diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 30e601bf23046bd8a41c69076845999c863b9f96..e80646e2911023ac96d45ac5f45f47523dce3f6f 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [submodule "external/hermes"]
 	path = external/hermes
-	url = https://github.com/bsc-ssrg/hermes.git
+	url = https://github.com/marcvef/hermes.git
 [submodule "external/fmt"]
 	path = external/fmt
 	url = https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt
diff --git a/external/hermes b/external/hermes
index 0af45bfa667f7ff9c78167ef94d975bffbd879f0..97820ed81aba9ef7c05891ce80c53a8533b78609 160000
--- a/external/hermes
+++ b/external/hermes
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 0af45bfa667f7ff9c78167ef94d975bffbd879f0
+Subproject commit 97820ed81aba9ef7c05891ce80c53a8533b78609
diff --git a/scripts/compile_dep.sh b/scripts/compile_dep.sh
index d187b8115d5e24a7b35a14a424a146a5a51160f5..5f1f3f18903d20ae191ff9d9d5a789f77841d80f 100755
--- a/scripts/compile_dep.sh
+++ b/scripts/compile_dep.sh
@@ -40,34 +40,34 @@ VALID_DEP_OPTIONS="mogon2 mogon1 ngio direct all ci"
 
 MOGON1_DEPS=(
     "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
-    "syscall_intercept" "date" "verbs"
+    "syscall_intercept" "date" "verbs" "json-c"
 )
 
 MOGON2_DEPS=(
     "bzip2" "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
-    "syscall_intercept" "date" "psm2"
+    "syscall_intercept" "date" "psm2" "json-c"
 )
 
 NGIO_DEPS=(
     "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
-    "syscall_intercept" "date" "agios" "psm2"
+    "syscall_intercept" "date" "agios" "psm2" "json-c"
 )
 
 DIRECT_DEPS=(
-  "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date"
+    "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date"
 )
 
 ALL_DEPS=(
     "bzip2" "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "bmi" "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
-     "syscall_intercept" "date" "agios"
+    "syscall_intercept" "date" "agios" "json-c"
 )
 
 CI_DEPS=(
-    "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date" "agios"
+    "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date" "agios" "json-c"
 )
 
 usage_short() {
-	echo "
+    echo "
 usage: compile_dep.sh [-h] [-l] [-n <NAPLUGIN>] [-c <CONFIG>] [-d <DEPENDENCY>] [-j <COMPILE_CORES>]
                       source_path install_path
 	"
@@ -114,22 +114,22 @@ list_dependencies() {
     for d in "${MOGON1_DEPS[@]}"; do
         echo -n "$d "
     done
-	echo
+    echo
     echo -n "  Mogon 2: "
     for d in "${MOGON2_DEPS[@]}"; do
         echo -n "$d "
     done
-	echo
+    echo
     echo -n "  NGIO: "
     for d in "${NGIO_DEPS[@]}"; do
         echo -n "$d "
     done
-	echo
+    echo
     echo -n "  Direct GekkoFS dependencies: "
     for d in "${DIRECT_DEPS[@]}"; do
         echo -n "$d "
     done
-	echo
+    echo
     echo -n "  All: "
     for d in "${ALL_DEPS[@]}"; do
         echo -n "$d "
@@ -139,28 +139,28 @@ list_dependencies() {
     for d in "${CI_DEPS[@]}"; do
         echo -n "$d "
     done
-	echo
+    echo
 }
 
 check_dependency() {
-  local DEP=$1
-  shift
-  local DEP_CONFIG=("$@")
-  # ignore template when specific dependency is set
-  if [[ -n "${DEPENDENCY}" ]]; then
-      # check if specific dependency was set and return from function
-      if echo "${DEPENDENCY}" | grep -q "${DEP}"; then
-        return
-      fi
-  else
-      # if not check if dependency is part of dependency config
-      for e in "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; do
-        if [[ "${DEP}" == "${e}" ]]; then
-          return
+    local DEP=$1
+    shift
+    local DEP_CONFIG=("$@")
+    # ignore template when specific dependency is set
+    if [[ -n "${DEPENDENCY}" ]]; then
+        # check if specific dependency was set and return from function
+        if echo "${DEPENDENCY}" | grep -q "${DEP}"; then
+            return
         fi
-      done
-  fi
-  false
+    else
+        # if not check if dependency is part of dependency config
+        for e in "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; do
+            if [[ "${DEP}" == "${e}" ]]; then
+                return
+            fi
+        done
+    fi
+    false
 }
 
