diff --git a/consul/server_manager/server_manager.go b/consul/server_manager/server_manager.go
index 14a99ec783..ee3b09b4f8 100644
--- a/consul/server_manager/server_manager.go
+++ b/consul/server_manager/server_manager.go
@@ -59,23 +59,23 @@ type ConsulClusterInfo interface {
 // serverCfg is the thread-safe configuration structure that is used to
 // maintain the list of consul servers in Client.
 //
-// NOTE(sean@): We are explicitly relying on the fact that this is copied.
-// Please keep this structure light.
+// NOTE(sean@): We are explicitly relying on the fact that serverConfig will
+// be copied onto the stack.  Please keep this structure light.
 type serverConfig struct {
-	// servers tracks the locally known servers
+	// servers tracks the locally known servers.  List membership is
+	// maintained by Serf.
 	servers []*server_details.ServerDetails
 }
 
 type ServerManager struct {
-	// serverConfig provides the necessary load/store semantics to
-	// serverConfig
+	// serverConfig provides the necessary load/store semantics for the
+	// server list.
 	serverConfigValue atomic.Value
 	serverConfigLock  sync.Mutex
 
 	// shutdownCh is a copy of the channel in consul.Client
 	shutdownCh chan struct{}
 
-	// logger uses the provided LogOutput
 	logger *log.Logger
 
 	// serf is used to estimate the approximate number of nodes in a
@@ -89,8 +89,10 @@ type ServerManager struct {
 }
 
 // AddServer takes out an internal write lock and adds a new server.  If the
-// server is not known, it adds the new server and schedules a rebalance.  If
-// it is known, we merge the new server details.
+// server is not known, appends the server to the list.  The new server will
+// begin seeing use after the rebalance timer fires or enough servers fail
+// organically.  If the server is already known, merge the new server
+// details.
 func (sm *ServerManager) AddServer(server *server_details.ServerDetails) {
 	sm.serverConfigLock.Lock()
 	defer sm.serverConfigLock.Unlock()
@@ -130,8 +132,7 @@ func (sm *ServerManager) AddServer(server *server_details.ServerDetails) {
 func (sc *serverConfig) cycleServer() (servers []*server_details.ServerDetails) {
 	numServers := len(sc.servers)
 	if numServers < 2 {
-		// No action required
-		return servers
+		return servers // No action required
 	}
 
 	newServers := make([]*server_details.ServerDetails, 0, numServers)
@@ -141,7 +142,11 @@ func (sc *serverConfig) cycleServer() (servers []*server_details.ServerDetails)
 }
 
 // FindHealthyServer takes out an internal "read lock" and searches through
-// the list of servers to find a healthy server.
+// the list of servers to find a "healthy" server.  If the server is actually
+// unhealthy, we rely on Serf to detect this and remove the node from the
+// server list.  If the server at the front of the list has failed or fails
+// during an RPC call, it is rotated to the end of the list.  If there are no
+// servers available, return nil.
 func (sm *ServerManager) FindHealthyServer() *server_details.ServerDetails {
 	serverCfg := sm.getServerConfig()
 	numServers := len(serverCfg.servers)
@@ -149,7 +154,10 @@ func (sm *ServerManager) FindHealthyServer() *server_details.ServerDetails {
 		sm.logger.Printf("[ERR] consul: No servers found in the server config")
 		return nil
 	} else {
-		// Return whatever is at the front of the list
+		// Return whatever is at the front of the list because it is
+		// assumed to be the oldest in the server list (unless -
+		// hypothetically - the server list was rotated right after a
+		// server was added).
 		return serverCfg.servers[0]
 	}
 }
@@ -170,28 +178,29 @@ func (sm *ServerManager) getServerConfig() serverConfig {
 
 // NewServerManager is the only way to safely create a new ServerManager
 // struct.
-func NewServerManager(logger *log.Logger, shutdownCh chan struct{}, cci ConsulClusterInfo) (sm *ServerManager) {
+func NewServerManager(logger *log.Logger, shutdownCh chan struct{}, clusterInfo ConsulClusterInfo) (sm *ServerManager) {
 	// NOTE(sean@): Can't pass *consul.Client due to an import cycle
 	sm = new(ServerManager)
 	sm.logger = logger
-	sm.clusterInfo = cci
+	sm.clusterInfo = clusterInfo
 	sm.shutdownCh = shutdownCh
 
 	sc := serverConfig{}
 	sc.servers = make([]*server_details.ServerDetails, 0)
-	sm.serverConfigValue.Store(sc)
+	sm.saveServerConfig(sc)
 	return sm
 }
 
