diff --git a/weed/shell/command_volume_tier_move.go b/weed/shell/command_volume_tier_move.go
index 4a0903428..ff0a1a180 100644
--- a/weed/shell/command_volume_tier_move.go
+++ b/weed/shell/command_volume_tier_move.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ type volumeTierMoveJob struct {
 
 type commandVolumeTierMove struct {
 	activeServers sync.Map
-	queues map[pb.ServerAddress]chan volumeTierMoveJob
+	queues        map[pb.ServerAddress]chan volumeTierMoveJob
 	//activeServers     map[pb.ServerAddress]struct{}
 	//activeServersLock sync.Mutex
 	//activeServersCond *sync.Cond
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ func (c *commandVolumeTierMove) Name() string {
 func (c *commandVolumeTierMove) Help() string {
 	return `change a volume from one disk type to another
 
-	volume.tier.move -fromDiskType=hdd -toDiskType=ssd [-collectionPattern=""] [-fullPercent=95] [-quietFor=1h]
+	volume.tier.move -fromDiskType=hdd -toDiskType=ssd [-collectionPattern=""] [-fullPercent=95] [-quietFor=1h] [-parallelLimit=4]
 
 	Even if the volume is replicated, only one replica will be changed and the rest replicas will be dropped.
 	So "volume.fix.replication" and "volume.balance" should be followed.
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func (c *commandVolumeTierMove) Do(args []string, commandEnv *CommandEnv, writer
 	quietPeriod := tierCommand.Duration("quietFor", 24*time.Hour, "select volumes without no writes for this period")
 	source := tierCommand.String("fromDiskType", "", "the source disk type")
 	target := tierCommand.String("toDiskType", "", "the target disk type")
-	limitWorkers := tierCommand.Int("limitWorkers", 0, "limit the number of active copying workers")
+	parallelLimit := tierCommand.Int("parallelLimit", 0, "limit the number of parallel copying jobs")
 	applyChange := tierCommand.Bool("force", false, "actually apply the changes")
 	if err = tierCommand.Parse(args); err != nil {
 		return nil
@@ -89,26 +89,24 @@ func (c *commandVolumeTierMove) Do(args []string, commandEnv *CommandEnv, writer
 	_, allLocations := collectVolumeReplicaLocations(topologyInfo)
 	allLocations = filterLocationsByDiskType(allLocations, toDiskType)
 	keepDataNodesSorted(allLocations, toDiskType)
-	
-	if len(allLocations) > 0 &&  *limitWorkers > 0 && *limitWorkers < len(allLocations) {
-		allLocations = allLocations[:*limitWorkers]
+
+	if len(allLocations) > 0 && *parallelLimit > 0 && *parallelLimit < len(allLocations) {
+		allLocations = allLocations[:*parallelLimit]
 	}
 
 	wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
 	bufferLen := len(allLocations)
 	c.queues = make(map[pb.ServerAddress]chan volumeTierMoveJob)
-	
+
 	for _, dst := range allLocations {
 		destServerAddress := pb.NewServerAddressFromDataNode(dst.dataNode)
 		c.queues[destServerAddress] = make(chan volumeTierMoveJob, bufferLen)
 
 		wg.Add(1)
-		go func (dst location, jobs <-chan volumeTierMoveJob, applyChanges bool) {
+		go func(dst location, jobs <-chan volumeTierMoveJob, applyChanges bool) {
+			defer wg.Done()
 			for job := range jobs {
 				fmt.Fprintf(writer, "moving volume %d from %s to %s with disk type %s ...\n", job.vid, job.src, dst.dataNode.Id, toDiskType.ReadableString())
-				if !applyChanges {
-					continue
-				}
 
 				locations, found := commandEnv.MasterClient.GetLocations(uint32(job.vid))
 				if !found {
@@ -118,12 +116,11 @@ func (c *commandVolumeTierMove) Do(args []string, commandEnv *CommandEnv, writer
 
 				unlock := c.Lock(job.src)
 
-				if err := c.doMoveOneVolume(commandEnv, writer, job.vid, toDiskType, locations, job.src, dst); err != nil {
+				if err := c.doMoveOneVolume(commandEnv, writer, job.vid, toDiskType, locations, job.src, dst, applyChanges); err != nil {
 					fmt.Fprintf(writer, "move volume %d %s => %s: %v\n", job.vid, job.src, dst.dataNode.Id, err)
 				}
 				unlock()
 			}
-			wg.Done()
 		}(dst, c.queues[destServerAddress], *applyChange)
 	}
 
@@ -219,20 +216,22 @@ func (c *commandVolumeTierMove) doVolumeTierMove(commandEnv *CommandEnv, writer
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (c *commandVolumeTierMove) doMoveOneVolume(commandEnv *CommandEnv, writer io.Writer, vid needle.VolumeId, toDiskType types.DiskType, locations []wdclient.Location, sourceVolumeServer pb.ServerAddress, dst location) (err error) {
+func (c *commandVolumeTierMove) doMoveOneVolume(commandEnv *CommandEnv, writer io.Writer, vid needle.VolumeId, toDiskType types.DiskType, locations []wdclient.Location, sourceVolumeServer pb.ServerAddress, dst location, applyChanges bool) (err error) {
 
 	// mark all replicas as read only
-	if err = markVolumeReplicasWritable(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, vid, locations, false); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("mark volume %d as readonly on %s: %v", vid, locations[0].Url, err)
-	}
-	if err = LiveMoveVolume(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, writer, vid, sourceVolumeServer, pb.NewServerAddressFromDataNode(dst.dataNode), 5*time.Second, toDiskType.ReadableString(), true); err != nil {
-
-		// mark all replicas as writable
-		if err = markVolumeReplicasWritable(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, vid, locations, true); err != nil {
-			glog.Errorf("mark volume %d as writable on %s: %v", vid, locations[0].Url, err)
+	if applyChanges {
+		if err = markVolumeReplicasWritable(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, vid, locations, false); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("mark volume %d as readonly on %s: %v", vid, locations[0].Url, err)
 		}
+		if err = LiveMoveVolume(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, writer, vid, sourceVolumeServer, pb.NewServerAddressFromDataNode(dst.dataNode), 5*time.Second, toDiskType.ReadableString(), true); err != nil {
+
+			// mark all replicas as writable
+			if err = markVolumeReplicasWritable(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, vid, locations, true); err != nil {
+				glog.Errorf("mark volume %d as writable on %s: %v", vid, locations[0].Url, err)
+			}
 
-		return fmt.Errorf("move volume %d %s => %s : %v", vid, locations[0].Url, dst.dataNode.Id, err)
+			return fmt.Errorf("move volume %d %s => %s : %v", vid, locations[0].Url, dst.dataNode.Id, err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// adjust volume count
@@ -241,9 +240,12 @@ func (c *commandVolumeTierMove) doMoveOneVolume(commandEnv *CommandEnv, writer i
 	// remove the remaining replicas
 	for _, loc := range locations {
 		if loc.Url != dst.dataNode.Id && loc.ServerAddress() != sourceVolumeServer {
-			if err = deleteVolume(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, vid, loc.ServerAddress()); err != nil {
-				fmt.Fprintf(writer, "failed to delete volume %d on %s: %v\n", vid, loc.Url, err)
+			if applyChanges {
+				if err = deleteVolume(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, vid, loc.ServerAddress()); err != nil {
+					fmt.Fprintf(writer, "failed to delete volume %d on %s: %v\n", vid, loc.Url, err)
+				}
 			}
+			// reduce volume count? Not really necessary since they are "more" full and will not be a candidate to move to
 		}
 	}
 	return nil