diff --git a/Ganeti/HTools/Cluster.hs b/Ganeti/HTools/Cluster.hs
index a85b9ad9b81a466a664d8c6416e04b2f82b691ab..cba2ad0f36229c7505e15ce4671c67766f94d3a1 100644
--- a/Ganeti/HTools/Cluster.hs
+++ b/Ganeti/HTools/Cluster.hs
@@ -85,10 +85,6 @@ data IMove = Failover                -- ^ Failover the instance (f)
 data Table = Table NodeList InstanceList Score [Placement]
              deriving (Show)
 
--- | Constant node index for a non-moveable instance
-noSecondary :: Int
-noSecondary = -1
-
 -- General functions
 
 -- | Cap the removal list if needed.
@@ -480,7 +476,7 @@ checkMove nodes_idx ini_tbl victims =
         best_tbl =
             foldl'
             (\ step_tbl elem ->
-                 if Instance.snode elem == noSecondary then step_tbl
+                 if Instance.snode elem == Node.noSecondary then step_tbl
                     else compareTables step_tbl $
                          checkInstanceMove nodes_idx ini_tbl elem)
             ini_tbl victims
@@ -694,23 +690,6 @@ printStats nl =
 
 -- Loading functions
 
-{- | Convert newline and delimiter-separated text.
-
-This function converts a text in tabular format as generated by
-@gnt-instance list@ and @gnt-node list@ to a list of objects using a
-supplied conversion function.
-
--}
-loadTabular :: (Monad m) => String -> ([String] -> m (String, a))
-            -> (a -> Int -> a) -> m ([(String, Int)], [(Int, a)])
-loadTabular text_data convert_fn set_fn = do
-  let lines_data = lines text_data
-      rows = map (sepSplit '|') lines_data
-  kerows <- mapM convert_fn rows
-  let idxrows = map (\ (idx, (k, v)) -> ((k, idx), (idx, set_fn v idx)))
-                (zip [0..] kerows)
-  return $ unzip idxrows
-
 -- | For each instance, add its index to its primary and secondary nodes
 fixNodes :: [(Int, Node.Node)]
          -> [(Int, Instance.Instance)]
@@ -726,7 +705,7 @@ fixNodes nl il =
                     ac1 = deleteBy assocEqual (pdx, pold) accu
                     ac2 = (pdx, pnew):ac1
                 in
-                  if sdx /= noSecondary then
+                  if sdx /= Node.noSecondary then
                       let
                           sold = fromJust $ lookup sdx accu
                           snew = Node.setSec sold idx
@@ -756,66 +735,15 @@ stripSuffix suffix lst =
     let sflen = length suffix in
     map (\ (key, name) -> (key, take ((length name) - sflen) name)) lst
 
--- | Safe 'read' function returning data encapsulated in a Result
-tryRead :: (Monad m, Read a) => String -> String -> m a
-tryRead name s =
-    let sols = readsPrec 0 s
-    in case sols of
-         (v, ""):[] -> return v
-         (_, e):[] -> fail $ name ++ ": leftover characters when parsing '"
-                      ++ s ++ "': '" ++ e ++ "'"
-         _ -> fail $ name ++ ": cannot parse string '" ++ s ++ "'"
-
--- | Lookups a node into an assoc list
-lookupNode :: (Monad m) => String -> String -> [(String, Int)] -> m Int
-lookupNode node inst ktn =
-    case lookup node ktn of
-      Nothing -> fail $ "Unknown node '" ++ node ++ "' for instance " ++ inst
-      Just idx -> return idx
-
--- | Load a node from a field list
-loadNode :: (Monad m) => [String] -> m (String, Node.Node)
-loadNode (name:tm:nm:fm:td:fd:fo:[]) = do
-  new_node <-
-      if any (== "?") [tm,nm,fm,td,fd] || fo == "Y" then
-          return $ Node.create 0 0 0 0 0 True
-      else do
-        vtm <- tryRead name tm
-        vnm <- tryRead name nm
-        vfm <- tryRead name fm
-        vtd <- tryRead name td
-        vfd <- tryRead name fd
-        return $ Node.create vtm vnm vfm vtd vfd False
-  return (name, new_node)
-loadNode s = fail $ "Invalid/incomplete node data: '" ++ (show s) ++ "'"
-
--- | Load an instance from a field list
-loadInst :: (Monad m) =>
-            [(String, Int)] -> [String] -> m (String, Instance.Instance)
-loadInst ktn (name:mem:dsk:status:pnode:snode:[]) = do
-  pidx <- lookupNode pnode name ktn
-  sidx <- (if null snode then return noSecondary
-           else lookupNode snode name ktn)
-  vmem <- tryRead name mem
-  vdsk <- tryRead name dsk
-  when (sidx == pidx) $ fail $ "Instance " ++ name ++
-           " has same primary and secondary node - " ++ pnode
-  let newinst = Instance.create vmem vdsk status pidx sidx
-  return (name, newinst)
-loadInst _ s = fail $ "Invalid/incomplete instance data: '" ++ (show s) ++ "'"
 
