diff --git a/nimbus.nimble b/nimbus.nimble
index 88c50f634..9acd73a7b 100644
--- a/nimbus.nimble
+++ b/nimbus.nimble
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ requires "nim >= 0.18.1",
          "nimcrypto",
          "rlp",
          "stint",
+         "rocksdb",
+         "eth_trie",
          "https://github.com/status-im/nim-eth-common",
          "https://github.com/status-im/nim-eth-rpc",
          "https://github.com/status-im/nim-asyncdispatch2",
diff --git a/nimbus.nix b/nimbus.nix
index 9141bbcd4..1d7f7ffff 100644
--- a/nimbus.nix
+++ b/nimbus.nix
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 let
   stdenv = pkgs.stdenv;
   nim = pkgs.callPackage ./nim.nix {};
+  makeLibraryPath = stdenv.lib.makeLibraryPath;
 
 in
 
@@ -19,5 +20,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   src = ./.;
   buildInputs = [pkgs.clang nim pkgs.rocksdb_lite];
+  LD_LIBRARY_PATH = "${makeLibraryPath buildInputs}";
 }
 
diff --git a/nimbus/db/backends/memory_backend.nim b/nimbus/db/backends/memory_backend.nim
index 289ae43a1..3b47ecd73 100644
--- a/nimbus/db/backends/memory_backend.nim
+++ b/nimbus/db/backends/memory_backend.nim
@@ -5,58 +5,21 @@
 #  * MIT license ([LICENSE-MIT](LICENSE-MIT) or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
 # at your option. This file may not be copied, modified, or distributed except according to those terms.
 
-import tables, hashes, eth_common
+import tables
+import ranges
+import ../storage_types
 
 type
-  DBKeyKind = enum
-    genericHash
-    blockNumberToHash
-    blockHashToScore
-    transactionHashToBlock
-    canonicalHeadHash
-
-  DbKey* = object
-    case kind: DBKeyKind
-    of genericHash, blockHashToScore, transactionHashToBlock:
-      h: Hash256
-    of blockNumberToHash:
-      u: BlockNumber
-    of canonicalHeadHash:
-      discard
-
   MemoryDB* = ref object
-    kvStore*: Table[DbKey, seq[byte]]
-
-proc genericHashKey*(h: Hash256): DbKey {.inline.} = DbKey(kind: genericHash, h: h)
-proc blockHashToScoreKey*(h: Hash256): DbKey {.inline.} = DbKey(kind: blockHashToScore, h: h)
-proc transactionHashToBlockKey*(h: Hash256): DbKey {.inline.} = DbKey(kind: transactionHashToBlock, h: h)
-proc blockNumberToHashKey*(u: BlockNumber): DbKey {.inline.} = DbKey(kind: blockNumberToHash, u: u)
-proc canonicalHeadHashKey*(): DbKey {.inline.} = DbKey(kind: canonicalHeadHash)
-
-proc hash(k: DbKey): Hash =
-  result = result !& hash(k.kind)
-  case k.kind
-  of genericHash, blockHashToScore, transactionHashToBlock:
-    result = result !& hash(k.h)
-  of blockNumberToHash:
-    result = result !& hashData(unsafeAddr k.u, sizeof(k.u))
-  of canonicalHeadHash:
-    discard
-  result = result
-
-proc `==`(a, b: DbKey): bool {.inline.} =
-  equalMem(unsafeAddr a, unsafeAddr b, sizeof(a))
-
-proc newMemoryDB*(kvStore: Table[DbKey, seq[byte]]): MemoryDB =
-  MemoryDB(kvStore: kvStore)
+    kvStore*: Table[DbKey, ByteRange]
 
 proc newMemoryDB*: MemoryDB =
-  MemoryDB(kvStore: initTable[DbKey, seq[byte]]())
+  MemoryDB(kvStore: initTable[DbKey, ByteRange]())
 
-proc get*(db: MemoryDB, key: DbKey): seq[byte] =
+proc get*(db: MemoryDB, key: DbKey): ByteRange =
   db.kvStore[key]
 
