diff --git a/backend/config.go b/backend/config.go
index 91c9f165c..2be1657f4 100644
--- a/backend/config.go
+++ b/backend/config.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package backend
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -12,8 +13,13 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	AppURL               = "GF_APP_URL"
-	ConcurrentQueryCount = "GF_CONCURRENT_QUERY_COUNT"
+	AppURL                           = "GF_APP_URL"
+	ConcurrentQueryCount             = "GF_CONCURRENT_QUERY_COUNT"
+	UserFacingDefaultError           = "GF_USER_FACING_DEFAULT_ERROR"
+	SQLRowLimit                      = "GF_SQL_ROW_LIMIT"
+	SQLMaxOpenConnsDefault           = "GF_SQL_MAX_OPEN_CONNS_DEFAULT"
+	SQLMaxIdleConnsDefault           = "GF_SQL_MAX_IDLE_CONNS_DEFAULT"
+	SQLMaxConnLifetimeSecondsDefault = "GF_SQL_MAX_CONN_LIFETIME_SECONDS_DEFAULT"
 )
 
 type configKey struct{}
@@ -151,6 +157,74 @@ func (c *GrafanaCfg) ConcurrentQueryCount() (int, error) {
 	return i, nil
 }
 
+type SQLConfig struct {
+	RowLimit                      int64
+	DefaultMaxOpenConns           int
+	DefaultMaxIdleConns           int
+	DefaultMaxConnLifetimeSeconds int
+}
+
+func (c *GrafanaCfg) SQL() (SQLConfig, error) {
+	// max open connections
+	maxOpenString, ok := c.config[SQLMaxOpenConnsDefault]
+	if !ok {
+		return SQLConfig{}, errors.New("SQLDatasourceMaxOpenConnsDefault not set in config")
+	}
+
+	maxOpen, err := strconv.Atoi(maxOpenString)
+	if err != nil {
+		return SQLConfig{}, errors.New("SQLDatasourceMaxOpenConnsDefault config value is not a valid integer")
+	}
+
+	// max idle connections
+	maxIdleString, ok := c.config[SQLMaxIdleConnsDefault]
+	if !ok {
+		return SQLConfig{}, errors.New("SQLDatasourceMaxIdleConnsDefault not set in config")
+	}
+
+	maxIdle, err := strconv.Atoi(maxIdleString)
+	if err != nil {
+		return SQLConfig{}, errors.New("SQLDatasourceMaxIdleConnsDefault config value is not a valid integer")
+	}
+
+	// max connection lifetime
+	maxLifeString, ok := c.config[SQLMaxConnLifetimeSecondsDefault]
+	if !ok {
+		return SQLConfig{}, errors.New("SQLDatasourceMaxConnLifetimeDefault not set in config")
+	}
+
+	maxLife, err := strconv.Atoi(maxLifeString)
+	if err != nil {
+		return SQLConfig{}, errors.New("SQLDatasourceMaxConnLifetimeDefault config value is not a valid integer")
+	}
+
+	rowLimitString, ok := c.config[SQLRowLimit]
+	if !ok {
+		return SQLConfig{}, errors.New("RowLimit not set in config")
+	}
+
+	rowLimit, err := strconv.ParseInt(rowLimitString, 10, 64)
+	if err != nil {
+		return SQLConfig{}, errors.New("RowLimit in config is not a valid integer")
+	}
+
+	return SQLConfig{
+		RowLimit:                      rowLimit,
+		DefaultMaxOpenConns:           maxOpen,
+		DefaultMaxIdleConns:           maxIdle,
+		DefaultMaxConnLifetimeSeconds: maxLife,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func (c *GrafanaCfg) UserFacingDefaultError() (string, error) {
+	value, ok := c.config[UserFacingDefaultError]
+	if !ok {
+		return "", errors.New("UserFacingDefaultError not set in config")
+	}
+
+	return value, nil
+}
+
 type userAgentKey struct{}
 
