diff --git a/rw_test.go b/rw_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9ab03306f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rw_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+package tsdb
+
+import (
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"math/rand"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"sort"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestPersistence_index_e2e(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "test_persistence_e2e")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer os.RemoveAll(dir)
+
+	lbls, err := readPrometheusLabels("testdata/20k.series", 20000)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	var input indexWriterSeriesSlice
+
+	// Generate ChunkMetas for every label set.
+	for i, lset := range lbls {
+		var metas []ChunkMeta
+
+		for j := 0; j <= (i % 20); j++ {
+			metas = append(metas, ChunkMeta{
+				MinTime: int64(j * 10000),
+				MaxTime: int64((j + 1) * 10000),
+				Ref:     rand.Uint64(),
+			})
+		}
+		input = append(input, &indexWriterSeries{
+			labels: lset,
+			chunks: metas,
+		})
+	}
+
+	iw, err := newIndexWriter(dir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Population procedure as done by compaction.
+	var (
+		postings = &memPostings{m: make(map[term][]uint32, 512)}
+		values   = map[string]stringset{}
+	)
+
+	for i, s := range input {
+		iw.AddSeries(uint32(i), s.labels, s.chunks...)
+
+		for _, l := range s.labels {
+			valset, ok := values[l.Name]
+			if !ok {
+				valset = stringset{}
+				values[l.Name] = valset
+			}
+			valset.set(l.Value)
+
+			postings.add(uint32(i), term{name: l.Name, value: l.Value})
+		}
+		i++
+	}
+	all := make([]uint32, len(lbls))
+	for i := range all {
+		all[i] = uint32(i)
+	}
+	err = iw.WritePostings("", "", newListPostings(all))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	err = iw.Close()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	ir, err := newIndexReader(dir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	allp, err := ir.Postings("", "")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	var result indexWriterSeriesSlice
+
+	for allp.Next() {
+		ref := allp.At()
+
+		lset, chks, err := ir.Series(ref)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		result = append(result, &indexWriterSeries{
+			offset: ref,
+			labels: lset,
+			chunks: chks,
+		})
+	}
+	require.NoError(t, allp.Err())
+
+	// Persisted data must be sorted.
+	sort.IsSorted(result)
+
+	// Validate result contents.
+	sort.Sort(input)
+	require.Equal(t, len(input), len(result))
+
+	for i, re := range result {
+		exp := input[i]
+
+		require.Equal(t, exp.labels, re.labels)
+		require.Equal(t, exp.chunks, re.chunks)
+	}
+
+	require.NoError(t, ir.Close())
+
+}
+
+func BenchmarkPersistence_index_write(b *testing.B) {
+
+}