diff --git a/e2e-test/qa/search/Makefile b/e2e-test/qa/search/Makefile
index da23c0f82..ff1961c07 100644
--- a/e2e-test/qa/search/Makefile
+++ b/e2e-test/qa/search/Makefile
@@ -54,3 +54,6 @@ clean: ## kill containers
 wait: ## main: wait for alfresco service && solr to startup	
 	$(helpers)/wait-service-to-start.sh && \
 	$(helpers)/wait-service-to-start.sh http://localhost:8083/solr	
+
+standard: ## start with standard docker-compose.yml file
+	make clean && $(dc) config && $(dc) up -d && make wait
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/e2e-test/qa/search/backup/README.md b/e2e-test/qa/search/backup/README.md
index 0a45ecfdd..d2c6af69c 100644
--- a/e2e-test/qa/search/backup/README.md
+++ b/e2e-test/qa/search/backup/README.md
@@ -39,4 +39,7 @@ At any time you can run the `make all` taks that will execute all the above comm
 
 ```shel
 make all
-```
\ No newline at end of file
+```
+
+# Environment Settings
+Pay attention at the values that exist in [.env](.env) file. These settings will be picked up in custom docker-compose.*.yml file(s)
diff --git a/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/.env b/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/.env
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b81b609b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/.env
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# docker-compose related environments
+ALFRESCO_IMAGE=alfresco/alfresco-content-repository
+ALFRESCO_TAG=6.1.0-EA3
+SHARE_IMAGE=alfresco/alfresco-share
+SHARE_TAG=6.0
+POSTGRES_IMAGE=postgres
+POSTGRES_TAG=10.1
+SEARCH_IMAGE=quay.io/alfresco/search-services
+SEARCH_TAG=latest
+ACTIVEMQ_IMAGE=alfresco/alfresco-activemq
+ACTIVEMQ_TAG=5.15.6
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/Makefile b/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a884f7206
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+include ../Makefile
+include .env
+
+ifeq ($(sharding),)
+	sharding:=$(dc) -f ../docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.sharding.yml
+endif
+
+# https://docs.alfresco.com/6.0/concepts/dynamic-sharding.html
+# http://docs.alfresco.com/6.0/tasks/adminconsole-indexserver-sharding.html
+sharding: ## start Search Services in sharding mode
+	make clean && \
+	$(sharding) config && $(sharding) up -d && make wait
+	
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/README.md b/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..82cbda10c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# About
+Enabling sharding on Search Services
+
+_Reference:_
+*  https://docs.alfresco.com/6.0/concepts/dynamic-sharding.html
+* http://docs.alfresco.com/6.0/tasks/adminconsole-indexserver-sharding.html
+
+# How to run
+
+```ruby
+$ make sharding
+```
+
+# Environment Settings
+Pay attention at the values that exist in [.env](.env) file. These settings will be picked up in custom docker-compose.*.yml file(s)
diff --git a/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/docker-compose.sharding.yml b/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/docker-compose.sharding.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..de0d34b32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e-test/qa/search/sharding/docker-compose.sharding.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+version: '3'
+services:  
+  alfresco:    
+    environment:
+      JAVA_OPTS : "
+        -Ddb.driver=org.postgresql.Driver
+        -Ddb.username=alfresco
+        -Ddb.password=alfresco
+        -Ddb.url=jdbc:postgresql://postgres:5432/alfresco
+        -Dsolr.host=search
+        -Dsolr.port=8983
+        -Dsolr.secureComms=none
+        -Dsolr.base.url=/solr
+        -Dindex.subsystem.name=solr6
+        -Dalfresco.restApi.basicAuthScheme=true
+        -Ddeployment.method=DOCKER_COMPOSE
+        -Dcsrf.filter.enabled=false
+        -Dmessaging.broker.url=\"failover:(nio://activemq:61616)?timeout=3000&jms.useCompression=true\"
+        -Dsolr.useDynamicShardRegistration=true
+        -Dsearch.solrShardRegistry.purgeOnInit=true
+        -Dsearch.solrShardRegistry.shardInstanceTimeoutInSeconds=300
+        -Dsearch.solrShardRegistry.maxAllowedReplicaTxCountDifference=1000"
+  search:    
+    environment:
+      - VERSION=${SEARCH_TAG}
+    image: quay.io/alfresco/search-services:${SEARCH_TAG}
+  
\ No newline at end of file