diff --git a/include/NetworkInterface.h b/include/NetworkInterface.h
index f629b98790..883655a3b7 100644
--- a/include/NetworkInterface.h
+++ b/include/NetworkInterface.h
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ typedef struct {
  *  @ingroup NetworkInterface
  *
  */
-class NetworkInterface {
+class NetworkInterface : public Checkpointable {
  protected:
   char *ifname, *ifDescription;
   const char *customIftype;
@@ -288,8 +288,11 @@ class NetworkInterface {
   inline void incLostPkts(u_int32_t num)            { tcpPacketStats.incLost(num); };
   bool checkPointHostCounters(lua_State* vm, u_int8_t checkpoint_id, char *host_ip, u_int16_t vlan_id);
   bool checkPointNetworkCounters(lua_State* vm, u_int8_t checkpoint_id, u_int8_t network_id);
+  inline bool checkPointInterfaceCounters(lua_State* vm, u_int8_t checkpoint_id) { checkpoint(vm, checkpoint_id); return true; }
   void checkPointCounters(bool drops_only);
 
+  virtual char* serializeCheckpoint();
+
   virtual u_int64_t getCheckPointNumPackets();
   virtual u_int64_t getCheckPointNumBytes();
   virtual u_int32_t getCheckPointNumPacketDrops();
diff --git a/scripts/callbacks/startup.lua b/scripts/callbacks/startup.lua
index e183df0ce0..9bc689051c 100644
--- a/scripts/callbacks/startup.lua
+++ b/scripts/callbacks/startup.lua
@@ -71,6 +71,17 @@ end
 
 -- ##################################################################
 
+-- Remove the json dumps previously needed for alerts generation
+for _, ifname in pairs(interface.getIfNames()) do
+   interface.select(ifname)
+   local ifid = getInterfaceId(ifname)
+
+   local alerts_status_path = fixPath(dirs.workingdir .. "/" .. ifid .. "/json/")
+   ntop.rmdir(alerts_status_path)
+end
+
+-- ##################################################################
+
 initCustomnDPIProtoCategories()
 loadHostBlackList()
 
diff --git a/scripts/lua/modules/alert_utils.lua b/scripts/lua/modules/alert_utils.lua
index fcd938569a..4baf06b075 100644
--- a/scripts/lua/modules/alert_utils.lua
+++ b/scripts/lua/modules/alert_utils.lua
@@ -1835,37 +1835,25 @@ end
 
 -- #################################
 
-local function entity_threshold_status_rw(granularity, ifname_id, fname, to_write --[[nil if it's a read]], additional_path)
-   local basedir = fixPath(dirs.workingdir .. "/" .. ifname_id .. "/json/" .. granularity .. (additional_path and ("/"..additional_path) or ""))
-   local fpath = fixPath(basedir.."/"..fname)
-
-   if to_write ~= nil then
-      if not(ntop.exists(basedir)) then
-         ntop.mkdir(basedir)
-      end
-
-      -- Write new version
-      persistence.store(fpath, to_write)
-   elseif ntop.exists(fpath) then
-      -- Read old version
-      return persistence.load(fpath)
-   end
-end
-
--- #################################
-
-local function interface_threshold_status_rw(granularity, ifid,  to_write)
-   return entity_threshold_status_rw(granularity, ifid, "iface_"..ifid.."_lastdump", to_write)
-end
-
--- #################################
-
 local function check_interface_alerts(ifid, working_status)
    local ifstats = interface.getStats()
    local entity_value = "iface_"..ifid
-   
-   local old_entity_info = interface_threshold_status_rw(working_status.granularity, ifid) -- read old json
-   local new_entity_info = ifstats
+
+   local checkpoints = interface.checkpointInterface(ifid, working_status.engine) or {}
+   local old_entity_info = checkpoints["previous"] and j.decode(checkpoints["previous"])
+   local new_entity_info = checkpoints["current"] and j.decode(checkpoints["current"])
+
+   if new_entity_info == nil then
+      if warning_shown == false then
+         print("["..__FILE__().."]:["..__LINE__().."] Unexpected new_entity_info == nil")
+         tprint({
+            old_entity_info = old_entity_info,
+            granularity = working_status.granularity,
+            entity_value = entity_value,
+            ifname=getInterfaceName(ifid)})
+      end
+      return
+   end
 
