diff --git a/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirServerConfigCommon.java b/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirServerConfigCommon.java
index 7666173..7f5266c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirServerConfigCommon.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/FhirServerConfigCommon.java
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@ public class FhirServerConfigCommon {
 		retVal.setExpungeEnabled(this.expungeEnabled);
 		retVal.setAutoCreatePlaceholderReferenceTargets(this.allowPlaceholderReferences);
 		retVal.setEmailFromAddress(this.emailFrom);
+
+		Integer maxFetchSize = HapiProperties.getMaximumFetchSize();
+		retVal.setFetchSizeDefaultMaximum(maxFetchSize);
+		ourLog.info("Server configured to have a maximum fetch size of " + (maxFetchSize == Integer.MAX_VALUE? "'unlimited'": maxFetchSize));
 		
 		// You can enable these if you want to support Subscriptions from your server
 		if (this.subscriptionRestHookEnabled) {
@@ -132,6 +136,7 @@ public class FhirServerConfigCommon {
 		retVal.setUrl(HapiProperties.getDataSourceUrl());
 		retVal.setUsername(HapiProperties.getDataSourceUsername());
 		retVal.setPassword(HapiProperties.getDataSourcePassword());
+		retVal.setMaxTotal(HapiProperties.getDataSourceMaxPoolSize());
 		return retVal;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/HapiProperties.java b/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/HapiProperties.java
index a59687c..5d93b5c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/HapiProperties.java
+++ b/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/jpa/starter/HapiProperties.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import ca.uhn.fhir.rest.server.ETagSupportEnum;
 import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
 
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 public class HapiProperties {
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ public class HapiProperties {
     static final String ALLOW_MULTIPLE_DELETE = "allow_multiple_delete";
     static final String ALLOW_PLACEHOLDER_REFERENCES = "allow_placeholder_references";
     static final String DATASOURCE_DRIVER = "datasource.driver";
+    static final String DATASOURCE_MAX_POOL_SIZE = "datasource.max_pool_size";
     static final String DATASOURCE_PASSWORD = "datasource.password";
     static final String DATASOURCE_URL = "datasource.url";
     static final String DATASOURCE_USERNAME = "datasource.username";
@@ -27,6 +29,7 @@ public class HapiProperties {
     static final String LOGGER_FORMAT = "logger.format";
     static final String LOGGER_LOG_EXCEPTIONS = "logger.log_exceptions";
     static final String LOGGER_NAME = "logger.name";
+    static final String MAX_FETCH_SIZE = "max_fetch_size";
     static final String MAX_PAGE_SIZE = "max_page_size";
     static final String PERSISTENCE_UNIT_NAME = "persistence_unit_name";
     static final String SERVER_ADDRESS = "server_address";
@@ -68,11 +71,37 @@ public class HapiProperties {
             } catch (Exception e) {
                 throw new ConfigurationException("Could not load HAPI properties", e);
             }
+
+            Properties overrideProps = loadOverrideProperties();
+            if(overrideProps != null) {
+              properties.putAll(overrideProps);
+            }
         }
 
         return properties;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * If a configuration file path is explicitly specified via -Dhapi.properties=<path>, the properties there will
+     * be used to override the entries in the default hapi.properties file (currently under WEB-INF/classes)
+     * @return properties loaded from the explicitly specified configuraiton file if there is one, or null otherwise.
+     */
+    private static Properties loadOverrideProperties() {
+        String confFile = System.getProperty(HAPI_PROPERTIES);
+        if(confFile != null) {
+            try {
+                Properties props = new Properties();
+                props.load(new FileInputStream(confFile));
+                return props;
+            }
+            catch (Exception e) {
+                throw new ConfigurationException("Could not load HAPI properties file: " + confFile, e);
+            }
+        }
+
+        return null;
+    }
+
     private static String getProperty(String propertyName) {
         Properties properties = HapiProperties.getProperties();
 
@@ -163,6 +192,10 @@ public class HapiProperties {
         return HapiProperties.getIntegerProperty(MAX_PAGE_SIZE, 200);
     }
 
+    public static Integer getMaximumFetchSize() {
+        return HapiProperties.getIntegerProperty(MAX_FETCH_SIZE, Integer.MAX_VALUE);
+    }
+
     public static String getPersistenceUnitName() {
         return HapiProperties.getProperty(PERSISTENCE_UNIT_NAME, "HAPI_PU");
     }
@@ -187,6 +220,10 @@ public class HapiProperties {
         return HapiProperties.getProperty(DATASOURCE_DRIVER, "org.apache.derby.jdbc.EmbeddedDriver");
     }
 
+    public static Integer getDataSourceMaxPoolSize() {
+        return HapiProperties.getIntegerProperty(DATASOURCE_MAX_POOL_SIZE, 10);
+    }
+
     public static String getDataSourceUrl() {
         return HapiProperties.getProperty(DATASOURCE_URL, "jdbc:derby:directory:target/jpaserver_derby_files;create=true");
     }