-proc set*(db: var MemoryDB, key: DbKey, value: seq[byte]) =
+proc set*(db: var MemoryDB, key: DbKey, value: ByteRange) =
   db.kvStore[key] = value
 
 proc contains*(db: MemoryDB, key: DbKey): bool =
@@ -64,3 +27,4 @@ proc contains*(db: MemoryDB, key: DbKey): bool =
 
 proc delete*(db: var MemoryDB, key: DbKey) =
   db.kvStore.del(key)
+
diff --git a/nimbus/db/backends/rocksdb_backend.nim b/nimbus/db/backends/rocksdb_backend.nim
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1de292ee6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nimbus/db/backends/rocksdb_backend.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import os, rocksdb, ranges
+import ../storage_types
+
+type
+  RocksChainDB* = object
+    store: RocksDBInstance
+
+  ChainDB* = RocksChainDB
+
+proc initChainDB*(basePath: string): ChainDB =
+  let
+    dataDir = basePath / "data"
+    backupsDir = basePath / "backups"
+
+  createDir(dataDir)
+  createDir(backupsDir)
+
+  let s = result.store.init(dataDir, backupsDir)
+  if not s.ok: raiseStorageInitError()
+
+proc get*(db: ChainDB, key: DbKey): ByteRange =
+  let s = db.store.getBytes(key.toOpenArray)
+  if not s.ok: raiseKeyReadError(key)
+  return s.value.toRange
+
+proc put*(db: var ChainDB, key: DbKey, value: ByteRange) =
+  let s = db.store.put(key.toOpenArray, value.toOpenArray)
+  if not s.ok: raiseKeyWriteError(key)
+
+proc contains*(db: ChainDB, key: DbKey): bool =
+  let s = db.store.contains(key.toOpenArray)
+  if not s.ok: raiseKeySearchError(key)
+  return s.value
+
+proc del*(db: var ChainDB, key: DbKey) =
+  let s = db.store.del(key.toOpenArray)
+  if not s.ok: raiseKeyDeletionError(key)
+
+proc close*(db: var ChainDB) =
+  db.store.close
+
diff --git a/nimbus/db/backends/sqlite_backend.nim b/nimbus/db/backends/sqlite_backend.nim
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3fba36da3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nimbus/db/backends/sqlite_backend.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+import
+  sqlite3, ranges, ranges/ptr_arith, ../storage_types
+
+type
+  SqliteChainDB* = object
+    store: PSqlite3
+    selectStmt, insertStmt, deleteStmt: PStmt
+
+  ChainDB* = SqliteChainDB
+
+proc initChainDB*(dbPath: string): ChainDB =
+  var s = sqlite3.open(dbPath, result.store)
+  if s != SQLITE_OK:
+    raiseStorageInitError()
+
+  template execQuery(q: string) =
+    var s: Pstmt
+    if prepare_v2(result.store, q, q.len.int32, s, nil) == SQLITE_OK:
+      if step(s) != SQLITE_DONE or finalize(s) != SQLITE_OK:
+        raiseStorageInitError()
+    else:
+      raiseStorageInitError()
+
+  # TODO: check current version and implement schema versioning
+  execQuery "PRAGMA user_version = 1;"
+
+  execQuery """
+    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS trie_nodes(
+       key BLOB PRIMARY KEY,
+       value BLOB
+    );
+  """
+
+  template prepare(q: string): PStmt =
