diff --git a/artifacts/rollouts/podinfo.yaml b/artifacts/rollouts/podinfo.yaml
index a9f4e915..fd6473d2 100644
--- a/artifacts/rollouts/podinfo.yaml
+++ b/artifacts/rollouts/podinfo.yaml
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 # run tester: kubectl run -n test tester --image=quay.io/stefanprodan/podinfo:1.2.1 -- ./podinfo --port=9898
 # generate latency: watch curl http://podinfo-canary:9898/delay/1
 # generate errors: watch curl http://podinfo-canary:9898/status/500
+# run load test: kubectl run -n test -it --rm --restart=Never hey --image=stefanprodan/loadtest -- sh
+# generate load: hey -z 2m -h2 -m POST -d '{test: 1}' -c 10 -q 5 http://podinfo:9898/api/echo
 apiVersion: apps.weave.works/v1beta1
 kind: Rollout
 metadata:
@@ -12,25 +14,29 @@ metadata:
   namespace: test
 spec:
   targetKind: Deployment
+  virtualService:
+    name: podinfo
   primary:
     name: podinfo
     host: podinfo
   canary:
     name: podinfo-canary
     host: podinfo-canary
-  virtualService:
-    name: podinfo
+  canaryAnalysis:
+    # max traffic percentage routed to canary
+    # percentage (0-100)
+    maxWeight: 100
     # canary increment step
     # percentage (0-100)
-    weight: 10
-  metrics:
-  - name: istio_requests_total
-    # minimum req success rate (non 5xx responses)
-    # percentage (0-100)
-    threshold: 99
-    interval: 1m
-  - name: istio_request_duration_seconds_bucket
-    # maximum req duration P99
-    # milliseconds
-    threshold: 500
-    interval: 1m
+    stepWeight: 10
+    metrics:
+    - name: istio_requests_total
+      # minimum req success rate (non 5xx responses)
+      # percentage (0-100)
+      threshold: 99
+      interval: 1m
+    - name: istio_request_duration_seconds_bucket
+      # maximum req duration P99
+      # milliseconds
+      threshold: 500
+      interval: 30s
diff --git a/artifacts/steerer/crd.yaml b/artifacts/steerer/crd.yaml
index ef9ffe1a..f0126196 100644
--- a/artifacts/steerer/crd.yaml
+++ b/artifacts/steerer/crd.yaml
@@ -21,10 +21,18 @@ spec:
       properties:
         spec:
           required:
+            - targetKind
+            - virtualService
             - primary
             - canary
-            - virtualService
+            - canaryAnalysis
           properties:
+            targetKind:
+              type: string
+            virtualService:
+              properties:
+                name:
+                  type: string
             primary:
               properties:
                 name:
@@ -37,22 +45,23 @@ spec:
                   type: string
                 host:
                   type: string
-            virtualService:
+            canaryAnalysis:
               properties:
-                name:
-                  type: string
-                weight:
+                maxWeight:
                   type: number
-            metrics:
-              type: array
-              properties:
-                items:
-                  type: object
+                stepWeight:
+                  type: number
+                metrics:
+                  type: array
                   properties:
-                    name:
-                      type: string
-                    interval:
-                      type: string
-                      pattern: "^[0-9]+(m)"
-                    threshold:
-                      type: number
+                    items:
+                      type: object
+                      properties:
+                        name:
+                          type: string
+                        interval:
+                          type: string
+                          pattern: "^[0-9]+(m)"
+                        threshold:
+                          type: number
+
diff --git a/artifacts/steerer/deployment.yaml b/artifacts/steerer/deployment.yaml
index 04a95465..c3b76069 100644
--- a/artifacts/steerer/deployment.yaml
+++ b/artifacts/steerer/deployment.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: steerer
       containers:
       - name: steerer
-        image: stefanprodan/steerer:0.0.1-beta.12
+        image: stefanprodan/steerer:0.0.1-rc.1
         imagePullPolicy: Always
         ports:
         - name: http
diff --git a/artifacts/workloads/deployment-canary.yaml b/artifacts/workloads/deployment-canary.yaml
index c9827df0..5ec7620b 100644
--- a/artifacts/workloads/deployment-canary.yaml
+++ b/artifacts/workloads/deployment-canary.yaml
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ spec:
             - http
             - localhost:9898/readyz
           failureThreshold: 3
-          periodSeconds: 10
+          periodSeconds: 3
           successThreshold: 1
           timeoutSeconds: 2
         resources:
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ spec:
             cpu: 1000m
             memory: 256Mi
           requests:
-            cpu: 10m
+            cpu: 100m
             memory: 16Mi
         volumeMounts:
         - mountPath: /data
diff --git a/artifacts/workloads/deployment.yaml b/artifacts/workloads/deployment.yaml
index b035f491..a16eaa2f 100644
--- a/artifacts/workloads/deployment.yaml
+++ b/artifacts/workloads/deployment.yaml
@@ -3,16 +3,13 @@ kind: Deployment
 metadata:
   name: podinfo
   namespace: test
-  annotations:
-    apps.weave.works/progressive: "true"
   labels:
     app: podinfo
 spec:
-  replicas: 2
+  replicas: 1
   strategy:
     rollingUpdate:
-      maxSurge: 25%
-      maxUnavailable: 1
+      maxUnavailable: 0
