf("shared_label_%d", sharedLabelIndex)),
 					Value: clientmodel.LabelValue(fmt.Sprintf("label_%d", sharedLabelIndex)),
 				}}
@@ -350,8 +351,8 @@ func StochasticTests(persistenceMaker func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer), t
 			for unsharedLabelIndex := 0; unsharedLabelIndex < numberOfUnsharedLabels; unsharedLabelIndex++ {
 				labelName := clientmodel.LabelName(fmt.Sprintf("metric_index_%d_private_label_%d", metricIndex, unsharedLabelIndex))
 				labelValue := clientmodel.LabelValue(fmt.Sprintf("private_label_%d", unsharedLabelIndex))
-				matchers := LabelMatchers{{
-					Type:  Equal,
+				matchers := metric.LabelMatchers{{
+					Type:  metric.Equal,
 					Name:  labelName,
 					Value: labelValue,
 				}}
@@ -367,21 +368,21 @@ func StochasticTests(persistenceMaker func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer), t
 				}
 			}
 
-			metric := clientmodel.Metric{}
-			metric[clientmodel.MetricNameLabel] = clientmodel.LabelValue(fmt.Sprintf("metric_index_%d", metricIndex))
+			m := clientmodel.Metric{}
+			m[clientmodel.MetricNameLabel] = clientmodel.LabelValue(fmt.Sprintf("metric_index_%d", metricIndex))
 
 			for i := 0; i < numberOfSharedLabels; i++ {
 				l := clientmodel.LabelName(fmt.Sprintf("shared_label_%d", i))
 				v := clientmodel.LabelValue(fmt.Sprintf("label_%d", i))
 
-				metric[l] = v
+				m[l] = v
 			}
 
 			for i := 0; i < numberOfUnsharedLabels; i++ {
 				l := clientmodel.LabelName(fmt.Sprintf("metric_index_%d_private_label_%d", metricIndex, i))
 				v := clientmodel.LabelValue(fmt.Sprintf("private_label_%d", i))
 
-				metric[l] = v
+				m[l] = v
 			}
 
 			for i := 0; i < numberOfRangeScans; i++ {
@@ -428,21 +429,21 @@ func StochasticTests(persistenceMaker func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer), t
 					begin, end = second, first
 				}
 
-				interval := Interval{
+				interval := metric.Interval{
 					OldestInclusive: clientmodel.TimestampFromUnix(begin),
 					NewestInclusive: clientmodel.TimestampFromUnix(end),
 				}
 
-				samples := Values{}
+				samples := metric.Values{}
 				fp := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
-				fp.LoadFromMetric(metric)
+				fp.LoadFromMetric(m)
 				switch persistence := p.(type) {
-				case View:
+				case metric.View:
 					samples = persistence.GetRangeValues(fp, interval)
 					if len(samples) < 2 {
 						t.Fatalf("expected sample count greater than %d, got %d", 2, len(samples))
 					}
-				case *LevelDBMetricPersistence:
+				case *LevelDBPersistence:
 					var err error
 					samples, err = levelDBGetRangeValues(persistence, fp, interval)
 					if err != nil {
@@ -452,7 +453,7 @@ func StochasticTests(persistenceMaker func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer), t
 						t.Fatalf("expected sample count greater than %d, got %d", 2, len(samples))
 					}
 				default:
-					t.Error("Unexpected type of MetricPersistence.")
+					t.Error("Unexpected type of metric.Persistence.")
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -528,10 +529,10 @@ func BenchmarkLevelDBAppendSampleAsPureSingleEntityAppend(b *testing.B) {
 }
 
 func testLevelDBStochastic(t test.Tester) {
-	persistenceMaker := func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
+	persistenceMaker := func() (metric.Persistence, test.Closer) {
 		temporaryDirectory := test.NewTemporaryDirectory("test_leveldb_stochastic", t)
 
