diff --git a/bitcask.go b/bitcask.go
index 0612f17..edbe3a4 100644
--- a/bitcask.go
+++ b/bitcask.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gofrs/flock"
 
 	"github.com/prologic/bitcask/internal"
+	"github.com/prologic/bitcask/internal/model"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -36,10 +37,6 @@ var (
 	// ErrDatabaseLocked is the error returned if the database is locked
 	// (typically opened by another process)
 	ErrDatabaseLocked = errors.New("error: database locked")
-
-	// ErrCreatingMemPool is the error returned when trying to configurate
-	// the mempool fails
-	ErrCreatingMemPool = errors.New("error: creating the mempool failed")
 )
 
 // Bitcask is a struct that represents a on-disk LSM and WAL data structure
@@ -242,7 +239,7 @@ func (b *Bitcask) put(key, value []byte) (int64, int64, error) {
 		b.curr = curr
 	}
 
-	e := internal.NewEntry(key, value)
+	e := model.NewEntry(key, value)
 	return b.curr.Write(e)
 }
 
@@ -457,8 +454,6 @@ func Open(path string, options ...Option) (*Bitcask, error) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	internal.ConfigureMemPool(bitcask.config.maxConcurrency)
-
 	locked, err := bitcask.Flock.TryLock()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -491,3 +486,4 @@ func Merge(path string, force bool) error {
 
 	return db.Merge()
 }
+
diff --git a/bitcask_test.go b/bitcask_test.go
index 5bb5c2a..df79488 100644
--- a/bitcask_test.go
+++ b/bitcask_test.go
@@ -495,9 +495,8 @@ func TestLocking(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 type benchmarkTestCase struct {
-	name     string
-	size     int
-	withPool bool
+	name string
+	size int
 }
 
 func BenchmarkGet(b *testing.B) {
@@ -513,24 +512,15 @@ func BenchmarkGet(b *testing.B) {
 	defer os.RemoveAll(testdir)
 
 	tests := []benchmarkTestCase{
-		{"128B", 128, false},
-		{"128BWithPool", 128, true},
-		{"256B", 256, false},
-		{"256BWithPool", 256, true},
-		{"512B", 512, false},
-		{"512BWithPool", 512, true},
-		{"1K", 1024, false},
-		{"1KWithPool", 1024, true},
-		{"2K", 2048, false},
-		{"2KWithPool", 2048, true},
-		{"4K", 4096, false},
-		{"4KWithPool", 4096, true},
-		{"8K", 8192, false},
-		{"8KWithPool", 8192, true},
-		{"16K", 16384, false},
-		{"16KWithPool", 16384, true},
-		{"32K", 32768, false},
-		{"32KWithPool", 32768, true},
+		{"128B", 128},
+		{"256B", 256},
+		{"512B", 512},
+		{"1K", 1024},
+		{"2K", 2048},
+		{"4K", 4096},
+		{"8K", 8192},
+		{"16K", 16384},
+		{"32K", 32768},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
@@ -544,9 +534,6 @@ func BenchmarkGet(b *testing.B) {
 				WithMaxKeySize(len(key)),
 				WithMaxValueSize(tt.size),
 			}
-			if tt.withPool {
-				options = append(options, WithMemPool(1))
-			}
 			db, err := Open(testdir, options...)
 			if err != nil {
 				b.Fatal(err)
@@ -592,15 +579,14 @@ func BenchmarkPut(b *testing.B) {
 	defer db.Close()
 
