diff --git a/weed/shell/command_ec_encode.go b/weed/shell/command_ec_encode.go
index a4f1eec54..6ee530256 100644
--- a/weed/shell/command_ec_encode.go
+++ b/weed/shell/command_ec_encode.go
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
-	"math/rand"
-	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/glog"
@@ -19,7 +17,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/pb/volume_server_pb"
 	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/storage/erasure_coding"
 	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/storage/needle"
-	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/wdclient"
 )
 
 func init() {
@@ -181,136 +178,6 @@ func generateEcShards(grpcDialOption grpc.DialOption, volumeId needle.VolumeId,
 
 }
 
-// TODO: delete this (now unused) shard spread logic.
-func spreadEcShards(commandEnv *CommandEnv, volumeId needle.VolumeId, collection string, existingLocations []wdclient.Location, parallelCopy bool) (err error) {
-
-	allEcNodes, totalFreeEcSlots, err := collectEcNodes(commandEnv)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	if totalFreeEcSlots < erasure_coding.TotalShardsCount {
-		return fmt.Errorf("not enough free ec shard slots. only %d left", totalFreeEcSlots)
-	}
-	allocatedDataNodes := allEcNodes
-	if len(allocatedDataNodes) > erasure_coding.TotalShardsCount {
-		allocatedDataNodes = allocatedDataNodes[:erasure_coding.TotalShardsCount]
-	}
-
-	// calculate how many shards to allocate for these servers
-	allocatedEcIds := balancedEcDistribution(allocatedDataNodes)
-
-	// ask the data nodes to copy from the source volume server
-	copiedShardIds, err := parallelCopyEcShardsFromSource(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, allocatedDataNodes, allocatedEcIds, volumeId, collection, existingLocations[0], parallelCopy)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// unmount the to be deleted shards
-	err = unmountEcShards(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, volumeId, existingLocations[0].ServerAddress(), copiedShardIds)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// ask the source volume server to clean up copied ec shards
-	err = sourceServerDeleteEcShards(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, collection, volumeId, existingLocations[0].ServerAddress(), copiedShardIds)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("source delete copied ecShards %s %d.%v: %v", existingLocations[0].Url, volumeId, copiedShardIds, err)
-	}
-
-	// ask the source volume server to delete the original volume
-	for _, location := range existingLocations {
-		fmt.Printf("delete volume %d from %s\n", volumeId, location.Url)
-		err = deleteVolume(commandEnv.option.GrpcDialOption, volumeId, location.ServerAddress(), false)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("deleteVolume %s volume %d: %v", location.Url, volumeId, err)
-		}
-	}
-
-	return err
-
-}
-
-func parallelCopyEcShardsFromSource(grpcDialOption grpc.DialOption, targetServers []*EcNode, allocatedEcIds [][]uint32, volumeId needle.VolumeId, collection string, existingLocation wdclient.Location, parallelCopy bool) (actuallyCopied []uint32, err error) {
-
-	fmt.Printf("parallelCopyEcShardsFromSource %d %s\n", volumeId, existingLocation.Url)
-
-	var wg sync.WaitGroup
-	shardIdChan := make(chan []uint32, len(targetServers))
-	copyFunc := func(server *EcNode, allocatedEcShardIds []uint32) {
-		defer wg.Done()
-		copiedShardIds, copyErr := oneServerCopyAndMountEcShardsFromSource(grpcDialOption, server,
-			allocatedEcShardIds, volumeId, collection, existingLocation.ServerAddress())
-		if copyErr != nil {
-			err = copyErr
-		} else {
-			shardIdChan <- copiedShardIds
-			server.addEcVolumeShards(volumeId, collection, copiedShardIds)
-		}
-	}
-	cleanupFunc := func(server *EcNode, allocatedEcShardIds []uint32) {
-		if err := unmountEcShards(grpcDialOption, volumeId, pb.NewServerAddressFromDataNode(server.info), allocatedEcShardIds); err != nil {
-			fmt.Printf("unmount aborted shards %d.%v on %s: %v\n", volumeId, allocatedEcShardIds, server.info.Id, err)
-		}
-		if err := sourceServerDeleteEcShards(grpcDialOption, collection, volumeId, pb.NewServerAddressFromDataNode(server.info), allocatedEcShardIds); err != nil {
-			fmt.Printf("remove aborted shards %d.%v on target server %s: %v\n", volumeId, allocatedEcShardIds, server.info.Id, err)
-		}
-		if err := sourceServerDeleteEcShards(grpcDialOption, collection, volumeId, existingLocation.ServerAddress(), allocatedEcShardIds); err != nil {
-			fmt.Printf("remove aborted shards %d.%v on existing server %s: %v\n", volumeId, allocatedEcShardIds, existingLocation.ServerAddress(), err)
-		}
-	}
-
-	// maybe parallelize
-	for i, server := range targetServers {
-		if len(allocatedEcIds[i]) <= 0 {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		wg.Add(1)
-		if parallelCopy {
-			go copyFunc(server, allocatedEcIds[i])
-		} else {
-			copyFunc(server, allocatedEcIds[i])
-		}
-	}
-	wg.Wait()
-	close(shardIdChan)
-
-	if err != nil {
-		for i, server := range targetServers {
-			if len(allocatedEcIds[i]) <= 0 {
-				continue
-			}
-			cleanupFunc(server, allocatedEcIds[i])
-		}
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	for shardIds := range shardIdChan {
-		actuallyCopied = append(actuallyCopied, shardIds...)
-	}
-
-	return
-}
-
-func balancedEcDistribution(servers []*EcNode) (allocated [][]uint32) {
-	allocated = make([][]uint32, len(servers))
-	allocatedShardIdIndex := uint32(0)
-	serverIndex := rand.Intn(len(servers))
-	for allocatedShardIdIndex < erasure_coding.TotalShardsCount {
-		if servers[serverIndex].freeEcSlot > 0 {
-			allocated[serverIndex] = append(allocated[serverIndex], allocatedShardIdIndex)
-			allocatedShardIdIndex++
-		}
-		serverIndex++
-		if serverIndex >= len(servers) {
-			serverIndex = 0
-		}
-	}
-
-	return allocated
-}
-
 func collectVolumeIdsForEcEncode(commandEnv *CommandEnv, selectedCollection string, fullPercentage float64, quietPeriod time.Duration) (vids []needle.VolumeId, err error) {
 	// collect topology information
 	topologyInfo, volumeSizeLimitMb, err := collectTopologyInfo(commandEnv, 0)
diff --git a/weed/shell/command_ec_test.go b/weed/shell/command_ec_test.go
index 33befce8f..fa6697435 100644
--- a/weed/shell/command_ec_test.go
+++ b/weed/shell/command_ec_test.go
@@ -1,25 +1,12 @@
 package shell
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/pb/master_pb"
 	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/storage/needle"
 )
 
-func TestCommandEcDistribution(t *testing.T) {
-
-	allEcNodes := []*EcNode{
-		newEcNode("dc1", "rack1", "dn1", 100),
-		newEcNode("dc1", "rack2", "dn2", 100),
-	}
-
-	allocated := balancedEcDistribution(allEcNodes)
-
-	fmt.Printf("allocated: %+v", allocated)
-}
-
 func TestCommandEcBalanceSmall(t *testing.T) {
 	ecb := &ecBalancer{
 		ecNodes: []*EcNode{