diff --git a/grpcdb/doc.go b/grpcdb/doc.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a54cab207
--- /dev/null
+++ b/grpcdb/doc.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/*
+grpcdb is the distribution of Tendermint's db.DB instances using
+the gRPC transport to decouple local db.DB usages from applications,
+to using them over a network in a highly performant manner.
+
+grpcdb allows users to initialize a database's server like
+they would locally and invoke the respective methods of db.DB.
+
+Most users shouldn't use this package, but should instead use
+remotedb. Only the lower level users and database server deployers
+should use it, for functionality such as:
+
+	ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", "0.0.0.0:0")
+	srv := grpcdb.NewServer()
+	defer srv.Stop()
+	go func() {
+		if err := srv.Serve(ln); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("BindServer: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+or
+	addr := ":8998"
+	go func() {
+		if err := grpcdb.ListenAndServe(addr); err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("BindServer: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+*/
+package grpcdb
diff --git a/grpcdb/example_test.go b/grpcdb/example_test.go
index 451428b97..cbe1abf92 100644
--- a/grpcdb/example_test.go
+++ b/grpcdb/example_test.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 func Example() {
 	addr := ":8998"
 	go func() {
-		if err := grpcdb.BindServer(addr); err != nil {
+		if err := grpcdb.ListenAndServe(addr); err != nil {
 			log.Fatalf("BindServer: %v", err)
 		}
 	}()
diff --git a/grpcdb/server.go b/grpcdb/server.go
index c4d115bd7..301f43f23 100644
--- a/grpcdb/server.go
+++ b/grpcdb/server.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package grpcdb
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"log"
 	"net"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
@@ -13,17 +12,22 @@ import (
 	protodb "github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/proto"
 )
 
-// BindServer is a blocking function that sets up a gRPC based
+// ListenAndServe is a blocking function that sets up a gRPC based
 // server at the address supplied, with the gRPC options passed in.
 // Normally in usage, invoke it in a goroutine like you would for http.ListenAndServe.
-func BindServer(addr string, opts ...grpc.ServerOption) error {
+func ListenAndServe(addr string, opts ...grpc.ServerOption) error {
 	ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", addr)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	srv := NewServer(opts...)
+	return srv.Serve(ln)
+}
+
+func NewServer(opts ...grpc.ServerOption) *grpc.Server {
 	srv := grpc.NewServer(opts...)
 	protodb.RegisterDBServer(srv, new(server))
-	return srv.Serve(ln)
+	return srv
 }
 
 type server struct {
@@ -50,7 +54,6 @@ func (s *server) Init(ctx context.Context, in *protodb.Init) (*protodb.Entity, e
 	s.mu.Lock()
 	defer s.mu.Unlock()
 
-	log.Printf("in: %+v\n", in)
 	s.db = db.NewDB(in.Name, db.DBBackendType(in.Type), in.Dir)
 	return &protodb.Entity{TimeAt: time.Now().Unix()}, nil
 }
diff --git a/remotedb/doc.go b/remotedb/doc.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..07c95a56a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/remotedb/doc.go
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*
+remotedb is a package for connecting to distributed Tendermint db.DB
+instances. The purpose is to detach difficult deployments such as
+CLevelDB that requires gcc or perhaps for databases that require
+custom configurations such as extra disk space. It also eases
+the burden and cost of deployment of dependencies for databases
+to be used by Tendermint developers. Most importantly it is built
+over the high performant gRPC transport.
+
+remotedb's RemoteDB implements db.DB so can be used normally
+like other databases. One just has to explicitly connect to the
+remote database with a client setup such as:
+
+	client, err := remotedb.NewInsecure(addr)
+	// Make sure to invoke InitRemote!
