diff --git a/OpenSim/Data/Tests/BasicDataServiceTest.cs b/OpenSim/Data/Tests/BasicDataServiceTest.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..82f29d6a02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/OpenSim/Data/Tests/BasicDataServiceTest.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,171 @@
+using System;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using log4net.Config;
+using NUnit.Framework;
+using NUnit.Framework.Constraints;
+using OpenMetaverse;
+using OpenSim.Framework;
+using log4net;
+using System.Data;
+using System.Data.Common;
+using System.Reflection;
+
+namespace OpenSim.Data.Tests
+{
+    /// <summary>This is a base class for testing any Data service for any DBMS. 
+    /// Requires NUnit 2.5 or better (to support the generics).
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <typeparam name="TConn"></typeparam>
+    /// <typeparam name="TService"></typeparam>
+    public class BasicDataServiceTest<TConn, TService>
+        where TConn : DbConnection, new()
+        where TService : class, new()
+    {
+        protected string m_connStr;
+        private TService m_service;
+        private string m_file;
+
+        // TODO: Is this in the right place here? 
+        protected static readonly ILog m_log = LogManager.GetLogger(MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod().DeclaringType);
+
+        public BasicDataServiceTest()
+            : this("")
+        { 
+        }
+
+        public BasicDataServiceTest(string conn)
+        {
+            m_connStr = !String.IsNullOrEmpty(conn) ? conn : DefaultTestConns.Get(typeof(TConn));
+
+            OpenSim.Tests.Common.TestLogging.LogToConsole();    // TODO: Is that right?
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// To be overridden in derived classes. Do whatever init with the m_service, like setting the conn string to it.
+        /// You'd probably want to to cast the 'service' to a more specific type and store it in a member var.  
+        /// This framework takes care of disposing it, if it's disposable.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="service">The service being tested</param>
+        protected virtual void InitService(object service)
+        {
+        }
+
+        [TestFixtureSetUp]
+        public void Init()
+        {
+            // Sorry, some SQLite-specific stuff goes here (not a big deal, as its just some file ops)
+            if (typeof(TConn).Name.StartsWith("Sqlite"))
+            {
+                // SQLite doesn't work on power or z linux
+                if (Directory.Exists("/proc/ppc64") || Directory.Exists("/proc/dasd"))
+                    Assert.Ignore();
+
+                // for SQLite, if no explicit conn string is specified, use a temp file
+                if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(m_connStr))
+                {
+                    m_file = Path.GetTempFileName() + ".db";
+                    m_connStr = "URI=file:" + m_file + ",version=3";
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(m_connStr))
+            {
+                string msg = String.Format("Connection string for {0} is not defined, ignoring tests", typeof(TConn).Name);
+                m_log.Error(msg);
+                Assert.Ignore(msg);
+            }
+
+            // If we manage to connect to the database with the user
+            // and password above it is our test database, and run
+            // these tests.  If anything goes wrong, ignore these
+            // tests.