 prepare_build_dir() {
@@ -275,29 +275,29 @@ fi
 # enable predefined dependency template
 case ${TMP_DEP_CONF} in
 mogon1)
-  DEP_CONFIG=("${MOGON1_DEPS[@]}")
-  echo "'Mogon1' dependencies are compiled"
-  ;;
+    DEP_CONFIG=("${MOGON1_DEPS[@]}")
+    echo "'Mogon1' dependencies are compiled"
+    ;;
 mogon2)
-  DEP_CONFIG=("${MOGON2_DEPS[@]}")
-  echo "'Mogon2' dependencies are compiled"
-  ;;
+    DEP_CONFIG=("${MOGON2_DEPS[@]}")
+    echo "'Mogon2' dependencies are compiled"
+    ;;
 ngio)
-  DEP_CONFIG=("${NGIO_DEPS[@]}")
-  echo "'NGIO' dependencies are compiled"
-  ;;
+    DEP_CONFIG=("${NGIO_DEPS[@]}")
+    echo "'NGIO' dependencies are compiled"
+    ;;
 all)
-  DEP_CONFIG=("${ALL_DEPS[@]}")
-  echo "'All' dependencies are compiled"
-  ;;
+    DEP_CONFIG=("${ALL_DEPS[@]}")
+    echo "'All' dependencies are compiled"
+    ;;
 ci)
-  DEP_CONFIG=("${CI_DEPS[@]}")
-  echo "'CI' dependencies are compiled"
-  ;;
+    DEP_CONFIG=("${CI_DEPS[@]}")
+    echo "'CI' dependencies are compiled"
+    ;;
 direct | *)
-  DEP_CONFIG=("${DIRECT_DEPS[@]}")
-  echo "'Direct' GekkoFS dependencies are compiled (default)"
-  ;;
+    DEP_CONFIG=("${DIRECT_DEPS[@]}")
+    echo "'Direct' GekkoFS dependencies are compiled (default)"
+    ;;
 esac
 
 USE_BMI="-DNA_USE_BMI:BOOL=OFF"
@@ -372,6 +372,18 @@ if check_dependency "capstone" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
     make -j"${CORES}" install
 fi
 
+# build json-c for Margo
+if check_dependency "json-c" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
+    echo "############################################################ Installing:  json-c"
+    CURR=${SOURCE}/json-c
+    prepare_build_dir ${CURR}
+    cd ${CURR}/build
+    ../cmake-configure --prefix=${INSTALL}
+    make -j${CORES} install
+    mkdir -p ${INSTALL}/lib/pkgconfig
+    find ${INSTALL} -type f -name "json-c.pc" -exec mv {} ${INSTALL}/lib/pkgconfig \;
+fi
+
 # build BMI
 if check_dependency "bmi" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
     if [[ "${NA_LAYER}" == "bmi" || "${NA_LAYER}" == "all" ]]; then
@@ -408,7 +420,7 @@ if check_dependency "ofi" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
         elif check_dependency "psm2-system" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
             OFI_CONFIG="${OFI_CONFIG} --enable-psm2=yes"
         fi
-         ${OFI_CONFIG}
+        ${OFI_CONFIG}
         make -j${CORES}
         make install
         [ "${PERFORM_TEST}" ] && make check
@@ -417,12 +429,12 @@ fi
 
 # AGIOS
 if check_dependency "agios" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
-	echo "############################################################ Installing:  AGIOS"
-	CURR=${SOURCE}/agios
-	prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
-	cd "${CURR}"/build
-	$CMAKE -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${INSTALL}" ..
-	make install
+    echo "############################################################ Installing:  AGIOS"
+    CURR=${SOURCE}/agios
+    prepare_build_dir "${CURR}"
+    cd "${CURR}"/build
+    $CMAKE -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${INSTALL}" ..
+    make install
 fi
 
