diff --git a/docs/source/distributions/k8s-benchmark/benchmark.py b/docs/source/distributions/k8s-benchmark/benchmark.py
index 3d0d18150..83ba9602a 100644
--- a/docs/source/distributions/k8s-benchmark/benchmark.py
+++ b/docs/source/distributions/k8s-benchmark/benchmark.py
@@ -58,14 +58,6 @@ class BenchmarkStats:
         
         print(f"\n{'='*60}")
         print(f"BENCHMARK RESULTS")
-        print(f"{'='*60}")
-        print(f"Total time: {total_time:.2f}s")
-        print(f"Concurrent users: {self.concurrent_users}")
-        print(f"Total requests: {self.total_requests}")
-        print(f"Successful requests: {self.success_count}")
-        print(f"Failed requests: {len(self.errors)}")
-        print(f"Success rate: {success_rate:.1f}%")
-        print(f"Requests per second: {self.success_count / total_time:.2f}")
         
         print(f"\nResponse Time Statistics:")
         print(f"  Mean: {statistics.mean(self.response_times):.3f}s")
@@ -106,6 +98,15 @@ class BenchmarkStats:
             print(f"  Mean chunks per response: {statistics.mean(self.chunks_received):.1f}")
             print(f"  Total chunks received: {sum(self.chunks_received)}")
         
+        print(f"{'='*60}")
+        print(f"Total time: {total_time:.2f}s")
+        print(f"Concurrent users: {self.concurrent_users}")
+        print(f"Total requests: {self.total_requests}")
+        print(f"Successful requests: {self.success_count}")
+        print(f"Failed requests: {len(self.errors)}")
+        print(f"Success rate: {success_rate:.1f}%")
+        print(f"Requests per second: {self.success_count / total_time:.2f}")
+        
         if self.errors:
             print(f"\nErrors (showing first 5):")
             for error in self.errors[:5]:
@@ -215,7 +216,7 @@ class LlamaStackBenchmark:
                         await asyncio.sleep(1)  # Report every second
                         if time.time() >= last_report_time + 10:  # Report every 10 seconds
                             elapsed = time.time() - stats.start_time
-                            print(f"Completed: {stats.total_requests} requests in {elapsed:.1f}s")
+                            print(f"Completed: {stats.total_requests} requests in {elapsed:.1f}s, RPS: {stats.total_requests / elapsed:.1f}")
                             last_report_time = time.time()
                     except asyncio.CancelledError:
                         break
diff --git a/docs/source/distributions/k8s-benchmark/stack_run_config.yaml b/docs/source/distributions/k8s-benchmark/stack_run_config.yaml
index f8ff7811b..5a9e2ae4f 100644
--- a/docs/source/distributions/k8s-benchmark/stack_run_config.yaml
+++ b/docs/source/distributions/k8s-benchmark/stack_run_config.yaml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ version: '2'
 image_name: kubernetes-benchmark-demo
 apis:
 - agents
+- files
 - inference
 - files
 - safety
@@ -20,6 +21,14 @@ providers:
   - provider_id: sentence-transformers
     provider_type: inline::sentence-transformers
     config: {}
+  files:
+  - provider_id: meta-reference-files
+    provider_type: inline::localfs
+    config:
+      storage_dir: ${env.FILES_STORAGE_DIR:=~/.llama/distributions/starter/files}
+      metadata_store:
+        type: sqlite
+        db_path: ${env.SQLITE_STORE_DIR:=~/.llama/distributions/starter}/files_metadata.db
   vector_io:
   - provider_id: ${env.ENABLE_CHROMADB:+chromadb}
     provider_type: remote::chromadb
diff --git a/llama_stack/core/datatypes.py b/llama_stack/core/datatypes.py
index 0f348b067..faaeefd01 100644
--- a/llama_stack/core/datatypes.py
+++ b/llama_stack/core/datatypes.py
@@ -431,6 +431,12 @@ class ServerConfig(BaseModel):
     )
 
 
+class InferenceStoreConfig(BaseModel):
+    sql_store_config: SqlStoreConfig
+    max_write_queue_size: int = Field(default=10000, description="Max queued writes for inference store")
+    num_writers: int = Field(default=4, description="Number of concurrent background writers")
+
+
 class StackRunConfig(BaseModel):
     version: int = LLAMA_STACK_RUN_CONFIG_VERSION
 
@@ -464,11 +470,12 @@ Configuration for the persistence store used by the distribution registry. If no
 a default SQLite store will be used.""",
     )
 