+    var s: Pstmt
+    if prepare_v2(result.store, q, q.len.int32, s, nil) != SQLITE_OK:
+      raiseStorageInitError()
+    s
+
+  result.selectStmt = prepare "SELECT value FROM trie_nodes WHERE key = ?;"
+
+  if sqlite3.libversion_number() < 3024000:
+    result.insertStmt = prepare """
+      INSERT OR REPLACE INTO trie_nodes(key, value) VALUES (?, ?);
+    """
+  else:
+    result.insertStmt = prepare """
+      INSERT INTO trie_nodes(key, value) VALUES (?, ?)
+      ON CONFLICT(key) DO UPDATE SET value = excluded.value;
+    """
+
+  result.deleteStmt = prepare "DELETE FROM trie_nodes WHERE key = ?;"
+
+proc bindBlob(s: Pstmt, n: int, blob: openarray[byte]): int32 =
+  sqlite3.bind_blob(s, n.int32, blob.baseAddr, blob.len.int32, nil)
+
+proc get*(db: ChainDB, key: DbKey): ByteRange =
+  template check(op) =
+    let status = op
+    if status != SQLITE_OK: raiseKeyReadError(key)
+
+  check reset(db.selectStmt)
+  check clearBindings(db.selectStmt)
+  check bindBlob(db.selectStmt, 1, key.toOpenArray)
+
+  case step(db.selectStmt)
+  of SQLITE_ROW:
+    var
+      resStart = columnBlob(db.selectStmt, 0)
+      resLen   = columnBytes(db.selectStmt, 0)
+      resSeq   = newSeq[byte](resLen)
+    copyMem(resSeq.baseAddr, resStart, resLen)
+    return resSeq.toRange
+  of SQLITE_DONE:
+    return ByteRange()
+  else: raiseKeySearchError(key)
+
+proc put*(db: var ChainDB, key: DbKey, value: ByteRange) =
+  template check(op) =
+    let status = op
+    if status != SQLITE_OK: raiseKeyWriteError(key)
+
+  check reset(db.insertStmt)
+  check clearBindings(db.insertStmt)
+  check bindBlob(db.insertStmt, 1, key.toOpenArray)
+  check bindBlob(db.insertStmt, 2, value.toOpenArray)
+
+  if step(db.insertStmt) != SQLITE_DONE:
+    raiseKeyWriteError(key)
+
+proc contains*(db: ChainDB, key: DbKey): bool =
+  template check(op) =
+    let status = op
+    if status != SQLITE_OK: raiseKeySearchError(key)
+
+  check reset(db.selectStmt)
+  check clearBindings(db.selectStmt)
+  check bindBlob(db.selectStmt, 1, key.toOpenArray)
+
+  case step(db.selectStmt)
+  of SQLITE_ROW: result = true
+  of SQLITE_DONE: result = false
+  else: raiseKeySearchError(key)
+
+proc del*(db: var ChainDB, key: DbKey) =
+  template check(op) =
+    let status = op
+    if status != SQLITE_OK: raiseKeyDeletionError(key)
+
+  check reset(db.deleteStmt)
+  check clearBindings(db.deleteStmt)
+  check bindBlob(db.deleteStmt, 1, key.toOpenArray)
+
+  if step(db.deleteStmt) != SQLITE_DONE:
+    raiseKeyDeletionError(key)
+
+proc close*(db: var ChainDB) =
+  discard sqlite3.close(db.store)
+  reset(db)
+
diff --git a/nimbus/db/db_chain.nim b/nimbus/db/db_chain.nim
index 9d732d346..f314afbd9 100644
--- a/nimbus/db/db_chain.nim
+++ b/nimbus/db/db_chain.nim
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 # at your option. This file may not be copied, modified, or distributed except according to those terms.
 
