diff --git a/ceilometer/api/app.py b/ceilometer/api/app.py
index 49ceacfb0..4aa6fbf6c 100644
--- a/ceilometer/api/app.py
+++ b/ceilometer/api/app.py
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def setup_app(pecan_config=None, extra_hooks=None):
     # FIXME: Replace DBHook with a hooks.TransactionHook
     app_hooks = [hooks.ConfigHook(),
                  hooks.DBHook(
-                     storage.get_connection(cfg.CONF),
+                     storage.get_connection_from_config(cfg.CONF),
                  ),
                  hooks.PipelineHook(),
                  hooks.TranslationHook()]
diff --git a/ceilometer/api/v1/app.py b/ceilometer/api/v1/app.py
index 9c496d937..c76cd444e 100644
--- a/ceilometer/api/v1/app.py
+++ b/ceilometer/api/v1/app.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def make_app(conf, attach_storage=True,
         @app.before_request
         def attach_storage():
             flask.request.storage_conn = \
-                storage.get_connection(conf)
+                storage.get_connection_from_config(conf)
 
     return app
 
diff --git a/ceilometer/cli.py b/ceilometer/cli.py
index 2a24441a2..b4934d883 100644
--- a/ceilometer/cli.py
+++ b/ceilometer/cli.py
@@ -108,14 +108,14 @@ def collector_service():
 
 def storage_dbsync():
     service.prepare_service()
-    storage.get_connection(cfg.CONF).upgrade()
+    storage.get_connection_from_config(cfg.CONF).upgrade()
 
 
 def storage_expirer():
     service.prepare_service()
     if cfg.CONF.database.time_to_live > 0:
         LOG.debug(_("Clearing expired metering data"))
-        storage_conn = storage.get_connection(cfg.CONF)
+        storage_conn = storage.get_connection_from_config(cfg.CONF)
         storage_conn.clear_expired_metering_data(
             cfg.CONF.database.time_to_live)
     else:
diff --git a/ceilometer/dispatcher/database.py b/ceilometer/dispatcher/database.py
index 76fe5c4cb..45382bf35 100644
--- a/ceilometer/dispatcher/database.py
+++ b/ceilometer/dispatcher/database.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class DatabaseDispatcher(dispatcher.Base):
     '''
     def __init__(self, conf):
         super(DatabaseDispatcher, self).__init__(conf)
-        self.storage_conn = storage.get_connection(conf)
+        self.storage_conn = storage.get_connection_from_config(conf)
 
     def record_metering_data(self, data):
         # We may have receive only one counter on the wire
diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/__init__.py b/ceilometer/storage/__init__.py
index afb12370e..c04eeab75 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/__init__.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/__init__.py
@@ -67,24 +67,24 @@ class StorageBadAggregate(Exception):
     code = 400
 
 
-def _get_engine(conf):
-    """Load the configured engine and return an instance."""
+def get_connection_from_config(conf):
     if conf.database_connection:
         conf.set_override('connection', conf.database_connection,
                           group='database')
-    engine_name = urlparse.urlparse(conf.database.connection).scheme
+    return get_connection(conf.database.connection)
+
+
+def get_connection(url):
+    """Return an open connection to the database."""
+    engine_name = urlparse.urlparse(url).scheme
     LOG.debug(_('looking for %(name)r driver in %(namespace)r') % (
               {'name': engine_name,
                'namespace': STORAGE_ENGINE_NAMESPACE}))
     mgr = driver.DriverManager(STORAGE_ENGINE_NAMESPACE,
                                engine_name,
                                invoke_on_load=True)
-    return mgr.driver
 
-
-def get_connection(conf):
-    """Return an open connection to the database."""
-    return _get_engine(conf).get_connection(conf)
+    return mgr.driver.get_connection(url)
 
 
 class SampleFilter(object):
diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/base.py b/ceilometer/storage/base.py
index dd5382af2..0789d53d7 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/base.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/base.py
@@ -111,8 +111,8 @@ class StorageEngine(object):
     """Base class for storage engines."""
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
-    def get_connection(self, conf):
-        """Return a Connection instance based on the configuration settings."""
+    def get_connection(self, url):
+        """Return a Connection instance based on the url."""
 
 
 class Connection(object):
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ class Connection(object):
         'events': {'query': {'simple': False}},
     }
 
-    def __init__(self, conf):
+    def __init__(self, url):
         """Constructor."""
         pass
 
diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/impl_db2.py b/ceilometer/storage/impl_db2.py
index a14ab88fc..3d6f15e6e 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/impl_db2.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/impl_db2.py
@@ -69,10 +69,10 @@ class DB2Storage(base.StorageEngine):
             }
     """
 
-    def get_connection(self, conf):
-        """Return a Connection instance based on the configuration settings.
+    def get_connection(self, url):
+        """Return a Connection instance based on the url.
         """
-        return Connection(conf)
+        return Connection(url)
 
 
 AVAILABLE_CAPABILITIES = {
@@ -114,8 +114,7 @@ class Connection(pymongo_base.Connection):
 
