diff --git a/SOPE/GDLContentStore/ChangeLog b/SOPE/GDLContentStore/ChangeLog
index 314698ee4..346161784 100644
--- a/SOPE/GDLContentStore/ChangeLog
+++ b/SOPE/GDLContentStore/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 2009-11-30  Wolfgang Sourdeau  <wsourdeau@inverse.ca>
 
+	* GCSChannelManager.m (-databaseKeyForURL): removed obsolete
+	method, replaced with the new one below.
+	(-acquireOpenChannelForURL:): we keep the last failure timestamp
+	into account and prevent further attempts before 5 seconds.
+
 	* NSURL+GCS.m (-gcsURLId): new method that returns a unique
 	identifier for database connections.
 
diff --git a/SOPE/GDLContentStore/GCSChannelManager.h b/SOPE/GDLContentStore/GCSChannelManager.h
index 33aadaeb2..930c89e31 100644
--- a/SOPE/GDLContentStore/GCSChannelManager.h
+++ b/SOPE/GDLContentStore/GCSChannelManager.h
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
 {
   NSMutableDictionary *urlToAdaptor;
 
+  NSMutableDictionary *lastFailures;
+
   NSMutableArray *availableChannels;
   NSMutableArray *busyChannels;
   NSTimer        *gcTimer;
diff --git a/SOPE/GDLContentStore/GCSChannelManager.m b/SOPE/GDLContentStore/GCSChannelManager.m
index 286272b5c..d77707743 100644
--- a/SOPE/GDLContentStore/GCSChannelManager.m
+++ b/SOPE/GDLContentStore/GCSChannelManager.m
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ static NSTimeInterval ChannelCollectionTimer = 5 * 60;
   if ((self = [super init]))
     {
       urlToAdaptor = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithCapacity: 4];
+      lastFailures = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithCapacity: 4];
       availableChannels = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity: 16];
       busyChannels = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity: 16];
 
@@ -126,26 +127,11 @@ static NSTimeInterval ChannelCollectionTimer = 5 * 60;
 
   [busyChannels release];
   [availableChannels release];
+  [lastFailures release];
   [urlToAdaptor release];
   [super dealloc];
 }
 
-/* DB key */
-
-- (NSString *) databaseKeyForURL: (NSURL *) _url
-{
-  /*
-    We need to build a proper key that omits passwords and URL path components
-    which are not required.
-  */
-  NSString *key;
-
-  key = [NSString stringWithFormat: @"%@\n%@\n%@\n%@",
-		  [_url host], [_url port],
-		  [_url user], [_url gcsDatabaseName]];
-  return key;
-}
-
 /* adaptors */
 
 - (NSDictionary *) connectionDictionaryForURL: (NSURL *) _url
@@ -184,7 +170,7 @@ static NSTimeInterval ChannelCollectionTimer = 5 * 60;
 
   if (_url)
     {
-      if ((key = [self databaseKeyForURL: _url]))
+      if ((key = [_url gcsURLId]))
 	{
 	  adaptor = [urlToAdaptor objectForKey: key];
 	  if (adaptor)
@@ -289,60 +275,77 @@ static NSTimeInterval ChannelCollectionTimer = 5 * 60;
   // TODO: naive implementation, add pooling!
   EOAdaptorChannel *channel;
   GCSChannelHandle *handle;
-  NSCalendarDate *now;
+  NSCalendarDate *now, *lastFailure;
+  NSString *urlId;
 
   channel = nil;
+  urlId = [_url gcsURLId];
 
   now = [NSCalendarDate date];
-
-  /* look for cached handles */
-
-  handle = [self findAvailChannelHandleForURL: _url];
-  if (handle)
+  lastFailure = [lastFailures objectForKey: urlId];
+  if ([[lastFailure dateByAddingYears: 0 months: 0 days: 0
+                                hours: 0 minutes: 0 seconds: 5]
+        earlierDate: now] != now)
     {
-      // TODO: check age?
-      [busyChannels addObject: handle];
-      [availableChannels removeObject: handle];
-      ASSIGN (handle->lastAcquireTime, now);
+      /* look for cached handles */
 
