diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/common/helpers/BlockData.java b/hadoop-hdds/common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/common/helpers/BlockData.java
index e0cac8beded9b..ceefa90707a56 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/common/helpers/BlockData.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/common/helpers/BlockData.java
@@ -117,6 +117,11 @@ public ContainerProtos.BlockData getProtoBufMessage() {
     return builder.build();
   }
 
+  public int getSerializedSize() {
+    //TODO: the serialized size may be computed without creating the proto.
+    return getProtoBufMessage().getSerializedSize();
+  }
+
   /**
    * Adds metadata.
    *
diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/KeyValueContainerCheck.java b/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/KeyValueContainerCheck.java
index a4bd37623113f..b8f5f1173b8c7 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/KeyValueContainerCheck.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/KeyValueContainerCheck.java
@@ -267,8 +267,7 @@ private void scanData(DataTransferThrottler throttler, Canceler canceler)
                 ByteString expected = cData.getChecksums().get(i);
                 ByteString actual = cal.computeChecksum(buffer, 0, v)
                     .getChecksums().get(0);
-                if (!Arrays.equals(expected.toByteArray(),
-                    actual.toByteArray())) {
+                if (!expected.equals(actual)) {
                   throw new OzoneChecksumException(String
                       .format("Inconsistent read for chunk=%s len=%d expected" +
                               " checksum %s actual checksum %s for block %s",
diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/KeyValueHandler.java b/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/KeyValueHandler.java
index bc418839f28bb..995b913b88bd9 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/KeyValueHandler.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/KeyValueHandler.java
@@ -387,7 +387,6 @@ ContainerCommandResponseProto handlePutBlock(
       ContainerCommandRequestProto request, KeyValueContainer kvContainer,
       DispatcherContext dispatcherContext) {
 
-    long blockLength;
     if (!request.hasPutBlock()) {
       if (LOG.isDebugEnabled()) {
         LOG.debug("Malformed Put Key request. trace ID: {}",
@@ -406,7 +405,7 @@ ContainerCommandResponseProto handlePutBlock(
       long bcsId =
           dispatcherContext == null ? 0 : dispatcherContext.getLogIndex();
       blockData.setBlockCommitSequenceId(bcsId);
-      long numBytes = blockData.getProtoBufMessage().toByteArray().length;
+      final long numBytes = blockData.getSerializedSize();
       blockManager.putBlock(kvContainer, blockData);
       metrics.incContainerBytesStats(Type.PutBlock, numBytes);
     } catch (StorageContainerException ex) {
@@ -447,7 +446,7 @@ ContainerCommandResponseProto handleGetBlock(
       BlockID blockID = BlockID.getFromProtobuf(
           request.getGetBlock().getBlockID());
       responseData = blockManager.getBlock(kvContainer, blockID);
-      long numBytes = responseData.getProtoBufMessage().toByteArray().length;
+      final long numBytes = responseData.getSerializedSize();
       metrics.incContainerBytesStats(Type.GetBlock, numBytes);
 
     } catch (StorageContainerException ex) {
@@ -818,8 +817,8 @@ ContainerCommandResponseProto handleGetSmallFile(
         chunkInfo = chunk;
       }
       metrics.incContainerBytesStats(Type.GetSmallFile, dataBuf.size());
-      return SmallFileUtils.getGetSmallFileResponseSuccess(request, dataBuf
-          .toByteArray(), ChunkInfo.getFromProtoBuf(chunkInfo));
+      return SmallFileUtils.getGetSmallFileResponseSuccess(request, dataBuf,
+          ChunkInfo.getFromProtoBuf(chunkInfo));
     } catch (StorageContainerException e) {
       return ContainerUtils.logAndReturnError(LOG, e, request);
     } catch (IOException ex) {
diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/helpers/SmallFileUtils.java b/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/helpers/SmallFileUtils.java
index ba2b02c88b648..5aacee90df730 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/helpers/SmallFileUtils.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/container-service/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/ozone/container/keyvalue/helpers/SmallFileUtils.java
@@ -69,13 +69,13 @@ public static ContainerCommandResponseProto getPutFileResponseSuccess(
    * @return    Response.
    */
   public static ContainerCommandResponseProto getGetSmallFileResponseSuccess(
-      ContainerCommandRequestProto msg, byte[] data, ChunkInfo info) {
+      ContainerCommandRequestProto msg, ByteString data, ChunkInfo info) {
     Preconditions.checkNotNull(msg);
 
     ContainerProtos.ReadChunkResponseProto.Builder readChunkresponse =
         ContainerProtos.ReadChunkResponseProto.newBuilder();
     readChunkresponse.setChunkData(info.getProtoBufMessage());
-    readChunkresponse.setData(ByteString.copyFrom(data));
+    readChunkresponse.setData((data));
     readChunkresponse.setBlockID(msg.getGetSmallFile().getBlock().getBlockID());
 
     ContainerProtos.GetSmallFileResponseProto.Builder getSmallFile =