diff --git a/testing/do-tests b/testing/do-tests
index e2a60aa630..28337c022f 100755
--- a/testing/do-tests
+++ b/testing/do-tests
@@ -580,11 +580,17 @@ else
 
 	test ${#WAIT_FOR[@]} -gt 0 && wait ${WAIT_FOR[@]}
 
+	WAIT_FOR=()
+
 	for host in ${!COLLECT_OPTIONS[@]}
 	do
 		eval HOSTLOGIN=root@\$ipv4_${host}
-		scp $SSHCONF -q $HOSTLOGIN:${GUEST_OUTPUT_DIR}/* $TESTRESULTDIR/
+		ssh $SSHCONF $HOSTLOGIN "tar -cf - -C ${GUEST_OUTPUT_DIR} ." | tar -xf - -C $TESTRESULTDIR/ &
+		WAIT_FOR+=($!)
 	done
+
+	test ${#WAIT_FOR[@]} -gt 0 && wait ${WAIT_FOR[@]}
+
 	chmod a+r $TESTRESULTDIR/*
 
 	##########################################################################
diff --git a/testing/scripts/load-testconfig b/testing/scripts/load-testconfig
index 3101467d6e..49fb2fbcad 100755
--- a/testing/scripts/load-testconfig
+++ b/testing/scripts/load-testconfig
@@ -135,16 +135,20 @@ done
 source $TESTDIR/test.conf
 
 ##########################################################################
-# copy test specific configurations to uml hosts
+# copy test specific configurations to hosts
 #
 
+WAIT_FOR=()
+
 if [ -d $TESTDIR/hosts ]
 then
 	for host in `ls $TESTDIR/hosts`
 	do
 		eval HOSTLOGIN=root@\$ipv4_${host}
-		scp $SSHCONF -r $TESTDIR/hosts/$host/etc $HOSTLOGIN:/ > /dev/null 2>&1
+		tar -chf - -C $TESTDIR/hosts/$host etc | ssh $SSHCONF $HOSTLOGIN 'tar --overwrite -xhmf - -C /' &
+		WAIT_FOR+=($!)
 	done
+	wait ${WAIT_FOR[@]}
 fi
 
 
diff --git a/testing/scripts/restore-defaults b/testing/scripts/restore-defaults
index a88f3eb891..29ec1905e0 100755
--- a/testing/scripts/restore-defaults
+++ b/testing/scripts/restore-defaults
@@ -30,11 +30,16 @@ TESTSDIR=$BUILDDIR/tests
 
 . $TESTSDIR/$testname/test.conf
 
+# load files in parallel
+WAIT_FOR=()
+
 if [ -d $TESTSDIR/${testname}/hosts ]
 then
 	for host in `ls $TESTSDIR/${testname}/hosts`
 	do
 		eval HOSTLOGIN="root@`echo $HOSTNAMEIPV4 | sed -n -e "s/^.*${host},//gp" | awk -F, '{ print $1 }' | awk '{ print $1 }'`"
-		scp $SSHCONF -r $HOSTCONFIGDIR/default/etc $HOSTCONFIGDIR/${host}/etc $HOSTLOGIN:/ >/dev/null 2>&1
+		tar -cf - -C $HOSTCONFIGDIR/default etc -C ../${host} etc | ssh $SSHCONF $HOSTLOGIN 'tar --overwrite -xhmf - -C /' &
+		WAIT_FOR+=($!)
 	done
+	wait ${WAIT_FOR[@]}
 fi