diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index e48e6c5..2d5189c 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -45,12 +45,18 @@ RUN curl -SLO "https://nodejs.org/dist/v$NODE_VERSION/node-v$NODE_VERSION-linux-
 
 # required for python-prctl
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y libcap-dev && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-
-ADD . /app/
 RUN pip3 install virtualenv \
   && virtualenv --always-copy /app/env \
 	&& /app/env/bin/pip3 install paver
+
+# install requirements.txt stuff in an earlier layer
+# this is just to speed up local builds in dev
+ADD requirements.txt /app/
+RUN /app/env/bin/pip3 install -r requirements.txt
+
+ADD . /app/
 RUN /app/env/bin/paver install_deps
 
 CMD /app/env/bin/python3 /app/sideboard/run_server.py
 EXPOSE 8282
+
diff --git a/development-defaults.ini b/development-defaults.ini
index eb39f37..a28b880 100644
--- a/development-defaults.ini
+++ b/development-defaults.ini
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ ws.auth_required = False
 
 [cherrypy]
 server.socket_host = "0.0.0.0"
+server.socket_port = "8282"
+server.thread_pool = "30"
 engine.autoreload.on = True
 tools.cpstats.on = False
 
diff --git a/sideboard/configspec.ini b/sideboard/configspec.ini
index 927176c..4f05f5d 100644
--- a/sideboard/configspec.ini
+++ b/sideboard/configspec.ini
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ profiling.strip_dirs = boolean(default=False)
 
 server.socket_host = string(default="127.0.0.1")
 server.socket_port = integer(default=8282)
+server.thread_pool = integer(default=30)
 
 tools.reset_threadlocal.on = boolean(default=True)
 
diff --git a/sideboard/run_server.py b/sideboard/run_server.py
index acfa874..91534d6 100644
--- a/sideboard/run_server.py
+++ b/sideboard/run_server.py
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@
 import sideboard.server
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
+    # Start the server engine (Option 1 *and* 2)
     cherrypy.engine.start()
     cherrypy.engine.block()
diff --git a/sideboard/server.py b/sideboard/server.py
index 08f1693..38f914d 100755
--- a/sideboard/server.py
+++ b/sideboard/server.py
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ def check_authentication(cls):
         'tools.staticdir.dir': os.path.join(config['module_root'], 'docs', 'html'),
         'tools.staticdir.index': 'index.html'
     }
+
 cherrypy_config = {}
 for setting, value in config['cherrypy'].items():
     if isinstance(value, six.string_types):
@@ -155,6 +156,19 @@ def check_authentication(cls):
     cherrypy_config[setting] = value
 cherrypy.config.update(cherrypy_config)
 
+# Unsubscribe the default server
+cherrypy.server.unsubscribe()
+
+# Instantiate a new server object
+server = cherrypy._cpserver.Server()
+
+# Configure the server object
+server.socket_host = config['cherrypy']['server.socket_host']
+server.socket_port = config['cherrypy']['server.socket_port']
+server.thread_pool = config['cherrypy']['server.thread_pool']
+
+# Subscribe this server
+server.subscribe()
 
 # on Python 2, we need bytestrings for CherryPy config, see https://bitbucket.org/cherrypy/cherrypy/issue/1184
 def recursive_coerce(d):