+            try
+            {
+                m_service = new TService();
+                InitService(m_service);
+            }
+            catch (Exception e)
+            {
+                m_log.Error(e.ToString());
+                Assert.Ignore();
+            }
+        }
+
+        [TestFixtureTearDown]
+        public void Cleanup()
+        {
+            if (m_service != null)
+            {
+                if( m_service is IDisposable)
+                    ((IDisposable)m_service).Dispose();
+                m_service = null;
+            }
+
+            if( !String.IsNullOrEmpty(m_file) && File.Exists(m_file) )
+                File.Delete(m_file);
+        }
+
+        protected virtual DbConnection Connect()
+        {
+            DbConnection cnn = new TConn();
+            cnn.ConnectionString = m_connStr;
+            cnn.Open();
+            return cnn;
+        }
+
+        protected virtual void ExecuteSql(string sql)
+        {
+            using (DbConnection dbcon = Connect())
+            {
+                using (DbCommand cmd = dbcon.CreateCommand())
+                {
+                    cmd.CommandText = sql;
+                    cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        protected delegate bool ProcessRow(IDataReader reader);
+
+        protected virtual int ExecQuery(string sql, bool bSingleRow, ProcessRow action)
+        {
+            int nRecs = 0;
+            using (DbConnection dbcon = Connect())
+            {
+                using (DbCommand cmd = dbcon.CreateCommand())
+                {
+                    cmd.CommandText = sql;
+                    CommandBehavior cb = bSingleRow ? CommandBehavior.SingleRow : CommandBehavior.Default;
+                    using (DbDataReader rdr = cmd.ExecuteReader(cb))
+                    {
+                        while (rdr.Read())
+                        {
+                            nRecs++;
+                            if (!action(rdr))
+                                break;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            return nRecs;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>Drop tables (listed as parameters). There is no "DROP IF EXISTS" syntax common for all
+        /// databases, so we just DROP and ignore an exception.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="tables"></param>
+        protected virtual void DropTables(params string[] tables)
+        {
+            foreach (string tbl in tables)
+            {
+                try
+                {
+                    ExecuteSql("DROP TABLE " + tbl + ";");
+                }catch
+                {
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/OpenSim/Data/Tests/DefaultTestConns.cs b/OpenSim/Data/Tests/DefaultTestConns.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7b52af575a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/OpenSim/Data/Tests/DefaultTestConns.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Reflection;
+using System.IO;
+using Nini.Config;
+
+namespace OpenSim.Data.Tests
+{
+    /// <summary>This static class looks for TestDataConnections.ini file in the /bin directory to obtain
+    /// a connection string for testing one of the supported databases.
+    /// The connections must be in the section [TestConnections] with names matching the connection class
+    /// name for the specific database, e.g.:
+    /// 
+    /// [TestConnections]
+    /// MySqlConnection="..."
+    /// SqlConnection="..."
+    /// SqliteConnection="..."
+    /// 
+    /// Note that the conn string may also be set explicitly in the [TestCase()] attribute of test classes
+    /// based on BasicDataServiceTest.cs.
+    /// </summary>
+    
+    static class DefaultTestConns
+    {
+        private static Dictionary<Type, string> conns = new Dictionary<Type, string>();
+
+        public static string Get(Type connType)
+        {
+            string sConn;
+
+            if (conns.TryGetValue(connType, out sConn))
+                return sConn;
+
+            Assembly asm = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
+            string sType = connType.Name;
+
+            // Note: when running from NUnit, the DLL is located in some temp dir, so how do we get 
+            // to the INI file? Ok, so put it into the resources! 
+            // string iniName = Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(asm.Location), "TestDataConnections.ini");
+
+            string[] allres = asm.GetManifestResourceNames();
+            string sResFile = Array.Find(allres, s => s.Contains("TestDataConnections.ini"));
+
+            if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(sResFile))
+                throw new Exception(String.Format("Please add resource TestDataConnections.ini, with section [TestConnections] and settings like {0}=\"...\"",
+                    sType));
+
+            using (Stream resource = asm.GetManifestResourceStream(sResFile))
+            {
+                IConfigSource source = new IniConfigSource(resource);
+                var cfg = source.Configs["TestConnections"];
+                sConn = cfg.Get(sType, "");
+            }
+
+            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(sConn))
+                conns[connType] = sConn;
+
+            return sConn;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/OpenSim/Data/Tests/Resources/TestDataConnections.ini b/OpenSim/Data/Tests/Resources/TestDataConnections.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d149744fd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/OpenSim/Data/Tests/Resources/TestDataConnections.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+; The default connections to the test databases. Used by tests based on  BasicDataServiceTest.cs.
+; Read by code in DefaultTestConns.cs
+
+[TestConnections]
+MySqlConnection="Server=localhost;Port=3306;Database=opensim-nunit;User ID=opensim-nunit;Password=opensim-nunit;"
+;SqlConnection="..."
+;SqliteConnection="..."
\ No newline at end of file