diff --git a/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api_migrations/migrate_repo/versions/026_add_resource_classes.py b/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api_migrations/migrate_repo/versions/026_add_resource_classes.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0e48f53c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api_migrations/migrate_repo/versions/026_add_resource_classes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#    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 migrate import UniqueConstraint
+from sqlalchemy import Column
+from sqlalchemy import DateTime
+from sqlalchemy import Integer
+from sqlalchemy import MetaData
+from sqlalchemy import String
+from sqlalchemy import Table
+
+
+def upgrade(migrate_engine):
+    meta = MetaData()
+    meta.bind = migrate_engine
+
+    resource_classes = Table('resource_classes', meta,
+        Column('id', Integer, primary_key=True, nullable=False),
+        Column('name', String(length=255), nullable=False),
+        Column('created_at', DateTime),
+        Column('updated_at', DateTime),
+        UniqueConstraint('name', name='uniq_resource_classes0name'),
+        mysql_engine='InnoDB',
+        mysql_charset='latin1'
+    )
+
+    resource_classes.create(checkfirst=True)
diff --git a/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api_models.py b/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api_models.py
index d5dd7ecfc..9b1248397 100644
--- a/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api_models.py
+++ b/nova/db/sqlalchemy/api_models.py
@@ -270,6 +270,17 @@ class KeyPair(API_BASE):
                   nullable=False, server_default='ssh')
 
 
+class ResourceClass(API_BASE):
+    """Represents the type of resource for an inventory or allocation."""
+    __tablename__ = 'resource_classes'
+    __table_args__ = (
+        schema.UniqueConstraint("name", name="uniq_resource_classes0name"),
+    )
+
+    id = Column(Integer, primary_key=True, nullable=False)
+    name = Column(String(255), nullable=False)
+
+
 class ResourceProvider(API_BASE):
     """Represents a mapping to a providers of resources."""