-    inference_store: SqlStoreConfig | None = Field(
+    inference_store: InferenceStoreConfig | SqlStoreConfig | None = Field(
         default=None,
         description="""
-Configuration for the persistence store used by the inference API. If not specified,
-a default SQLite store will be used.""",
+Configuration for the persistence store used by the inference API. Can be either a
+InferenceStoreConfig (with queue tuning parameters) or a SqlStoreConfig (deprecated).
+If not specified, a default SQLite store will be used.""",
     )
 
     # registry of "resources" in the distribution
diff --git a/llama_stack/core/routers/__init__.py b/llama_stack/core/routers/__init__.py
index 1faace34a..f129f8ede 100644
--- a/llama_stack/core/routers/__init__.py
+++ b/llama_stack/core/routers/__init__.py
@@ -78,7 +78,10 @@ async def get_auto_router_impl(
 
     # TODO: move pass configs to routers instead
     if api == Api.inference and run_config.inference_store:
-        inference_store = InferenceStore(run_config.inference_store, policy)
+        inference_store = InferenceStore(
+            config=run_config.inference_store,
+            policy=policy,
+        )
         await inference_store.initialize()
         api_to_dep_impl["store"] = inference_store
 
diff --git a/llama_stack/core/routers/inference.py b/llama_stack/core/routers/inference.py
index 2ed2d0439..762d7073e 100644
--- a/llama_stack/core/routers/inference.py
+++ b/llama_stack/core/routers/inference.py
@@ -90,6 +90,11 @@ class InferenceRouter(Inference):
 
     async def shutdown(self) -> None:
         logger.debug("InferenceRouter.shutdown")
+        if self.store:
+            try:
+                await self.store.shutdown()
+            except Exception as e:
+                logger.warning(f"Error during InferenceStore shutdown: {e}")
 
     async def register_model(
         self,
diff --git a/llama_stack/providers/utils/inference/inference_store.py b/llama_stack/providers/utils/inference/inference_store.py
index 43006cfd5..8c69b1683 100644
--- a/llama_stack/providers/utils/inference/inference_store.py
+++ b/llama_stack/providers/utils/inference/inference_store.py
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 #
 # This source code is licensed under the terms described in the LICENSE file in
 # the root directory of this source tree.
+import asyncio
+from typing import Any
+
 from llama_stack.apis.inference import (
     ListOpenAIChatCompletionResponse,
     OpenAIChatCompletion,
@@ -10,24 +13,43 @@ from llama_stack.apis.inference import (
     OpenAIMessageParam,
     Order,
 )
-from llama_stack.core.datatypes import AccessRule
-from llama_stack.core.utils.config_dirs import RUNTIME_BASE_DIR
+from llama_stack.core.datatypes import AccessRule, InferenceStoreConfig
+from llama_stack.log import get_logger
 
 from ..sqlstore.api import ColumnDefinition, ColumnType
 from ..sqlstore.authorized_sqlstore import AuthorizedSqlStore
-from ..sqlstore.sqlstore import SqliteSqlStoreConfig, SqlStoreConfig, sqlstore_impl
+from ..sqlstore.sqlstore import SqlStoreConfig, SqlStoreType, sqlstore_impl
+
+logger = get_logger(name=__name__, category="inference_store")
 
 
 class InferenceStore:
-    def __init__(self, sql_store_config: SqlStoreConfig, policy: list[AccessRule]):
-        if not sql_store_config:
-            sql_store_config = SqliteSqlStoreConfig(
-                db_path=(RUNTIME_BASE_DIR / "sqlstore.db").as_posix(),
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        config: InferenceStoreConfig | SqlStoreConfig,
+        policy: list[AccessRule],
+    ):
+        # Handle backward compatibility
+        if not isinstance(config, InferenceStoreConfig):
+            # Legacy: SqlStoreConfig passed directly as config
+            config = InferenceStoreConfig(
+                sql_store_config=config,
             )
-        self.sql_store_config = sql_store_config
+
+        self.config = config
+        self.sql_store_config = config.sql_store_config
         self.sql_store = None
         self.policy = policy
 
+        # Disable write queue for SQLite to avoid concurrency issues
+        self.enable_write_queue = self.sql_store_config.type != SqlStoreType.sqlite
+
+        # Async write queue and worker control
+        self._queue: asyncio.Queue[tuple[OpenAIChatCompletion, list[OpenAIMessageParam]]] | None = None
+        self._worker_tasks: list[asyncio.Task[Any]] = []
+        self._max_write_queue_size: int = config.max_write_queue_size
+        self._num_writers: int = max(1, config.num_writers)
+
     async def initialize(self):
         """Create the necessary tables if they don't exist."""
         self.sql_store = AuthorizedSqlStore(sqlstore_impl(self.sql_store_config))
@@ -42,10 +64,68 @@ class InferenceStore:
             },
         )
 
