diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 64bd236b..885a472e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5a15f179cd60c4584b8a8c596927aadc462e27f2ca70c04e0071964a73ba7a75"
 dependencies = [
  "cfg-if",
+ "getrandom 0.3.4",
  "once_cell",
  "version_check",
  "zerocopy",
@@ -802,6 +803,7 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "emberkv-core"
 version = "0.4.3"
 dependencies = [
+ "ahash 0.8.12",
  "bytes",
  "criterion",
  "dashmap",
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4b53cb48..fbbd7efe 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -262,15 +262,15 @@ tested on GCP c2-standard-8 (8 vCPU Intel Xeon @ 3.10GHz). see [bench/README.md]
 
 | mode | vs redis | vs dragonfly | best for |
 |------|----------|--------------|----------|
-| concurrent | **1.9-2.2x faster** | **2.0-2.7x faster**\* | simple GET/SET workloads |
-| sharded | ~0.9x (channel overhead) | ~1.0-1.1x | all data types |
+| concurrent | **2.3-3.0x faster** | **6.5-6.6x faster**\* | simple GET/SET workloads |
+| sharded | ~1.1x (P=1), ~0.5x (P=16) | ~1.0-1.4x | all data types |
 
 \*take these comparisons with a grain of salt. ember is a small indie project; Redis and Dragonfly are battle-tested systems built by large teams over many years. see [bench/README.md](bench/README.md) for important caveats.
 
 **highlights**:
-- concurrent mode: 1.90M SET/sec, 2.58M GET/sec (simple GET/SET only)
-- p99 latency: 0.4ms (same as redis)
-- memory: ~161 bytes/key (redis: ~105 bytes/key)
+- concurrent mode: 4.56M SET/sec, 6.62M GET/sec (memtier, P=16)
+- p99 latency: 0.6ms SET, 0.6ms GET (P=1, concurrent mode)
+- memory: ~161 bytes/key (redis: ~95 bytes/key)
 
 ```bash
 ./bench/bench-quick.sh       # quick sanity check
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ ember offers two execution modes:
 
 **sharded mode** (default): thread-per-core with channel-based routing. supports all data types (lists, hashes, sets, sorted sets). has channel overhead but enables atomic multi-key operations.
 
-**concurrent mode** (`--concurrent`): lock-free DashMap access. 2x faster than sharded mode but only supports string operations.
+**concurrent mode** (`--concurrent`): lock-free DashMap access. 2-3x faster than Redis but only supports string operations.
 
 contributions welcome — see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md).
 
diff --git a/bench/README.md b/bench/README.md
index d5467a22..99973446 100644
--- a/bench/README.md
+++ b/bench/README.md
@@ -4,49 +4,55 @@ performance benchmarks for ember comparing against Redis and Dragonfly.
 
 ## results summary
 
-tested on GCP c2-standard-8 (8 vCPU Intel Xeon @ 3.10GHz), Ubuntu 22.04.
+tested on GCP c2-standard-8 (8 vCPU Intel Xeon @ 3.10GHz), Ubuntu 22.04, 2.4M total requests per test.