+	if err := client.InitRemote(&remotedb.Init{Name: "test-remote-db", Type: "leveldb"}); err != nil {
+	    log.Fatalf("Failed to initialize the remote db")
+	}
+
+	client.Set(key1, value)
+	gv1 := client.SetSync(k2, v2)
+
+	client.Delete(k1)
+	gv2 := client.Get(k1)
+
+	for itr := client.Iterator(k1, k9); itr.Valid(); itr.Next() {
+	    ik, iv := itr.Key(), itr.Value()
+	    ds, de := itr.Domain()
+	}
+
+	stats := client.Stats()
+
+	if !client.Has(dk1) {
+	      client.SetSync(dk1, dv1)
+	}
+*/
+package remotedb
diff --git a/remotedb/remotedb.go b/remotedb/remotedb.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a110e816c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/remotedb/remotedb.go
@@ -0,0 +1,226 @@
+package remotedb
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/db"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/grpcdb"
+	protodb "github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/proto"
+)
+
+type RemoteDB struct {
+	ctx context.Context
+	dc  protodb.DBClient
+}
+
+func NewSecure(serverAddr string) (*RemoteDB, error) {
+	return newRemoteDB(grpcdb.NewClient(serverAddr, grpcdb.Secure))
+}
+
+func NewInsecure(serverAddr string) (*RemoteDB, error) {
+	return newRemoteDB(grpcdb.NewClient(serverAddr, grpcdb.Insecure))
+}
+
+func newRemoteDB(gdc protodb.DBClient, err error) (*RemoteDB, error) {
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &RemoteDB{dc: gdc, ctx: context.Background()}, nil
+}
+
+type Init struct {
+	Dir  string
+	Name string
+	Type string
+}
+
+func (rd *RemoteDB) InitRemote(in *Init) error {
+	_, err := rd.dc.Init(rd.ctx, &protodb.Init{Dir: in.Dir, Type: in.Type, Name: in.Name})
+	return err
+}
+
+var _ db.DB = (*RemoteDB)(nil)
+
+// Close is a noop currently
+func (rd *RemoteDB) Close() {
+}
+
+func (rd *RemoteDB) Delete(key []byte) {
+	if _, err := rd.dc.Delete(rd.ctx, &protodb.Entity{Key: key}); err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.Delete: %v", err))
+	}
+}
+
+func (rd *RemoteDB) DeleteSync(key []byte) {
+	if _, err := rd.dc.DeleteSync(rd.ctx, &protodb.Entity{Key: key}); err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.DeleteSync: %v", err))
+	}
+}
+
+func (rd *RemoteDB) Set(key, value []byte) {
+	if _, err := rd.dc.Set(rd.ctx, &protodb.Entity{Key: key, Value: value}); err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.Set: %v", err))
+	}
+}
+
+func (rd *RemoteDB) SetSync(key, value []byte) {
+	if _, err := rd.dc.SetSync(rd.ctx, &protodb.Entity{Key: key, Value: value}); err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.SetSync: %v", err))
+	}
+}
+
+func (rd *RemoteDB) Get(key []byte) []byte {
+	res, err := rd.dc.Get(rd.ctx, &protodb.Entity{Key: key})
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.Get error: %v", err))
+	}
+	return res.Value
+}
+
+func (rd *RemoteDB) Has(key []byte) bool {
+	res, err := rd.dc.Has(rd.ctx, &protodb.Entity{Key: key})
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.Has error: %v", err))
+	}
+	return res.Exists
+}
+
+func (rd *RemoteDB) ReverseIterator(start, end []byte) db.Iterator {
+	dic, err := rd.dc.ReverseIterator(rd.ctx, &protodb.Entity{Start: start, End: end})
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.Iterator error: %v", err))
+	}
+	return makeReverseIterator(dic)
+}
+
+// TODO: Implement NewBatch
+func (rd *RemoteDB) NewBatch() db.Batch {
+	panic("Unimplemented")
+}
+
+// TODO: Implement Print when db.DB implements a method
+// to print to a string and not db.Print to stdout.