     type: RollingUpdate
   selector:
     matchLabels:
@@ -48,6 +45,7 @@ spec:
             - check
             - http
             - localhost:9898/healthz
+          initialDelaySeconds: 5
           failureThreshold: 3
           periodSeconds: 10
           successThreshold: 1
@@ -59,11 +57,15 @@ spec:
             - check
             - http
             - localhost:9898/readyz
+          initialDelaySeconds: 5
           failureThreshold: 3
-          periodSeconds: 10
+          periodSeconds: 3
           successThreshold: 1
           timeoutSeconds: 1
         resources:
+          limits:
+            cpu: 2000m
+            memory: 512Mi
           requests:
-            cpu: 1m
-            memory: 16Mi
+            cpu: 10m
+            memory: 64Mi
diff --git a/artifacts/workloads/hpa-canary.yaml b/artifacts/workloads/hpa-canary.yaml
index aeb57387..18bec4b7 100644
--- a/artifacts/workloads/hpa-canary.yaml
+++ b/artifacts/workloads/hpa-canary.yaml
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ spec:
   - type: Resource
     resource:
       name: cpu
+      # scale up if usage is above
+      # 99% of the requested CPU (100m)
       targetAverageUtilization: 99
   - type: Resource
     resource:
diff --git a/artifacts/workloads/hpa.yaml b/artifacts/workloads/hpa.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fa2b5a6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/artifacts/workloads/hpa.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+apiVersion: autoscaling/v2beta1
+kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
+metadata:
+  name: podinfo
+  namespace: test
+spec:
+  scaleTargetRef:
+    apiVersion: apps/v1
+    kind: Deployment
+    name: podinfo
+  minReplicas: 2
+  maxReplicas: 4
+  metrics:
+  - type: Resource
+    resource:
+      name: cpu
+      # scale up if usage is above
+      # 99% of the requested CPU (100m)
+      targetAverageUtilization: 99
diff --git a/artifacts/workloads/virtual-service.yaml b/artifacts/workloads/virtual-service.yaml
index b36e74a8..bfcf7b72 100644
--- a/artifacts/workloads/virtual-service.yaml
+++ b/artifacts/workloads/virtual-service.yaml
@@ -1,13 +1,10 @@
 apiVersion: networking.istio.io/v1alpha3
 kind: VirtualService
 metadata:
-  annotations:
-    apps.weave.works/progressive-revision: ""
-    apps.weave.works/progressive-status: ""
-  labels:
-    app: podinfo
   name: podinfo
   namespace: test
+  labels:
+    app: podinfo
 spec:
   gateways:
   - public-gateway.istio-system.svc.cluster.local
@@ -26,4 +23,7 @@ spec:
         port:
           number: 9898
       weight: 0
-    timeout: 30s
+    timeout: 10s
+    retries:
+      attempts: 3
+      perTryTimeout: 2s
diff --git a/chart/steerer/Chart.yaml b/chart/steerer/Chart.yaml
index 65cf60f6..cac84709 100644
--- a/chart/steerer/Chart.yaml
+++ b/chart/steerer/Chart.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 apiVersion: v1
 name: steerer
 version: 0.0.1
-appVersion: 0.0.1-beta.12
+appVersion: 0.0.1-rc.1
 description: Steerer is a Kubernetes operator that automates the promotion of canary deployments using Istio routing for traffic shifting and Prometheus metrics for canary analysis.
diff --git a/chart/steerer/templates/crd.yaml b/chart/steerer/templates/crd.yaml
index 53427b46..153c2f83 100644
--- a/chart/steerer/templates/crd.yaml
+++ b/chart/steerer/templates/crd.yaml
@@ -22,10 +22,18 @@ spec:
       properties:
         spec:
           required:
+            - targetKind
+            - virtualService
             - primary
             - canary
-            - virtualService
+            - canaryAnalysis
           properties:
+            targetKind:
+              type: string
+            virtualService:
+              properties:
+                name:
+                  type: string
             primary:
               properties:
                 name:
@@ -38,23 +46,23 @@ spec:
                   type: string
                 host:
                   type: string
-            virtualService:
+            canaryAnalysis:
               properties:
-                name:
-                  type: string
-                weight:
+                maxWeight:
                   type: number
-            metrics:
-              type: array
-              properties:
-                items:
-                  type: object
+                stepWeight:
+                  type: number
+                metrics:
+                  type: array
                   properties:
-                    name:
-                      type: string
-                    interval:
-                      type: string
-                      pattern: "^[0-9]+(m)"
-                    threshold:
-                      type: number
+                    items:
+                      type: object
+                      properties:
+                        name:
+                          type: string
+                        interval:
+                          type: string
+                          pattern: "^[0-9]+(m)"
+                        threshold:
+                          type: number
 {{- end }}
diff --git a/chart/steerer/values.yaml b/chart/steerer/values.yaml
index 37da5ada..0d9bb1b6 100644
--- a/chart/steerer/values.yaml
+++ b/chart/steerer/values.yaml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 image:
   repository: stefanprodan/steerer
-  tag: 0.0.1-beta.12
+  tag: 0.0.1-rc.1
   pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
 
