diff --git a/block/quorum.c b/block/quorum.c
index 0a28ab1..3cfc67e 100644
--- a/block/quorum.c
+++ b/block/quorum.c
@@ -17,8 +17,13 @@
 #include <gnutls/crypto.h>
 #include "block/block_int.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qjson.h"
+#include "qapi/qmp/types.h"
+#include "qemu-common.h"
 
 #define HASH_LENGTH 32
+#define KEY_PREFIX "children."
+#define KEY_SUFFIX "."
+#define KEY_FILENAME_SUFFIX ".file.filename"
 
 /* This union hold a vote hash value */
 typedef union QuorumVoteValue {
@@ -673,12 +678,342 @@ static coroutine_fn int quorum_co_flush(BlockDriverState *bs)
     return result;
 }
 
+static int quorum_match_key(const char *key,
+                            char **key_prefix,
+                            bool clone_key_prefix)
+{
+    const char *start;
+    char *next;
+    unsigned long long idx;
+    int ret;
+
+    *key_prefix = NULL;
+
+    /* the following code is a translation of the following pseudo code:
+     *       match = key.match('(^children\.(\d+)\.)file\.filename)
+     *       if not match:
+     *           return -1;
+     *       key_prefix = match.outer_match()
+     *       idx = match.inner_match()
+     *
+     * note: we also match the .file suffix to avoid futher checkings
+     */
+
+    /* this key is not a children */
+    if (strncmp(key, KEY_PREFIX, strlen(KEY_PREFIX))) {
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    /* take first char after prefix */
+    start = key + strlen(KEY_PREFIX);
+
+    /* if the string end here -> scan fail */
+    if (start[0] == '\0') {
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    /* try to retrieve the index */
+    ret = parse_uint(start, &idx, &next, 10);
+
+    /* no int found -> scan fail */
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    /* match the ".file.filename" suffix to avoid matching the same idx
+     * multiple times and be required to do more checks later
+     */
+    if (strncmp(next, KEY_FILENAME_SUFFIX, strlen(KEY_FILENAME_SUFFIX))) {
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (clone_key_prefix) {
+        /* include '.' */
+        int len = next + strlen(KEY_SUFFIX) - key;
+        *key_prefix = g_strndup(key, len);
+    }
+
+    return idx;
+}
+
+static QDict *quorum_get_children_idx(const QDict *options)
+{
+    const QDictEntry *ent;
+    QDict *result;
+    char *key_prefix;
+    int idx;
+
+    result = qdict_new();
+
+    for (ent = qdict_first(options); ent; ent = qdict_next(options, ent)) {
+        const char *key = qdict_entry_key(ent);
+        idx = quorum_match_key(key, &key_prefix, true);
+
+        /* if the result is -1 or any negative index value skip this key */
+        if (idx < 0) {
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        qdict_put(result, key_prefix, qint_from_int(idx));
+    }
+
+    return result;
+}
+
+static int quorum_fill_validation_array(bool *array,
+                                        const QDict *dict,
+                                        int total,
+                                        Error **errp)
+{
+    const QDictEntry *ent;
+
+    /* fill the checking array with children indexes */
+    for (ent = qdict_first(dict); ent; ent = qdict_next(dict, ent)) {
+        const char *key = qdict_entry_key(ent);
+        int idx = qdict_get_int(dict, key);
+
+        if (idx < 0 || idx >= total) {
+            error_set(errp, ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR,
+                      "Children index must be between 0 and children count -1");
+            return -ERANGE;
+        }
+
+        array[idx] = true;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int quorum_valid_indexes(const bool *array, int total, Error **errp)
+{
+    int i;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < total; i++) {
+        if (array[i] == true) {
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        error_set(errp, ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR,
+                  "All children indexes between 0 and children count -1  must "
+                  " be used");
+        return -ERANGE;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int quorum_valid_children_indexes(const QDict *dict,
+                                         int total,
+                                         Error **errp)
+{
+    bool *array;
+    int ret = 0;;
+
+    /* allocate indexes checking array and put false in it */
+    array = g_new0(bool, total);
+
+    ret = quorum_fill_validation_array(array, dict, total, errp);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        goto free_exit;
+    }
+
+    ret = quorum_valid_indexes(array, total, errp);
+free_exit:
+    g_free(array);
+    return ret;
+}
+
+static int quorum_valid_threshold(int threshold,
+                                  int total,
+                                  Error **errp)
+{
+
+    if (threshold < 1) {
+        error_set(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE,
+                  "vote_threshold", "value >= 1");
+        return -ERANGE;
+    }
+
+    if (threshold > total) {
+        error_set(errp, ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR,
+                  "threshold <= children count must be true");
+        return -ERANGE;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int quorum_bdrv_open_sub(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                                QDict *bs_dict,
+                                int flags,