 	tests := []benchmarkTestCase{
-		{"128B", 128, false},
-		{"256B", 256, false},
-		{"512B", 512, false},
-		{"1K", 1024, false},
-		{"2K", 2048, false},
-		{"4K", 4096, false},
-		{"8K", 8192, false},
-		{"16K", 16384, false},
-		{"32K", 32768, false},
+		{"128B", 128},
+		{"256B", 256},
+		{"1K", 1024},
+		{"2K", 2048},
+		{"4K", 4096},
+		{"8K", 8192},
+		{"16K", 16384},
+		{"32K", 32768},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
diff --git a/doc.go b/doc.go
index b401b0c..09f36a4 100644
--- a/doc.go
+++ b/doc.go
@@ -1,13 +1,3 @@
 // Package bitcask implements a high-performance key-value store based on a
 // WAL and LSM.
-//
-// By default, the client assumes a default configuration regarding maximum key size,
-// maximum value size, maximum datafile size, and memory pools to avoid allocations.
-// Refer to Constants section to know default values.
-//
-// For extra performance, configure the memory pool option properly. This option
-// requires to specify the maximum number of concurrent use of the package. Failing to
-// set a high-enough value would impact latency and throughput. Likewise, overestimating
-// would yield in an unnecessary big memory footprint.
-// The default configuration doesn't use a memory pool.
 package bitcask
diff --git a/doc_test.go b/doc_test.go
index 1a9d921..8cc50e5 100644
--- a/doc_test.go
+++ b/doc_test.go
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ func Example_withOptions() {
 	opts := []Option{
 		WithMaxKeySize(1024),
 		WithMaxValueSize(4096),
-		WithMemPool(10),
 	}
 	_, _ = Open("path/to/db", opts...)
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 0b8bb0a..cb5c52e 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/derekparker/trie v0.0.0-20190805173922-4e1a77fb815d
 	github.com/gofrs/flock v0.7.1
 	github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.2.1
-	github.com/golang/protobuf v1.3.2
 	github.com/konsorten/go-windows-terminal-sequences v1.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/magiconair/properties v1.8.1 // indirect
 	github.com/oxtoacart/bpool v0.0.0-20190530202638-03653db5a59c
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 1bcd00a..fee9543 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -43,8 +43,6 @@ github.com/golang/mock v1.1.1/go.mod h1:oTYuIxOrZwtPieC+H1uAHpcLFnEyAGVDL/k47Jfb
 github.com/golang/protobuf v1.2.0/go.mod h1:6lQm79b+lXiMfvg/cZm0SGofjICqVBUtrP5yJMmIC1U=
 github.com/golang/protobuf v1.3.1 h1:YF8+flBXS5eO826T4nzqPrxfhQThhXl0YzfuUPu4SBg=
 github.com/golang/protobuf v1.3.1/go.mod h1:6lQm79b+lXiMfvg/cZm0SGofjICqVBUtrP5yJMmIC1U=
-github.com/golang/protobuf v1.3.2 h1:6nsPYzhq5kReh6QImI3k5qWzO4PEbvbIW2cwSfR/6xs=
-github.com/golang/protobuf v1.3.2/go.mod h1:6lQm79b+lXiMfvg/cZm0SGofjICqVBUtrP5yJMmIC1U=
 github.com/google/btree v1.0.0/go.mod h1:lNA+9X1NB3Zf8V7Ke586lFgjr2dZNuvo3lPJSGZ5JPQ=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.2.0/go.mod h1:oXzfMopK8JAjlY9xF4vHSVASa0yLyX7SntLO5aqRK0M=
 github.com/gorilla/websocket v1.4.0/go.mod h1:E7qHFY5m1UJ88s3WnNqhKjPHQ0heANvMoAMk2YaljkQ=
diff --git a/internal/codec/codec.go b/internal/codec/codec.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0aa4ed3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/codec/codec.go
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+package codec
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"io"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/prologic/bitcask/internal/model"
+)
+
+const (
+	KeySize      = 4
+	ValueSize    = 8
+	checksumSize = 4
+)
+
+// NewEncoder creates a streaming Entry encoder.
