diff --git a/python/core/config/__init__.py b/python/core/config/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/core/config/__init__.py
diff --git a/python/core/config/config_backend.py b/python/core/config/config_backend.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d906348
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/core/config/config_backend.py
@@ -0,0 +1,289 @@
+# Copyright 2017 the original author or authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+from consul import Consul, ConsulException
+from common.utils.asleep import asleep
+from requests import ConnectionError
+from twisted.internet.defer import inlineCallbacks, returnValue
+
+import etcd3
+import structlog
+
+
+class ConsulStore(object):
+    """ Config kv store for consul with a cache for quicker subsequent reads
+
+        TODO: This will block the reactor. Should either change
+        whole call stack to yield or put the put/delete transactions into a
+        queue to write later with twisted. Will need a transaction
+        log to ensure we don't lose anything.
+        Making the whole callstack yield is troublesome because other tasks can
+        come in on the side and start modifying things which could be bad.
+    """
+
+    CONNECT_RETRY_INTERVAL_SEC = 1
+    RETRY_BACKOFF = [0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5]
+
+    def __init__(self, host, port, path_prefix):
+
+        self.log = structlog.get_logger()
+        self._consul = Consul(host=host, port=port)
+        self.host = host
+        self.port = port
+        self._path_prefix = path_prefix
+        self._cache = {}
+        self.retries = 0
+
+    def make_path(self, key):
+        return '{}/{}'.format(self._path_prefix, key)
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key):
+        if key in self._cache:
+            return self._cache[key]
+        value = self._kv_get(self.make_path(key))
+        if value is not None:
+            # consul turns empty strings to None, so we do the reverse here
+            self._cache[key] = value['Value'] or ''
+            return value['Value'] or ''
+        else:
+            raise KeyError(key)
+
+    def __contains__(self, key):
+        if key in self._cache:
+            return True
+        value = self._kv_get(self.make_path(key))
+        if value is not None:
+            self._cache[key] = value['Value']
+            return True
+        else:
+            return False
+
+    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
+        try:
+            assert isinstance(value, basestring)
+            self._cache[key] = value
+            self._kv_put(self.make_path(key), value)
+        except Exception, e:
+            self.log.exception('cannot-set-item', e=e)
+
+    def __delitem__(self, key):
+        self._cache.pop(key, None)
+        self._kv_delete(self.make_path(key))
+
+    @inlineCallbacks
+    def _backoff(self, msg):
+        wait_time = self.RETRY_BACKOFF[min(self.retries,
+                                           len(self.RETRY_BACKOFF) - 1)]
+        self.retries += 1
+        self.log.error(msg, retry_in=wait_time)
+        yield asleep(wait_time)
+
+    def _redo_consul_connection(self):
+        self._consul = Consul(host=self.host, port=self.port)
+        self._cache.clear()
+
+    def _clear_backoff(self):
+        if self.retries:
+            self.log.info('reconnected-to-consul', after_retries=self.retries)
+            self.retries = 0
+
+    def _get_consul(self):
+        return self._consul
+
+    # Proxy methods for consul with retry support
+    def _kv_get(self, *args, **kw):
+        return self._retry('GET', *args, **kw)
+
+    def _kv_put(self, *args, **kw):
+        return self._retry('PUT', *args, **kw)
+
+    def _kv_delete(self, *args, **kw):
+        return self._retry('DELETE', *args, **kw)
+
+    def _retry(self, operation, *args, **kw):
+        while 1:
+            try:
+                consul = self._get_consul()
+                self.log.debug('consul', consul=consul, operation=operation,
+                         args=args)
+                if operation == 'GET':
+                    index, result = consul.kv.get(*args, **kw)
+                elif operation == 'PUT':
+                     result = consul.kv.put(*args, **kw)
+                elif operation == 'DELETE':
+                    result = consul.kv.delete(*args, **kw)
+                else:
+                    # Default case - consider operation as a function call
+                    result = operation(*args, **kw)
+                self._clear_backoff()
+                break
+            except ConsulException, e:
+                self.log.exception('consul-not-up', e=e)
+                self._backoff('consul-not-up')
+            except ConnectionError, e:
+                self.log.exception('cannot-connect-to-consul', e=e)
+                self._backoff('cannot-connect-to-consul')
+            except Exception, e:
+                self.log.exception(e)
+                self._backoff('unknown-error')
+            self._redo_consul_connection()
+
+        return result
+
+
+class EtcdStore(object):
+    """ Config kv store for etcd with a cache for quicker subsequent reads
+
+        TODO: This will block the reactor. Should either change
+        whole call stack to yield or put the put/delete transactions into a
+        queue to write later with twisted. Will need a transaction
+        log to ensure we don't lose anything.
