diff --git a/dynamometer-infra/src/main/java/com/linkedin/dynamometer/AMOptions.java b/dynamometer-infra/src/main/java/com/linkedin/dynamometer/AMOptions.java
index 7f5205d461..d030b6dc39 100644
--- a/dynamometer-infra/src/main/java/com/linkedin/dynamometer/AMOptions.java
+++ b/dynamometer-infra/src/main/java/com/linkedin/dynamometer/AMOptions.java
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ class AMOptions {
   public static final String DATANODES_PER_CLUSTER_DEFAULT = "1";
   public static final String DATANODE_LAUNCH_DELAY_ARG = "datanode_launch_delay";
   public static final String DATANODE_LAUNCH_DELAY_DEFAULT = "0s";
+  public static final String NAMENODE_NAME_DIR_ARG = "namenode_name_dir";
+  public static final String NAMENODE_EDITS_DIR_ARG = "namenode_edits_dir";
 
   private final int datanodeMemoryMB;
   private final int datanodeVirtualCores;
@@ -51,6 +53,8 @@ class AMOptions {
   private final String namenodeArgs;
   private final String namenodeNodeLabelExpression;
   private final int namenodeMetricsPeriod;
+  private final String namenodeNameDir;
+  private final String namenodeEditsDir;
   // Original shellEnv as passed in through arguments
   private final Map<String, String> originalShellEnv;
   // Extended shellEnv including custom environment variables
@@ -59,7 +63,7 @@ class AMOptions {
   AMOptions(int datanodeMemoryMB, int datanodeVirtualCores, String datanodeArgs,
       String datanodeNodeLabelExpression, int datanodesPerCluster, String datanodeLaunchDelay, int namenodeMemoryMB,
       int namenodeVirtualCores, String namenodeArgs, String namenodeNodeLabelExpression, int namenodeMetricsPeriod,
-      Map<String, String> shellEnv) {
+      String namenodeNameDir, String namenodeEditsDir, Map<String, String> shellEnv) {
     this.datanodeMemoryMB = datanodeMemoryMB;
     this.datanodeVirtualCores = datanodeVirtualCores;
     this.datanodeArgs = datanodeArgs;
@@ -71,12 +75,16 @@ class AMOptions {
     this.namenodeArgs = namenodeArgs;
     this.namenodeNodeLabelExpression = namenodeNodeLabelExpression;
     this.namenodeMetricsPeriod = namenodeMetricsPeriod;
+    this.namenodeNameDir = namenodeNameDir;
+    this.namenodeEditsDir = namenodeEditsDir;
     this.originalShellEnv = shellEnv;
     this.shellEnv = new HashMap<>(this.originalShellEnv);
     this.shellEnv.put(DynoConstants.NN_ADDITIONAL_ARGS_ENV, this.namenodeArgs);
     this.shellEnv.put(DynoConstants.DN_ADDITIONAL_ARGS_ENV, this.datanodeArgs);
     this.shellEnv.put(DynoConstants.NN_FILE_METRIC_PERIOD_ENV,
         String.valueOf(this.namenodeMetricsPeriod));
+    this.shellEnv.put(DynoConstants.NN_NAME_DIR_ENV, this.namenodeNameDir);
+    this.shellEnv.put(DynoConstants.NN_EDITS_DIR_ENV, this.namenodeEditsDir);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -104,28 +112,28 @@ void verify() throws IllegalArgumentException {
   void addToVargs(List<String> vargs) {
     vargs.add("--" + DATANODE_MEMORY_MB_ARG + " " + String.valueOf(datanodeMemoryMB));
     vargs.add("--" + DATANODE_VCORES_ARG + " " + String.valueOf(datanodeVirtualCores));
-    if (!datanodeArgs.isEmpty()) {
-      vargs.add("--" + DATANODE_ARGS_ARG + " \\\"" + datanodeArgs + "\\\"");
-    }
-    if (!datanodeNodeLabelExpression.isEmpty()) {
-      vargs.add("--" + DATANODE_NODELABEL_ARG + " \\\"" + datanodeNodeLabelExpression + "\\\"");
-    }
+    addStringValToVargs(vargs, DATANODE_ARGS_ARG, datanodeArgs);
+    addStringValToVargs(vargs, DATANODE_NODELABEL_ARG, datanodeNodeLabelExpression);
     vargs.add("--" + DATANODES_PER_CLUSTER_ARG + " " + String.valueOf(datanodesPerCluster));
     vargs.add("--" + DATANODE_LAUNCH_DELAY_ARG + " " + datanodeLaunchDelay);
     vargs.add("--" + NAMENODE_MEMORY_MB_ARG + " " + String.valueOf(namenodeMemoryMB));
     vargs.add("--" + NAMENODE_VCORES_ARG + " " + String.valueOf(namenodeVirtualCores));
-    if (!namenodeArgs.isEmpty()) {
-      vargs.add("--" + NAMENODE_ARGS_ARG + " \\\"" + namenodeArgs + "\\\"");
-    }
-    if (!namenodeNodeLabelExpression.isEmpty()) {
-      vargs.add("--" + NAMENODE_NODELABEL_ARG + " \\\"" + namenodeNodeLabelExpression + "\\\"");
-    }
+    addStringValToVargs(vargs, NAMENODE_ARGS_ARG, namenodeArgs);
+    addStringValToVargs(vargs, NAMENODE_NODELABEL_ARG, namenodeNodeLabelExpression);
     vargs.add("--" + NAMENODE_METRICS_PERIOD_ARG + " " + String.valueOf(namenodeMetricsPeriod));
+    addStringValToVargs(vargs, NAMENODE_NAME_DIR_ARG, namenodeNameDir);
+    addStringValToVargs(vargs, NAMENODE_EDITS_DIR_ARG, namenodeEditsDir);
     for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : originalShellEnv.entrySet()) {
       vargs.add("--" + SHELL_ENV_ARG + " " + entry.getKey() + "=" + entry.getValue());
     }
   }
 