    if (old_entity_info ~= nil) and (old_entity_info.stats ~= nil) and (old_entity_info.stats.bytes ~= nil) then
       -- wrap check
@@ -1880,8 +1868,6 @@ local function check_interface_alerts(ifid, working_status)
    end
 
    check_entity_alerts(ifid, "interface", entity_value, working_status, old_entity_info, new_entity_info)
-
-   interface_threshold_status_rw(working_status.granularity, ifid, new_entity_info) -- write new json
 end
 
 local function check_networks_alerts(ifid, working_status)
diff --git a/src/Lua.cpp b/src/Lua.cpp
index a4b5420ded..cf87688d3f 100644
--- a/src/Lua.cpp
+++ b/src/Lua.cpp
@@ -2374,6 +2374,29 @@ static int ntop_checkpoint_interface_network(lua_State* vm) {
 
 /* ****************************************** */
 
+static int ntop_checkpoint_network_interface(lua_State* vm) {
+  int ifid;
+  NetworkInterface *iface = NULL;
+  u_int8_t checkpoint_id;
+
+  ntop->getTrace()->traceEvent(TRACE_DEBUG, "%s() called", __FUNCTION__);
+
+  if(ntop_lua_check(vm, __FUNCTION__, 1, LUA_TNUMBER)) return(CONST_LUA_ERROR);
+  if(ntop_lua_check(vm, __FUNCTION__, 2, LUA_TNUMBER)) return(CONST_LUA_ERROR);
+
+  ifid = (int)lua_tointeger(vm, 1);
+  iface = ntop->getInterfaceById(ifid);
+  checkpoint_id = (u_int8_t)lua_tointeger(vm, 3);
+
+  if(!iface || iface->isView() || !iface->checkPointInterfaceCounters(vm, checkpoint_id)){
+    lua_pushnil(vm);
+    return(CONST_LUA_ERROR);
+  } else
+    return(CONST_LUA_OK);
+}
+
+/* ****************************************** */
+
 static int ntop_get_interface_flow_key(lua_State* vm) {
   NetworkInterface *ntop_interface = getCurrentInterface(vm);
   Host *cli, *srv;
@@ -6400,6 +6423,7 @@ static const luaL_Reg ntop_interface_reg[] = {
   { "restoreHost",            ntop_restore_interface_host },
   { "checkpointHost",         ntop_checkpoint_interface_host },
   { "checkpointNetwork",      ntop_checkpoint_interface_network },
+  { "checkpointInterface",    ntop_checkpoint_network_interface },
   { "getFlowsInfo",           ntop_get_interface_flows_info },
   { "getGroupedFlows",        ntop_get_interface_get_grouped_flows },
   { "getFlowsStats",          ntop_get_interface_flows_stats },
diff --git a/src/NetworkInterface.cpp b/src/NetworkInterface.cpp
index b2935ab638..e92d717e46 100644
--- a/src/NetworkInterface.cpp
+++ b/src/NetworkInterface.cpp
@@ -3005,6 +3005,29 @@ bool NetworkInterface::checkPointNetworkCounters(lua_State* vm, u_int8_t checkpo
 
 /* **************************************************** */
 
+char* NetworkInterface::serializeCheckpoint() {
+  json_object *my_object, *inner;
+
+  if((my_object = json_object_new_object()) == NULL) return(NULL);
+  if((inner = json_object_new_object()) == NULL) { json_object_put(my_object); return(NULL); }
+
+  json_object_object_add(my_object, "seen.last", json_object_new_int64(getTimeLastPktRcvd()));
+  json_object_object_add(my_object, "ndpiStats", ndpiStats.getJSONObjectForCheckpoint(this));
+
+  json_object_object_add(inner, "bytes", json_object_new_int64(getNumBytes()));
+  json_object_object_add(inner, "packets", json_object_new_int64(getNumPackets()));
+  json_object_object_add(my_object, "stats", inner);
+
+  char *rsp = strdup(json_object_to_json_string(my_object));
+
+  /* Free memory */
+  json_object_put(my_object);
+
+  return(rsp);
+}
+
+/* **************************************************** */
+
 Host* NetworkInterface::findHostsByIP(AddressTree *allowed_hosts,
 				      char *host_ip, u_int16_t vlan_id) {
   if(host_ip != NULL) {