The wtperf benchmark utility has the ability to create a separate checkpoint thread. That functionality is there because it was implemented before the built-in WiredTiger checkpoint thread was available. It would be better to switch to using the functionality built into WiredTiger.

The reporting in wtperf about when a checkpoint is running or finished is very useful (in the status and monitor files). We should aim to keep that information available. We could do that via tracking WiredTiger statistics, though we should keep a mode where statistics gathering can be turned off for pure performance measurements.