 controlLoopInterval: "10s"
diff --git a/docs/index.yaml b/docs/index.yaml
index 829ce00c..5f71a325 100755
--- a/docs/index.yaml
+++ b/docs/index.yaml
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@ apiVersion: v1
 entries:
   steerer:
   - apiVersion: v1
-    appVersion: 0.0.1-beta.12
-    created: 2018-09-28T16:49:49.90177054+03:00
+    appVersion: 0.0.1-rc.1
+    created: 2018-09-29T11:08:25.598356915+03:00
     description: Steerer is a Kubernetes operator that automates the promotion of
       canary deployments using Istio routing for traffic shifting and Prometheus metrics
       for canary analysis.
-    digest: 792a2bf520cac415a2e2a4a3b2b7142c9fb09a4737ea7135146bd5796c5f9d94
+    digest: af14826edae5afcda1b2afebf17e3b8007f1d2a35e65093ab32e786a6599b201
     name: steerer
     urls:
     - https://stefanprodan.github.io/steerer/steerer-0.0.1.tgz
     version: 0.0.1
-generated: 2018-09-28T16:49:49.900919976+03:00
+generated: 2018-09-29T11:08:25.597473362+03:00
diff --git a/docs/steerer-0.0.1.tgz b/docs/steerer-0.0.1.tgz
index 61148685..09776f90 100644
Binary files a/docs/steerer-0.0.1.tgz and b/docs/steerer-0.0.1.tgz differ
diff --git a/pkg/apis/rollout/v1beta1/types.go b/pkg/apis/rollout/v1beta1/types.go
index c773ad71..874d4824 100755
--- a/pkg/apis/rollout/v1beta1/types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/rollout/v1beta1/types.go
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ type RolloutSpec struct {
 	TargetKind     string         `json:"targetKind"`
 	Primary        Target         `json:"primary"`
 	Canary         Target         `json:"canary"`
+	CanaryAnalysis CanaryAnalysis `json:"canaryAnalysis"`
 	VirtualService VirtualService `json:"virtualService"`
-	Metrics        []Metric       `json:"metrics"`
 }
 