+  private void addStringValToVargs(List<String> vargs, String optionName, String val) {
+    if (!val.isEmpty()) {
+      vargs.add("--" + optionName + " \\\"" + val + "\\\"");
+    }
+  }
+
   int getDataNodeMemoryMB() {
     return datanodeMemoryMB;
   }
@@ -187,6 +195,12 @@ static void setOptions(Options opts) {
         "The period in seconds for the NameNode's metrics to be emitted to file; if <=0, " +
             "disables this functionality. Otherwise, a metrics file will be stored in the " +
             "container logs for the NameNode (default " + NAMENODE_METRICS_PERIOD_DEFAULT + ").");
+    opts.addOption(NAMENODE_NAME_DIR_ARG, true,
+        "The directory to use for the NameNode's name data directory. If not specified, a location " +
+            "within the container's working directory will be used.");
+    opts.addOption(NAMENODE_EDITS_DIR_ARG, true,
+        "The directory to use for the NameNode's edits directory. If not specified, a location " +
+            "within the container's working directory will be used.");
     opts.addOption(DATANODE_MEMORY_MB_ARG, true,
         "Amount of memory in MB to be requested to run the DNs (default " + DATANODE_MEMORY_MB_DEFAULT + ")");
     opts.addOption(DATANODE_VCORES_ARG, true,
@@ -240,6 +254,8 @@ static AMOptions initFromParser(CommandLine cliParser) {
         cliParser.getOptionValue(NAMENODE_ARGS_ARG, ""),
         cliParser.getOptionValue(NAMENODE_NODELABEL_ARG, ""),
         Integer.parseInt(cliParser.getOptionValue(NAMENODE_METRICS_PERIOD_ARG, NAMENODE_METRICS_PERIOD_DEFAULT)),
+        cliParser.getOptionValue(NAMENODE_NAME_DIR_ARG, ""),
+        cliParser.getOptionValue(NAMENODE_EDITS_DIR_ARG, ""),
         originalShellEnv);
   }
 
