diff --git a/server/Cargo.toml b/server/Cargo.toml
index a02aa1ef..c93c3468 100644
--- a/server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/server/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ sky_macros = { path = "../sky-macros" }
 tokio = { version = "1.9.0", features = ["full"] }
 bytes = "1.0.1"
 libsky = { path = "../libsky" }
-bincode = "1.3.3"
 dashmap = { version = "4.0.2", features = ["serde", "raw-api"] }
 serde = { version = "1.0.126", features = ["derive"] }
 toml = "0.5.8"
@@ -46,6 +45,7 @@ skytable = { git = "https://github.com/skytable/client-rust", features = [
 # external deps
 tokio = { version = "1.9.0", features = ["test-util"] }
 rand = "0.8.4"
+bincode = "1.3.3"
 [target.'cfg(unix)'.dependencies]
 # external deps
 libc = "0.2.98"
diff --git a/server/src/corestore/array.rs b/server/src/corestore/array.rs
index d59ce06f..369b30b3 100644
--- a/server/src/corestore/array.rs
+++ b/server/src/corestore/array.rs
@@ -652,29 +652,6 @@ fn test_uninitialized() {
     assert_eq!(b.iter().count(), 1);
 }
 
-#[cfg(test)]
-macro_rules! array_from_string {
-    ($st:expr, $len:expr) => {{
-        let mut array: Array<u8, $len> = Array::new();
-        $st.chars().into_iter().for_each(|ch| array.push(ch as u8));
-        array
-    }};
-}
-
-#[test]
-fn test_map_serialize_deserialize() {
-    use crate::corestore::htable::Coremap;
-    let map = Coremap::new();
-    map.true_if_insert(
-        array_from_string!("hello", 5),
-        array_from_string!("sayan", 5),
-    );
-    let ret = map.serialize().unwrap();
-    let bc: Coremap<Array<u8, 5>, Array<u8, 5>> = Coremap::deserialize_array(ret).unwrap();
-    assert!(bc.len() == map.len());
-    assert!(bc.into_iter().all(|(k, _v)| { map.contains_key(&k) }));
-}
-
 #[test]
 #[should_panic]
 fn test_array_overflow() {
diff --git a/server/src/corestore/htable.rs b/server/src/corestore/htable.rs
index c8b902ae..d8294405 100644
--- a/server/src/corestore/htable.rs
+++ b/server/src/corestore/htable.rs
@@ -24,9 +24,7 @@
  *
 */
 
-use crate::corestore::array::Array;
 use bytes::Bytes;
-use libsky::TResult;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::borrow::Borrow;
 use std::collections::hash_map::RandomState;
@@ -177,17 +175,6 @@ where
     }
 }
 
-impl<K, V> Coremap<K, V>
-where
-    K: Eq + Hash + Serialize,
-    V: Serialize,
-{
-    /// Serialize the hashtable into a `Vec<u8>` that can be saved to a file
-    pub fn serialize(&self) -> TResult<Vec<u8>> {
-        bincode::serialize(&self.inner).map_err(|e| e.into())
-    }
-}
-
 impl Coremap<Data, Data> {
     /// Returns atleast `count` number of keys from the hashtable
     pub fn get_keys(&self, count: usize) -> Vec<Bytes> {
@@ -198,19 +185,8 @@ impl Coremap<Data, Data> {
             .for_each(|key| v.push(key));
         v
     }
-    /// Returns a `Coremap<Data, Data>` from the provided file (as a `Vec<u8>`)
-    pub fn deserialize(src: Vec<u8>) -> TResult<Self> {
-        let h: HashTable<Data, Data> = bincode::deserialize(&src)?;
-        Ok(Self { inner: h })
-    }
-}
-impl<const M: usize, const N: usize> Coremap<Array<u8, M>, Array<u8, N>> {
-    #[cfg(test)]
-    pub fn deserialize_array(bytes: Vec<u8>) -> TResult<Self> {
-        let h: HashTable<Array<u8, M>, Array<u8, N>> = bincode::deserialize(&bytes)?;
-        Ok(Self { inner: h })
-    }
 }
+
 impl<K: Eq + Hash, V> IntoIterator for Coremap<K, V> {
     type Item = (K, V);
     type IntoIter = dashmap::iter::OwningIter<K, V>;
diff --git a/server/src/storage/unflush.rs b/server/src/storage/unflush.rs
index 9816e829..d8de61a3 100644
--- a/server/src/storage/unflush.rs
+++ b/server/src/storage/unflush.rs
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ use crate::SnapshotConfig;
 use std::fs;
 use std::io::Error as IoError;
 use std::io::ErrorKind;
+use std::path::Path;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 type PreloadSet = std::collections::HashSet<ObjectID>;
@@ -116,7 +117,7 @@ pub fn read_preload() -> IoResult<PreloadSet> {
 /// is also created. If this is an already initialized instance then the store
 /// is read and returned (and any possible errors that are encountered are returned)
 pub fn read_full(snapshot_config: &SnapshotConfig) -> IoResult<Memstore> {
-    if is_new_instance()? {
+    if is_new_instance() {
         // init an empty store
         let store = Memstore::new_default();
         // fine, so we need to create the tree
@@ -132,13 +133,8 @@ pub fn read_full(snapshot_config: &SnapshotConfig) -> IoResult<Memstore> {
     Ok(Memstore::init_with_all(ksmap, snapshot_config))
 }
 
-/// Check if the data directory exists (if not: we're on a new instance)
-pub fn is_new_instance() -> IoResult<bool> {
-    match fs::read_dir("data") {
-        Ok(_) => Ok(false),
-        Err(e) => match e.kind() {
-            ErrorKind::NotFound => Ok(true),
-            _ => Err(e),
-        },
-    }
+/// Check if the data/PRELOAD file exists (if not: we're on a new instance)
+pub fn is_new_instance() -> bool {
+    let path = Path::new("data/PRELOAD");
+    !(path.exists() && path.is_file())
 }