 type Target struct {
@@ -47,8 +47,13 @@ type Target struct {
 }
 
 type VirtualService struct {
-	Name   string `json:"name"`
-	Weight int    `json:"weight"`
+	Name string `json:"name"`
+}
+
+type CanaryAnalysis struct {
+	MaxWeight  int      `json:"maxWeight"`
+	StepWeight int      `json:"stepWeight"`
+	Metrics    []Metric `json:"metrics"`
 }
 
 type Metric struct {
diff --git a/pkg/apis/rollout/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/rollout/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index 01f457a2..7f236063 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/rollout/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/rollout/v1beta1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -24,6 +24,27 @@ import (
 	runtime "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 )
 
+// DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
+func (in *CanaryAnalysis) DeepCopyInto(out *CanaryAnalysis) {
+	*out = *in
+	if in.Metrics != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Metrics, &out.Metrics
+		*out = make([]Metric, len(*in))
+		copy(*out, *in)
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+// DeepCopy is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, creating a new CanaryAnalysis.
+func (in *CanaryAnalysis) DeepCopy() *CanaryAnalysis {
+	if in == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	out := new(CanaryAnalysis)
+	in.DeepCopyInto(out)
+	return out
+}
+
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
 func (in *Metric) DeepCopyInto(out *Metric) {
 	*out = *in
@@ -106,12 +127,8 @@ func (in *RolloutSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *RolloutSpec) {
 	*out = *in
 	out.Primary = in.Primary
 	out.Canary = in.Canary
+	in.CanaryAnalysis.DeepCopyInto(&out.CanaryAnalysis)
 	out.VirtualService = in.VirtualService
-	if in.Metrics != nil {
-		in, out := &in.Metrics, &out.Metrics
-		*out = make([]Metric, len(*in))
-		copy(*out, *in)
-	}
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/controller/controller.go b/pkg/controller/controller.go
index 76e620e9..3355e2ba 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/controller.go
@@ -180,8 +180,8 @@ func (c *Controller) syncHandler(key string) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	c.logger.Infof("Adding %s.%s to cache", rollout.Name, rollout.Namespace)
 	c.rollouts.Store(fmt.Sprintf("%s.%s", rollout.Name, rollout.Namespace), rollout)
+	c.logger.Infof("Synced %s", key)
 
 	return nil
 }
@@ -206,6 +206,11 @@ func (c *Controller) recordEventErrorf(r *rolloutv1.Rollout, template string, ar
 	c.recorder.Event(r, corev1.EventTypeWarning, "Synced", fmt.Sprintf(template, args...))
 }
 
+func (c *Controller) recordEventWarningf(r *rolloutv1.Rollout, template string, args ...interface{}) {
+	c.logger.Infof(template, args...)
+	c.recorder.Event(r, corev1.EventTypeWarning, "Synced", fmt.Sprintf(template, args...))
+}
+
 func checkCustomResourceType(obj interface{}, logger *zap.SugaredLogger) (rolloutv1.Rollout, bool) {
 	var roll *rolloutv1.Rollout
 	var ok bool
diff --git a/pkg/controller/deployment.go b/pkg/controller/deployment.go
index bc2dbfb4..82076737 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/deployment.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/deployment.go
@@ -32,10 +32,10 @@ func (c *Controller) advanceDeploymentRollout(name string, namespace string) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	// gate stage: check if primary deployment exists and is healthy
-	primary, ok := c.getDeployment(r, r.Spec.Primary.Name, r.Namespace)
-	if !ok {
-		return
+	// set max weight default value to 100%
+	maxWeight := 100
+	if r.Spec.CanaryAnalysis.MaxWeight > 0 {
+		maxWeight = r.Spec.CanaryAnalysis.MaxWeight
 	}
 
 	// gate stage: check if canary deployment exists and is healthy
@@ -44,6 +44,12 @@ func (c *Controller) advanceDeploymentRollout(name string, namespace string) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	// gate stage: check if primary deployment exists and is healthy
+	primary, ok := c.getDeployment(r, r.Spec.Primary.Name, r.Namespace)
+	if !ok {
+		return
+	}
+
 	// gate stage: check if virtual service exists
 	// and if it contains weighted destination routes to the primary and canary services
 	vs, primaryRoute, canaryRoute, ok := c.getVirtualService(r)
@@ -67,15 +73,15 @@ func (c *Controller) advanceDeploymentRollout(name string, namespace string) {
 	}
 
