diff --git a/fairmq/CMakeLists.txt b/fairmq/CMakeLists.txt
index c5403495..b4b46dc4 100644
--- a/fairmq/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/fairmq/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@ set(FAIRMQ_HEADER_FILES
     shmem/FairMQPollerSHM.h
     shmem/FairMQSocketSHM.h
     shmem/FairMQTransportFactorySHM.h
+    shmem/FairMQShmMonitor.h
+    shmem/FairMQShmDeviceCounter.h
     tools/FairMQTools.h
     tools/runSimpleMQStateMachine.h
     zeromq/FairMQMessageZMQ.h
@@ -137,6 +139,7 @@ set(FAIRMQ_SOURCE_FILES
     shmem/FairMQPollerSHM.cxx
     shmem/FairMQSocketSHM.cxx
     shmem/FairMQTransportFactorySHM.cxx
+    shmem/FairMQShmMonitor.cxx
     zeromq/FairMQMessageZMQ.cxx
     zeromq/FairMQPollerZMQ.cxx
     zeromq/FairMQSocketZMQ.cxx
@@ -197,6 +200,7 @@ target_link_libraries(FairMQ
     Boost::filesystem
     Boost::regex
     Boost::date_time
+    $<$<PLATFORM_ID:Linux>:rt>
 
     PRIVATE # only libFairMQ links against private dependencies
     ZeroMQ
@@ -208,6 +212,7 @@ target_link_libraries(FairMQ
 ###############
 # executables #
 ###############
+
 add_executable(bsampler run/runBenchmarkSampler.cxx)
 target_link_libraries(bsampler FairMQ)
 
@@ -229,6 +234,9 @@ target_link_libraries(splitter FairMQ)
 add_executable(runConfigExample options/runConfigEx.cxx)
 target_link_libraries(runConfigExample FairMQ)
 
+add_executable(shmmonitor shmem/runFairMQShmMonitor.cxx)
+target_link_libraries(shmmonitor FairMQ)
+
 
 ####################
 # aggregate target #
@@ -242,6 +250,7 @@ set(FAIRMQ_FULL_TARGETS
     proxy
     sink
     splitter
+    shmmonitor
 )
 add_custom_target(FairMQFull DEPENDS ${FAIRMQ_FULL_TARGETS})
 # all targets including tests, if enabled
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQMessageSHM.cxx b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQMessageSHM.cxx
index 41788643..ea27884f 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQMessageSHM.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQMessageSHM.cxx
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #include "FairMQLogger.h"
 
 using namespace std;
-using namespace FairMQ::shmem;
+using namespace fair::mq::shmem;
 
 // uint64_t FairMQMessageSHM::fMessageID = 0;
 // string FairMQMessageSHM::fDeviceID = string();
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmDeviceCounter.h b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmDeviceCounter.h
index 1f4e3e89..e5827544 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmDeviceCounter.h
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmDeviceCounter.h
@@ -10,20 +10,23 @@
 
 #include <atomic>
 
-namespace FairMQ
+namespace fair
+{
+namespace mq
 {
 namespace shmem
 {
 
-struct FairMQShmDeviceCounter
+struct DeviceCounter
 {
-    FairMQShmDeviceCounter(unsigned int c)
+    DeviceCounter(unsigned int c)
         : count(c)
     {}
     std::atomic<unsigned int> count;
 };
 
 } // namespace shmem
-} // namespace FairMQ
+} // namespace mq
+} // namespace fair
 
 #endif /* FAIRMQSHMDEVICECOUNTER_H_ */
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmManager.h b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmManager.h
index e5a4a0e1..84900183 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmManager.h
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmManager.h
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@
 
 namespace bipc = boost::interprocess;
 
-namespace FairMQ
+namespace fair
+{
+namespace mq
 {
 namespace shmem
 {
@@ -185,7 +187,7 @@ struct alignas(16) MetaHeader
 // };
 
 } // namespace shmem
-
-} // namespace FairMQ
+} // namespace mq
+} // namespace fair
 