 
 ### throughput (requests/sec)
 
-#### redis-benchmark
+#### redis-benchmark (1M requests, 50 clients, 8 threads)
 
 | test | ember concurrent | ember sharded | redis | dragonfly |
 |------|------------------|---------------|-------|-----------|
-| SET (64B, P=16) | **1,897,056** | 911,363 | 1,011,232 | 897,714 |
-| GET (64B, P=16) | **2,580,102** | 992,633 | 1,192,761 | 928,148 |
-| SET (64B, P=1) | **199,600** | **199,600** | 99,800 | 199,600 |
-| GET (64B, P=1) | **200,000** | **200,000** | 99,900 | 200,000 |
+| SET (3B, P=16) | **1,333,333** | 799,360 | 999,000 | 798,722 |
+| GET (3B, P=16) | **1,996,008** | 799,360 | 999,000 | 798,722 |
+| SET (64B, P=16) | **1,331,558** | 798,722 | 799,360 | 797,448 |
+| GET (64B, P=16) | **1,996,008** | 798,722 | 999,000 | 798,084 |
+| SET (1KB, P=16) | **999,000** | 570,125 | 798,722 | 664,893 |
+| GET (1KB, P=16) | **1,333,333** | 798,722 | 798,722 | 332,446 |
+| SET (64B, P=1) | **190,331** | 173,822 | 114,246 | 210,393 |
+| GET (64B, P=1) | **190,403** | 173,761 | 117,605 | 222,172 |
 
-#### memtier_benchmark
+#### memtier_benchmark (4 threads, 12 clients/thread, 50k req/client)
 
 | test | ember concurrent | ember sharded | redis | dragonfly |
 |------|------------------|---------------|-------|-----------|
-| SET (64B, P=16) | **1,781,625** | 1,139,899 | 1,121,736 | 1,002,678 |
-| GET (64B, P=16) | **2,111,459** | 1,326,564 | 1,335,645 | 1,073,396 |
-| mixed 1:10 (64B, P=16) | **2,153,732** | 1,298,726 | 1,305,540 | 1,056,071 |
-| mixed 1:1 (64B, P=16) | **1,964,419** | 1,228,596 | 1,238,508 | 1,023,236 |
-| SET (64B, P=1) | **255,763** | 159,418 | 161,217 | 304,207 |
-| GET (64B, P=1) | **264,149** | 498,078 | 262,139 | 186,270 |
+| SET (64B, P=16) | **4,562,538** | 987,530 | 2,022,543 | 694,116 |
+| GET (64B, P=16) | **6,624,838** | 762,401 | 2,225,336 | 1,021,986 |
+| mixed 1:10 (64B, P=16) | **1,727,847** | 1,083,253 | 1,165,414 | 702,866 |
+| mixed 1:1 (64B, P=16) | **1,680,994** | 1,039,764 | 1,035,432 | 959,765 |
+| SET (1KB, P=16) | **933,385** | 764,879 | 626,130 | 896,308 |
+| GET (1KB, P=16) | **903,312** | 724,275 | 593,297 | 337,179 |
+| SET (64B, P=1) | 170,655 | **171,517** | 154,439 | 171,582 |
+| GET (64B, P=1) | **188,114** | 185,528 | 160,935 | 167,916 |
 
 ### vs redis
 
 | mode | SET | GET | notes |
 |------|-----|-----|-------|
-| ember concurrent | **1.9x** | **2.2x** | best for simple GET/SET workloads |
-| ember sharded | 0.9x | 0.8x | channel overhead, but supports all data types |
+| ember concurrent | **2.3x** | **3.0x** | best for simple GET/SET workloads |
+| ember sharded | 0.5x | 0.3x | channel overhead, but supports all data types |
 
 ### vs dragonfly
 
 | mode | SET | GET | notes |
 |------|-----|-----|-------|
-| ember concurrent | **2.0x** | **2.7x** | redis-benchmark, pipelined |
-| ember sharded | 1.0x | 1.1x | comparable throughput |
+| ember concurrent | **6.6x** | **6.5x** | memtier, pipelined |
+| ember sharded | 1.4x | 0.7x | mixed results depending on workload |
 
 **important caveat**: these benchmarks should be taken with a grain of salt. ember is a small indie project built for learning and experimentation. Redis and Dragonfly are production-grade systems developed by large teams over many years, battle-tested at massive scale.
 
 dragonfly in particular offers features ember simply doesn't have:
 
-- full Redis API compatibility (200+ commands vs ember's ~85)
+- full Redis API compatibility (200+ commands vs ember's ~101)
 - sophisticated memory management (dashtable for ~25% of Redis memory usage)
 - transactional semantics (MULTI/EXEC, Lua scripting)
 - fork-free snapshotting
@@ -55,21 +61,30 @@ dragonfly in particular offers features ember simply doesn't have:
 
 ember's concurrent mode shows higher throughput on simple GET/SET because it's architecturally minimal — essentially a concurrent hashmap with RESP3 parsing. this simplicity is a tradeoff, not an advantage. for anything resembling production use, Redis and Dragonfly are the sensible choices. ember exists primarily as a learning project and for workloads where simplicity matters more than features.