-      channel = [handle channel];
-      if (debugPools)
-	[self logWithFormat: @"DBPOOL: reused cached DB channel! (%p)",
-	      channel];
-    }
-  else
-    {
-      if (debugPools)
-	{
-	  [self logWithFormat: @"DBPOOL: create new DB channel for URL: %@",
-		[_url absoluteString]];
-	}
+      handle = [self findAvailChannelHandleForURL: _url];
+      if (handle)
+        {
+          // TODO: check age?
+          [busyChannels addObject: handle];
+          [availableChannels removeObject: handle];
+          ASSIGN (handle->lastAcquireTime, now);
 
-      /* create channel */
-      channel = [self _createChannelForURL: _url];
-      if (channel)
-	{
-	  if ([channel isOpen]
-	      || [channel openChannel])
-	    {
-	      /* create handle for channel */
+          channel = [handle channel];
+          if (debugPools)
+            [self logWithFormat: @"DBPOOL: reused cached DB channel! (%p)",
+                  channel];
+        }
+      else
+        {
+          if (debugPools)
+            {
+              [self logWithFormat: @"DBPOOL: create new DB channel for URL: %@",
+                    [_url absoluteString]];
+            }
 
-	      handle = [[GCSChannelHandle alloc] init];
-	      handle->url = [_url retain];
-	      handle->channel = [channel retain];
-	      handle->creationTime = [now retain];
-	      handle->lastAcquireTime = [now retain];
+          /* create channel */
+          channel = [self _createChannelForURL: _url];
+          if (channel)
+            {
+              if ([channel isOpen]
+                  || [channel openChannel])
+                {
+                  /* create handle for channel */
 
-	      [busyChannels addObject: handle];
-	      [handle release];
-	    }
-	  else
-	    {
-	      [self errorWithFormat: @"could not open channel %@ for URL: %@",
-		    channel, [_url absoluteString]];
-	      channel = nil;
-	    }
-	}
+                  handle = [[GCSChannelHandle alloc] init];
+                  handle->url = [_url retain];
+                  handle->channel = [channel retain];
+                  handle->creationTime = [now retain];
+                  handle->lastAcquireTime = [now retain];
+
+                  [busyChannels addObject: handle];
+                  [handle release];
+
+                  if (lastFailure)
+                    {
+                      [self logWithFormat: @"db for %@ is now back up",
+                            [_url absoluteString]];
+                      [lastFailures removeObjectForKey: urlId];
+                    }
+                }
+              else
+                {
+                  [self errorWithFormat: @"could not open channel %@ for URL: %@",
+                        channel, [_url absoluteString]];
+                  channel = nil;
+                  [lastFailures setObject: now forKey: urlId];
+                  [self warnWithFormat: @"  will prevent opening of this"
+                        @" channel 5 seconds after %@", now];
+                }
+            }
+        }
     }
 
   return channel;
diff --git a/SOPE/GDLContentStore/NSURL+GCS.m b/SOPE/GDLContentStore/NSURL+GCS.m
index 48c0a9dd5..0e43be65f 100644
--- a/SOPE/GDLContentStore/NSURL+GCS.m
+++ b/SOPE/GDLContentStore/NSURL+GCS.m
@@ -56,10 +56,13 @@
 
 - (NSString *) gcsURLId
 {
-  return [NSString stringWithFormat: @"%@:%@:%@:%@:%@",
+  /*
+    We need to build a proper key that omits passwords and URL path components
+    which are not required.
+  */
+  return [NSString stringWithFormat: @"%@:%@:%@:%@",
                    [self host], [self port],
-                   [self user], [self password], 
-                   [self gcsDatabaseName]];
+                   [self user], [self gcsDatabaseName]];
 }
 
 @end /* NSURL(GCS) */