     SECONDS_IN_A_DAY = 86400
 
-    def __init__(self, conf):
-        url = conf.database.connection
+    def __init__(self, url):
 
         # Since we are using pymongo, even though we are connecting to DB2
         # we still have to make sure that the scheme which used to distinguish
diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/impl_hbase.py b/ceilometer/storage/impl_hbase.py
index da579fb1a..e42a8427b 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/impl_hbase.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/impl_hbase.py
@@ -88,10 +88,10 @@ class HBaseStorage(base.StorageEngine):
     """
 
     @staticmethod
-    def get_connection(conf):
+    def get_connection(url):
         """Return a Connection instance based on the configuration settings.
         """
-        return Connection(conf)
+        return Connection(url)
 
 
 AVAILABLE_CAPABILITIES = {
@@ -122,9 +122,9 @@ class Connection(base.Connection):
     ALARM_TABLE = "alarm"
     ALARM_HISTORY_TABLE = "alarm_h"
 
-    def __init__(self, conf):
+    def __init__(self, url):
         """Hbase Connection Initialization."""
-        opts = self._parse_connection_url(conf.database.connection)
+        opts = self._parse_connection_url(url)
 
         if opts['host'] == '__test__':
             url = os.environ.get('CEILOMETER_TEST_HBASE_URL')
diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/impl_log.py b/ceilometer/storage/impl_log.py
index ea621ae30..ecf6c3dda 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/impl_log.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/impl_log.py
@@ -29,10 +29,10 @@ class LogStorage(base.StorageEngine):
     """Log the data
     """
 
-    def get_connection(self, conf):
-        """Return a Connection instance based on the configuration settings.
+    def get_connection(self, url):
+        """Return a Connection instance based on the url.
         """
-        return Connection(conf)
+        return Connection(url)
 
 
 class Connection(base.Connection):
diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/impl_mongodb.py b/ceilometer/storage/impl_mongodb.py
index 83a1eb035..f6db44571 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/impl_mongodb.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/impl_mongodb.py
@@ -76,10 +76,10 @@ class MongoDBStorage(base.StorageEngine):
             }
     """
 
-    def get_connection(self, conf):
-        """Return a Connection instance based on the configuration settings.
+    def get_connection(self, url):
+        """Return a Connection instance based on the url.
         """
-        return Connection(conf)
+        return Connection(url)
 
 
 AVAILABLE_CAPABILITIES = {
@@ -409,8 +409,7 @@ class Connection(pymongo_base.Connection):
     _APOCALYPSE = datetime.datetime(year=datetime.MAXYEAR, month=12, day=31,
                                     hour=23, minute=59, second=59)
 
-    def __init__(self, conf):
-        url = conf.database.connection
+    def __init__(self, url):
 
         # NOTE(jd) Use our own connection pooling on top of the Pymongo one.
         # We need that otherwise we overflow the MongoDB instance with new
diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/impl_sqlalchemy.py b/ceilometer/storage/impl_sqlalchemy.py
index ac4cfb9b4..e1f47a280 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/impl_sqlalchemy.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/impl_sqlalchemy.py
@@ -97,10 +97,10 @@ class SQLAlchemyStorage(base.StorageEngine):
     """
 
     @staticmethod
-    def get_connection(conf):
-        """Return a Connection instance based on the configuration settings.
+    def get_connection(url):
+        """Return a Connection instance based on the url.
         """
-        return Connection(conf)
+        return Connection(url)
 
 
 META_TYPE_MAP = {bool: models.MetaBool,
@@ -242,9 +242,11 @@ class Connection(base.Connection):
     CAPABILITIES = utils.update_nested(base.Connection.CAPABILITIES,
                                        AVAILABLE_CAPABILITIES)
 
-    def __init__(self, conf):
+    def __init__(self, url):
         self._engine_facade = sqlalchemy_session.EngineFacade.from_config(
-            conf.database.connection, cfg.CONF)
+            url,
+            cfg.CONF  # TODO(Alexei_987) Remove access to global CONF object
+        )
 
     def upgrade(self):
         path = os.path.join(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)),
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/db.py b/ceilometer/tests/db.py
index d0a8b2c0a..7e1e36ee0 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/db.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/db.py
@@ -40,15 +40,13 @@ class TestBase(testscenarios.testcase.WithScenarios, test_base.BaseTestCase):
         self.useFixture(self.db_manager)
 
         self.CONF = self.useFixture(config.Config()).conf
-        self.CONF.set_override('connection', self.db_manager.connection,
-                               group='database')
 
         with warnings.catch_warnings():
             warnings.filterwarnings(
                 action='ignore',
                 message='.*you must provide a username and password.*')
             try:
-                self.conn = storage.get_connection(self.CONF)
+                self.conn = storage.get_connection(self.db_manager.connection)
             except storage.StorageBadVersion as e:
                 self.skipTest(six.text_type(e))
         self.conn.upgrade()
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_get_connection.py b/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_get_connection.py
index 83e78cbe6..7cd4bde67 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_get_connection.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_get_connection.py
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@
 """Tests for ceilometer/storage/
 """
 