-		p, err := NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(temporaryDirectory.Path())
+		p, err := NewLevelDBPersistence(temporaryDirectory.Path())
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("Could not start up LevelDB: %q\n", err)
 		}
@@ -613,7 +614,7 @@ func BenchmarkMemoryAppendSampleAsPureSingleEntityAppend(b *testing.B) {
 }
 
 func testMemoryStochastic(t test.Tester) {
-	persistenceMaker := func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
+	persistenceMaker := func() (metric.Persistence, test.Closer) {
 		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{}), test.NilCloser
 	}
 
diff --git a/storage/metric/tiered.go b/storage/metric/tiered/tiered.go
similarity index 92%
rename from storage/metric/tiered.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/tiered.go
index b242278255..90bc7b837e 100644
--- a/storage/metric/tiered.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/tiered.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
@@ -26,11 +26,12 @@ import (
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/stats"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw/leveldb"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility"
 )
 
-type chunk Values
+type chunk metric.Values
 
 // TruncateBefore returns a subslice of the original such that extraneous
 // samples in the collection that occur before the provided time are
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@ type TieredStorage struct {
 	mu sync.RWMutex
 
 	// BUG(matt): This introduces a Law of Demeter violation.  Ugh.
-	DiskStorage *LevelDBMetricPersistence
+	DiskStorage *LevelDBPersistence
 
 	appendToDiskQueue chan clientmodel.Samples
 
@@ -101,8 +102,8 @@ type TieredStorage struct {
 
 // viewJob encapsulates a request to extract sample values from the datastore.
 type viewJob struct {
-	builder ViewRequestBuilder
-	output  chan View
+	builder metric.ViewRequestBuilder
+	output  chan metric.View
 	abort   chan bool
 	err     chan error
 	stats   *stats.TimerGroup
@@ -128,7 +129,7 @@ func NewTieredStorage(
 		}
 	}
 
-	diskStorage, err := NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(rootDirectory)
+	diskStorage, err := NewLevelDBPersistence(rootDirectory)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -200,9 +201,15 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) drain(drained chan<- bool) {
 	t.draining <- (drained)
 }
 
-// MakeView materializes a View according to a ViewRequestBuilder, subject to a
+// NewViewRequestBuilder furnishes a ViewRequestBuilder for remarking what types
+// of queries to perform.
+func (t *TieredStorage) NewViewRequestBuilder() metric.ViewRequestBuilder {
+	return &viewRequestBuilder{storage: t}
+}
+
+// makeView materializes a View according to a ViewRequestBuilder, subject to a
 // timeout.
-func (t *TieredStorage) MakeView(builder ViewRequestBuilder, deadline time.Duration, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (View, error) {
+func (t *TieredStorage) makeView(builder metric.ViewRequestBuilder, deadline time.Duration, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (metric.View, error) {
 	t.mu.RLock()
 	defer t.mu.RUnlock()
 	if t.state != tieredStorageServing {
@@ -210,9 +217,9 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) MakeView(builder ViewRequestBuilder, deadline time.Durat
 	}
 
 	// The result channel needs a one-element buffer in case we have timed
-	// out in MakeView, but the view rendering still completes afterwards
+	// out in makeView, but the view rendering still completes afterwards
 	// and writes to the channel.
-	result := make(chan View, 1)
+	result := make(chan metric.View, 1)
 	// The abort channel needs a one-element buffer in case the view
 	// rendering has already exited and doesn't consume from the channel
 	// anymore.
@@ -442,7 +449,7 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) renderView(viewJob viewJob) {
 		memValues := t.memoryArena.CloneSamples(fp)
 
 		for !op.Consumed() {
-			// Abort the view rendering if the caller (MakeView) has timed out.
+			// Abort the view rendering if the caller (makeView) has timed out.
 			if len(viewJob.abort) > 0 {
 				return
 			}
@@ -529,7 +536,7 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) renderView(viewJob viewJob) {
 			// Extract all needed data from the current chunk and append the
 			// extracted samples to the materialized view.
 			for !op.Consumed() && !op.CurrentTime().After(targetTime) {
-				view.appendSamples(fp, op.ExtractSamples(Values(currentChunk)))
+				view.appendSamples(fp, op.ExtractSamples(metric.Values(currentChunk)))
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -545,7 +552,7 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) loadChunkAroundTime(
 	ts clientmodel.Timestamp,
 	firstBlock,
 	lastBlock *SampleKey,
-) (chunk Values, expired bool) {
+) (chunk metric.Values, expired bool) {
 	if fingerprint.Less(firstBlock.Fingerprint) {
 		return nil, false
 	}
@@ -574,7 +581,7 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) loadChunkAroundTime(
 		return chunk, true
 	}
 