-// NotifyFailedServer is an exported convenience function that allows callers
-// to pass in a server that has failed an RPC request and mark it as failed.
-// If the server being failed is not the first server on the list, this is a
-// noop.  If, however, the server is failed and first on the list, acquire
-// the lock, retest, and take the penalty of moving the server to the end of
-// the list.
+// NotifyFailedServer marks the passed in server as "failed" by rotating it
+// to the end of the server list.
 func (sm *ServerManager) NotifyFailedServer(server *server_details.ServerDetails) {
 	serverCfg := sm.getServerConfig()
 
+	// If the server being failed is not the first server on the list,
+	// this is a noop.  If, however, the server is failed and first on
+	// the list, acquire the lock, retest, and take the penalty of moving
+	// the server to the end of the list.
+
 	// Use atomic.CAS to emulate a TryLock().
 	if len(serverCfg.servers) > 0 && serverCfg.servers[0] == server &&
 		atomic.CompareAndSwapInt32(&sm.notifyFailedBarrier, 0, 1) {
@@ -212,10 +221,12 @@ func (sm *ServerManager) NotifyFailedServer(server *server_details.ServerDetails
 
 // RebalanceServers takes out an internal write lock and shuffles the list of
 // servers on this agent.  This allows for a redistribution of work across
-// consul servers and provides a guarantee that the order list of
-// ServerDetails isn't actually ordered, therefore we can sequentially walk
-// the array to pick a server without all agents in the cluster dog piling on
-// a single node.
+// consul servers and provides a guarantee that the order of the server list
+// isn't related to the age at which the node was added to the cluster.
+// Elsewhere we rely on the position in the server list as a hint regarding
+// the stability of a server relative to its position in the server list.
+// Servers at or near the front of the list are more stable than servers near
+// the end of the list.
 func (sm *ServerManager) RebalanceServers() {
 	sm.serverConfigLock.Lock()
 	defer sm.serverConfigLock.Unlock()
@@ -237,11 +248,7 @@ func (sm *ServerManager) RebalanceServers() {
 }
 
 // RemoveServer takes out an internal write lock and removes a server from
-// the server list.  No rebalancing happens as a result of the removed server
-// because we do not want a network partition which separated a server from
-// this agent to cause an increase in work.  Instead we rely on the internal
-// already existing semantics to handle failure detection after a server has
-// been removed.
+// the server list.
 func (sm *ServerManager) RemoveServer(server *server_details.ServerDetails) {
 	sm.serverConfigLock.Lock()
 	defer sm.serverConfigLock.Unlock()
@@ -264,7 +271,9 @@ func (sm *ServerManager) RemoveServer(server *server_details.ServerDetails) {
 	}
 }
 
-// refreshServerRebalanceTimer is called
+// refreshServerRebalanceTimer is only called once the rebalanceTimer
+// expires.  Historically this was an expensive routine and is intended to be
+// run in isolation in a dedicated, non-concurrent task.
 func (sm *ServerManager) refreshServerRebalanceTimer(timer *time.Timer) {
 	serverCfg := sm.getServerConfig()
 	numConsulServers := len(serverCfg.servers)
@@ -289,8 +298,11 @@ func (sm *ServerManager) saveServerConfig(sc serverConfig) {
 }
 
 // Start is used to start and manage the task of automatically shuffling and
-// rebalance the list of consul servers.  This maintenance happens either
-// when a new server is added or when a duration has been exceed.
+// rebalancing the list of consul servers.  This maintenance only happens
+// periodically based on the expiration of the timer.  Failed servers are
+// automatically cycled to the end of the list.  New servers are appended to
+// the list.  The order of the server list must be shuffled periodically to
+// distribute load across all known and available consul servers.
 func (sm *ServerManager) Start() {
 	var rebalanceTimer *time.Timer = time.NewTimer(time.Duration(initialRebalanceTimeoutHours * time.Hour))
 	var rebalanceTaskDispatched int32