diff --git a/fnlb/lb/allgrouper.go b/fnlb/lb/allgrouper.go
index e23254cd7..bd7b36115 100644
--- a/fnlb/lb/allgrouper.go
+++ b/fnlb/lb/allgrouper.go
@@ -2,24 +2,40 @@ package lb
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"database/sql"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"sort"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql"
+	"github.com/jmoiron/sqlx"
+	"github.com/lib/pq"
+	"github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
 )
 
 // NewAllGrouper returns a Grouper that will return the entire list of nodes
 // that are being maintained, regardless of key.  An 'AllGrouper' will health
 // check servers at a specified interval, taking them in and out as they
 // pass/fail and exposes endpoints for adding, removing and listing nodes.
-func NewAllGrouper(conf Config) Grouper {
+func NewAllGrouper(conf Config) (Grouper, error) {
+	db, err := db(conf.DBurl)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	a := &allGrouper{
 		ded: make(map[string]int64),
+		db:  db,
 
 		// XXX (reed): need to be reconfigurable at some point
 		hcInterval:  time.Duration(conf.HealthcheckInterval) * time.Second,
@@ -31,18 +47,35 @@ func NewAllGrouper(conf Config) Grouper {
 		httpClient: &http.Client{Transport: conf.Transport},
 	}
 	for _, n := range conf.Nodes {
-		a.add(n)
+		err := a.add(n)
+		if err != nil {
+			// XXX (reed): could prob ignore these but meh
+			logrus.WithError(err).WithFields(logrus.Fields{"node": n}).Error("error adding node")
+		}
 	}
 	go a.healthcheck()
-	return a
+	return a, nil
 }
 
-// TODO
+// allGrouper will return all healthy nodes it is tracking from List.
+// nodes may be added / removed through the HTTP api. each allGrouper will
+// poll its database for the full list of nodes, and then run its own
+// health checks on those nodes to maintain a list of healthy nodes.
+// the list of healthy nodes will be maintained in sorted order so that,
+// without any network partitions, all lbs may consistently hash with the
+// same backing list, such that H(k) -> v for any k->v pair (vs attempting
+// to maintain a list among nodes in the db, which could have thrashing
+// due to network connectivity between any pair).
 type allGrouper struct {
-	// protects nodes & ded
+	// protects allNodes, healthy & ded
 	sync.RWMutex
-	nodes []string
-	ded   map[string]int64 // [node] -> failedCount
+	// TODO rename nodes to 'allNodes' or something so everything breaks and then stitch
+	// ded is the set of disjoint nodes nodes from intersecting nodes & healthy
+	allNodes, healthy []string
+	ded               map[string]int64 // [node] -> failedCount
+
+	// allNodes is a cache of db.List, we can probably trash it..
+	db DBStore
 
 	httpClient *http.Client
 
@@ -52,44 +85,170 @@ type allGrouper struct {
 	hcTimeout   time.Duration
 }
 
-func (a *allGrouper) add(newb string) {
-	if newb == "" {
-		return // we can't really do a lot of validation since hosts could be an ip or domain but we have health checks
-	}
-	a.Lock()
-	a.addNoLock(newb)
-	a.Unlock()
+// TODO put this somewhere better
+type DBStore interface {
+	Add(string) error
+	Delete(string) error
+	List() ([]string, error)
 }
 