+func NewEncoder(w io.Writer) *Encoder {
+	return &Encoder{w: bufio.NewWriter(w)}
+}
+
+// Encoder wraps an underlying io.Writer and allows you to stream
+// Entry encodings on it.
+type Encoder struct {
+	w *bufio.Writer
+}
+
+// Encode takes any Entry and streams it to the underlying writer.
+// Messages are framed with a key-length and value-length prefix.
+func (e *Encoder) Encode(msg model.Entry) (int64, error) {
+	var bufKeyValue = make([]byte, ValueSize)
+
+	bufKeySize := bufKeyValue[:KeySize]
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(bufKeySize, uint32(len(msg.Key)))
+	if _, err := e.w.Write(bufKeySize); err != nil {
+		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "failed writing key length prefix")
+	}
+
+	bufValueSize := bufKeyValue[:ValueSize]
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(bufValueSize, uint64(len(msg.Value)))
+	if _, err := e.w.Write(bufValueSize); err != nil {
+		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "failed writing value length prefix")
+	}
+
+	if _, err := e.w.Write([]byte(msg.Key)); err != nil {
+		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "failed writing key data")
+	}
+	if _, err := e.w.Write(msg.Value); err != nil {
+		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "failed writing value data")
+	}
+
+	bufChecksumSize := make([]byte, checksumSize)
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(bufChecksumSize, msg.Checksum)
+	if _, err := e.w.Write(bufChecksumSize); err != nil {
+		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "failed writing checksum data")
+	}
+
+	if err := e.w.Flush(); err != nil {
+		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "failed flushing data")
+	}
+
+	return int64(KeySize + ValueSize + len(msg.Key) + len(msg.Value) + checksumSize), nil
+}
+
+// NewDecoder creates a streaming Entry decoder.
+func NewDecoder(r io.Reader) *Decoder {
+	return &Decoder{r: r}
+}
+
+// Decoder wraps an underlying io.Reader and allows you to stream
+// Entry decodings on it.
+type Decoder struct {
+	r io.Reader
+}
+
+func (d *Decoder) Decode(v *model.Entry) (int64, error) {
+	prefixBuf := make([]byte, KeySize+ValueSize)
+
+	_, err := io.ReadFull(d.r, prefixBuf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+
+	actualKeySize, actualValueSize := GetKeyValueSizes(prefixBuf)
+	buf := make([]byte, actualKeySize+actualValueSize+checksumSize)
+	if _, err = io.ReadFull(d.r, buf); err != nil {
+		return 0, errors.Wrap(translateError(err), "failed reading saved data")
+	}
+
+	DecodeWithoutPrefix(buf, actualValueSize, v)
+	return int64(KeySize + ValueSize + actualKeySize + actualValueSize + checksumSize), nil
+}
+
+func GetKeyValueSizes(buf []byte) (uint64, uint64) {
+	actualKeySize := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[:KeySize])
+	actualValueSize := binary.BigEndian.Uint64(buf[KeySize:])
+
+	return uint64(actualKeySize), actualValueSize
+}
+
+func DecodeWithoutPrefix(buf []byte, valueOffset uint64, v *model.Entry) {
+	v.Key = buf[:valueOffset]
+	v.Value = buf[valueOffset : len(buf)-checksumSize]
+	v.Checksum = binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[len(buf)-checksumSize:])
+}
+
+func translateError(err error) error {
+	if err == io.EOF {
+		return io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
+	}
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/internal/datafile.go b/internal/datafile.go
index cca0edf..b4735e1 100644
--- a/internal/datafile.go
+++ b/internal/datafile.go
@@ -6,25 +6,21 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"sync"
 