+        if self.enable_write_queue:
+            self._queue = asyncio.Queue(maxsize=self._max_write_queue_size)
+            for _ in range(self._num_writers):
+                self._worker_tasks.append(asyncio.create_task(self._worker_loop()))
+        else:
+            logger.info("Write queue disabled for SQLite to avoid concurrency issues")
+
+    async def shutdown(self) -> None:
+        if not self._worker_tasks:
+            return
+        if self._queue is not None:
+            await self._queue.join()
+        for t in self._worker_tasks:
+            if not t.done():
+                t.cancel()
+        for t in self._worker_tasks:
+            try:
+                await t
+            except asyncio.CancelledError:
+                pass
+        self._worker_tasks.clear()
+
+    async def flush(self) -> None:
+        """Wait for all queued writes to complete. Useful for testing."""
+        if self.enable_write_queue and self._queue is not None:
+            await self._queue.join()
+
     async def store_chat_completion(
         self, chat_completion: OpenAIChatCompletion, input_messages: list[OpenAIMessageParam]
     ) -> None:
-        if not self.sql_store:
+        if self.enable_write_queue:
+            if self._queue is None:
+                raise ValueError("Inference store is not initialized")
+            try:
+                self._queue.put_nowait((chat_completion, input_messages))
+            except asyncio.QueueFull:
+                logger.warning(
+                    f"Write queue full; adding chat completion id={getattr(chat_completion, 'id', '<unknown>')}"
+                )
+                await self._queue.put((chat_completion, input_messages))
+        else:
+            await self._write_chat_completion(chat_completion, input_messages)
+
+    async def _worker_loop(self) -> None:
+        assert self._queue is not None
+        while True:
+            try:
+                item = await self._queue.get()
+            except asyncio.CancelledError:
+                break
+            chat_completion, input_messages = item
+            try:
+                await self._write_chat_completion(chat_completion, input_messages)
+            except Exception as e:  # noqa: BLE001
+                logger.error(f"Error writing chat completion: {e}")
+            finally:
+                self._queue.task_done()
+
+    async def _write_chat_completion(
+        self, chat_completion: OpenAIChatCompletion, input_messages: list[OpenAIMessageParam]
+    ) -> None:
+        if self.sql_store is None:
             raise ValueError("Inference store is not initialized")
 
         data = chat_completion.model_dump()
diff --git a/tests/unit/utils/inference/test_inference_store.py b/tests/unit/utils/inference/test_inference_store.py
index 730f54a05..f6d63490a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/utils/inference/test_inference_store.py
+++ b/tests/unit/utils/inference/test_inference_store.py
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ async def test_inference_store_pagination_basic():
             input_messages = [OpenAIUserMessageParam(role="user", content=f"Test message for {completion_id}")]
             await store.store_chat_completion(completion, input_messages)
 
+        # Wait for all queued writes to complete
+        await store.flush()
+
         # Test 1: First page with limit=2, descending order (default)
         result = await store.list_chat_completions(limit=2, order=Order.desc)
         assert len(result.data) == 2
@@ -108,6 +111,9 @@ async def test_inference_store_pagination_ascending():
             input_messages = [OpenAIUserMessageParam(role="user", content=f"Test message for {completion_id}")]
             await store.store_chat_completion(completion, input_messages)
 
+        # Wait for all queued writes to complete
+        await store.flush()
+
         # Test ascending order pagination
         result = await store.list_chat_completions(limit=1, order=Order.asc)
         assert len(result.data) == 1
@@ -143,6 +149,9 @@ async def test_inference_store_pagination_with_model_filter():
             input_messages = [OpenAIUserMessageParam(role="user", content=f"Test message for {completion_id}")]
             await store.store_chat_completion(completion, input_messages)
 
+        # Wait for all queued writes to complete
+        await store.flush()
+
         # Test pagination with model filter
         result = await store.list_chat_completions(limit=1, model="model-a", order=Order.desc)
         assert len(result.data) == 1
@@ -190,6 +199,9 @@ async def test_inference_store_pagination_no_limit():
             input_messages = [OpenAIUserMessageParam(role="user", content=f"Test message for {completion_id}")]
             await store.store_chat_completion(completion, input_messages)
 
+        # Wait for all queued writes to complete
+        await store.flush()
+
         # Test without limit
         result = await store.list_chat_completions(order=Order.desc)
         assert len(result.data) == 2