-	var foundValues Values
+	var foundValues metric.Values
 
 	if err := iterator.Key(dto); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
@@ -675,7 +682,7 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) GetAllValuesForLabel(labelName clientmodel.LabelName) (c
 
 // GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers gets all of the metric fingerprints that are
 // associated with the provided label matchers.
-func (t *TieredStorage) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(matchers LabelMatchers) (clientmodel.Fingerprints, error) {
+func (t *TieredStorage) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(matchers metric.LabelMatchers) (clientmodel.Fingerprints, error) {
 	t.mu.RLock()
 	defer t.mu.RUnlock()
 
@@ -704,6 +711,15 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) GetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(matchers LabelMatchers)
 	return fingerprints, nil
 }
 
+// Get all of the label values that are associated with a given label name.
+func (t *TieredStorage) GetLabelValuesForLabelName(clientmodel.LabelName) (clientmodel.LabelValues, error) {
+	// TODO(julius): Implement this or decide what to do with this
+	// Persistence interface method. It's currently unused on the
+	// TieredStorage, but used on the LevelDBPersistence and the
+	// memorySeriesStorage.
+	panic("not implemented")
+}
+
 // GetMetricForFingerprint gets the metric associated with the provided
 // fingerprint.
 func (t *TieredStorage) GetMetricForFingerprint(f *clientmodel.Fingerprint) (clientmodel.Metric, error) {
diff --git a/storage/metric/tiered_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/tiered_test.go
similarity index 92%
rename from storage/metric/tiered_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/tiered_test.go
index 66a5f32649..0b2500904c 100644
--- a/storage/metric/tiered_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/tiered_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"math"
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/stats"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/utility/test"
 )
 
@@ -42,9 +43,9 @@ func buildSamples(from, to clientmodel.Timestamp, interval time.Duration, m clie
 	return
 }
 
-func buildValues(firstValue clientmodel.SampleValue, from, to clientmodel.Timestamp, interval time.Duration) (v Values) {
+func buildValues(firstValue clientmodel.SampleValue, from, to clientmodel.Timestamp, interval time.Duration) (v metric.Values) {
 	for from.Before(to) {
-		v = append(v, SamplePair{
+		v = append(v, metric.SamplePair{
 			Value:     firstValue,
 			Timestamp: from,
 		})
@@ -64,13 +65,13 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 	}
 