 import stint, tables, sequtils, algorithm, rlp, ranges, state_db, nimcrypto,
-  backends / memory_backend,
-  ../errors, ../block_types, ../utils/header, ../constants, eth_common, byteutils
+  ../errors, ../block_types, ../utils/header, ../constants, eth_common, byteutils,
+  ./storage_types.nim, backends/memory_backend
 
 type
   BaseChainDB* = ref object
@@ -36,13 +36,11 @@ proc getBlockHeaderByHash*(self: BaseChainDB; blockHash: Hash256): BlockHeader =
   ##         Returns the requested block header as specified by block hash.
   ##
   ##         Raises BlockNotFound if it is not present in the db.
-  var blk: seq[byte]
   try:
-    blk = self.db.get(genericHashKey(blockHash))
+    let blk = self.db.get(genericHashKey(blockHash))
+    return decode(blk, BlockHeader)
   except KeyError:
     raise newException(BlockNotFound, "No block with hash " & blockHash.data.toHex)
-  let rng = blk.toRange
-  return decode(rng, BlockHeader)
 
 proc getHash(self: BaseChainDB, key: DbKey): Hash256 {.inline.} =
   rlp.decode(self.db.get(key).toRange, Hash256)
@@ -88,7 +86,7 @@ iterator findNewAncestors(self: BaseChainDB; header: BlockHeader): BlockHeader =
       h = self.getBlockHeaderByHash(h.parentHash)
 
 proc addBlockNumberToHashLookup(self: BaseChainDB; header: BlockHeader) =
-  self.db.set(blockNumberToHashKey(header.blockNumber), rlp.encode(header.hash).toSeq())
+  self.db.set(blockNumberToHashKey(header.blockNumber), rlp.encode(header.hash))
 
 iterator getBlockTransactionHashes(self: BaseChainDB, blockHeader: BlockHeader): Hash256 =
   ## Returns an iterable of the transaction hashes from th block specified
@@ -127,7 +125,7 @@ proc setAsCanonicalChainHead(self: BaseChainDB; headerHash: Hash256): seq[BlockH
   for h in newCanonicalHeaders:
     self.addBlockNumberToHashLookup(h)
 
-  self.db.set(canonicalHeadHashKey(), rlp.encode(header.hash).toSeq())
+  self.db.set(canonicalHeadHashKey(), rlp.encode(header.hash))
   return newCanonicalHeaders
 
 proc headerExists*(self: BaseChainDB; blockHash: Hash256): bool =
@@ -168,10 +166,10 @@ proc persistHeaderToDb*(self: BaseChainDB; header: BlockHeader): seq[BlockHeader
   if not isGenesis and not self.headerExists(header.parentHash):
     raise newException(ParentNotFound, "Cannot persist block header " &
         $header.hash & " with unknown parent " & $header.parentHash)
-  self.db.set(genericHashKey(header.hash), rlp.encode(header).toSeq())
+  self.db.set(genericHashKey(header.hash), rlp.encode(header))
   let score = if isGenesis: header.difficulty
               else: self.getScore(header.parentHash).u256 + header.difficulty
-  self.db.set(blockHashToScoreKey(header.hash), rlp.encode(score).toSeq())
+  self.db.set(blockHashToScoreKey(header.hash), rlp.encode(score))
   var headScore: int
   try:
     headScore = self.getScore(self.getCanonicalHead().hash)
@@ -185,14 +183,14 @@ proc persistHeaderToDb*(self: BaseChainDB; header: BlockHeader): seq[BlockHeader
 proc addTransactionToCanonicalChain(self: BaseChainDB, txHash: Hash256,
     blockHeader: BlockHeader, index: int) =
   let k: TransactionKey = (blockHeader.blockNumber, index)
-  self.db.set(transactionHashToBlockKey(txHash), rlp.encode(k).toSeq())
+  self.db.set(transactionHashToBlockKey(txHash), rlp.encode(k))
 
 proc persistUncles*(self: BaseChainDB, uncles: openarray[BlockHeader]): Hash256 =
   ## Persists the list of uncles to the database.
   ## Returns the uncles hash.
   let enc = rlp.encode(uncles)
   result = keccak256.digest(enc.toOpenArray())
-  self.db.set(genericHashKey(result), enc.toSeq())
+  self.db.set(genericHashKey(result), enc)
 
