diff --git a/src/chunkserver/chunkserver_entry.cc b/src/chunkserver/chunkserver_entry.cc
index 54c94c6ef..59ae62ed7 100644
--- a/src/chunkserver/chunkserver_entry.cc
+++ b/src/chunkserver/chunkserver_entry.cc
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ ChunkserverEntry::createDetachedPacketWithOutputBuffer(
 			getReadOutputBufferPool().put(std::move(outPacket->outputBuffer));
 		}
 
-		return nullptr;
+		return kInvalidPacket;
 	}
 
 	return outPacket;
@@ -236,22 +236,22 @@ int ChunkserverEntry::initConnection() {
 	fwdSocket = tcpsocket();
 	if (fwdSocket < 0) {
 		safs_pretty_errlog(LOG_WARNING, "create socket, error");
-		return -1;
+		return kInitConnectionFailed;
 	}
 
 	if (tcpnonblock(fwdSocket) < 0) {
 		safs_pretty_errlog(LOG_WARNING, "set nonblock, error");
 		tcpclose(fwdSocket);
-		fwdSocket = -1;
-		return -1;
+		fwdSocket = kInvalidSocket;
+		return kInitConnectionFailed;
 	}
 
 	status = tcpnumconnect(fwdSocket, fwdServer.ip, fwdServer.port);
 	if (status < 0) {
 		safs_pretty_errlog(LOG_WARNING, "connect failed, error");
 		tcpclose(fwdSocket);
-		fwdSocket = -1;
-		return -1;
+		fwdSocket = kInvalidSocket;
+		return kInitConnectionFailed;
 	}
 
 	if (status == 0) { // connected immediately
@@ -262,17 +262,17 @@ int ChunkserverEntry::initConnection() {
 		connectStartTimeUSec = eventloop_utime();
 	}
 
-	return 0;
+	return kInitConnectionOK;
 }
 
 void ChunkserverEntry::retryConnect() {
 	TRACETHIS();
 	tcpclose(fwdSocket);
-	fwdSocket = -1;
+	fwdSocket = kInvalidSocket;
 	connectRetryCounter++;
 
 	if (connectRetryCounter < kConnectRetries) {
-		if (initConnection() < 0) {
+		if (initConnection() < kInitConnectionOK) {
 			fwdError();
 			return;
 		}
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ void ChunkserverEntry::readContinue() {
 		messageSerializer->serializePrefixOfCstoclReadData(
 		    readDataPrefix, chunkId, offset, thisPartSize);
 		auto packet = createDetachedPacketWithOutputBuffer(readDataPrefix);
-		if (packet == nullptr) {
+		if (packet == kInvalidPacket) {
 			state = State::Close;
 			return;
 		}
@@ -408,7 +408,9 @@ void ChunkserverEntry::readContinue() {
 }
 
 void ChunkserverEntry::ping(const uint8_t *data, PacketHeader::Length length) {
-	if (length != 4) {
+	static constexpr uint32_t kExpectedPingSize = sizeof(uint32_t);
+
+	if (length != kExpectedPingSize) {
 		state = State::Close;
 		return;
 	}
@@ -636,7 +638,7 @@ void ChunkserverEntry::writeInit(const uint8_t *data, PacketHeader::Type type,
 		fwdStartPtr = fwdInitPacket.data();
 		fwdBytesLeft = fwdInitPacket.size();
 		connectRetryCounter = 0;
-		if (initConnection() < 0) {
+		if (initConnection() < kInitConnectionOK) {
 			std::vector<uint8_t> buffer;
 			messageSerializer->serializeCstoclWriteStatus(
 			    buffer, chunkId, 0, SAUNAFS_ERROR_CANTCONNECT);
@@ -829,7 +831,7 @@ void ChunkserverEntry::writeEnd(const uint8_t *data, uint32_t length) {
 		// TODO(msulikowski) if we want to use a ConnectionPool, this the right
 		// place to put the connection to the pool.
 		tcpclose(fwdSocket);
-		fwdSocket = -1;
+		fwdSocket = kInvalidSocket;
 	}
 	inputPacket.useAlignedMemory = false;
 	state = State::Idle;
@@ -916,7 +918,7 @@ void ChunkserverEntry::hddListV2([[maybe_unused]] const uint8_t *data,
 	uint32_t opSize;
 	uint8_t *ptr;
 
-	if (length != 0) {
+	if (length != 0) {  // This packet should not have any data
 		safs_pretty_syslog(LOG_NOTICE,
 		                   "CLTOCS_HDD_LIST_V2 - wrong size (%" PRIu32 "/0)",
 		                   length);
@@ -950,9 +952,9 @@ void ChunkserverEntry::generateChartPNGorCSV(const uint8_t *data,
 	uint8_t *ptr;
 	uint32_t len;
 