 	type out struct {
-		atTime     []Values
-		atInterval []Values
-		alongRange []Values
+		atTime     []metric.Values
+		atInterval []metric.Values
+		alongRange []metric.Values
 	}
-	metric := clientmodel.Metric{clientmodel.MetricNameLabel: "request_count"}
+	m := clientmodel.Metric{clientmodel.MetricNameLabel: "request_count"}
 	fingerprint := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
-	fingerprint.LoadFromMetric(metric)
+	fingerprint.LoadFromMetric(m)
 	var (
 		instant   = clientmodel.TimestampFromTime(time.Date(1984, 3, 30, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.Local))
 		scenarios = []struct {
@@ -89,14 +90,14 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atTime: []Values{{}},
+					atTime: []metric.Values{{}},
 				},
 			},
 			// Single sample, query asks for exact sample time.
 			{
 				data: clientmodel.Samples{
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant,
 					},
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atTime: []Values{
+					atTime: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant,
@@ -123,12 +124,12 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 			{
 				data: clientmodel.Samples{
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second),
 					},
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     1,
 						Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second * 2),
 					},
@@ -141,7 +142,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atTime: []Values{
+					atTime: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second),
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 			{
 				data: clientmodel.Samples{
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant,
 					},
@@ -168,7 +169,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atTime: []Values{
+					atTime: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant,
@@ -182,12 +183,12 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 			{
 				data: clientmodel.Samples{
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant,
 					},
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     1,
 						Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second),
 					},
@@ -200,7 +201,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atTime: []Values{
+					atTime: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant,
@@ -214,17 +215,17 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 			{
 				data: clientmodel.Samples{
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant,
 					},
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     1,
 						Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second),
 					},
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     2,
 						Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second * 2),
 					},
@@ -237,7 +238,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atTime: []Values{
+					atTime: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second),
@@ -251,17 +252,17 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 			{
 				data: clientmodel.Samples{
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant,
 					},
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     1,
 						Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second * 2),
 					},
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     2,
 						Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second * 4),
 					},
@@ -274,7 +275,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atTime: []Values{
+					atTime: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant,
@@ -292,17 +293,17 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 			{
 				data: clientmodel.Samples{
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant,
 					},
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     1,
 						Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second * 2),
 					},
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     2,
 						Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second * 4),
 					},
@@ -315,7 +316,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atTime: []Values{
+					atTime: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second * 2),
@@ -335,7 +336,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					instant,
 					instant.Add(time.Duration(*leveldbChunkSize*4)*time.Second),
 					2*time.Second,
-					metric,
+					m,
 				),
 				in: in{
 					atTime: []getValuesAtTimeOp{
@@ -345,7 +346,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atTime: []Values{
+					atTime: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second * time.Duration(*leveldbChunkSize*2)),
@@ -365,7 +366,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					instant,
 					instant.Add(time.Duration(*leveldbChunkSize*4)*time.Second),
 					2*time.Second,
-					metric,
+					m,
 				),
 				in: in{
 					atTime: []getValuesAtTimeOp{
@@ -375,7 +376,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atTime: []Values{
+					atTime: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second * (time.Duration(*leveldbChunkSize*2) - 2)),
@@ -395,7 +396,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					instant,
 					instant.Add(time.Duration(*leveldbChunkSize*6)*time.Second),
 					2*time.Second,
-					metric,
+					m,
 				),
 				in: in{
 					atInterval: []getValuesAtIntervalOp{
@@ -409,7 +410,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atInterval: []Values{
+					atInterval: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second * time.Duration(*leveldbChunkSize*2-6)),
@@ -437,7 +438,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					instant,
 					instant.Add(time.Duration(*leveldbChunkSize*6)*time.Second),
 					2*time.Second,
-					metric,
+					m,
 				),
 				in: in{
 					alongRange: []getValuesAlongRangeOp{
@@ -448,7 +449,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					alongRange: []Values{buildValues(
+					alongRange: []metric.Values{buildValues(
 						clientmodel.SampleValue(198),
 						instant.Add(time.Second*time.Duration(*leveldbChunkSize*2-4)),
 						instant.Add(time.Second*time.Duration(*leveldbChunkSize*4+2)+clientmodel.MinimumTick),
@@ -482,7 +483,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					instant,
 					instant.Add(time.Duration(*leveldbChunkSize*6)*time.Second),
 					2*time.Second,
-					metric,
+					m,
 				),
 				in: in{
 					atInterval: []getValuesAtIntervalOp{
@@ -496,7 +497,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atInterval: []Values{
+					atInterval: []metric.Values{
 						// We need two overlapping buildValues() calls here since the last
 						// value of the second chunk is extracted twice (value 399, time
 						// offset 798s).
@@ -528,7 +529,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 			{
 				data: clientmodel.Samples{
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant,
 					},
@@ -545,7 +546,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atInterval: []Values{
+					atInterval: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant,
@@ -559,7 +560,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 			{
 				data: clientmodel.Samples{
 					{
-						Metric:    metric,
+						Metric:    m,
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second),
 					},
@@ -576,7 +577,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 					},
 				},
 				out: out{
-					atInterval: []Values{
+					atInterval: []metric.Values{
 						{
 							{
 								Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second),
@@ -609,7 +610,7 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 			tiered.Flush()
 		}
 