-	"github.com/oxtoacart/bpool"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"golang.org/x/exp/mmap"
 
-	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
-	pb "github.com/prologic/bitcask/internal/proto"
-	"github.com/prologic/bitcask/internal/streampb"
+	"github.com/prologic/bitcask/internal/codec"
+	"github.com/prologic/bitcask/internal/model"
 )
 
 const (
 	DefaultDatafileFilename = "%09d.data"
-	prefixSize              = 8
 )
 
 var (
 	ErrReadonly  = errors.New("error: read only datafile")
 	ErrReadError = errors.New("error: read error")
 
-	memPool   *bpool.BufferPool
 	mxMemPool sync.RWMutex
 )
 
@@ -36,8 +32,8 @@ type Datafile struct {
 	ra     *mmap.ReaderAt
 	w      *os.File
 	offset int64
-	dec    *streampb.Decoder
-	enc    *streampb.Encoder
+	dec    *codec.Decoder
+	enc    *codec.Encoder
 }
 
 func NewDatafile(path string, id int, readonly bool) (*Datafile, error) {
@@ -73,8 +69,8 @@ func NewDatafile(path string, id int, readonly bool) (*Datafile, error) {
 
 	offset := stat.Size()
 
-	dec := streampb.NewDecoder(r)
-	enc := streampb.NewEncoder(w)
+	dec := codec.NewDecoder(r)
+	enc := codec.NewEncoder(w)
 
 	return &Datafile{
 		id:     id,
@@ -126,7 +122,7 @@ func (df *Datafile) Size() int64 {
 	return df.offset
 }
 
-func (df *Datafile) Read() (e pb.Entry, n int64, err error) {
+func (df *Datafile) Read() (e model.Entry, n int64, err error) {
 	df.Lock()
 	defer df.Unlock()
 
@@ -138,20 +134,10 @@ func (df *Datafile) Read() (e pb.Entry, n int64, err error) {
 	return
 }
 
-func (df *Datafile) ReadAt(index, size int64) (e pb.Entry, err error) {
+func (df *Datafile) ReadAt(index, size int64) (e model.Entry, err error) {
 	var n int
 
-	var b []byte
-	if memPool == nil {
-		b = make([]byte, size)
-	} else {
-		poolSlice := memPool.Get()
-		if poolSlice.Cap() < int(size) {
-			poolSlice.Grow(int(size) - poolSlice.Cap())
-		}
-		defer memPool.Put(poolSlice)
-		b = poolSlice.Bytes()[:size]
-	}
+	b := make([]byte, size)
 
 	if df.w == nil {
 		n, err = df.ra.ReadAt(b, index)
@@ -166,14 +152,13 @@ func (df *Datafile) ReadAt(index, size int64) (e pb.Entry, err error) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	err = proto.Unmarshal(b[prefixSize:], &e)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
+	valueOffset, _ := codec.GetKeyValueSizes(b)
+	codec.DecodeWithoutPrefix(b[codec.KeySize+codec.ValueSize:], valueOffset, &e)
+
 	return
 }
 
-func (df *Datafile) Write(e pb.Entry) (int64, int64, error) {
+func (df *Datafile) Write(e model.Entry) (int64, int64, error) {
 	if df.w == nil {
 		return -1, 0, ErrReadonly
 	}
@@ -183,23 +168,11 @@ func (df *Datafile) Write(e pb.Entry) (int64, int64, error) {
 
 	e.Offset = df.offset
 
-	n, err := df.enc.Encode(&e)
+	n, err := df.enc.Encode(e)
 	if err != nil {
 		return -1, 0, err
 	}
 	df.offset += n
 
