diff --git a/cloud/bmaas/bmdb/connection.go b/cloud/bmaas/bmdb/connection.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3db869d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cloud/bmaas/bmdb/connection.go
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package bmdb
+
+import (
+	"database/sql"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
+
+	"source.monogon.dev/cloud/bmaas/bmdb/model"
+)
+
+// Open creates a new Connection to the BMDB for the calling component. Multiple
+// connections can be opened (although there is no advantage to doing so, as
+// Connections manage an underlying CockroachDB connection pool, which performs
+// required reconnects and connection pooling automatically).
+func (b *BMDB) Open(migrate bool) (*Connection, error) {
+	if migrate {
+		if b.Config.Database.Migrations == nil {
+			klog.Infof("Using default migrations source.")
+			m, err := model.MigrationsSource()
+			if err != nil {
+				klog.Exitf("failed to prepare migrations source: %w", err)
+			}
+			b.Config.Database.Migrations = m
+		}
+		if err := b.Database.MigrateUp(); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("migration failed: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+	db, err := b.Database.Connect()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &Connection{
+		bmdb: b,
+		db:   db,
+
+		DatabaseName: b.Config.Database.DatabaseName,
+		Address:      b.Config.Database.EndpointHost,
+		InMemory:     b.Config.Database.InMemory,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// Connection to the BMDB. Internally, this contains a sql.DB connection pool,
+// so components can (and likely should) reuse Connections as much as possible
+// internally.
+type Connection struct {
+	bmdb *BMDB
+	db   *sql.DB
+
+	// The database name that we're connected to.
+	DatabaseName string
+	// The address of the CockroachDB endpoint we've connected to.
+	Address string
+	// Whether this connection is to an in-memory database. Note: this only works if
+	// this Connection came directly from calling Open on a BMDB that was defined to
+	// be in-memory. If you just connect to an in-memory CRDB manually, this will
+	// still be false.
+	InMemory bool
+}