-		requestBuilder := NewViewRequestBuilder()
+		requestBuilder := tiered.NewViewRequestBuilder()
 
 		for _, atTime := range scenario.in.atTime {
 			requestBuilder.GetMetricAtTime(fingerprint, atTime.current)
@@ -623,14 +624,14 @@ func testMakeView(t test.Tester, flushToDisk bool) {
 			requestBuilder.GetMetricRange(fingerprint, alongRange.current, alongRange.through)
 		}
 
-		v, err := tiered.MakeView(requestBuilder, time.Second*5, stats.NewTimerGroup())
+		v, err := requestBuilder.Execute(time.Second*5, stats.NewTimerGroup())
 
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("%d. failed due to %s", i, err)
 		}
 
 		// To get all values in the View, ask for the 'forever' interval.
-		interval := Interval{OldestInclusive: math.MinInt64, NewestInclusive: math.MaxInt64}
+		interval := metric.Interval{OldestInclusive: math.MinInt64, NewestInclusive: math.MaxInt64}
 
 		for j, atTime := range scenario.out.atTime {
 			actual := v.GetRangeValues(fingerprint, interval)
@@ -821,55 +822,55 @@ func TestGetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(t *testing.T) {
 	tiered.Flush()
 
 	scenarios := []struct {
-		matchers LabelMatchers
+		matchers metric.LabelMatchers
 		fpCount  int
 	}{
 		{
-			matchers: LabelMatchers{},
+			matchers: metric.LabelMatchers{},
 			fpCount:  0,
 		}, {
-			matchers: LabelMatchers{
+			matchers: metric.LabelMatchers{
 				{
-					Type:  Equal,
+					Type:  metric.Equal,
 					Name:  clientmodel.MetricNameLabel,
 					Value: "http_requests",
 				},
 			},
 			fpCount: 2,
 		}, {
-			matchers: LabelMatchers{
+			matchers: metric.LabelMatchers{
 				{
-					Type:  Equal,
+					Type:  metric.Equal,
 					Name:  clientmodel.MetricNameLabel,
 					Value: "http_requests",
 				}, {
-					Type:  Equal,
+					Type:  metric.Equal,
 					Name:  "method",
 					Value: "/foo",
 				},
 			},
 			fpCount: 1,
 		}, {
-			matchers: LabelMatchers{
+			matchers: metric.LabelMatchers{
 				{
-					Type:  Equal,
+					Type:  metric.Equal,
 					Name:  clientmodel.MetricNameLabel,
 					Value: "http_requests",
 				}, {
-					Type:  Equal,
+					Type:  metric.Equal,
 					Name:  "method",
 					Value: "/bar",
 				},
 			},
 			fpCount: 1,
 		}, {
-			matchers: LabelMatchers{
+			matchers: metric.LabelMatchers{
 				{
-					Type:  Equal,
+					Type:  metric.Equal,
 					Name:  clientmodel.MetricNameLabel,
 					Value: "http_requests",
 				}, {
-					Type:  Equal,
+					Type:  metric.Equal,
 					Name:  "method",
 					Value: "/baz",
 				},
@@ -891,18 +892,18 @@ func TestGetFingerprintsForLabelMatchers(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestTruncateBefore(t *testing.T) {
 	type in struct {
-		values Values
+		values metric.Values
 		time   clientmodel.Timestamp
 	}
 	instant := clientmodel.Now()
 	var scenarios = []struct {
 		in  in
-		out Values
+		out metric.Values
 	}{
 		{
 			in: in{
 				time: instant,
-				values: Values{
+				values: metric.Values{
 					{
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant,
@@ -925,7 +926,7 @@ func TestTruncateBefore(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Value:     0,
 					Timestamp: instant,
@@ -951,7 +952,7 @@ func TestTruncateBefore(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			in: in{
 				time: instant.Add(2 * time.Second),
-				values: Values{
+				values: metric.Values{
 					{
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant,
@@ -974,7 +975,7 @@ func TestTruncateBefore(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				{
 					Value:     1,
 					Timestamp: instant.Add(time.Second),
@@ -996,7 +997,7 @@ func TestTruncateBefore(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			in: in{
 				time: instant.Add(5 * time.Second),
-				values: Values{
+				values: metric.Values{
 					{
 						Value:     0,
 						Timestamp: instant,
@@ -1019,7 +1020,7 @@ func TestTruncateBefore(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 				},
 			},
-			out: Values{
+			out: metric.Values{
 				// Preserve the last value in case it needs to be used for the next set.
 				{
 					Value:     4,
diff --git a/storage/metric/view.go b/storage/metric/tiered/view.go
similarity index 54%
rename from storage/metric/view.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/view.go
index 5b1c51b707..4ef8e4385b 100644
--- a/storage/metric/view.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/view.go
@@ -11,68 +11,24 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"container/heap"
 	"time"
 
