diff --git a/agent.go b/agent.go
index 1a5dfc6..90035de 100644
--- a/agent.go
+++ b/agent.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/memberlist"
-	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -24,7 +23,6 @@ type Agent struct {
 	members            *memberlist.Memberlist
 	peerUpdateChan     chan bool
 	nodeEventChan      chan *NodeEvent
-	grpcServer         *grpc.Server
 	registeredServices map[string]struct{}
 	memberConfig       *memberlist.Config
 }
@@ -33,7 +31,7 @@ type Agent struct {
 func NewAgent(cfg *Config) (*Agent, error) {
 	updateCh := make(chan bool)
 	nodeEventCh := make(chan *NodeEvent)
-	mc, err := setupMemberlistConfig(cfg, updateCh, nodeEventCh)
+	mc, err := cfg.memberListConfig(updateCh, nodeEventCh)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -42,13 +40,11 @@ func NewAgent(cfg *Config) (*Agent, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	grpcServer := grpc.NewServer()
 	return &Agent{
 		config:         cfg,
 		members:        ml,
 		peerUpdateChan: updateCh,
 		nodeEventChan:  nodeEventCh,
-		grpcServer:     grpcServer,
 		memberConfig:   mc,
 	}, nil
 }
diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 318fe91..a7fd817 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 package element
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
+	"net"
+	"strconv"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/memberlist"
 )
@@ -24,20 +25,14 @@ const (
 type Config struct {
 	// NodeName is the name of the node.  Each node must have a unique name in the cluster.
 	NodeName string
-	// AgentAddr is the address on which the agent will serve the GRPC services
-	AgentAddr string
-	// AgentPort is the port on which the agent will serve the GRPC services
-	AgentPort int
+	// Address on which the agent will serve the GRPC services
+	Address string
 	// ConnectionType is the connection type the agent will use
 	ConnectionType string
-	// BindAddr is the cluster bind address
-	BindAddr string
-	// BindPort is the cluster bind port
-	BindPort int
-	// AdvertiseAddr is the cluster address that will be used for membership communication
-	AdvertiseAddr string
-	// AdvertisePort is the cluster port that will be used for membership communication
-	AdvertisePort int
+	// ClusterAddress bind address
+	ClusterAddress string
+	// AdvertiseAddress for nat traversal
+	AdvertiseAddress string
 	// Peers is a local cache of peer members
 	Peers []string
 }
@@ -46,7 +41,7 @@ func (a *Agent) Config() *Config {
 	return a.config
 }
 
-func setupMemberlistConfig(cfg *Config, peerUpdateChan chan bool, nodeEventChan chan *NodeEvent) (*memberlist.Config, error) {
+func (cfg *Config) memberListConfig(peerUpdateChan chan bool, nodeEventChan chan *NodeEvent) (*memberlist.Config, error) {
 	var mc *memberlist.Config
 	switch cfg.ConnectionType {
 	case string(Local):
@@ -60,26 +55,32 @@ func setupMemberlistConfig(cfg *Config, peerUpdateChan chan bool, nodeEventChan
 	}
 
 	mc.Name = cfg.NodeName
-	mc.Delegate = NewAgentDelegate(cfg.NodeName, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", cfg.AgentAddr, cfg.AgentPort), peerUpdateChan, nodeEventChan)
+	mc.Delegate = NewAgentDelegate(cfg.NodeName, cfg.Address, peerUpdateChan, nodeEventChan)
 	mc.Events = NewEventHandler(nodeEventChan)
 
 	// disable logging for memberlist
 	// TODO: enable if debug
 	mc.Logger = log.New(ioutil.Discard, "", 0)
 
