diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e3519f2..c7587cf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -52,3 +52,8 @@
 ## Running Tests
 
     go test $(glide novendor)
+
+## apid.Data() service
+This service provides the primitives to perform SQL operations on the database. It also provides the
+provision to alter DB connection pool settings via ConfigDBMaxConns, ConfigDBIdleConns and configDBConnsTimeout configuration parameters. They currently are defaulted to 1000 connections, 1000 connections and 120 seconds respectively.
+More details on this can be found at https://golang.org/pkg/database/sql
diff --git a/api/api.go b/api/api.go
index 32a28aa..d378de1 100644
--- a/api/api.go
+++ b/api/api.go
@@ -27,10 +27,16 @@
 )
 
 const (
-	configAPIListen   = "api_listen"
-	configExpVarPath  = "api_expvar_path"
-	configReadyPath   = "api_ready"
-	configHealthyPath = "api_healthy"
+	configAPIListen         = "api_listen"
+	configExpVarPath        = "api_expvar_path"
+	configReadyPath         = "api_ready"
+	configHealthyPath       = "api_healthy"
+	ConfigDBMaxConns        = "db_config_max_conns"
+	ConfigDBIdleConns       = "db_config_idle_conns"
+	ConfigDBConnsTimeout    = "db_config_conns_timeout_seconds"
+	dbDefaultMaxConnsLimit  = 1000
+	dbDefaultIdleConnsLimit = 1000
+	dbMaxConnTimeoutLimit   = 120
 )
 
 var log apid.LogService
@@ -45,6 +51,10 @@
 	config.SetDefault(configReadyPath, "/ready")
 	config.SetDefault(configHealthyPath, "/healthy")
 
+	config.SetDefault(ConfigDBMaxConns, dbDefaultMaxConnsLimit)
+	config.SetDefault(ConfigDBIdleConns, dbDefaultIdleConnsLimit)
+	config.SetDefault(ConfigDBConnsTimeout, dbMaxConnTimeoutLimit)
+
 	listen := config.GetString(configAPIListen)
 	h, p, err := net.SplitHostPort(listen)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/data/data.go b/data/data.go
index 0c24d65..d5c893c 100644
--- a/data/data.go
+++ b/data/data.go
@@ -17,23 +17,27 @@
 import (
 	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/30x/apid-core"
+	"github.com/30x/apid-core/api"
+	"github.com/30x/apid-core/data/wrap"
+	"github.com/30x/apid-core/logger"
+	"github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
 	"os"
 	"path"
 	"runtime"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
-
-	"github.com/30x/apid-core"
-	"github.com/30x/apid-core/data/wrap"
-	"github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
+	"time"
 )
 
 const (
-	configDataDriverKey = "data_driver"
-	configDataSourceKey = "data_source"
-	configDataPathKey   = "data_path"
-
-	commonDBID      = "common"
-	commonDBVersion = "base"
+	configDataDriverKey    = "data_driver"
+	configDataSourceKey    = "data_source"
+	configDataPathKey      = "data_path"
+	statCollectionInterval = 10
+	commonDBID             = "common"
+	commonDBVersion        = "base"
 
 	defaultTraceLevel = "warn"
 )
@@ -41,7 +45,12 @@
 var log, dbTraceLog apid.LogService
 var config apid.ConfigService
 
-var dbMap = make(map[string]*sql.DB)
+type dbMapInfo struct {
+	db     *sql.DB
+	closed chan bool
+}
+
+var dbMap = make(map[string]*dbMapInfo)
 var dbMapSync sync.RWMutex
 
 func CreateDataService() apid.DataService {
@@ -90,19 +99,34 @@
 	return d.dbVersionForID(id, version)
 }
 
-// will set DB to close and delete when no more references
-func (d *dataService) ReleaseDB(id, version string) {
+// will set DB to close and delete when no more references for commonDBID, provided version
+func (d *dataService) ReleaseDB(version string) {
+	d.ReleaseDBForID(commonDBID, version)
+}
+
+// will set DB to close and delete when no more references for commonDBID, commonDBVersion
+func (d *dataService) ReleaseCommonDB() {
+	d.ReleaseDBForID(commonDBID, commonDBVersion)
+}
+
+// will set DB to close and delete when no more references for any ID
+func (d *dataService) ReleaseDBForID(id, version string) {
 	versionedID := VersionedDBID(id, version)
 
 	dbMapSync.Lock()
 	defer dbMapSync.Unlock()
 