 	return e.Offset, n, nil
-}
-
-// ConfigureMemPool configurate the mempool accordingly
-func ConfigureMemPool(maxConcurrency *int) {
-	mxMemPool.Lock()
-	defer mxMemPool.Unlock()
-	if maxConcurrency == nil {
-		memPool = nil
-	} else {
-		memPool = bpool.NewBufferPool(*maxConcurrency)
-	}
-	return
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/internal/entry.go b/internal/entry.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 4d0de13..0000000
--- a/internal/entry.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-package internal
-
-import (
-	"hash/crc32"
-
-	pb "github.com/prologic/bitcask/internal/proto"
-)
-
-func NewEntry(key, value []byte) pb.Entry {
-	checksum := crc32.ChecksumIEEE(value)
-
-	return pb.Entry{
-		Checksum: checksum,
-		Key:      key,
-		Value:    value,
-	}
-}
diff --git a/internal/model/entry.go b/internal/model/entry.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..860ea15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/model/entry.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package model
+
+import (
+	"hash/crc32"
+)
+// Entry represents a key/value in the database
+type Entry struct {
+		Checksum uint32
+		Key      []byte
+		Offset   int64
+		Value    []byte
+	}
+	
+
+func NewEntry(key, value []byte) Entry {
+	checksum := crc32.ChecksumIEEE(value)
+
+	return Entry{
+		Checksum: checksum,
+		Key:      key,
+		Value:    value,
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/proto/doc.go b/internal/proto/doc.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 3fe484d..0000000
--- a/internal/proto/doc.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-package proto
-
-//go:generate protoc --go_out=. entry.proto
diff --git a/internal/streampb/stream.go b/internal/streampb/stream.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 37791f4..0000000
--- a/internal/streampb/stream.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,97 +0,0 @@
-package streampb
-
-import (
-	"bufio"
-	"encoding/binary"
-	"io"
-
-	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
-	"github.com/pkg/errors"
-)
-
-const (
-	// prefixSize is the number of bytes we preallocate for storing
-	// our big endian lenth prefix buffer.
-	prefixSize = 8
-)
-
-// NewEncoder creates a streaming protobuf encoder.
-func NewEncoder(w io.Writer) *Encoder {
-	return &Encoder{w: bufio.NewWriter(w)}
-}
-
-// Encoder wraps an underlying io.Writer and allows you to stream
-// proto encodings on it.
-type Encoder struct {
-	w *bufio.Writer
-}
-
-// Encode takes any proto.Message and streams it to the underlying writer.
-// Messages are framed with a length prefix.
-func (e *Encoder) Encode(msg proto.Message) (int64, error) {
-	prefixBuf := make([]byte, prefixSize)
-
-	buf, err := proto.Marshal(msg)
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, err
-	}
-	binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(prefixBuf, uint64(len(buf)))
-
-	if _, err := e.w.Write(prefixBuf); err != nil {
-		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "failed writing length prefix")
-	}
-
-	n, err := e.w.Write(buf)
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "failed writing marshaled data")
-	}
-
-	if err = e.w.Flush(); err != nil {
-		return 0, errors.Wrap(err, "failed flushing data")
-	}
-
-	return int64(n + prefixSize), nil
-}
-
-// NewDecoder creates a streaming protobuf decoder.
-func NewDecoder(r io.Reader) *Decoder {
-	return &Decoder{r: r}
-}
-
-// Decoder wraps an underlying io.Reader and allows you to stream
-// proto decodings on it.
-type Decoder struct {
-	r io.Reader
-}
-
-// Decode takes a proto.Message and unmarshals the next payload in the
-// underlying io.Reader. It returns an EOF when it's done.
-func (d *Decoder) Decode(v proto.Message) (int64, error) {
-	prefixBuf := make([]byte, prefixSize)
-
-	_, err := io.ReadFull(d.r, prefixBuf)
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, err
-	}
-
-	n := binary.BigEndian.Uint64(prefixBuf)
-
-	buf := make([]byte, n)
-
-	idx := uint64(0)
-	for idx < n {
-		m, err := d.r.Read(buf[idx:n])
-		if err != nil {
-			return 0, errors.Wrap(translateError(err), "failed reading marshaled data")
-		}
-		idx += uint64(m)
-	}
-	return int64(idx + prefixSize), proto.Unmarshal(buf[:n], v)
-}
-
-func translateError(err error) error {
-	if err == io.EOF {
-		return io.ErrUnexpectedEOF
-	}
-	return err
-}
diff --git a/options.go b/options.go
index d38894d..20b267d 100644
--- a/options.go
+++ b/options.go
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ type config struct {
 	maxDatafileSize int
 	maxKeySize      int
 	maxValueSize    int
-	maxConcurrency  *int
 }
 
 func (c *config) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
@@ -102,14 +101,3 @@ func WithMaxValueSize(size int) Option {
 		return nil
 	}
 }
-
-// WithMemPool configures usage of a memory pool to avoid allocations
-func WithMemPool(maxConcurrency int) Option {
-	return func(cfg *config) error {
-		if maxConcurrency <= 0 {
-			return ErrMaxConcurrencyLowerEqZero
-		}
-		cfg.maxConcurrency = &maxConcurrency
-		return nil
-	}
-}