 proc persistBlockToDb*(self: BaseChainDB; blk: Block) =
   ## Persist the given block's header and uncles.
diff --git a/nimbus/db/storage_types.nim b/nimbus/db/storage_types.nim
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3783e6bdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nimbus/db/storage_types.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+import
+  hashes, eth_common
+
+type
+  DBKeyKind* = enum
+    genericHash
+    blockNumberToHash
+    blockHashToScore
+    transactionHashToBlock
+    canonicalHeadHash
+
+  DbKey* = object
+    # The first byte stores the key type. The rest are key-specific values
+    data: array[33, byte]
+    usedBytes: uint8
+
+  StorageError* = object of Exception
+
+proc genericHashKey*(h: Hash256): DbKey {.inline.} =
+  result.data[0] = byte ord(genericHash)
+  result.data[1 .. 32] = h.data
+  result.usedBytes = uint8 32
+
+proc blockHashToScoreKey*(h: Hash256): DbKey {.inline.} =
+  result.data[0] = byte ord(blockHashToScore)
+  result.data[1 .. 32] = h.data
+  result.usedBytes = uint8 32
+
+proc transactionHashToBlockKey*(h: Hash256): DbKey {.inline.} =
+  result.data[0] = byte ord(transactionHashToBlock)
+  result.data[1 .. 32] = h.data
+  result.usedBytes = uint8 32
+
+proc blockNumberToHashKey*(u: BlockNumber): DbKey {.inline.} =
+  result.data[0] = byte ord(blockNumberToHash)
+  assert sizeof(u) <= 32
+  copyMem(addr result.data[1], unsafeAddr u, sizeof(u))
+  result.usedBytes = uint8 sizeof(u)
+
+proc canonicalHeadHashKey*(): DbKey {.inline.} =
+  result.data[0] = byte ord(canonicalHeadHash)
+  result.usedBytes = 32
+
+const hashHolderKinds = {genericHash, blockHashToScore, transactionHashToBlock}
+
+template toOpenArray*(k: DbKey): openarray[byte] =
+  k.data.toOpenArray(0, int k.usedBytes)
+
+proc hash*(k: DbKey): Hash =
+  result = hash(k.toOpenArray)
+
+proc `==`*(a, b: DbKey): bool {.inline.} =
+  equalMem(unsafeAddr a, unsafeAddr b, sizeof(a))
+
+template raiseStorageInitError* =
+  raise newException(StorageError, "failure to initialize storage")
+
+template raiseKeyReadError*(key: auto) =
+  raise newException(StorageError, "failed to read key " & $key)
+
+template raiseKeyWriteError*(key: auto) =
+  raise newException(StorageError, "failed to write key " & $key)
+
+template raiseKeySearchError*(key: auto) =
+  raise newException(StorageError, "failure during search for key " & $key)
+
+template raiseKeyDeletionError*(key: auto) =
+  raise newException(StorageError, "failure to delete key " & $key)
+
diff --git a/tests/all_tests.nim b/tests/all_tests.nim
index 514013e21..461037de7 100644
--- a/tests/all_tests.nim
+++ b/tests/all_tests.nim
@@ -9,5 +9,6 @@ import  ./test_code_stream,
         ./test_gas_meter,
         ./test_memory,
         ./test_stack,
-        ./test_opcode
+        ./test_opcode,
+        ./test_storage_backends
         # ./test_vm_json
diff --git a/tests/test_storage_backends.nim b/tests/test_storage_backends.nim
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e8de17b66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_storage_backends.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import
+  unittest, macros,
+  nimcrypto/[keccak, hash], ranges, eth_common/eth_types,
+  ../nimbus/db/[storage_types],
+  ../nimbus/db/backends/[sqlite_backend, rocksdb_backend]
+
+template dummyInstance(T: type SqliteChainDB): auto =
+  sqlite_backend.initChainDB ":memory:"
+
+template dummyInstance(T: type RocksChainDB): auto =
+  rocksdb_backend.initChainDB "/tmp/nimbus-test-db"
+
+template backendTests(DB) =
+  suite("storage tests: " & astToStr(DB)):
+    setup:
+      var db = dummyInstance(DB)
+
+    teardown:
+      close(db)
+
+    test "basic insertions and deletions":
+      var keyA = genericHashKey(keccak256.digest("A"))
+      var keyB = blockNumberToHashKey(100.toBlockNumber)
+      var value1 = @[1.byte, 2, 3, 4, 5].toRange
+      var value2 = @[7.byte, 8, 9, 10].toRange
+
+      db.put(keyA, value1)
+
+      check:
+        keyA in db
+        keyB notin db
+
+      db.put(keyB, value2)
+
+      check:
+        keyA in db
+        keyB in db
+
+      check:
+        db.get(keyA) == value1
+        db.get(keyB) == value2
+
+      db.del(keyA)
+      db.put(keyB, value1)
+
+      check:
+        keyA notin db
+        keyB in db
+
+      check db.get(keyB) == value1
+      db.del(keyA)
+
+backendTests(RocksChainDB)
+backendTests(SqliteChainDB)
+