 {-| Initializer function that loads the data from a node and list file
     and massages it into the correct format. -}
-loadData :: String -- ^ Node data in text format
-         -> String -- ^ Instance data in text format
-         -> Result (Container.Container Node.Node,
-                    Container.Container Instance.Instance,
-                    String, NameList, NameList)
-loadData ndata idata = do
-  {- node file: name t_mem n_mem f_mem t_disk f_disk -}
-  (ktn, nl) <- loadTabular ndata loadNode Node.setIdx
-      {- instance file: name mem disk status pnode snode -}
-  (kti, il) <- loadTabular idata (loadInst ktn) Instance.setIdx
+loadData :: ([(String, Int)], Node.AssocList,
+             [(String, Int)], Instance.AssocList) -- ^ Data from either
+                                                  -- Text.loadData
+                                                  -- or Rapi.loadData
+         -> Result (NodeList, InstanceList, String, NameList, NameList)
+loadData (ktn, nl, kti, il) = do
   let
       nl2 = fixNodes nl il
       il3 = Container.fromAssocList il
diff --git a/Ganeti/HTools/Instance.hs b/Ganeti/HTools/Instance.hs
index d115742e0ffce6d4c2bb57119672af2270414dac..96a7afe52ce8ad5a301904ba1e966592437520a4 100644
--- a/Ganeti/HTools/Instance.hs
+++ b/Ganeti/HTools/Instance.hs
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ data Instance = Instance { mem :: Int       -- ^ memory of the instance
                                             -- book-keeping
                          } deriving (Show)
 
+-- | A simple name for the int, instance association list
+type AssocList = [(Int, Instance)]
+
 create :: Int -> Int -> String -> Int -> Int -> Instance
 create mem_init dsk_init run_init pn sn =
     Instance {
diff --git a/Ganeti/HTools/Loader.hs b/Ganeti/HTools/Loader.hs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0363db5bdac1b6ff1a91f1f74dd6c72c612b579f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Ganeti/HTools/Loader.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+{-| Loading data from external sources
+
+This module holds the common code for loading the cluster state from external sources.
+
+-}
+
+module Ganeti.HTools.Loader
+    where
+
+type NameAssoc = [(String, Int)]
+
+-- | Lookups a node into an assoc list
+lookupNode :: (Monad m) => NameAssoc -> String -> String -> m Int
+lookupNode ktn inst node =
+    case lookup node ktn of
+      Nothing -> fail $ "Unknown node '" ++ node ++ "' for instance " ++ inst
+      Just idx -> return idx
+
+assignIndices :: (a -> Int -> a)
+              -> [(String, a)]
+              -> (NameAssoc, [(Int, a)])
+assignIndices set_fn =
+    unzip . map (\ (idx, (k, v)) -> ((k, idx), (idx, set_fn v idx)))
+          . zip [0..]
diff --git a/Ganeti/HTools/Node.hs b/Ganeti/HTools/Node.hs
index 8dffd585fadbd90be63a3c614254f72be6891549..37d3d9249912dbff63c647ed8365d278887ca463 100644
--- a/Ganeti/HTools/Node.hs
+++ b/Ganeti/HTools/Node.hs
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ module Ganeti.HTools.Node
     , setSec
     -- * Formatting
     , list
+    -- * Misc stuff
+    , AssocList
+    , noSecondary
     ) where
 
 import Data.List
@@ -58,6 +61,13 @@ data Node = Node { t_mem :: Double -- ^ total memory (MiB)
                                    -- score computations
   } deriving (Show)
 
+-- | A simple name for the int, node association list
+type AssocList = [(Int, Node)]
+
+-- | Constant node index for a non-moveable instance
+noSecondary :: Int
+noSecondary = -1
+
 {- | Create a new node.
 