-import mock
-
 from ceilometer.openstack.common import test
 from ceilometer import storage
 from ceilometer.storage import impl_log
@@ -28,15 +26,11 @@ from ceilometer.storage import impl_log
 class EngineTest(test.BaseTestCase):
 
     def test_get_connection(self):
-        conf = mock.Mock()
-        conf.database.connection = 'log://localhost'
-        engine = storage.get_connection(conf)
+        engine = storage.get_connection('log://localhost')
         self.assertIsInstance(engine, impl_log.Connection)
 
     def test_get_connection_no_such_engine(self):
-        conf = mock.Mock()
-        conf.database.connection = 'no-such-engine://localhost'
         try:
-            storage.get_connection(conf)
+            storage.get_connection('no-such-engine://localhost')
         except RuntimeError as err:
             self.assertIn('no-such-engine', unicode(err))
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_impl_hbase.py b/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_impl_hbase.py
index 12113b195..35aba93e9 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_impl_hbase.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_impl_hbase.py
@@ -38,8 +38,7 @@ class HBaseEngineTestBase(tests_db.TestBase):
 class ConnectionTest(HBaseEngineTestBase):
 
     def test_hbase_connection(self):
-        self.CONF.database.connection = self.db_manager.connection
-        conn = hbase.Connection(self.CONF)
+        conn = hbase.Connection(self.db_manager.connection)
         self.assertIsInstance(conn.conn_pool.connection(), hbase.MConnection)
 
         class TestConn(object):
@@ -52,10 +51,9 @@ class ConnectionTest(HBaseEngineTestBase):
         def get_connection_pool(conf):
             return TestConn(conf['host'], conf['port'])
 
-        self.CONF.database.connection = 'hbase://test_hbase:9090'
         with patch.object(hbase.Connection, '_get_connection_pool',
                           side_effect=get_connection_pool):
-            conn = hbase.Connection(self.CONF)
+            conn = hbase.Connection('hbase://test_hbase:9090')
         self.assertIsInstance(conn.conn_pool, TestConn)
 
 
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_impl_mongodb.py b/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_impl_mongodb.py
index a7be1ac35..a9e6ddc8e 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_impl_mongodb.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_impl_mongodb.py
@@ -37,15 +37,12 @@ class MongoDBEngineTestBase(tests_db.TestBase):
 
 class MongoDBConnection(MongoDBEngineTestBase):
     def test_connection_pooling(self):
-        self.assertEqual(self.conn.conn,
-                         impl_mongodb.Connection(self.CONF).conn)
+        test_conn = impl_mongodb.Connection(self.db_manager.connection)
+        self.assertEqual(self.conn.conn, test_conn.conn)
 
     def test_replica_set(self):
-        self.CONF.set_override(
-            'connection',
-            self.db_manager.connection + '?replicaSet=foobar',
-            group='database')
-        conn = impl_mongodb.Connection(self.CONF)
+        url = self.db_manager.connection + '?replicaSet=foobar'
+        conn = impl_mongodb.Connection(url)
         self.assertTrue(conn.conn)
 
     def test_recurse_sort_keys(self):
diff --git a/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_storage_scenarios.py b/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_storage_scenarios.py
index 6473e5213..8ba878622 100644
--- a/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_storage_scenarios.py
+++ b/ceilometer/tests/storage/test_storage_scenarios.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ from ceilometer.publisher import utils
 from ceilometer import sample
 from ceilometer import storage
 from ceilometer.storage import base
+from ceilometer.storage import impl_mongodb as mongodb
 from ceilometer.storage import models
 from ceilometer.tests import db as tests_db
 
@@ -655,7 +656,7 @@ class RawSampleTest(DBTestBase,
     def test_clear_metering_data(self):
         # NOTE(jd) Override this test in MongoDB because our code doesn't clear
         # the collections, this is handled by MongoDB TTL feature.
-        if self.CONF.database.connection.startswith('mongodb://'):
+        if isinstance(self.conn, mongodb.Connection):
             return
 
         self.mock_utcnow.return_value = datetime.datetime(2012, 7, 2, 10, 45)
@@ -673,7 +674,7 @@ class RawSampleTest(DBTestBase,
     def test_clear_metering_data_no_data_to_remove(self):
         # NOTE(jd) Override this test in MongoDB because our code doesn't clear
         # the collections, this is handled by MongoDB TTL feature.
-        if self.CONF.database.connection.startswith('mongodb://'):
+        if isinstance(self.conn, mongodb.Connection):
             return
 
         self.mock_utcnow.return_value = datetime.datetime(2010, 7, 2, 10, 45)
@@ -691,7 +692,7 @@ class RawSampleTest(DBTestBase,
     def test_clear_metering_data_with_alarms(self):
         # NOTE(jd) Override this test in MongoDB because our code doesn't clear
         # the collections, this is handled by MongoDB TTL feature.
-        if self.CONF.database.connection.startswith('mongodb://'):
+        if isinstance(self.conn, mongodb.Connection):
             return
 
         alarm = models.Alarm(alarm_id='r3d',