 	clientmodel "github.com/prometheus/client_golang/model"
-)
 
-var (
-	// firstSupertime is the smallest valid supertime that may be seeked to.
-	firstSupertime = []byte{0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}
-	// lastSupertime is the largest valid supertime that may be seeked to.
-	lastSupertime = []byte{127, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255, 255}
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/stats"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
 )
 
-// ViewRequestBuilder represents the summation of all datastore queries that
-// shall be performed to extract values. Call the Get... methods to record the
-// queries. Once done, use HasOp and PopOp to retrieve the resulting
-// operations. The operations are sorted by their fingerprint (and, for equal
-// fingerprints, by the StartsAt timestamp of their operation).
-type ViewRequestBuilder interface {
-	// GetMetricAtTime records a query to get, for the given Fingerprint,
-	// either the value at that time if there is a match or the one or two
-	// values adjacent thereto.
-	GetMetricAtTime(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint, time clientmodel.Timestamp)
-	// GetMetricAtInterval records a query to get, for the given
-	// Fingerprint, either the value at that interval from From through
-	// Through if there is a match or the one or two values adjacent for
-	// each point.
-	GetMetricAtInterval(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint, from, through clientmodel.Timestamp, interval time.Duration)
-	// GetMetricRange records a query to get, for the given Fingerprint, the
-	// values that occur inclusively from From through Through.
-	GetMetricRange(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint, from, through clientmodel.Timestamp)
-	// GetMetricRangeAtInterval records a query to get value ranges at
-	// intervals for the given Fingerprint:
-	//
-	//   |----|       |----|       |----|       |----|
-	//   ^    ^            ^       ^    ^            ^
-	//   |    \------------/       \----/            |
-	//  from     interval       rangeDuration     through
-	GetMetricRangeAtInterval(fp *clientmodel.Fingerprint, from, through clientmodel.Timestamp, interval, rangeDuration time.Duration)
-	// PopOp emits the next operation in the queue (sorted by
-	// fingerprint). If called while HasOps returns false, the
-	// behavior is undefined.
-	PopOp() op
-	// HasOp returns true if there is at least one more operation in the
-	// queue.
-	HasOp() bool
-}
-
 // viewRequestBuilder contains the various requests for data.
 type viewRequestBuilder struct {
+	storage    *TieredStorage
 	operations ops
 }
 
-// NewViewRequestBuilder furnishes a ViewRequestBuilder for remarking what types
-// of queries to perform.
-func NewViewRequestBuilder() *viewRequestBuilder {
-	return &viewRequestBuilder{}
-}
-
 var getValuesAtTimes = newValueAtTimeList(10 * 1024)
 
 // GetMetricAtTime implements ViewRequestBuilder.
@@ -101,9 +57,14 @@ func (v *viewRequestBuilder) GetMetricRangeAtInterval(fp *clientmodel.Fingerprin
 	heap.Push(&v.operations, getValuesAtIntervalAlongRanges.Get(fp, from, through, interval, rangeDuration))
 }
 
+// Execute implements ViewRequestBuilder.
+func (v *viewRequestBuilder) Execute(deadline time.Duration, queryStats *stats.TimerGroup) (metric.View, error) {
+	return v.storage.makeView(v, deadline, queryStats)
+}
+
 // PopOp implements ViewRequestBuilder.
-func (v *viewRequestBuilder) PopOp() op {
-	return heap.Pop(&v.operations).(op)
+func (v *viewRequestBuilder) PopOp() metric.Op {
+	return heap.Pop(&v.operations).(metric.Op)
 }
 