 The index and the peers maps are empty, and will be need to be update
diff --git a/Ganeti/HTools/Rapi.hs b/Ganeti/HTools/Rapi.hs
index 786bfe151a7783a80ef1233ac6800f6865f70a8a..5cfc42b4d368fc99d9e7db660c4d75617a539e49 100644
--- a/Ganeti/HTools/Rapi.hs
+++ b/Ganeti/HTools/Rapi.hs
@@ -4,20 +4,21 @@
 
 module Ganeti.HTools.Rapi
     (
-      getNodes
-    , getInstances
+      loadData
     ) where
 
 import Network.Curl
 import Network.Curl.Types ()
 import Network.Curl.Code
-import Data.Either ()
-import Data.Maybe
 import Data.List
 import Control.Monad
 import Text.JSON (JSObject, JSValue)
 import Text.Printf (printf)
+
 import Ganeti.HTools.Utils
+import Ganeti.HTools.Loader
+import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Node as Node
+import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Instance as Instance
 
 -- | Read an URL via curl and return the body if successful
 getUrl :: (Monad m) => String -> IO (m String)
@@ -35,57 +36,62 @@ formatHost master =
     if elem ':' master then  master
     else "https://" ++ master ++ ":5080"
 
-getInstances :: String -> IO (Result String)
-getInstances master = do
-  let url2 = printf "%s/2/instances?bulk=1" (formatHost master)
-  body <- getUrl url2
-  return $ (do x <- body
-               arr <- loadJSArray x
-               ilist <- mapM parseInstance arr
-               return $ unlines ilist)
+getInstances :: NameAssoc
+             -> String
+             -> Result [(String, Instance.Instance)]
+getInstances ktn body = do
+  arr <- loadJSArray body
+  ilist <- mapM (parseInstance ktn) arr
+  return ilist
 
-getNodes :: String -> IO (Result String)
-getNodes master = do
-  let url2 = printf "%s/2/nodes?bulk=1" (formatHost master)
-  body <- getUrl url2
-  return $ (do x <- body
-               arr <- loadJSArray x
-               nlist <- mapM parseNode arr
-               return $ unlines nlist)
+getNodes :: String -> Result [(String, Node.Node)]
+getNodes body = do
+  arr <- loadJSArray body
+  nlist <- mapM parseNode arr
+  return nlist
 
-parseInstance :: JSObject JSValue -> Result String
-parseInstance a =
-    let name = getStringElement "name" a
-        disk = getIntElement "disk_usage" a
-        mem = getObjectElement "beparams" a >>= getIntElement "memory"
-        pnode = getStringElement "pnode" a
-        snode = (liftM head $ getListElement "snodes" a) >>= readEitherString
-        running = getStringElement "status" a
-    in
-      name |+ (show `liftM` mem) |+
-              (show `liftM` disk) |+
-              running |+ pnode |+ snode
+parseInstance :: [(String, Int)]
+              -> JSObject JSValue
+              -> Result (String, Instance.Instance)
+parseInstance ktn a = do
+  name <- fromObj "name" a
+  disk <- fromObj "disk_usage" a
+  mem <- fromObj "beparams" a >>= fromObj "memory"
+  pnode <- fromObj "pnode" a >>= lookupNode ktn name
+  snodes <- getListElement "snodes" a
+  snode <- (if null snodes then return Node.noSecondary
+            else readEitherString (head snodes) >>= lookupNode ktn name)
+  running <- fromObj "status" a
+  let inst = Instance.create mem disk running pnode snode
+  return (name, inst)
 
-boolToYN :: (Monad m) => Bool -> m String
-boolToYN True = return "Y"
-boolToYN _ = return "N"
+parseNode :: JSObject JSValue -> Result (String, Node.Node)
+parseNode a = do
+    name <- fromObj "name" a
+    offline <- fromObj "offline" a
+    node <- (case offline of
+               True -> return $ Node.create 0 0 0 0 0 True
+               _ -> do
+                 drained <- fromObj "drained" a
+                 mtotal <- fromObj "mtotal" a
+                 mnode <- fromObj "mnode" a
+                 mfree <- fromObj "mfree" a
+                 dtotal <- fromObj "dtotal" a
+                 dfree <- fromObj "dfree" a
+                 return $ Node.create mtotal mnode mfree
+                        dtotal dfree (offline || drained))
+    return (name, node)
 