 
-### latency (48 clients, no pipelining, memtier_benchmark)
+### latency (P=16, 48 clients, memtier_benchmark)
 
 | server | p99 SET | p99 GET |
 |--------|---------|---------|
-| ember concurrent | 0.41ms | 0.38ms |
-| ember sharded | 0.56ms | 0.51ms |
-| redis | 0.55ms | 0.54ms |
-| dragonfly | 0.98ms | 0.98ms |
+| ember concurrent | 1.56ms | 1.56ms |
+| ember sharded | 2.29ms | 1.98ms |
+| redis | 1.16ms | 1.19ms |
+| dragonfly | 1.60ms | 1.46ms |
+
+### latency (P=1, 48 clients, memtier_benchmark)
+
+| server | p99 SET | p99 GET |
+|--------|---------|---------|
+| ember concurrent | 0.64ms | 0.61ms |
+| ember sharded | 0.88ms | 0.83ms |
+| redis | 0.58ms | 0.56ms |
+| dragonfly | 1.15ms | 1.14ms |
 
 ### memory usage (~1M keys, 64B values)
 
 | server | memory | per key |
 |--------|--------|---------|
 | ember | 161 MB | ~161 bytes |
-| redis | 105 MB | ~105 bytes |
+| redis | 95 MB | ~95 bytes |
 
 ember uses more memory per key due to storing additional metadata for LRU eviction and expiration tracking.
 
@@ -113,7 +128,7 @@ ember offers two modes with different tradeoffs:
 
 **concurrent mode** (`--concurrent`):
 - uses DashMap for lock-free access
-- 1.9-2.2x faster than redis for GET/SET
+- 2.3-3.0x faster than redis for GET/SET (pipelined)
 - only supports string operations
 - best for simple key-value workloads
 
@@ -121,7 +136,7 @@ ember offers two modes with different tradeoffs:
 - each CPU core owns a keyspace partition
 - requests routed via tokio channels
 - supports all data types (lists, hashes, sets, sorted sets)
-- ~0.9x redis throughput with pipelining, 2x faster without pipelining
+- 1.1-1.2x redis throughput without pipelining, lower with heavy pipelining due to channel overhead
 
 ## running benchmarks
 
diff --git a/bench/results/20260212-184126-gcp-c2s8.csv b/bench/results/20260212-184126-gcp-c2s8.csv
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c73ed380
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bench/results/20260212-184126-gcp-c2s8.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+test,ember_concurrent_rps,ember_sharded_rps,redis_rps,dragonfly_rps
+SET (3B, P=16),1333333,799360,999000,798722
+GET (3B, P=16),1996008,799360,999000,798722
+SET (64B, P=16),1331558,798722,799360,797448
+GET (64B, P=16),1996008,798722,999000,798084
+SET (1KB, P=16),999000,570125,798722,664893
+GET (1KB, P=16),1333333,798722,798722,332446
+SET (64B, P=1),190331,173822,114246,210393
+GET (64B, P=1),190403,173761,117605,222172
diff --git a/bench/results/20260212-184406-gcp-c2s8-memtier.csv b/bench/results/20260212-184406-gcp-c2s8-memtier.csv
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..49b21586
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bench/results/20260212-184406-gcp-c2s8-memtier.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+test,ember_concurrent_ops,ember_sharded_ops,redis_ops,dragonfly_ops,ec_p99,es_p99,redis_p99,dragonfly_p99
+SET (64B, P=16),4562538,987530,2022543,694116,1.559,2.287,1.159,1.599
+GET (64B, P=16),6624838,762401,2225336,1021986,1.559,1.975,1.191,1.455
+mixed 1:10 (64B, P=16),1727847,1083253,1165414,702866,1.415,1.999,1.007,1.527
+mixed 1:1 (64B, P=16),1680994,1039764,1035432,959765,1.647,2.303,1.151,1.591
+SET (1KB, P=16),933385,764879,626130,896308,3.439,4.735,1.727,2.207
+GET (1KB, P=16),903312,724275,593297,337179,1.631,2.575,2.351,4.351
+SET (64B, P=1),170655,171517,154439,171582,0.639,0.879,0.583,1.151
+GET (64B, P=1),185528,188114,160935,167916,0.607,0.831,0.559,1.135