diff --git a/glance/common/exception.py b/glance/common/exception.py
index 9498ad3572..4796fbf2ac 100644
--- a/glance/common/exception.py
+++ b/glance/common/exception.py
@@ -434,3 +434,7 @@ class MetadefTagNotFound(NotFound):
     message = _("The metadata definition tag with"
                 " name=%(name)s was not found in"
                 " namespace=%(namespace_name)s.")
+
+
+class InvalidVersion(Invalid):
+    message = _("Version is invalid: %(reason)s")
diff --git a/glance/common/semver_db.py b/glance/common/semver_db.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1c076183e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/glance/common/semver_db.py
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2015 Mirantis, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+# not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+# a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+
+import semantic_version
+
+from glance.common import exception
+from glance import i18n
+
+MAX_COMPONENT_LENGTH = pow(2, 16) - 1
+MAX_NUMERIC_PRERELEASE_LENGTH = 6
+
+_ = i18n._
+
+
+class DBVersion(object):
+    def __init__(self, components_long, prerelease, build):
+        """
+        Creates a DBVersion object out of 3 component fields. This initializer
+        is supposed to be called from SQLAlchemy if 3 database columns are
+        mapped to this composite field.
+
+        :param components_long: a 64-bit long value, containing numeric
+        components of the version
+        :param prerelease: a prerelease label of the version, optionally
+        preformatted with leading zeroes in numeric-only parts of the label
+        :param build: a build label of the version
+        """
+        version_string = '%s.%s.%s' % _long_to_components(components_long)
+        if prerelease:
+            version_string += '-' + _strip_leading_zeroes_from_prerelease(
+                prerelease)
+
+        if build:
+            version_string += '+' + build
+        self.version = semantic_version.Version(version_string)
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return str(self.version)
+
+    def __eq__(self, other):
+        return (isinstance(other, DBVersion) and
+                other.version == self.version)
+
+    def __ne__(self, other):
+        return (not isinstance(other, DBVersion)
+                or self.version != other.version)
+
+    def __composite_values__(self):
+        long_version = _version_to_long(self.version)
+        prerelease = _add_leading_zeroes_to_prerelease(self.version.prerelease)
+        build = '.'.join(self.version.build) if self.version.build else None
+        return long_version, prerelease, build
+
+
+def parse(version_string):
+    version = semantic_version.Version.coerce(version_string)
+    return DBVersion(_version_to_long(version),
+                     '.'.join(version.prerelease),
+                     '.'.join(version.build))
+
+
+def _check_limit(value):
+    if value > MAX_COMPONENT_LENGTH:
+        reason = _("Version component is too "
+                   "large (%d max)") % MAX_COMPONENT_LENGTH
+        raise exception.InvalidVersion(reason=reason)
+
+
+def _version_to_long(version):
+    """
+    Converts the numeric part of the semver version into the 64-bit long value
+    using the following logic:
+
+    * major version is stored in first 16 bits of the value
+    * minor version is stored in next 16 bits
+    * patch version is stored in following 16 bits
+    * next 2 bits are used to store the flag: if the version has pre-release
+      label then these bits are 00, otherwise they are 11. Intermediate values
+      of the flag (01 and 10) are reserved for future usage.
+    * last 14 bits of the value are reserved fo future usage
+
+    The numeric components of version are checked so their value do not exceed
+    16 bits.