 # Mercury
@@ -491,7 +503,8 @@ if check_dependency "rocksdb" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
     cd "${CURR}"
     make clean
     USE_RTTI=1 make -j"${CORES}" static_lib
-    INSTALL_PATH="${INSTALL}" make install
+    # INSTALL_PATH older version, PREFIX newer versions
+    INSTALL_PATH="${INSTALL}" PREFIX="${INSTALL}" make install
 fi
 
 # syscall_intercept
diff --git a/scripts/dl_dep.sh b/scripts/dl_dep.sh
index 9b4e90f34fd083481cd391b7664129893fe22866..fdbea188a8c285e6571c2ea381bbbc8ede26153c 100755
--- a/scripts/dl_dep.sh
+++ b/scripts/dl_dep.sh
@@ -39,18 +39,18 @@ VERBOSE=false
 VALID_DEP_OPTIONS="mogon2 mogon1 ngio direct all ci"
 
 MOGON1_DEPS=(
-    "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "ofi-verbs" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
-    "syscall_intercept" "date"
+    "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
+    "syscall_intercept" "date" "json-c"
 )
 
 MOGON2_DEPS=(
-    "bzip2" "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "ofi-experimental" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb-experimental"
-    "syscall_intercept" "date" "psm2"
+    "bzip2" "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
+    "syscall_intercept" "date" "psm2" "json-c"
 )
 
 NGIO_DEPS=(
-    "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "ofi-experimental" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
-    "syscall_intercept" "date" "psm2" "agios"
+    "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
+    "syscall_intercept" "date" "psm2" "agios" "json-c"
 
 )
 DIRECT_DEPS=(
@@ -59,11 +59,11 @@ DIRECT_DEPS=(
 
 ALL_DEPS=(
     "bzip2" "zstd" "lz4" "snappy" "capstone" "bmi" "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb"
-    "syscall_intercept" "date" "agios"
+    "syscall_intercept" "date" "agios" "json-c"
 )
 
 CI_DEPS=(
-    "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date" "agios"
+    "ofi" "mercury" "argobots" "margo" "rocksdb" "syscall_intercept" "date" "agios" "json-c"
 )
 
 # Stop all backround jobs on interruption.
@@ -372,6 +372,11 @@ if check_dependency "capstone" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
     wgetdeps "capstone" "https://github.com/aquynh/capstone/archive/4.0.1.tar.gz" &
 fi
 
+# get json-c for Margo
+if check_dependency "json-c" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
+    wgetdeps "json-c" "https://github.com/json-c/json-c/archive/json-c-0.15-20200726.tar.gz" &
+fi
+
 ## Direct GekkoFS dependencies
 
 # get BMI
@@ -383,46 +388,44 @@ fi
 
 # get libfabric
 if [ "${NA_LAYER}" == "ofi" ] || [ "${NA_LAYER}" == "all" ]; then
-    if check_dependency "ofi-experimental" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
-        clonedeps "libfabric" "https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git" "" "-b v1.9.1" &
+    if check_dependency "ofi-legacy" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
+        clonedeps "libfabric" "https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git" "" "-b v1.8.1" &
     elif check_dependency "ofi-verbs" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
         # libibverbs 1.2.1-1 used on mogon 1i (installed on system) which is linked to libfabric
         # libfabric 1.8 random RPCs fail to be send. 1.9 RPC client cannot be started when in an MPI environment
         clonedeps "libfabric" "https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git" "" "-b v1.7.2" &
     elif check_dependency "ofi" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
-        clonedeps "libfabric" "https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git" "" "-b v1.8.1" &
+        clonedeps "libfabric" "https://github.com/ofiwg/libfabric.git" "" "-b v1.12.1" &
     fi
 fi
 
 if check_dependency "psm2" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
-    wgetdeps "psm2" "https://github.com/intel/opa-psm2/archive/PSM2_11.2.86.tar.gz" &
+    wgetdeps "psm2" "https://github.com/cornelisnetworks/opa-psm2/archive/PSM2_11.2.185.tar.gz" &
 fi
 