 #endif /* FAIRMQSHMMANAGER_H_ */
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmMonitor.cxx b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmMonitor.cxx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..45533217
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmMonitor.cxx
@@ -0,0 +1,334 @@
+/********************************************************************************
+ *    Copyright (C) 2014 GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung GmbH    *
+ *                                                                              *
+ *              This software is distributed under the terms of the             *
+ *         GNU Lesser General Public Licence version 3 (LGPL) version 3,        *
+ *                  copied verbatim in the file "LICENSE"                       *
+ ********************************************************************************/
+
+#include "FairMQShmMonitor.h"
+#include "FairMQShmDeviceCounter.h"
+
+#include <boost/interprocess/managed_shared_memory.hpp>
+#include <boost/interprocess/containers/vector.hpp>
+#include <boost/interprocess/containers/string.hpp>
+#include <boost/interprocess/allocators/allocator.hpp>
+
+#include <boost/interprocess/ipc/message_queue.hpp>
+#include <boost/date_time/posix_time/posix_time.hpp>
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <iomanip>
+
+#include <termios.h>
+#include <poll.h>
+
+using namespace std;
+namespace bipc = boost::interprocess;
+namespace bpt = boost::posix_time;
+
+using CharAllocator   = bipc::allocator<char, bipc::managed_shared_memory::segment_manager>;
+using String          = bipc::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, CharAllocator>;
+using StringAllocator = bipc::allocator<String, bipc::managed_shared_memory::segment_manager>;
+using StringVector    = bipc::vector<String, StringAllocator>;
+
+namespace fair
+{
+namespace mq
+{
+namespace shmem
+{
+
+Monitor::Monitor(const string& segmentName)
+    : fSegmentName(segmentName)
+    , fTerminating(false)
+    , fHeartbeatTriggered(false)
+    , fLastHeartbeat()
+    , fHeartbeatThread()
+{
+    if (bipc::message_queue::remove("fairmq_shmem_control_queue"))
+    {
+        // cout << "successfully removed control queue" << endl;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        // cout << "could not remove control queue" << endl;
+    }
+}
+
+void Monitor::PrintHeader()
+{
+    cout << "| "
+        << "\033[01;32m" << setw(18) << "name"            << "\033[0m" << " | "
+        << "\033[01;32m" << setw(10) << "size"            << "\033[0m" << " | "
+        << "\033[01;32m" << setw(10) << "free"            << "\033[0m" << " | "
+        // << "\033[01;32m" << setw(15) << "all deallocated" << "\033[0m" << " | "
+        << "\033[01;32m" << setw(2)  << "ok"              << "\033[0m" << " | "
+        // << "\033[01;32m" << setw(10) << "# named"         << "\033[0m" << " | "
+        << "\033[01;32m" << setw(10) << "# devices"       << "\033[0m" << " | "
+        // << "\033[01;32m" << setw(10) << "# unique"        << "\033[0m" << " |"
+        << "\033[01;32m" << setw(10) << "ms since"        << "\033[0m" << " |"
+        << endl;
+}
+
+void Monitor::PrintHelp()
+{
+    cout << "controls: [x] close memory, [p] print queues, [h] help, [q] quit." << endl;
+}
+
+void Monitor::CloseMemory()
+{
+    if (bipc::shared_memory_object::remove(fSegmentName.c_str()))
+    {
+        cout << "Successfully removed shared memory \"" << fSegmentName.c_str() << "\"." << endl;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        cout << "Did not remove shared memory. Already removed?" << endl;
+    }
+}
+
+void Monitor::MonitorHeartbeats()
+{
+    try
+    {
+        bipc::message_queue mq(bipc::open_or_create, "fairmq_shmem_control_queue", 1000, sizeof(bool));
+
+        unsigned int priority;
+        bipc::message_queue::size_type recvdSize;
+
+        while (!fTerminating)
+        {
+            bool heartbeat;
+            bpt::ptime rcvTill = bpt::microsec_clock::universal_time() + bpt::milliseconds(100);
+            if (mq.timed_receive(&heartbeat, sizeof(heartbeat), recvdSize, priority, rcvTill))
+            {
+                fHeartbeatTriggered = true;