 // UserAgentFromContext returns user agent from context.
diff --git a/backend/config_test.go b/backend/config_test.go
index cbcda5c98..6312ab4e2 100644
--- a/backend/config_test.go
+++ b/backend/config_test.go
@@ -184,3 +184,117 @@ func TestUserAgentFromContext_NoUserAgent(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, "0.0.0", result.GrafanaVersion())
 	require.Equal(t, "Grafana/0.0.0 (unknown; unknown)", result.String())
 }
+
+func TestUserFacingDefaultError(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("it should return the configured default error message", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cfg := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{
+			UserFacingDefaultError: "something failed",
+		})
+		v, err := cfg.UserFacingDefaultError()
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, "something failed", v)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("it should return an error if the default error message is missing", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cfg := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{})
+		_, err := cfg.UserFacingDefaultError()
+		require.Error(t, err)
+	})
+}
+
+func TestSql(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("it should return the configured sql default values", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cfg := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{
+			SQLRowLimit:                      "5",
+			SQLMaxOpenConnsDefault:           "11",
+			SQLMaxIdleConnsDefault:           "22",
+			SQLMaxConnLifetimeSecondsDefault: "33",
+		})
+		v, err := cfg.SQL()
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, int64(5), v.RowLimit)
+		require.Equal(t, 11, v.DefaultMaxOpenConns)
+		require.Equal(t, 22, v.DefaultMaxIdleConns)
+		require.Equal(t, 33, v.DefaultMaxConnLifetimeSeconds)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("it should return an error if any of the defaults is missing", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cfg1 := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{
+			SQLMaxOpenConnsDefault:           "11",
+			SQLMaxIdleConnsDefault:           "22",
+			SQLMaxConnLifetimeSecondsDefault: "33",
+		})
+
+		cfg2 := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{
+			SQLRowLimit:                      "5",
+			SQLMaxIdleConnsDefault:           "22",
+			SQLMaxConnLifetimeSecondsDefault: "33",
+		})
+
+		cfg3 := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{
+			SQLRowLimit:                      "5",
+			SQLMaxOpenConnsDefault:           "11",
+			SQLMaxConnLifetimeSecondsDefault: "33",
+		})
+
+		cfg4 := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{
+			SQLRowLimit:            "5",
+			SQLMaxOpenConnsDefault: "11",
+			SQLMaxIdleConnsDefault: "22",
+		})
+
+		_, err := cfg1.SQL()
+		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "not set")
+
+		_, err = cfg2.SQL()
+		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "not set")
+
+		_, err = cfg3.SQL()
+		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "not set")
+
+		_, err = cfg4.SQL()
+		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "not set")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("it should return an error if any of the defaults is not an integer", func(t *testing.T) {
+		cfg1 := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{
+			SQLRowLimit:                      "not-an-integer",
+			SQLMaxOpenConnsDefault:           "11",
+			SQLMaxIdleConnsDefault:           "22",
+			SQLMaxConnLifetimeSecondsDefault: "33",
+		})
+
+		cfg2 := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{
+			SQLRowLimit:                      "5",
+			SQLMaxOpenConnsDefault:           "11",
+			SQLMaxIdleConnsDefault:           "not-an-integer",
+			SQLMaxConnLifetimeSecondsDefault: "33",
+		})
+
+		cfg3 := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{
+			SQLRowLimit:                      "5",
+			SQLMaxOpenConnsDefault:           "11",
+			SQLMaxIdleConnsDefault:           "not-an-integer",
+			SQLMaxConnLifetimeSecondsDefault: "33",
+		})
+
+		cfg4 := NewGrafanaCfg(map[string]string{
+			SQLRowLimit:                      "5",
+			SQLMaxOpenConnsDefault:           "11",
+			SQLMaxIdleConnsDefault:           "22",
+			SQLMaxConnLifetimeSecondsDefault: "not-an-integer",
+		})
+
+		_, err := cfg1.SQL()
+		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "not a valid integer")
+
+		_, err = cfg2.SQL()
+		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "not a valid integer")
+
+		_, err = cfg3.SQL()
+		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "not a valid integer")
+
+		_, err = cfg4.SQL()
+		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "not a valid integer")
+	})
+}