 # get Mercury
 if check_dependency "mercury" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
-    clonedeps "mercury" "https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury" "41caa143a07ed179a3149cac4af0dc7aa3f946fd" "--recurse-submodules" &
+    clonedeps "mercury" "https://github.com/mercury-hpc/mercury" "75cb615894699a4df5872ba9d187f37cc94330a3" "--recurse-submodules" &
 fi
 
 # get Argobots
 if check_dependency "argobots" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
-    wgetdeps "argobots" "https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/v1.0rc1.tar.gz" &
+    wgetdeps "argobots" "https://github.com/pmodels/argobots/archive/refs/tags/v1.1.tar.gz" &
 fi
 
 # get Margo
 if check_dependency "margo" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
-    clonedeps "margo" "https://xgitlab.cels.anl.gov/sds/margo.git" "v0.6.3" &
+    clonedeps "margo" "https://github.com/mochi-hpc/mochi-margo" "34bff25aa8ec9e9348ee07a455308bfe3c17d623" &
 fi
 
 # get rocksdb
-if check_dependency "rocksdb-experimental" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
-    wgetdeps "rocksdb" "https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v6.11.4.tar.gz" &
-elif check_dependency "rocksdb" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
-    wgetdeps "rocksdb" "https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/v6.2.2.tar.gz" &
+if check_dependency "rocksdb" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
+    wgetdeps "rocksdb" "https://github.com/facebook/rocksdb/archive/refs/tags/v6.16.4.tar.gz" &
 fi
 
 # get syscall_intercept
 if check_dependency "syscall_intercept" "${DEP_CONFIG[@]}"; then
-    clonedeps "syscall_intercept" "https://github.com/pmem/syscall_intercept.git" "f7cebb7b7e7512a19b78a31ce236ad6ca22636dd" "" "syscall_intercept.patch" &
+    clonedeps "syscall_intercept" "https://github.com/pmem/syscall_intercept.git" "304404581c57d43478438d175099d20260bae74e" "" "syscall_intercept.patch" &
 fi
 
 # get AGIOS
diff --git a/src/client/preload_util.cpp b/src/client/preload_util.cpp
index 255588a8f690aaa19611b9e5eaaa7205bb57196b..35104a92daf236c97253867fde2441660a39a0ea 100644
--- a/src/client/preload_util.cpp
+++ b/src/client/preload_util.cpp
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ extract_protocol(const string& uri) {
         protocol = gkfs::rpc::protocol::ofi_psm2;
     } else if(uri.find(gkfs::rpc::protocol::ofi_verbs) != string::npos) {
         protocol = gkfs::rpc::protocol::ofi_verbs;
+    } else if(uri.find(gkfs::rpc::protocol::ofi_tcp) != string::npos) {
+        protocol = gkfs::rpc::protocol::ofi_tcp;
     }
     // check for shared memory protocol. Can be plain shared memory or real ofi
     // protocol + auto_sm
diff --git a/src/daemon/daemon.cpp b/src/daemon/daemon.cpp
index a8537ccddcc8cb9d34bf450da88b41ba69a9d8f3..dcc873f9b5d6819f100480ae8663a16fadca94cb 100644
--- a/src/daemon/daemon.cpp
+++ b/src/daemon/daemon.cpp
@@ -383,7 +383,8 @@ parse_input(const po::variables_map& vm) {
         rpc_protocol = vm["rpc-protocol"].as<string>();
         if(rpc_protocol != gkfs::rpc::protocol::ofi_verbs &&
            rpc_protocol != gkfs::rpc::protocol::ofi_sockets &&
-           rpc_protocol != gkfs::rpc::protocol::ofi_psm2) {
+           rpc_protocol != gkfs::rpc::protocol::ofi_psm2 &&
+           rpc_protocol != gkfs::rpc::protocol::ofi_tcp) {
             throw runtime_error(fmt::format(
                     "Given RPC protocol '{}' not supported. Check --help for supported protocols.",
                     rpc_protocol));