+                fLastHeartbeat = chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                // cout << "control queue timeout" << endl;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    catch (bipc::interprocess_exception& ie)
+    {
+        cout << ie.what() << endl;
+    }
+
+    if (bipc::message_queue::remove("fairmq_shmem_control_queue"))
+    {
+        cout << "successfully removed control queue" << endl;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        cout << "could not remove control queue" << endl;
+    }
+}
+
+void Monitor::Run()
+{
+    thread heartbeatThread(&Monitor::MonitorHeartbeats, this);
+
+    char input;
+    pollfd inputFd[1];
+    inputFd[0].fd = fileno(stdin);
+    inputFd[0].events = POLLIN;
+
+    struct termios t;
+    tcgetattr(STDIN_FILENO, &t); // get the current terminal I/O structure
+    t.c_lflag &= ~ICANON; // disable canonical input
+    tcsetattr(STDIN_FILENO, TCSANOW, &t); // apply the new settings
+
+    cout << endl;
+    PrintHelp();
+    cout << endl;
+    PrintHeader();
+
+    while (!fTerminating)
+    {
+        if (poll(inputFd, 1, 100))
+        {
+            input = getchar();
+
+            switch (input)
+            {
+                case 'q':
+                    cout << "[q] --> quitting." << endl;
+                    fTerminating = true;
+                    break;
+                case 'p':
+                    cout << "[p] --> active queues:" << endl;
+                    PrintQueues();
+                    break;
+                case 'x':
+                    cout << "[x] --> closing shared memory:" << endl;
+                    CloseMemory();
+                    break;
+                case 'h':
+                    cout << "[h] --> help:" << endl << endl;
+                    PrintHelp();
+                    cout << endl;
+                    break;
+                case '\n':
+                    cout << "[\\n] --> invalid input." << endl;
+                    break;
+                default:
+                    cout << "[" << input << "] --> invalid input." << endl;
+                    break;
+            }
+
+            if (fTerminating)
+            {
+                break;
+            }
+
+            PrintHeader();
+        }
+
+        CheckSegment();
+
+        cout << "\r";
+    }
+
+    tcgetattr(STDIN_FILENO, &t); // get the current terminal I/O structure
+    t.c_lflag |= ICANON; // re-enable canonical input
+    tcsetattr(STDIN_FILENO, TCSANOW, &t); // apply the new settings
+
+    heartbeatThread.join();
+}
+
+void Monitor::CheckSegment()
+{
+    static uint64_t counter = 0;
+
+    char c = '#';
+    int mod = counter++ % 5;
+    switch (mod)
+    {
+        case 0:
+            c = '-';
+            break;
+        case 1:
+            c = '\\';
+            break;
+        case 2:
+            c = '|';
+            break;
+        case 3:
+            c = '-';
+            break;
+        case 4:
+            c = '/';
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+    }
+
+    try
+    {
+        bipc::managed_shared_memory segment(bipc::open_only, fSegmentName.c_str());
+
+        unsigned int numDevices = 0;
+
+        pair<fair::mq::shmem::DeviceCounter*, size_t> result = segment.find<fair::mq::shmem::DeviceCounter>(bipc::unique_instance);
+        if (result.first != nullptr)
+        {
+            numDevices = result.first->count;
+        }
+
+        auto now = chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
+        unsigned int duration = chrono::duration_cast<chrono::milliseconds>(now - fLastHeartbeat).count();
+
+        if (fHeartbeatTriggered && duration > 5000)
+        {
+            cout << "no heartbeats since over 5 seconds, cleaning..." << endl;
+            CloseMemory();
+            fHeartbeatTriggered = false;
+        }
+
+        cout << "| "
+            << setw(18) << fSegmentName << " | "
+            << setw(10) << segment.get_size() << " | "
+            << setw(10) << segment.get_free_memory() << " | "
+            // << setw(15) << segment.all_memory_deallocated() << " | "
+            << setw(2) << segment.check_sanity() << " | "
+            // << setw(10) << segment.get_num_named_objects() << " | "
+            << setw(10) << numDevices << " | "
+            // << setw(10) << segment.get_num_unique_objects() << " |"
+            << setw(10) << duration << " |"
+            << c