+        Making the whole callstack yield is troublesome because other tasks can
+        come in on the side and start modifying things which could be bad.
+    """
+
+    CONNECT_RETRY_INTERVAL_SEC = 1
+    RETRY_BACKOFF = [0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5]
+
+    def __init__(self, host, port, path_prefix):
+
+        self.log = structlog.get_logger()
+        self._etcd = etcd3.client(host=host, port=port)
+        self.host = host
+        self.port = port
+        self._path_prefix = path_prefix
+        self._cache = {}
+        self.retries = 0
+
+    def make_path(self, key):
+        return '{}/{}'.format(self._path_prefix, key)
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key):
+        if key in self._cache:
+            return self._cache[key]
+        (value, meta) = self._kv_get(self.make_path(key))
+        if value is not None:
+            self._cache[key] = value
+            return value
+        else:
+            raise KeyError(key)
+
+    def __contains__(self, key):
+        if key in self._cache:
+            return True
+        (value, meta) = self._kv_get(self.make_path(key))
+        if value is not None:
+            self._cache[key] = value
+            return True
+        else:
+            return False
+
+    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
+        try:
+            assert isinstance(value, basestring)
+            self._cache[key] = value
+            self._kv_put(self.make_path(key), value)
+        except Exception, e:
+            self.log.exception('cannot-set-item', e=e)
+
+    def __delitem__(self, key):
+        self._cache.pop(key, None)
+        self._kv_delete(self.make_path(key))
+
+    @inlineCallbacks
+    def _backoff(self, msg):
+        wait_time = self.RETRY_BACKOFF[min(self.retries,
+                                           len(self.RETRY_BACKOFF) - 1)]
+        self.retries += 1
+        self.log.error(msg, retry_in=wait_time)
+        yield asleep(wait_time)
+
+    def _redo_etcd_connection(self):
+        self._etcd = etcd3.client(host=self.host, port=self.port)
+        self._cache.clear()
+
+    def _clear_backoff(self):
+        if self.retries:
+            self.log.info('reconnected-to-etcd', after_retries=self.retries)
+            self.retries = 0
+
+    def _get_etcd(self):
+        return self._etcd
+
+    # Proxy methods for etcd with retry support
+    def _kv_get(self, *args, **kw):
+        return self._retry('GET', *args, **kw)
+
+    def _kv_put(self, *args, **kw):
+        return self._retry('PUT', *args, **kw)
+
+    def _kv_delete(self, *args, **kw):
+        return self._retry('DELETE', *args, **kw)
+
+    def _retry(self, operation, *args, **kw):
+
+        # etcd data sometimes contains non-utf8 sequences, replace
+        self.log.debug('backend-op',
+                  operation=operation,
+                  args=map(lambda x : unicode(x,'utf8','replace'), args),
+                  kw=kw)
+
+        while 1:
+            try:
+                etcd = self._get_etcd()
+                self.log.debug('etcd', etcd=etcd, operation=operation,
+                    args=map(lambda x : unicode(x,'utf8','replace'), args))
+                if operation == 'GET':
+                    (value, meta) = etcd.get(*args, **kw)
+                    result = (value, meta)
+                elif operation == 'PUT':
+                    result = etcd.put(*args, **kw)
+                elif operation == 'DELETE':
+                    result = etcd.delete(*args, **kw)
+                else:
+                    # Default case - consider operation as a function call
+                    result = operation(*args, **kw)
+                self._clear_backoff()
+                break
+            except Exception, e:
+                self.log.exception(e)
+                self._backoff('unknown-error-with-etcd')
+            self._redo_etcd_connection()
+
+        return result
+
+
+def load_backend(store_id, store_prefix, args):
+    """ Return the kv store backend based on the command line arguments
+    """
+
+    def load_consul_store():
+        instance_core_store_prefix = '{}/{}'.format(store_prefix, store_id)
+
+        host, port = args.consul.split(':', 1)
+        return ConsulStore(host, int(port), instance_core_store_prefix)
+
+    def load_etcd_store():
+        instance_core_store_prefix = '{}/{}'.format(store_prefix, store_id)
+
+        host, port = args.etcd.split(':', 1)
+        return EtcdStore(host, int(port), instance_core_store_prefix)
+
+    loaders = {
+        'none': lambda: None,
+        'consul': load_consul_store,
+        'etcd': load_etcd_store
+    }
+
+    return loaders[args.backend]()