+                                Error **errp)
+{
+    const char *format_name = NULL;
+    const char *filename = NULL;
+    BlockDriver *drv = NULL;
+    int ret = 0;
+
+    format_name = qdict_get_try_str(bs_dict, "file.driver");
+
+    if (!format_name) {
+        filename = qdict_get_try_str(bs_dict, "file.filename");
+        qdict_del(bs_dict, "file.filename");
+    } else {
+        drv = bdrv_find_format(format_name);
+        if (!drv) {
+            error_set(errp, ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR,
+                      "invalid format name");
+            return -EINVAL;
+        }
+    }
+
+    QINCREF(bs_dict);
+    ret = bdrv_open(bs,
+                    filename,
+                    bs_dict,
+                    flags,
+                    drv,
+                    errp);
+    QDECREF(bs_dict);
+    return ret;
+}
+
+static int quorum_open(BlockDriverState *bs,
+                       QDict *options,
+                       int flags,
+                       Error **errp)
+{
+    BDRVQuorumState *s = bs->opaque;
+    Error *local_err = NULL;
+    const QDictEntry *ent;
+    QDict *idx_dict;
+    bool *opened;
+    const char *value;
+    char *next;
+    int i;
+    int ret = 0;
+
+    /* get a dict of children indexes for validation */
+    idx_dict = quorum_get_children_idx(options);
+
+    /* count how many different children indexes are present and validate */
+    s->total = qdict_size(idx_dict);
+    if (s->total < 2) {
+        error_set(&local_err, ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR,
+                  "Number of provided children must be greater than 1");
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto exit;
+    }
+
+    /* validate that the set of index is coherent */
+    ret = quorum_valid_children_indexes(idx_dict, s->total, &local_err);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        goto exit;
+    }
+
+    /* retrieve the threshold option from the command line */
+    value = qdict_get_try_str(options, "vote_threshold");
+    if (!value) {
+        error_set(&local_err, ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR,
+                  "vote_threshold must be provided");
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto exit;
+    }
+    qdict_del(options, "vote_threshold");
+
+    ret = parse_uint(value, (unsigned long long *) &s->threshold, &next, 10);
+
+    /* no int found -> scan fail */
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        error_set(&local_err, ERROR_CLASS_GENERIC_ERROR,
+                  "invalid vote_threshold specified");
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto exit;
+    }
+
+    /* and validate it againts s->total */
+    ret = quorum_valid_threshold(s->threshold, s->total, &local_err);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        goto exit;
+    }
+
+    /* is the driver in blkverify mode */
+    value = qdict_get_try_str(options, "blkverify");
+    if (value && !strcmp(value, "on")  &&
+        s->total == 2 && s->threshold == 2) {
+        s->is_blkverify = true;
+    }
+    qdict_del(options, "blkverify");
+
+    /* allocate the children BlockDriverState array */
+    s->bs = g_new0(BlockDriverState, s->total);
+    opened = g_new0(bool, s->total);
+
+    /* open children bs */
+    for (ent = qdict_first(idx_dict);
+         ent; ent = qdict_next(idx_dict, ent)) {
+        const char *key = qdict_entry_key(ent);
+        int idx = qdict_get_int(idx_dict, key);
+        int ret = 0;
+        QDict *bs_dict; /* dict used to open child */
+        qdict_extract_subqdict(options, &bs_dict, key);
+        ret = quorum_bdrv_open_sub(&s->bs[idx],
+                                   bs_dict,
+                                   flags,
+                                   &local_err);
+        if (ret < 0) {
+            QDECREF(bs_dict);
+            goto close_exit;
+        }
+        opened[idx] = true;
+    }
+
+    g_free(opened);
+    goto exit;
+
+close_exit:
+    /* cleanup on error */
+    for (i = 0; i < s->total; i++) {
+        if (!opened[i]) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        bdrv_close(&s->bs[i]);
+    }
+    g_free(s->bs);
+    g_free(opened);
+exit:
+    /* propagate error */
+    QDECREF(idx_dict);
+    if (error_is_set(&local_err)) {
+        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
+    }
+    return ret;
+}
+
+static void quorum_close(BlockDriverState *bs)
+{
+    BDRVQuorumState *s = bs->opaque;
+    int i;
+
+    for (i = 0; i < s->total; i++) {
+        /* Ensure writes reach stable storage */
+        bdrv_flush(&s->bs[i]);
+        /* close manually because we'll free s->bs */
+        bdrv_close(&s->bs[i]);
+    }
+
+    g_free(s->bs);
+}
+
 static BlockDriver bdrv_quorum = {
     .format_name        = "quorum",
     .protocol_name      = "quorum",
 
     .instance_size      = sizeof(BDRVQuorumState),
 
+    .bdrv_file_open     = quorum_open,
+    .bdrv_close         = quorum_close,
+
     .bdrv_co_flush_to_disk = quorum_co_flush,
 
     .bdrv_getlength     = quorum_getlength,
@@ -687,6 +1022,9 @@ static BlockDriver bdrv_quorum = {
     .bdrv_aio_writev    = quorum_aio_writev,
     .bdrv_invalidate_cache = quorum_invalidate_cache,
     .bdrv_co_get_block_status = quorum_co_get_block_status,
+
+    /* disable external snapshots while waiting for block filters */
+    .bdrv_check_ext_snapshot = bdrv_check_ext_snapshot_forbidden,
 };
 
 static void bdrv_quorum_init(void)
