diff --git a/ccnode/host/__init__.py b/ccnode/host/__init__.py
index f73d354dc5f370dcaff550513f705fc8e8ec6b58..8a6004679a7ebb84eb840d5df22562e0d0b0bdf8 100644
--- a/ccnode/host/__init__.py
+++ b/ccnode/host/__init__.py
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import logging
 import os.path
+from itertools import chain, imap
 from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, STDOUT
 
-from ccnode.node import DefaultHandler
 from ccnode.tags import Tag, tag_inspector
+from ccnode.plugins import Base as BasePlugin
 from ccnode.host import tags
 
 
@@ -25,18 +26,27 @@ def disk_tag_value(disk_name):
     return size
 
 
-class Handler(DefaultHandler):
+class Handler(BasePlugin):
     """Handler for host role."""
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        DefaultHandler.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
+        BasePlugin.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
 
-        for t in tag_inspector(tags):
-            self.tags[t.name] = t
+        # add plugin tags
+        self.tag_db['__main__'].update(dict(
+            (t.name, t) for t in tag_inspector(tags),
+        ))
 
         # disk related tags
-        for d in self.tags['disk'].value.split():
-            t = Tag('disk%s_size' % d, disk_tag_value(d), 60)
-            self.tags[t.name] = t
+        self.tag_db['__main__'].update(dict((t.name, t) for t in imap(
+            lambda d: Tag('disk%s_size' % d, disk_tag_value(d), 60),
+            self.tag_db['__main__']['disk']._calculate_value().split(),
+        )))
+
+        # rpc handler
+        self.rpc_handler.update(dict(
+            execute_command=self.execute_command,
+            node_shutdown=self.node_shutdown,
+        ))
 
     def execute_command(self, command):
         """Execute an arbitrary shell command on the host.
diff --git a/ccnode/host/tags.py b/ccnode/host/tags.py
index 61c3a89b511ca8266b855507739b038fcdea4277..19e28f36119957f151795f4829cba7a65293de9b 100644
--- a/ccnode/host/tags.py
+++ b/ccnode/host/tags.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ def h():
     """Hostname tag."""
     return getfqdn()
 h.ttl = 3600 * 24  # one day
+h.refresh = 5
 
 
 # CPU related tags
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ def cpuuse():
     """CPU usage in percentage."""
     return u'%.1f' % psutil.cpu_percent()
 cpuuse.ttl = 10
+cpuuse.refresh = 2
 
 
 # memory related tags
@@ -55,12 +57,14 @@ def memfree():
     """Available physical memory on system."""
     return unicode(psutil.avail_phymem())
 memfree.ttl = 5
+memfree.refresh = 10
 
 
 def memused():
     """Used physical memory on system."""
     return unicode(psutil.used_phymem())
 memused.ttl = 5
+memused.refresh = 10
 
 
 # disks related tags
@@ -126,6 +130,7 @@ def uptime():
     """Uptime of the system in seconds."""
     return open('/proc/uptime').read().split()[0].split(u'.')[0] or None
 uptime.ttl = 5
+uptime.refresh = 5
 
 
 def load():
@@ -138,3 +143,4 @@ def load():
         pass
     return load_
 load.ttl = 5
+load.refresh = 5