-	if (length != 4) {
-		safs_pretty_syslog(LOG_NOTICE,
-		                   "CLTOAN_CHART - wrong size (%" PRIu32 "/4)", length);
+	if (length != kGenerateChartExpectedPacketSize) {
+		safs::log_info("CLTOAN_CHART - wrong size ({}/{})", length,
+		               kGenerateChartExpectedPacketSize);
 		state = State::Close;
 		return;
 	}
@@ -978,10 +980,9 @@ void ChunkserverEntry::generateChartData(const uint8_t *data, uint32_t length) {
 	uint8_t *ptr;
 	uint32_t len;
 
-	if (length != 4) {
-		safs_pretty_syslog(LOG_NOTICE,
-		                   "CLTOAN_CHART_DATA - wrong size (%" PRIu32 "/4)",
-		                   length);
+	if (length != kGenerateChartExpectedPacketSize) {
+		safs::log_info("CLTOAN_CHART_DATA - wrong size ({}/{})", length,
+		               kGenerateChartExpectedPacketSize);
 		state = State::Close;
 		return;
 	}
@@ -1253,7 +1254,7 @@ void ChunkserverEntry::fwdRead() {
 		if (fwdInputPacket.bytesLeft > 0) {
 			return;
 		}
-		ptr = fwdHeaderBuffer + 4;
+		ptr = fwdHeaderBuffer + sizeof(PacketHeader::Type);  // skip type
 		opSize = get32bit(&ptr);
 		if (opSize > kMaxPacketSize) {
 			safs_pretty_syslog(LOG_WARNING,
diff --git a/src/chunkserver/chunkserver_entry.h b/src/chunkserver/chunkserver_entry.h
index db2bc8b01..1555b42f3 100644
--- a/src/chunkserver/chunkserver_entry.h
+++ b/src/chunkserver/chunkserver_entry.h
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ constexpr uint32_t kIOAlignedPacketSize = disk::kIoBlockSize + SFSBLOCKSIZE;
 constexpr uint32_t kIOAlignedOffset =
     disk::kIoBlockSize - cltocs::writeData::kPrefixSize;
 
+// Alias for better readability
+#define kInvalidPacket nullptr
+
 /**
  * @brief Encapsulates the data associated with a packet.
  *
@@ -109,6 +112,13 @@ struct ChunkserverEntry {
 		Closed      // ready to be deleted
 	};
 
+	// Some constants to improve readability
+	static constexpr int kInvalidSocket = -1;
+	static constexpr int kInitConnectionOK = 0;
+	static constexpr int kInitConnectionFailed = -1;
+	static constexpr uint32_t kGenerateChartExpectedPacketSize =
+	    sizeof(uint32_t);
+
 	void* workerJobPool; // Job pool assigned to a given network worker thread
 
 	ChunkserverEntry::State state = ChunkserverEntry::State::Idle;
@@ -116,7 +126,7 @@ struct ChunkserverEntry {
 	ChunkserverEntry::Mode fwdMode = ChunkserverEntry::Mode::Header;
 
 	int sock;
-	int fwdSocket = -1; ///< forwarding socket for writing
+	int fwdSocket = kInvalidSocket; ///< forwarding socket for writing
 	uint64_t connectStartTimeUSec = 0; ///< for timeout and retry (usec)
 	uint8_t connectRetryCounter = 0; ///< for timeout and retry
 	NetworkAddress fwdServer; // the next server in write chain
diff --git a/src/chunkserver/network_worker_thread.cc b/src/chunkserver/network_worker_thread.cc
index b46cc32f9..3ba2a1bb7 100644
--- a/src/chunkserver/network_worker_thread.cc
+++ b/src/chunkserver/network_worker_thread.cc
@@ -59,7 +59,10 @@ NetworkWorkerThread::NetworkWorkerThread(uint32_t nrOfBgjobsWorkers,
 	TRACETHIS();
 	eassert(pipe(notify_pipe) != -1);
 #ifdef F_SETPIPE_SZ
-	eassert(fcntl(notify_pipe[1], F_SETPIPE_SZ, 4096 * 32));
+	// Increase the pipe size to 128 KiB to handle a larger number of jobs
+	// without backpressure. On modern linux, the default pipe size is 64 KiB.
+	static constexpr int kPageAlignedPipeSize = 4096 * 32;
+	eassert(fcntl(notify_pipe[1], F_SETPIPE_SZ, kPageAlignedPipeSize));
 #endif
 	bgJobPool_ =
 	    job_pool_new(nrOfBgjobsWorkers, bgjobsCount, &bgJobPoolWakeUpFd_);