+func (rd *RemoteDB) Print() {
+	panic("Unimplemented")
+}
+
+func (rd *RemoteDB) Stats() map[string]string {
+	stats, err := rd.dc.Stats(rd.ctx, &protodb.Nothing{})
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.Stats error: %v", err))
+	}
+	if stats == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return stats.Data
+}
+
+func (rd *RemoteDB) Iterator(start, end []byte) db.Iterator {
+	dic, err := rd.dc.Iterator(rd.ctx, &protodb.Entity{Start: start, End: end})
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.Iterator error: %v", err))
+	}
+	return makeIterator(dic)
+}
+
+func makeIterator(dic protodb.DB_IteratorClient) db.Iterator {
+	return &iterator{dic: dic}
+}
+
+func makeReverseIterator(dric protodb.DB_ReverseIteratorClient) db.Iterator {
+	return &reverseIterator{dric: dric}
+}
+
+type reverseIterator struct {
+	dric protodb.DB_ReverseIteratorClient
+	cur  *protodb.Iterator
+}
+
+var _ db.Iterator = (*iterator)(nil)
+
+func (rItr *reverseIterator) Valid() bool {
+	return rItr.cur != nil && rItr.cur.Valid
+}
+
+func (rItr *reverseIterator) Domain() (start, end []byte) {
+	if rItr.cur == nil || rItr.cur.Domain == nil {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	return rItr.cur.Domain.Start, rItr.cur.Domain.End
+}
+
+// Next advances the current reverseIterator
+func (rItr *reverseIterator) Next() {
+	var err error
+	rItr.cur, err = rItr.dric.Recv()
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.ReverseIterator.Next error: %v", err))
+	}
+}
+
+func (rItr *reverseIterator) Key() []byte {
+	if rItr.cur == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return rItr.cur.Key
+}
+
+func (rItr *reverseIterator) Value() []byte {
+	if rItr.cur == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return rItr.cur.Value
+}
+
+func (rItr *reverseIterator) Close() {
+}
+
+// iterator implements the db.Iterator by retrieving
+// streamed iterators from the remote backend as
+// needed. It is NOT safe for concurrent usage,
+// matching the behavior of other iterators.
+type iterator struct {
+	dic protodb.DB_IteratorClient
+	cur *protodb.Iterator
+}
+
+var _ db.Iterator = (*iterator)(nil)
+
+func (itr *iterator) Valid() bool {
+	return itr.cur != nil && itr.cur.Valid
+}
+
+func (itr *iterator) Domain() (start, end []byte) {
+	if itr.cur == nil || itr.cur.Domain == nil {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	return itr.cur.Domain.Start, itr.cur.Domain.End
+}
+
+// Next advances the current iterator
+func (itr *iterator) Next() {
+	var err error
+	itr.cur, err = itr.dic.Recv()
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("RemoteDB.Iterator.Next error: %v", err))
+	}
+}
+
+func (itr *iterator) Key() []byte {
+	if itr.cur == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return itr.cur.Key
+}
+
+func (itr *iterator) Value() []byte {
+	if itr.cur == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return itr.cur.Value
+}
+
+func (itr *iterator) Close() {
+	// TODO: Shut down the iterator
+}
diff --git a/remotedb/remotedb_test.go b/remotedb/remotedb_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..37ce0c59a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/remotedb/remotedb_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+package remotedb_test
+
+import (
+	"net"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	"github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/grpcdb"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/remotedb"
+)
+
+func TestRemoteDB(t *testing.T) {
+	ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", "0.0.0.0:0")
+	require.Nil(t, err, "expecting a port to have been assigned on which we can listen")
+	srv := grpcdb.NewServer()
+	defer srv.Stop()
+	go func() {
+		if err := srv.Serve(ln); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("BindServer: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	client, err := remotedb.NewInsecure(ln.Addr().String())
+	require.Nil(t, err, "expecting a successful client creation")
+	require.Nil(t, client.InitRemote(&remotedb.Init{Name: "test-remote-db", Type: "leveldb"}))
+
+	k1 := []byte("key-1")
+	v1 := client.Get(k1)
+	require.Equal(t, 0, len(v1), "expecting no key1 to have been stored")
+	vv1 := []byte("value-1")
+	client.Set(k1, vv1)
+	gv1 := client.Get(k1)
+	require.Equal(t, gv1, vv1)
+
+	// Deletion
+	client.Delete(k1)
+	gv2 := client.Get(k1)
+	require.Equal(t, len(gv2), 0, "after deletion, not expecting the key to exist anymore")
+	require.NotEqual(t, len(gv1), len(gv2), "after deletion, not expecting the key to exist anymore")
+}