-func (a *allGrouper) addNoLock(newb string) {
+// implements DBStore
+type sqlStore struct {
+	db *sqlx.DB
+
+	// TODO we should prepare all of the statements, rebind them
+	// and store them all here.
+}
+
+// New will open the db specified by url, create any tables necessary
+// and return a models.Datastore safe for concurrent usage.
+func db(uri string) (DBStore, error) {
+	url, err := url.Parse(uri)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	driver := url.Scheme
+	// driver must be one of these for sqlx to work, double check:
+	switch driver {
+	case "postgres", "pgx", "mysql", "sqlite3", "oci8", "ora", "goracle":
+	default:
+		return nil, errors.New("invalid db driver, refer to the code")
+	}
+
+	if driver == "sqlite3" {
+		// make all the dirs so we can make the file..
+		dir := filepath.Dir(url.Path)
+		err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0755)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+
+	uri = url.String()
+	if driver != "postgres" {
+		// postgres seems to need this as a prefix in lib/pq, everyone else wants it stripped of scheme
+		uri = strings.TrimPrefix(url.String(), url.Scheme+"://")
+	}
+
+	sqldb, err := sql.Open(driver, uri)
+	if err != nil {
+		logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{"url": uri}).WithError(err).Error("couldn't open db")
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	db := sqlx.NewDb(sqldb, driver)
+	// force a connection and test that it worked
+	err = db.Ping()
+	if err != nil {
+		logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{"url": uri}).WithError(err).Error("couldn't ping db")
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	maxIdleConns := 30 // c.MaxIdleConnections
+	db.SetMaxIdleConns(maxIdleConns)
+	logrus.WithFields(logrus.Fields{"max_idle_connections": maxIdleConns, "datastore": driver}).Info("datastore dialed")
+
+	_, err = db.Exec(`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS lb_nodes (
+		address text NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY
+	);`)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &sqlStore{db: db}, nil
+}
+
+func (s *sqlStore) Add(node string) error {
+	query := s.db.Rebind("INSERT INTO lb_nodes (address) VALUES (?);")
+	_, err := s.db.Exec(query, node)
+	if err != nil {
+		// if it already exists, just filter that error out
+		switch err := err.(type) {
+		case *mysql.MySQLError:
+			if err.Number == 1062 {
+				return nil
+			}
+		case *pq.Error:
+			if err.Code == "23505" {
+				return nil
+			}
+		case sqlite3.Error:
+			if err.ExtendedCode == sqlite3.ErrConstraintUnique || err.ExtendedCode == sqlite3.ErrConstraintPrimaryKey {
+				return nil
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+func (s *sqlStore) Delete(node string) error {
+	query := s.db.Rebind(`DELETE FROM lb_nodes WHERE address=?`)
+	_, err := s.db.Exec(query, node)
+	// TODO we can filter if it didn't exist, too...
+	return err
+}
+
+func (s *sqlStore) List() ([]string, error) {
+	query := s.db.Rebind(`SELECT DISTINCT address FROM lb_nodes`)
+	rows, err := s.db.Query(query)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	var nodes []string
+	for rows.Next() {
+		var node string
+		err := rows.Scan(&node)
+		if err == nil {
+			nodes = append(nodes, node)
+		}
+	}
+
+	err = rows.Err()
+	if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
+		err = nil // don't care...
+	}
+
+	return nodes, err
+}
+
+func (a *allGrouper) add(newb string) error {
+	if newb == "" {
+		return nil // we can't really do a lot of validation since hosts could be an ip or domain but we have health checks
+	}
+	return a.db.Add(newb)
+}
+
+func (a *allGrouper) remove(ded string) error {
+	return a.db.Delete(ded)
+}
+
+// call with a.Lock held
+func (a *allGrouper) addHealthy(newb string) {
 	// filter dupes, under lock. sorted, so binary search
-	i := sort.SearchStrings(a.nodes, newb)
-	if i < len(a.nodes) && a.nodes[i] == newb {
+	i := sort.SearchStrings(a.healthy, newb)
+	if i < len(a.healthy) && a.healthy[i] == newb {
 		return
 	}
-	a.nodes = append(a.nodes, newb)
+	a.healthy = append(a.healthy, newb)
 	// need to keep in sorted order so that hash index works across nodes
-	sort.Sort(sort.StringSlice(a.nodes))
+	sort.Sort(sort.StringSlice(a.healthy))
 }
 
-func (a *allGrouper) remove(ded string) {
-	a.Lock()
-	a.removeNoLock(ded)
-	a.Unlock()
-}
-
-func (a *allGrouper) removeNoLock(ded string) {
-	i := sort.SearchStrings(a.nodes, ded)
-	if i < len(a.nodes) && a.nodes[i] == ded {
-		a.nodes = append(a.nodes[:i], a.nodes[i+1:]...)
+// call with a.Lock held
+func (a *allGrouper) removeHealthy(ded string) {
+	i := sort.SearchStrings(a.healthy, ded)
+	if i < len(a.healthy) && a.healthy[i] == ded {
+		a.healthy = append(a.healthy[:i], a.healthy[i+1:]...)
 	}
 }
 
 // return a copy
 func (a *allGrouper) List(string) ([]string, error) {
 	a.RLock()
-	ret := make([]string, len(a.nodes))
-	copy(ret, a.nodes)
+	ret := make([]string, len(a.healthy))
+	copy(ret, a.healthy)
 	a.RUnlock()
 	var err error
 	if len(ret) == 0 {
@@ -100,9 +259,18 @@ func (a *allGrouper) List(string) ([]string, error) {
 
 func (a *allGrouper) healthcheck() {
 	for range time.Tick(a.hcInterval) {
-		nodes, _ := a.List("")
-		nodes = append(nodes, a.dead()...)
-		for _, n := range nodes {
+		// health check the entire list of nodes [from db]
+		list, err := a.db.List()
+		if err != nil {
+			logrus.WithError(err).Error("error checking db for nodes")
+			continue
+		}
+
+		a.Lock()
+		a.allNodes = list
+		a.Unlock()
+
+		for _, n := range list {
 			go a.ping(n)
 		}
 	}
@@ -135,21 +303,19 @@ func (a *allGrouper) fail(node string) {
 	a.ded[node]++
 	failed := a.ded[node]
 	if failed >= a.hcUnhealthy {
-		a.removeNoLock(node)
+		a.removeHealthy(node)
 	}
 	a.Unlock()
 }
 