-parseNode :: JSObject JSValue -> Result String
-parseNode a =
-    let name = getStringElement "name" a
-        offline = getBoolElement "offline" a
-        drained = getBoolElement "drained" a
-        mtotal = getIntElement "mtotal" a
-        mnode = getIntElement "mnode" a
-        mfree = getIntElement "mfree" a
-        dtotal = getIntElement "dtotal" a
-        dfree = getIntElement "dfree" a
-    in name |+
-       (case offline of
-          Ok True -> Ok "0|0|0|0|0|Y"
-          _ ->
-              (show `liftM` mtotal) |+ (show `liftM` mnode) |+
-              (show `liftM` mfree) |+ (show `liftM` dtotal) |+
-              (show `liftM` dfree) |+
-              ((liftM2 (||) offline drained) >>= boolToYN)
-       )
+loadData :: String -- ^ Cluster/URL to use as source
+         -> IO (Result (NameAssoc, Node.AssocList,
+                        NameAssoc, Instance.AssocList))
+loadData master = do -- IO monad
+  let url = formatHost master
+  node_body <- getUrl $ printf "%s/2/nodes?bulk=1" url
+  inst_body <- getUrl $ printf "%s/2/instances?bulk=1" url
+  return $ do -- Result monad
+    node_data <- node_body >>= getNodes
+    let (node_names, node_idx) = assignIndices Node.setIdx node_data
+    inst_data <- inst_body >>= getInstances node_names
+    let (inst_names, inst_idx) = assignIndices Instance.setIdx inst_data
+    return (node_names, node_idx, inst_names, inst_idx)
diff --git a/Ganeti/HTools/Text.hs b/Ganeti/HTools/Text.hs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f643e5f5b7f0a9b94874b7cecd8263194962609c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Ganeti/HTools/Text.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+{-| Parsing data from text-files
+
+This module holds the code for loading the cluster state from text
+files, as produced by gnt-node/gnt-instance list.
+
+-}
+
+module Ganeti.HTools.Text
+    where
+
+import Control.Monad
+
+import Ganeti.HTools.Utils
+import Ganeti.HTools.Loader
+import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Node as Node
+import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Instance as Instance
+
+-- | Safe 'read' function returning data encapsulated in a Result
+tryRead :: (Monad m, Read a) => String -> String -> m a
+tryRead name s =
+    let sols = readsPrec 0 s
+    in case sols of
+         (v, ""):[] -> return v
+         (_, e):[] -> fail $ name ++ ": leftover characters when parsing '"
+                      ++ s ++ "': '" ++ e ++ "'"
+         _ -> fail $ name ++ ": cannot parse string '" ++ s ++ "'"
+
+-- | Load a node from a field list
+loadNode :: (Monad m) => [String] -> m (String, Node.Node)
+loadNode (name:tm:nm:fm:td:fd:fo:[]) = do
+  new_node <-
+      if any (== "?") [tm,nm,fm,td,fd] || fo == "Y" then
+          return $ Node.create 0 0 0 0 0 True
+      else do
+        vtm <- tryRead name tm
+        vnm <- tryRead name nm
+        vfm <- tryRead name fm
+        vtd <- tryRead name td
+        vfd <- tryRead name fd
+        return $ Node.create vtm vnm vfm vtd vfd False
+  return (name, new_node)
+loadNode s = fail $ "Invalid/incomplete node data: '" ++ (show s) ++ "'"
+
+-- | Load an instance from a field list
+loadInst :: (Monad m) =>
+            [(String, Int)] -> [String] -> m (String, Instance.Instance)
+loadInst ktn (name:mem:dsk:status:pnode:snode:[]) = do
+  pidx <- lookupNode ktn name pnode
+  sidx <- (if null snode then return Node.noSecondary
+           else lookupNode ktn name snode)
+  vmem <- tryRead name mem
+  vdsk <- tryRead name dsk
+  when (sidx == pidx) $ fail $ "Instance " ++ name ++
+           " has same primary and secondary node - " ++ pnode
+  let newinst = Instance.create vmem vdsk status pidx sidx
+  return (name, newinst)
+loadInst _ s = fail $ "Invalid/incomplete instance data: '" ++ (show s) ++ "'"
+
+{- | Convert newline and delimiter-separated text.
+
+This function converts a text in tabular format as generated by
+@gnt-instance list@ and @gnt-node list@ to a list of objects using a
+supplied conversion function.
+
+-}
+loadTabular :: (Monad m) => String -> ([String] -> m (String, a))
+            -> (a -> Int -> a) -> m ([(String, Int)], [(Int, a)])
+loadTabular text_data convert_fn set_fn = do
+  let lines_data = lines text_data
+      rows = map (sepSplit '|') lines_data
+  kerows <- mapM convert_fn rows
+  return $ assignIndices set_fn kerows
+
+loadData :: String -- ^ Node data in string format
+         -> String -- ^ Instance data in string format
+         -> IO (Result (NameAssoc, Node.AssocList,
+                        NameAssoc, Instance.AssocList))
+loadData nfile ifile = do -- IO monad
+  ndata <- readFile nfile
+  idata <- readFile ifile
+  return $ do
+    {- node file: name t_mem n_mem f_mem t_disk f_disk -}
+    (ktn, nl) <- loadTabular ndata loadNode Node.setIdx
+    {- instance file: name mem disk status pnode snode -}
+    (kti, il) <- loadTabular idata (loadInst ktn) Instance.setIdx
+    return (ktn, nl, kti, il)
diff --git a/hbal.hs b/hbal.hs
index a69622a1255e347715058a7c670180aebe0df21c..459574ea8ceff55efcac1e3bbd9594c542b7bd68 100644
--- a/hbal.hs
+++ b/hbal.hs
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Container as Container
 import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Cluster as Cluster
 import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Node as Node
 import qualified Ganeti.HTools.CLI as CLI
-import Ganeti.HTools.Rapi
+import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Rapi as Rapi
+import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Text as Text
+
 import Ganeti.HTools.Utils
 