+            << flush;
+    }
+    catch (bipc::interprocess_exception& ie)
+    {
+        fHeartbeatTriggered = false;
+        cout << "| "
+            << setw(18) << "-" << " | "
+            << setw(10) << "-" << " | "
+            << setw(10) << "-" << " | "
+            // << setw(15) << "-" << " | "
+            << setw(2) << "-" << " | "
+            << setw(10) << "-" << " | "
+            << setw(10) << "-" << " |"
+            << c
+            << flush;
+    }
+}
+
+void Monitor::Cleanup(const string& segmentName)
+{
+    if (bipc::shared_memory_object::remove(segmentName.c_str()))
+    {
+        cout << "Successfully removed shared memory \"" << segmentName.c_str() << "\"." << endl;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        cout << "Did not remove shared memory. Already removed?" << endl;
+    }
+}
+
+void Monitor::PrintQueues()
+{
+    cout << '\n';
+
+    try
+    {
+        bipc::managed_shared_memory segment(bipc::open_only, fSegmentName.c_str());
+        pair<StringVector*, size_t> queues = segment.find<StringVector>("fairmq_shmem_queues");
+        if (queues.first != nullptr)
+        {
+            cout << "found " << queues.first->size() << " queue(s):" << endl;
+
+            for (int i = 0; i < queues.first->size(); ++i)
+            {
+                string name(queues.first->at(i).c_str());
+                cout << '\t' << name << " : ";
+                pair<atomic<int>*, size_t> queueSize = segment.find<atomic<int>>(name.c_str());
+                if (queueSize.first != nullptr)
+                {
+                    cout << *(queueSize.first) << " messages" << endl;
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    cout << "\tqueue does not have a queue size entry." << endl;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            cout << "\tno queues found" << endl;
+        }
+    }
+    catch (bipc::interprocess_exception& ie)
+    {
+        cout << "\tno queues found" << endl;
+    }
+
+    cout << endl;
+}
+
+} // namespace shmem
+} // namespace mq
+} // namespace fair
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmMonitor.h b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmMonitor.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cc89153c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQShmMonitor.h
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+/********************************************************************************
+ *    Copyright (C) 2014 GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung GmbH    *
+ *                                                                              *
+ *              This software is distributed under the terms of the             *
+ *         GNU Lesser General Public Licence version 3 (LGPL) version 3,        *
+ *                  copied verbatim in the file "LICENSE"                       *
+ ********************************************************************************/
+#ifndef FAIRMQSHMMONITOR_H_
+#define FAIRMQSHMMONITOR_H_
+
+#include <thread>
+#include <chrono>
+#include <atomic>
+#include <string>
+
+namespace fair
+{
+namespace mq
+{
+namespace shmem
+{
+
+class Monitor
+{
+  public:
+    Monitor(const std::string& segmentName);
+    Monitor(const Monitor&) = delete;
+    Monitor operator=(const Monitor&) = delete;
+
+    void Run();
+
+    virtual ~Monitor() {}
+
+  private:
+    void PrintHeader();
+    void PrintHelp();
+    void PrintQueues();
+    void CloseMemory();
+    void MonitorHeartbeats();
+    void CheckSegment();
+
+    static void Cleanup(const std::string& segmentName);
+
+    std::string fSegmentName;
+    std::atomic<bool> fTerminating;
+    std::atomic<bool> fHeartbeatTriggered;
+    std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::time_point fLastHeartbeat;
+    std::thread fHeartbeatThread;
+};
+
+} // namespace shmem
+} // namespace mq
+} // namespace fair
+
+#endif /* FAIRMQSHMMONITOR_H_ */
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQSocketSHM.cxx b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQSocketSHM.cxx
index 66a9d08b..a3d10797 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQSocketSHM.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQSocketSHM.cxx
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #include "FairMQLogger.h"
 