+
+    :param version: a semantic_version.Version object
+    """
+    _check_limit(version.major)
+    _check_limit(version.minor)
+    _check_limit(version.patch)
+    major = version.major << 48
+    minor = version.minor << 32
+    patch = version.patch << 16
+    flag = 0 if version.prerelease else 2
+    flag <<= 14
+    return major | minor | patch | flag
+
+
+def _long_to_components(value):
+    major = value >> 48
+    minor = (value - (major << 48)) >> 32
+    patch = (value - (major << 48) - (minor << 32)) >> 16
+    return str(major), str(minor), str(patch)
+
+
+def _add_leading_zeroes_to_prerelease(label_tuple):
+    if label_tuple is None:
+        return None
+    res = []
+    for component in label_tuple:
+        if component.isdigit():
+            if len(component) > MAX_NUMERIC_PRERELEASE_LENGTH:
+                reason = _("Prerelease numeric component is too large "
+                           "(%d characters "
+                           "max)") % MAX_NUMERIC_PRERELEASE_LENGTH
+                raise exception.InvalidVersion(reason=reason)
+            res.append(component.rjust(MAX_NUMERIC_PRERELEASE_LENGTH, '0'))
+        else:
+            res.append(component)
+    return '.'.join(res)
+
+
+def _strip_leading_zeroes_from_prerelease(string_value):
+    res = []
+    for component in string_value.split('.'):
+        if component.isdigit():
+            val = component.lstrip('0')
+            if len(val) == 0:  # Corner case: when the component is just '0'
+                val = '0'  # it will be stripped completely, so restore it
+            res.append(val)
+        else:
+            res.append(component)
+    return '.'.join(res)
diff --git a/glance/tests/unit/common/test_semver.py b/glance/tests/unit/common/test_semver.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0f157dfb42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/glance/tests/unit/common/test_semver.py
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2015 Mirantis, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+# not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+# a copy of the License at
+#
+# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+
+from glance.common import exception
+from glance.common import semver_db
+from glance.tests import utils as test_utils
+
+
+class SemVerTestCase(test_utils.BaseTestCase):
+    def test_long_conversion(self):
+        initial = '1.2.3-beta+07.17.2014'
+        v = semver_db.parse(initial)
+        l, prerelease, build = v.__composite_values__()
+        v2 = semver_db.DBVersion(l, prerelease, build)
+        self.assertEqual(initial, str(v2))
+
+    def test_major_comparison_as_long(self):
+        v1 = semver_db.parse("1.1.100")
+        v2 = semver_db.parse("2.0.0")
+        self.assertTrue(v2.__composite_values__()[0] >
+                        v1.__composite_values__()[0])
+
+    def test_minor_comparison_as_long(self):
+        v1 = semver_db.parse("1.1.100")
+        v2 = semver_db.parse("2.0.0")
+        self.assertTrue(v2.__composite_values__()[0] >
+                        v1.__composite_values__()[0])
+
+    def test_patch_comparison_as_long(self):
+        v1 = semver_db.parse("1.1.1")
+        v2 = semver_db.parse("1.1.100")
+        self.assertTrue(v2.__composite_values__()[0] >
+                        v1.__composite_values__()[0])
+
+    def test_label_comparison_as_long(self):
+        v1 = semver_db.parse("1.1.1-alpha")
+        v2 = semver_db.parse("1.1.1")
+        self.assertTrue(v2.__composite_values__()[0] >
+                        v1.__composite_values__()[0])
+
+    def test_label_comparison_as_string(self):
+        versions = [
+            semver_db.parse("1.1.1-0.10.a.23.y.255").__composite_values__()[1],
+            semver_db.parse("1.1.1-0.10.z.23.x.255").__composite_values__()[1],
+            semver_db.parse("1.1.1-0.10.z.23.y.255").__composite_values__()[1],
+            semver_db.parse("1.1.1-0.10.z.23.y.256").__composite_values__()[1],
+            semver_db.parse("1.1.1-0.10.z.24.y.255").__composite_values__()[1],
+            semver_db.parse("1.1.1-0.11.z.24.y.255").__composite_values__()[1],
+            semver_db.parse("1.1.1-1.11.z.24.y.255").__composite_values__()[1],
+            semver_db.parse("1.1.1-alp.1.2.3.4.5.6").__composite_values__()[1]]
+        for i in xrange(len(versions) - 1):
+            self.assertLess(versions[i], versions[i + 1])
+
+    def test_too_large_version(self):
+        version1 = '1.1.65536'
+        version2 = '1.65536.1'
+        version3 = '65536.1.1'
+        self.assertRaises(exception.InvalidVersion, semver_db.parse, version1)
+        self.assertRaises(exception.InvalidVersion, semver_db.parse, version2)
+        self.assertRaises(exception.InvalidVersion, semver_db.parse, version3)
+
+    def test_too_long_numeric_segments(self):
+        version = semver_db.parse('1.0.0-alpha.1234567')
+        self.assertRaises(exception.InvalidVersion,
+                          version.__composite_values__)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index ef441661f5..0378ca1243 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Paste
 jsonschema>=2.0.0,<3.0.0
 python-keystoneclient>=1.1.0
 pyOpenSSL>=0.11
-
+semantic_version>=2.3.1
 # Required by openstack.common libraries
 six>=1.9.0