 	// routing stage: increase canary traffic percentage
-	if canaryRoute.Weight != 100 {
-		primaryRoute.Weight -= r.Spec.VirtualService.Weight
-		if primaryRoute.Weight > 100 {
-			primaryRoute.Weight = 100
-		}
-		canaryRoute.Weight += r.Spec.VirtualService.Weight
+	if canaryRoute.Weight < maxWeight {
+		primaryRoute.Weight -= r.Spec.CanaryAnalysis.StepWeight
 		if primaryRoute.Weight < 0 {
 			primaryRoute.Weight = 0
 		}
+		canaryRoute.Weight += r.Spec.CanaryAnalysis.StepWeight
+		if primaryRoute.Weight > 100 {
+			primaryRoute.Weight = 100
+		}
 
 		if ok := c.updateVirtualServiceRoutes(r, vs, primaryRoute, canaryRoute); !ok {
 			return
@@ -84,7 +90,7 @@ func (c *Controller) advanceDeploymentRollout(name string, namespace string) {
 		c.recordEventInfof(r, "Advance rollout %s.%s weight %v", r.Name, r.Namespace, canaryRoute.Weight)
 
 		// promotion stage: override primary.template.spec with the canary spec
-		if canaryRoute.Weight == 100 {
+		if canaryRoute.Weight == maxWeight {
 			c.recordEventInfof(r, "Copying %s.%s template spec to %s.%s",
 				canary.GetName(), canary.Namespace, primary.GetName(), primary.Namespace)
 
@@ -175,7 +181,7 @@ func (c *Controller) getDeployment(r *rolloutv1.Rollout, name string, namespace
 	}
 
 	if msg, healthy := getDeploymentStatus(dep); !healthy {
-		c.logger.Infof("Halt rollout for %s.%s %s", dep.GetName(), dep.Namespace, msg)
+		c.recordEventWarningf(r, "Halt rollout %s.%s %s", dep.GetName(), dep.Namespace, msg)
 		return nil, false
 	}
 
@@ -187,7 +193,7 @@ func (c *Controller) getDeployment(r *rolloutv1.Rollout, name string, namespace
 }
 
 func (c *Controller) checkDeploymentMetrics(r *rolloutv1.Rollout) bool {
-	for _, metric := range r.Spec.Metrics {
+	for _, metric := range r.Spec.CanaryAnalysis.Metrics {
 		if metric.Name == "istio_requests_total" {
 			val, err := c.getDeploymentCounter(r.Spec.Canary.Name, r.Namespace, metric.Name, metric.Interval)
 			if err != nil {
@@ -195,7 +201,7 @@ func (c *Controller) checkDeploymentMetrics(r *rolloutv1.Rollout) bool {
 				return false
 			}
 			if float64(metric.Threshold) > val {
-				c.recordEventErrorf(r, "Halt rollout %s.%s success rate %.2f%% < %v%%",
+				c.recordEventWarningf(r, "Halt rollout %s.%s success rate %.2f%% < %v%%",
 					r.Name, r.Namespace, val, metric.Threshold)
 				return false
 			}
@@ -209,7 +215,7 @@ func (c *Controller) checkDeploymentMetrics(r *rolloutv1.Rollout) bool {
 			}
 			t := time.Duration(metric.Threshold) * time.Millisecond
 			if val > t {
-				c.recordEventErrorf(r, "Halt rollout %s.%s request duration %v > %v",
+				c.recordEventWarningf(r, "Halt rollout %s.%s request duration %v > %v",
 					r.Name, r.Namespace, val, t)
 				return false
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/version/version.go b/pkg/version/version.go
index b4ed4aba..addeb583 100644
--- a/pkg/version/version.go
+++ b/pkg/version/version.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 package version
 
-var VERSION = "0.0.1-beta.12"
+var VERSION = "0.0.1-rc.1"
 var REVISION = "unknown"