diff --git a/dynamometer-infra/src/main/java/com/linkedin/dynamometer/DynoConstants.java b/dynamometer-infra/src/main/java/com/linkedin/dynamometer/DynoConstants.java
index 6082d11568..d6b7f0da6d 100644
--- a/dynamometer-infra/src/main/java/com/linkedin/dynamometer/DynoConstants.java
+++ b/dynamometer-infra/src/main/java/com/linkedin/dynamometer/DynoConstants.java
@@ -77,6 +77,12 @@ public boolean accept(Path path) {
   public static final String NN_ADDITIONAL_ARGS_ENV = "NN_ADDITIONAL_ARGS";
   // Environment variable which will contain additional arguments for the DataNode
   public static final String DN_ADDITIONAL_ARGS_ENV = "DN_ADDITIONAL_ARGS";
+  // Environment variable which will contain the directory to use for the NameNode's name directory;
+  // if not specified a directory within the YARN container working directory will be used.
+  public static final String NN_NAME_DIR_ENV = "NN_NAME_DIR";
+  // Environment variable which will contain the directory to use for the NameNode's edits directory;
+  // if not specified a directory within the YARN container working directory will be used.
+  public static final String NN_EDITS_DIR_ENV = "NN_EDITS_DIR";
 
   public static final String NN_FILE_METRIC_PERIOD_ENV = "NN_FILE_METRIC_PERIOD";
 
diff --git a/dynamometer-infra/src/main/resources/start-component.sh b/dynamometer-infra/src/main/resources/start-component.sh
index 41ec8b68e4..1ee50e92a4 100755
--- a/dynamometer-infra/src/main/resources/start-component.sh
+++ b/dynamometer-infra/src/main/resources/start-component.sh
@@ -235,11 +235,12 @@ namenode.sink.dyno-file.filename=${nnMetricOutputFileLocal}
 EOF
   fi
 
-  nameDir="$baseDir/name-data"
+  nameDir=${NN_NAME_DIR:-${baseDir}/name-data}
+  editsDir=${NN_EDITS_DIR:-${baseDir}/name-data}
   checkpointDir="$baseDir/checkpoint"
-  rm -rf "$nameDir" "$checkpointDir"
-  mkdir -p "$nameDir/current" "$checkpointDir"
-  chmod -R 700 "$nameDir" "$checkpointDir"
+  rm -rf "$nameDir" "$editsDir" "$checkpointDir"
+  mkdir -p "$nameDir/current" "$editsDir/current" "$checkpointDir"
+  chmod -R 700 "$nameDir" "$editsDir" "$checkpointDir"
   fsImageFile="`ls -1 | grep -E '^fsimage_[[:digit:]]+$' | tail -n 1`"
   fsImageMD5File="`ls -1 | grep -E '^fsimage_[[:digit:]]+.md5$' | tail -n 1`"
   ln -snf "`pwd`/$fsImageFile" "$nameDir/current/$fsImageFile"
@@ -256,8 +257,8 @@ EOF
   -D dfs.namenode.servicerpc-address=${nnHostname}:${nnServiceRpcPort}
   -D dfs.namenode.http-address=${nnHostname}:${nnHttpPort}
   -D dfs.namenode.https-address=${nnHostname}:0
-  -D dfs.namenode.name.dir=file://${baseDir}/name-data
-  -D dfs.namenode.edits.dir=file://${baseDir}/name-data
+  -D dfs.namenode.name.dir=file://${nameDir}
+  -D dfs.namenode.edits.dir=file://${editsDir}
   -D dfs.namenode.checkpoint.dir=file://${baseDir}/checkpoint
   -D dfs.namenode.kerberos.internal.spnego.principal=
   -D dfs.hosts=