+	host, port, err := net.SplitHostPort(cfg.ClusterAddress)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	// ml overrides for connection
-	if v := cfg.BindAddr; v != "" {
-		mc.BindAddr = v
+	if v := host; v != "" {
+		mc.BindAddr = host
 	}
-	if v := cfg.BindPort; v > 0 {
-		mc.BindPort = v
+	if v := port; v != "" {
+		mc.BindPort, _ = strconv.Atoi(port)
 	}
-	if v := cfg.AdvertiseAddr; v != "" {
-		mc.AdvertiseAddr = v
+	if host, port, err = net.SplitHostPort(cfg.ClusterAddress); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
-	if v := cfg.AdvertisePort; v > 0 {
-		mc.AdvertisePort = v
+	if v := host; v != "" {
+		mc.AdvertiseAddr = host
+	}
+	if v := port; v != "" {
+		mc.AdvertisePort, _ = strconv.Atoi(port)
 	}
-
 	return mc, nil
 }
diff --git a/peers.go b/peers.go
index 477da9e..d41647a 100644
--- a/peers.go
+++ b/peers.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package element
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
 	"time"
 )
 
@@ -35,7 +34,7 @@ func (a *Agent) Peers() ([]*PeerAgent, error) {
 func (a *Agent) LocalNode() (*PeerAgent, error) {
 	return &PeerAgent{
 		Name:    a.config.NodeName,
-		Addr:    fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", a.config.AgentAddr, a.config.AgentPort),
+		Addr:    a.config.Address,
 		Updated: time.Now(),
 	}, nil
 }
diff --git a/register.go b/register.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 5e22a75..0000000
--- a/register.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-package element
-
-import "fmt"
-
-// Register registers a GRPC service with the agent
-func (a *Agent) Register(svc Service) error {
-	id := svc.ID()
-	if _, exists := a.registeredServices[id]; exists {
-		return fmt.Errorf("service %s already registered", id)
-	}
-	svc.Register(a.grpcServer)
-	return nil
-}
diff --git a/service.go b/service.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 61433e1..0000000
--- a/service.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-package element
-
-import "google.golang.org/grpc"
-
-type Service interface {
-	// ID is the name of the service
-	ID() string
-	// Register is used to register the GRPC service
-	Register(srv *grpc.Server) error
-}
diff --git a/shutdown.go b/shutdown.go
index 2a2ae67..b19ffdb 100644
--- a/shutdown.go
+++ b/shutdown.go
@@ -5,10 +5,5 @@ func (a *Agent) Shutdown() error {
 	if err := a.members.Leave(nodeUpdateTimeout); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
-	if err := a.members.Shutdown(); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	return nil
+	return a.members.Shutdown()
 }
diff --git a/start.go b/start.go
index 2f33bcb..2ecde43 100644
--- a/start.go
+++ b/start.go
@@ -1,44 +1,18 @@
 package element
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
-	"net"
+	"os"
 
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
-// Start activates the GRPC listener as well as joins the cluster if specified and blocks until a SIGTERM or SIGINT is received
-func (a *Agent) Start() error {
-	logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{
-		"grpc":      fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", a.config.AgentAddr, a.config.AgentPort),
-		"bind":      fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", a.config.BindAddr, a.config.BindPort),
-		"advertise": fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", a.config.AdvertiseAddr, a.config.AdvertisePort),
-	}).Info("starting agent")
-	l, err := net.Listen("tcp", fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", a.config.AgentAddr, a.config.AgentPort))
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	go a.grpcServer.Serve(l)
-
-	// start node metadata updater
+// Start handles cluster events
+func (a *Agent) Start(s chan os.Signal) {
 	go func() {
-		for {
-			<-a.peerUpdateChan
+		for range a.peerUpdateChan {
 			if err := a.members.UpdateNode(nodeUpdateTimeout); err != nil {
 				logrus.Errorf("error updating node metadata: %s", err)
 			}
 		}
 	}()
-
-	if len(a.config.Peers) > 0 {
-		logrus.Debugf("joining peers: %v", a.config.Peers)
-		n, err := a.members.Join(a.config.Peers)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-
-		logrus.Infof("joined %d peer(s)", n)
-	}
-
-	return nil
 }