 func (a *allGrouper) alive(node string) {
-	a.RLock()
-	_, ok := a.ded[node]
-	a.RUnlock()
-	if ok {
-		a.Lock()
-		delete(a.ded, node)
-		a.addNoLock(node)
-		a.Unlock()
-	}
+	// TODO alive is gonna get called a lot, should maybe start w/ every node in ded
+	// so we can RLock (but lock contention should be low since these are ~quick) --
+	// "a lot" being every 1s per node, so not too crazy really, but 1k nodes @ ms each...
+	a.Lock()
+	delete(a.ded, node)
+	a.addHealthy(node)
+	a.Unlock()
 }
 
 func (a *allGrouper) Wrap(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
@@ -160,14 +326,12 @@ func (a *allGrouper) Wrap(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 			switch r.Method {
 			case "PUT":
 				a.addNode(w, r)
-				return
 			case "DELETE":
 				a.removeNode(w, r)
-				return
 			case "GET":
 				a.listNodes(w, r)
-				return
 			}
+			return
 		}
 
 		next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
@@ -184,7 +348,11 @@ func (a *allGrouper) addNode(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	a.add(bod.Node)
+	err = a.add(bod.Node)
+	if err != nil {
+		sendError(w, 500, err.Error()) // TODO filter ?
+		return
+	}
 	sendSuccess(w, "node added")
 }
 
@@ -198,15 +366,24 @@ func (a *allGrouper) removeNode(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	a.remove(bod.Node)
+	err = a.remove(bod.Node)
+	if err != nil {
+		sendError(w, 500, err.Error()) // TODO filter ?
+		return
+	}
 	sendSuccess(w, "node deleted")
 }
 
 func (a *allGrouper) listNodes(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-	nodes, _ := a.List("")
-	dead := a.dead()
+	a.RLock()
+	nodes := make([]string, len(a.allNodes))
+	copy(nodes, a.allNodes)
+	a.RUnlock()
 
-	out := make(map[string]string, len(nodes)+len(dead))
+	// TODO this isn't correct until at least one health check has hit all nodes (on start up).
+	// seems like not a huge deal, but here's a note anyway (every node will simply 'appear' healthy
+	// from this api even if we aren't routing to it [until first health check]).
+	out := make(map[string]string, len(nodes))
 	for _, n := range nodes {
 		if a.isDead(n) {
 			out[n] = "offline"
@@ -215,10 +392,6 @@ func (a *allGrouper) listNodes(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	for _, n := range dead {
-		out[n] = "offline"
-	}
-
 	sendValue(w, struct {
 		Nodes map[string]string `json:"nodes"`
 	}{
@@ -232,15 +405,3 @@ func (a *allGrouper) isDead(node string) bool {
 	a.RUnlock()
 	return ok && val >= a.hcUnhealthy
 }
-
-func (a *allGrouper) dead() []string {
-	a.RLock()
-	defer a.RUnlock()
-	nodes := make([]string, 0, len(a.ded))
-	for n, val := range a.ded {
-		if val >= a.hcUnhealthy {
-			nodes = append(nodes, n)
-		}
-	}
-	return nodes
-}
diff --git a/fnlb/lb/proxy.go b/fnlb/lb/proxy.go
index 8a281a3d3..dfb413268 100644
--- a/fnlb/lb/proxy.go
+++ b/fnlb/lb/proxy.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 // TODO TLS
 
 type Config struct {
+	DBurl                string   `json:"db_url"`
 	Listen               string   `json:"port"`
 	Nodes                []string `json:"nodes"`
 	HealthcheckInterval  int      `json:"healthcheck_interval"`
diff --git a/fnlb/main.go b/fnlb/main.go
index 94bd1adff..652f41f8b 100644
--- a/fnlb/main.go
+++ b/fnlb/main.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ func main() {
 	fnodes := flag.String("nodes", "", "comma separated list of functions nodes")
 
 	var conf lb.Config
+	flag.StringVar(&conf.DBurl, "db", "sqlite3://:memory:", "backend to store nodes, default to in memory")
 	flag.StringVar(&conf.Listen, "listen", ":8081", "port to run on")
 	flag.IntVar(&conf.HealthcheckInterval, "hc-interval", 3, "how often to check f(x) nodes, in seconds")
 	flag.StringVar(&conf.HealthcheckEndpoint, "hc-path", "/version", "endpoint to determine node health")
@@ -49,7 +50,11 @@ func main() {
 		},
 	}
 
-	g := lb.NewAllGrouper(conf)
+	g, err := lb.NewAllGrouper(conf)
+	if err != nil {
+		logrus.WithError(err).Fatal("error setting up grouper")
+	}
+
 	r := lb.NewConsistentRouter(conf)
 	k := func(r *http.Request) (string, error) {
 		return r.URL.Path, nil
@@ -59,9 +64,9 @@ func main() {
 	h = g.Wrap(h) // add/del/list endpoints
 	h = r.Wrap(h) // stats / dash endpoint
 
-	err := serve(conf.Listen, h)
+	err = serve(conf.Listen, h)
 	if err != nil {
-		logrus.WithError(err).Error("server error")
+		logrus.WithError(err).Fatal("server error")
 	}
 }