 // HasOp implements ViewRequestBuilder.
@@ -115,7 +76,7 @@ type view struct {
 	*memorySeriesStorage
 }
 
-func (v view) appendSamples(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint, samples Values) {
+func (v view) appendSamples(fingerprint *clientmodel.Fingerprint, samples metric.Values) {
 	v.memorySeriesStorage.appendSamplesWithoutIndexing(fingerprint, samples)
 }
 
diff --git a/storage/metric/view_test.go b/storage/metric/tiered/view_test.go
similarity index 98%
rename from storage/metric/view_test.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/view_test.go
index 0aca240a68..0de264ed49 100644
--- a/storage/metric/view_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/view_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"testing"
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ func testBuilder(t test.Tester) {
 	}
 
 	for i, scenario := range scenarios {
-		builder := NewViewRequestBuilder()
+		builder := &viewRequestBuilder{}
 
 		for _, atTime := range scenario.in.atTimes {
 			fingerprint := &clientmodel.Fingerprint{}
diff --git a/storage/metric/watermark.go b/storage/metric/tiered/watermark.go
similarity index 99%
rename from storage/metric/watermark.go
rename to storage/metric/tiered/watermark.go
index f25be7b701..754c156ca8 100644
--- a/storage/metric/watermark.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered/watermark.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-package metric
+package tiered
 
 import (
 	"code.google.com/p/goprotobuf/proto"
diff --git a/tools/dumper/main.go b/tools/dumper/main.go
index cfcaa14e58..dd0e62311f 100644
--- a/tools/dumper/main.go
+++ b/tools/dumper/main.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric/tiered"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ type SamplesDumper struct {
 }
 
 func (d *SamplesDumper) Operate(key, value interface{}) *storage.OperatorError {
-	sampleKey := key.(*metric.SampleKey)
+	sampleKey := key.(*tiered.SampleKey)
 	if *dieOnBadChunk && sampleKey.FirstTimestamp.After(sampleKey.LastTimestamp) {
 		glog.Fatalf("Chunk: First time (%v) after last time (%v): %v\n", sampleKey.FirstTimestamp.Unix(), sampleKey.LastTimestamp.Unix(), sampleKey)
 	}
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ func main() {
 		glog.Fatal("Must provide a path...")
 	}
 
-	persistence, err := metric.NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(*storageRoot)
+	persistence, err := tiered.NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(*storageRoot)
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ func main() {
 		csv.NewWriter(os.Stdout),
 	}
 
-	entire, err := persistence.MetricSamples.ForEach(&metric.MetricSamplesDecoder{}, &metric.AcceptAllFilter{}, dumper)
+	entire, err := persistence.MetricSamples.ForEach(&tiered.MetricSamplesDecoder{}, &tiered.AcceptAllFilter{}, dumper)
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Fatal("Error dumping samples: ", err)
 	}
diff --git a/tools/pruner/main.go b/tools/pruner/main.go
index 99e96ce392..b75fb060e4 100644
--- a/tools/pruner/main.go
+++ b/tools/pruner/main.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"flag"
-	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric"
+	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/metric/tiered"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func main() {
 		glog.Fatal("Must provide a path...")
 	}
 
-	persistences, err := metric.NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(*storageRoot)
+	persistences, err := tiered.NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(*storageRoot)
 	if err != nil {
 		glog.Fatal(err)
 	}
diff --git a/web/api/api.go b/web/api/api.go
index c640924b7b..a35263ea93 100644
--- a/web/api/api.go
+++ b/web/api/api.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ type MetricsService struct {
 	time          utility.Time
 	Config        *config.Config
 	TargetManager retrieval.TargetManager
-	Storage       *metric.TieredStorage
+	Storage       metric.PreloadingPersistence
 }
 
 func (msrv *MetricsService) RegisterHandler() {