 using namespace std;
-using namespace FairMQ::shmem;
+using namespace fair::mq::shmem;
 
 atomic<bool> FairMQSocketSHM::fInterrupted(false);
 
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQTransportFactorySHM.cxx b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQTransportFactorySHM.cxx
index d8027c6b..538a715a 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQTransportFactorySHM.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQTransportFactorySHM.cxx
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@
 #include "../options/FairMQProgOptions.h"
 
 using namespace std;
-using namespace FairMQ::shmem;
+using namespace fair::mq::shmem;
 namespace bipc = boost::interprocess;
+namespace bpt = boost::posix_time;
 
 FairMQ::Transport FairMQTransportFactorySHM::fTransportType = FairMQ::Transport::SHM;
 
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ void FairMQTransportFactorySHM::Initialize(const FairMQProgOptions* config)
     { // mutex scope
         bipc::scoped_lock<bipc::named_mutex> lock(fShMutex);
 
-        pair<FairMQShmDeviceCounter*, size_t> result = Manager::Instance().Segment()->find<FairMQShmDeviceCounter>(bipc::unique_instance);
+        pair<DeviceCounter*, size_t> result = Manager::Instance().Segment()->find<DeviceCounter>(bipc::unique_instance);
         if (result.first != nullptr)
         {
             fDeviceCounter = result.first;
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ void FairMQTransportFactorySHM::Initialize(const FairMQProgOptions* config)
         else
         {
             LOG(DEBUG) << "shmem: no device counter found, creating one and initializing with 1";
-            fDeviceCounter = Manager::Instance().Segment()->construct<FairMQShmDeviceCounter>(bipc::unique_instance)(1);
+            fDeviceCounter = Manager::Instance().Segment()->construct<DeviceCounter>(bipc::unique_instance)(1);
             LOG(DEBUG) << "shmem: initialized device counter with: " << fDeviceCounter->count;
         }
     }
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@ void FairMQTransportFactorySHM::SendHeartbeats()
         {
             bipc::message_queue mq(bipc::open_only, "fairmq_shmem_control_queue");
             bool heartbeat = true;
-            boost::posix_time::ptime sndTill = boost::posix_time::microsec_clock::universal_time() + boost::posix_time::milliseconds(100);
+            bpt::ptime sndTill = bpt::microsec_clock::universal_time() + bpt::milliseconds(100);
             if (mq.timed_send(&heartbeat, sizeof(heartbeat), 0, sndTill))
             {
                 this_thread::sleep_for(chrono::milliseconds(100));
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQTransportFactorySHM.h b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQTransportFactorySHM.h
index 3a32166a..3ad20e3b 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/FairMQTransportFactorySHM.h
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/FairMQTransportFactorySHM.h
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class FairMQTransportFactorySHM : public FairMQTransportFactory
     std::thread fHeartbeatThread;
     std::atomic<bool> fSendHeartbeats;
     boost::interprocess::named_mutex fShMutex;
-    FairMQ::shmem::FairMQShmDeviceCounter* fDeviceCounter;
+    fair::mq::shmem::DeviceCounter* fDeviceCounter;
 };
 
 #endif /* FAIRMQTRANSPORTFACTORYSHM_H_ */
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/runFairMQShmMonitor.cxx b/fairmq/shmem/runFairMQShmMonitor.cxx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..50d1612c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/runFairMQShmMonitor.cxx
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/********************************************************************************
+ *    Copyright (C) 2014 GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung GmbH    *
+ *                                                                              *
+ *              This software is distributed under the terms of the             *
+ *         GNU Lesser General Public Licence version 3 (LGPL) version 3,        *
+ *                  copied verbatim in the file "LICENSE"                       *
+ ********************************************************************************/
+#include "FairMQShmMonitor.h"
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
+{
+    std::string segmentName = "fairmq_shmem_main";
+
+    if (argc == 2)
+    {
+        segmentName = argv[1];
+    }
+    std::cout << "Looking for shared memory segment \"" << segmentName << "\"..." << std::endl;
+
+    fair::mq::shmem::Monitor monitor{segmentName};
+
+    monitor.Run();
+
+    return 0;
+}