 -- | Command line options structure.
@@ -179,14 +181,13 @@ main = do
               else env_inst
       oneline = optOneline opts
       verbose = optVerbose opts
-      (node_data, inst_data) =
-          case optMaster opts of
-            "" -> (readFile nodef,
-                   readFile instf)
-            host -> (getNodes host >>= readData,
-                     getInstances host >>= readData)
-
-  ldresult <- liftM2 Cluster.loadData node_data inst_data
+  input_data <-
+      case optMaster opts of
+        "" -> Text.loadData nodef instf
+        host -> Rapi.loadData host
+
+  let ldresult = input_data >> Cluster.loadData
+
   (loaded_nl, il, csf, ktn, kti) <-
       (case ldresult of
          Ok x -> return x
diff --git a/hn1.hs b/hn1.hs
index adef634d566ced4d8e7e1eb4e36f80753935d5c1..2cb10c60be49315bbb1e65c71fae36202eaebcc6 100644
--- a/hn1.hs
+++ b/hn1.hs
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Container as Container
 import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Instance as Instance
 import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Cluster as Cluster
 import qualified Ganeti.HTools.CLI as CLI
-import Ganeti.HTools.Rapi
+import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Rapi as Rapi
+import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Text as Text
 import Ganeti.HTools.Utils
 
 -- | Command line options structure.
@@ -144,14 +145,13 @@ main = do
       instf = if optInstSet opts then optInstf opts
               else env_inst
       min_depth = optMinDepth opts
-      (node_data, inst_data) =
-          case optMaster opts of
-            "" -> (readFile nodef,
-                   readFile instf)
-            host -> (getNodes host >>= readData,
-                     getInstances host >>= readData)
-
-  ldresult <- liftM2 Cluster.loadData node_data inst_data
+
+  input_data <-
+      case optMaster opts of
+        "" -> Text.loadData nodef instf
+        host -> Rapi.loadData host
+  let ldresult = input_data >>= Cluster.loadData
+
   (loaded_nl, il, csf, ktn, kti) <-
       (case ldresult of
          Ok x -> return x
diff --git a/hscan.hs b/hscan.hs
index 21c249ea08f5601f84935b7c7ab0aa53606df208..45c1b10a360c66543512f284d1a2176e61faad8c 100644
--- a/hscan.hs
+++ b/hscan.hs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Cluster as Cluster
 import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Node as Node
 import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Instance as Instance
 import qualified Ganeti.HTools.CLI as CLI
-import Ganeti.HTools.Rapi
+import qualified Ganeti.HTools.Rapi as Rapi
 import Ganeti.HTools.Utils
 
 -- | Command line options structure.
@@ -158,10 +158,8 @@ main = do
             do
               printf "%-*s " nlen name
               hFlush stdout
-              node_data <- getNodes name
-              inst_data <- getInstances name
-              let ldresult = join $
-                             liftM2 Cluster.loadData node_data inst_data
+              input_data <- Rapi.loadData name
+              let ldresult = input_data >>= Cluster.loadData
               (case ldresult of
                  Bad err -> printf "\nError: failed to load data. \
                                    \Details:\n%s\n" err