-	db := dbMap[versionedID]
-	if db != nil {
-		dbMap[versionedID] = nil
+	dbm := dbMap[versionedID]
+	if dbm != nil && dbm.db != nil {
+		if strings.EqualFold(config.GetString(logger.ConfigLevel), logrus.DebugLevel.String()) {
+			dbm.closed <- true
+		}
 		log.Warn("SETTING FINALIZER")
 		finalizer := Delete(versionedID)
-		runtime.SetFinalizer(db, finalizer)
+		runtime.SetFinalizer(dbm.db, finalizer)
+		dbMap[versionedID] = nil
+	} else {
+		log.Errorf("Cannot find DB handle for ver {%s} to release", version)
 	}
 
 	return
@@ -110,23 +134,19 @@
 
 func (d *dataService) dbVersionForID(id, version string) (db *sql.DB, err error) {
 
+	var stoplogchan chan bool
 	versionedID := VersionedDBID(id, version)
 
 	dbMapSync.RLock()
-	db = dbMap[versionedID]
+	dbm := dbMap[versionedID]
 	dbMapSync.RUnlock()
-	if db != nil {
-		return
+	if dbm != nil && dbm.db != nil {
+		return dbm.db, nil
 	}
 
 	dbMapSync.Lock()
 	defer dbMapSync.Unlock()
 
-	db = dbMap[versionedID]
-	if db != nil {
-		return
-	}
-
 	dataPath := DBPath(versionedID)
 
 	if err = os.MkdirAll(path.Dir(dataPath), 0700); err != nil {
@@ -171,8 +191,16 @@
 		log.Errorf("error enabling foreign_keys: %s", err)
 		return
 	}
+	if strings.EqualFold(config.GetString(logger.ConfigLevel),
+		logrus.DebugLevel.String()) {
+		stoplogchan = logDBInfo(versionedID, db)
+	}
 
-	dbMap[versionedID] = db
+	db.SetMaxOpenConns(config.GetInt(api.ConfigDBMaxConns))
+	db.SetMaxIdleConns(config.GetInt(api.ConfigDBIdleConns))
+	db.SetConnMaxLifetime(time.Duration(config.GetInt(api.ConfigDBConnsTimeout)) * time.Second)
+	dbInfo := dbMapInfo{db: db, closed: stoplogchan}
+	dbMap[versionedID] = &dbInfo
 	return
 }
 
@@ -200,3 +228,20 @@
 	relativeDataPath := config.GetString(configDataPathKey)
 	return path.Join(storagePath, relativeDataPath, id, "sqlite3")
 }
+
+func logDBInfo(versionedId string, db *sql.DB) chan bool {
+	stop := make(chan bool)
+	go func() {
+		for {
+			select {
+			case <-time.After(time.Duration(statCollectionInterval * time.Second)):
+				log.Debugf("Current number of open DB connections for ver {%s} is {%d}",
+					versionedId, db.Stats().OpenConnections)
+			case <-stop:
+				log.Debugf("Stop DB conn. logging for ver {%s}", versionedId)
+				return
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+	return stop
+}
diff --git a/data_service.go b/data_service.go
index b467918..7a5a3d0 100644
--- a/data_service.go
+++ b/data_service.go
@@ -26,7 +26,9 @@
 	DBVersionForID(id, version string) (db DB, err error)
 
 	// will set DB to close and delete when no more references
-	ReleaseDB(id, version string)
+	ReleaseDB(version string)
+	ReleaseCommonDB()
+	ReleaseDBForID(id, version string)
 }
 
 type DB interface {
diff --git a/logger/logger.go b/logger/logger.go
index 39f6e8b..7c16b17 100644
--- a/logger/logger.go
+++ b/logger/logger.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 )
 
 const (
-	configLevel = "log_level"
+	ConfigLevel = "log_level"
 
 	defaultLevel = logrus.ErrorLevel
 
@@ -42,10 +42,10 @@
 func Base() apid.LogService {
 	if std == nil {
 		config = apid.Config()
-		config.SetDefault(configLevel, defaultLevel.String())
-		logLevel := config.GetString(configLevel)
+		config.SetDefault(ConfigLevel, defaultLevel.String())
+		logLevel := config.GetString(ConfigLevel)
 		fmt.Printf("Base log level: %s\n", logLevel)
-		std = NewLogger(configLevel, logLevel)
+		std = NewLogger(ConfigLevel, logLevel)
 	}
 	return std
 }
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
 // note: config module xx log level using config var: xx_log_level = "debug"
 func (l *logger) ForModule(name string) apid.LogService {
 
-	configKey := fmt.Sprintf("%s_%s", name, configLevel)
+	configKey := fmt.Sprintf("%s_%s", name, ConfigLevel)
 	log := NewLogger(configKey, config.GetString(configKey)).WithField(moduleField, name)
 	std.Debugf("created logger '%s' at level %s", name, log.(loggerPlus).Level())
 	return log