diff --git a/include/Cluster.h b/include/Cluster.h
index 002328bd05..9c4641b7c2 100644
--- a/include/Cluster.h
+++ b/include/Cluster.h
@@ -31,6 +31,23 @@ class Cluster : public PoolObjectSQL
 {
 public:
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the SYSTEM_DS attribute, or the system DS id if it is not defined
+     *
+     * @return the SYSTEM_DS attribute, or the system DS id if it is not defined
+     */
+    int get_ds_id()
+    {
+        int ds_id;
+
+        if ( obj_template->get("SYSTEM_DS", ds_id) == false )
+        {
+            ds_id = DatastorePool::SYSTEM_DS_ID;
+        }
+
+        return ds_id;
+    }
+
     // *************************************************************************
     // Object Collections (Public)
     // *************************************************************************
diff --git a/include/Datastore.h b/include/Datastore.h
index ceaf552fde..1941b02342 100644
--- a/include/Datastore.h
+++ b/include/Datastore.h
@@ -134,6 +134,11 @@ private:
      */
     string base_path;
 
+    /**
+     * 1 if this is a system DS
+     */
+    int    system_ds;
+
     /**
      * Disk types for the Images created in this datastore
      */
diff --git a/src/datastore/Datastore.cc b/src/datastore/Datastore.cc
index 8b40ddc925..96908e63cb 100644
--- a/src/datastore/Datastore.cc
+++ b/src/datastore/Datastore.cc
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 #include "NebulaLog.h"
 #include "Nebula.h"
 
+#define TO_UPPER(S) transform(S.begin(),S.end(),S.begin(),(int(*)(int))toupper)
+
 const char * Datastore::table = "datastore_pool";
 
 const char * Datastore::db_names =
@@ -97,6 +99,7 @@ int Datastore::insert(SqlDB *db, string& error_str)
     int           rc;
     ostringstream oss;
     string        s_disk_type;
+    string        s_system_ds;
 
     Nebula& nd = Nebula::instance();
 
@@ -108,8 +111,22 @@ int Datastore::insert(SqlDB *db, string& error_str)
     // NAME is checked in DatastorePool::allocate
 
     get_template_attribute("DS_MAD", ds_mad);
+    get_template_attribute("SYSTEM", s_system_ds);
 
-    if ( ds_mad.empty() == true )
+    TO_UPPER(s_system_ds);
+
+    system_ds = (s_system_ds == "YES");
+
+    if ( system_ds == 1 )
+    {
+        if ( !ds_mad.empty() )
+        {
+            goto error_exclusive;
+        }
+
+        ds_mad = "-";
+    }
+    else if ( ds_mad.empty() == true )
     {
         goto error_ds;
     }
@@ -152,6 +169,10 @@ int Datastore::insert(SqlDB *db, string& error_str)
 
     return rc;
 
+error_exclusive:
+    error_str = "SYSTEM datastores cannot have DS_MAD defined.";
+    goto error_common;
+
 error_ds:
     error_str = "No DS_MAD in template.";
     goto error_common;
@@ -273,6 +294,7 @@ string& Datastore::to_xml(string& xml) const
         "<DS_MAD>"      << ds_mad       << "</DS_MAD>"      <<
         "<TM_MAD>"      << tm_mad       << "</TM_MAD>"      <<
         "<BASE_PATH>"   << base_path    << "</BASE_PATH>"   <<
+        "<SYSTEM>"      << system_ds    << "</SYSTEM>"      <<
         "<DISK_TYPE>"   << disk_type    << "</DISK_TYPE>"   <<
         "<CLUSTER_ID>"  << cluster_id   << "</CLUSTER_ID>"  <<
         "<CLUSTER>"     << cluster      << "</CLUSTER>"     <<
@@ -307,6 +329,7 @@ int Datastore::from_xml(const string& xml)
     rc += xpath(ds_mad,       "/DATASTORE/DS_MAD",    "not_found");
     rc += xpath(tm_mad,       "/DATASTORE/TM_MAD",    "not_found");
     rc += xpath(base_path,    "/DATASTORE/BASE_PATH", "not_found");
+    rc += xpath(system_ds,    "/DATASTORE/SYSTEM",    -1);
     rc += xpath(int_disk_type,"/DATASTORE/DISK_TYPE", -1);
 
     rc += xpath(cluster_id, "/DATASTORE/CLUSTER_ID", -1);
@@ -354,14 +377,15 @@ int Datastore::from_xml(const string& xml)
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-int Datastore::replace_template(const string& tmpl_str, string& error)
+int Datastore::replace_template(const string& tmpl_str, string& error_str)
 {
     string new_ds_mad;
     string new_tm_mad;
+    string s_system_ds;
 
     int rc;
 
-    rc = PoolObjectSQL::replace_template(tmpl_str, error);
+    rc = PoolObjectSQL::replace_template(tmpl_str, error_str);
 
     if ( rc != 0 )
     {
@@ -369,15 +393,32 @@ int Datastore::replace_template(const string& tmpl_str, string& error)
     }
 
     get_template_attribute("DS_MAD", new_ds_mad);
+    get_template_attribute("SYSTEM", s_system_ds);
+
+    TO_UPPER(s_system_ds);
+
+    if ( !s_system_ds.empty() )
+    {
+        system_ds = (s_system_ds == "YES");
+    }
+
+    if ( system_ds == 1 )
+    {
+        replace_template_attribute("SYSTEM", "YES");
+
+        new_ds_mad = "-";
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        obj_template->erase("SYSTEM");
+    }
 
     if ( !new_ds_mad.empty() )
     {
         ds_mad = new_ds_mad;
     }
-    else
-    {
-        replace_template_attribute("DS_MAD", ds_mad);
-    }
+
+    replace_template_attribute("DS_MAD", ds_mad);
 
     get_template_attribute("TM_MAD", new_tm_mad);
 
diff --git a/src/datastore/DatastorePool.cc b/src/datastore/DatastorePool.cc
index b38318fc04..c8639eca69 100644
--- a/src/datastore/DatastorePool.cc
+++ b/src/datastore/DatastorePool.cc
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ DatastorePool::DatastorePool(SqlDB * db):
         // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
         oss << "NAME      = " << SYSTEM_DS_NAME << endl
-            << "DS_MAD    = -" << endl
+            << "SYSTEM    = YES" << endl
             << "TM_MAD    = shared";
 
         ds_tmpl = new DatastoreTemplate;
diff --git a/src/rm/RequestManagerVirtualMachine.cc b/src/rm/RequestManagerVirtualMachine.cc
index 90ec095ced..cad51340ce 100644
--- a/src/rm/RequestManagerVirtualMachine.cc
+++ b/src/rm/RequestManagerVirtualMachine.cc
@@ -145,8 +145,7 @@ int RequestManagerVirtualMachine::get_host_information(int hid,
         return -1;
     }
 
-    // TODO: ds_id = cluster->get_datastore()
-    ds_id = DatastorePool::SYSTEM_DS_ID;
+    ds_id = cluster->get_ds_id();
 
     cluster->unlock();