diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionParser.java
index dc6d9062..a59d5901 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionParser.java
@@ -17,11 +17,13 @@
 package org.springframework.data.gemfire.config;
 
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap;
 
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionBuilder;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ManagedList;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.ParserContext;
+import org.springframework.data.gemfire.RegionAttributesFactory;
 import org.springframework.data.gemfire.client.ClientRegionFactoryBean;
 import org.springframework.data.gemfire.client.Interest;
 import org.springframework.data.gemfire.client.RegexInterest;
@@ -29,6 +31,9 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.xml.DomUtils;
 import org.w3c.dom.Element;
 
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.CacheFactory;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.DataPolicy;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Scope;
 
 /**
@@ -59,10 +64,42 @@ class ClientRegionParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
 		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "name", "name");
 		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "pool-name", "poolName");
 
-		String attr = element.getAttribute("cache-ref");
+		// set the persistent policy
+		String attr = element.getAttribute("persistent");
+
+		boolean frozenDataPolicy = false;
+
+		if (Boolean.parseBoolean(attr)) {
+			// check first for GemFire 6.5
+			if (ConcurrentMap.class.isAssignableFrom(Region.class)) {
+				builder.addPropertyValue("dataPolicy", DataPolicy.PERSISTENT_REPLICATE);
+				frozenDataPolicy = true;
+			}
+			else {
+				parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
+						"Can define persistent partitions only from GemFire 6.5 onwards - current version is ["
+								+ CacheFactory.getVersion() + "]", element);
+			}
+		}
+
+		attr = element.getAttribute("cache-ref");
 		// add cache reference (fallback to default if nothing is specified)
 		builder.addPropertyReference("cache", (StringUtils.hasText(attr) ? attr : "gemfire-cache"));
 
+		// eviction + overflow attributes
+		// client attributes
+		BeanDefinitionBuilder attrBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(RegionAttributesFactory.class);
+
+		ParsingUtils.parseEviction(parserContext, element, attrBuilder);
+		ParsingUtils.parseDiskStorage(element, attrBuilder);
+
+		if (!frozenDataPolicy) {
+			builder.addPropertyValue("dataPolicy", DataPolicy.NORMAL);
+		}
+
+		// add partition/overflow settings as attributes
+		builder.addPropertyValue("attributes", attrBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
+
 		ManagedList<Object> interests = new ManagedList<Object>();
 
 		// parse nested declarations
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/PartitionedRegionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/PartitionedRegionParser.java
index 413f508c..fdf06ab4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/PartitionedRegionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/PartitionedRegionParser.java
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ class PartitionedRegionParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
 
 		// add partition attributes attributes
 		attrBuilder.addPropertyValue("partitionAttributes", parAttrBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
-
+		// add partition/overflow settings as attributes
 		builder.addPropertyValue("attributes", attrBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/spring-gemfire-1.0.xsd b/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/spring-gemfire-1.0.xsd
index cc6ed13b..72fd64af 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/spring-gemfire-1.0.xsd
+++ b/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/spring-gemfire-1.0.xsd
@@ -179,8 +179,29 @@ use inner bean declarations.
 								</xsd:annotation>
 							</xsd:attribute>
 						</xsd:complexType>
-					</xsd:element>					
+					</xsd:element>
+					<xsd:element name="disk-store" type="diskStoreType" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1">
+						<xsd:annotation>
+							<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+Disk storage configuration for the defined region.
+							]]></xsd:documentation>
+						</xsd:annotation>
+					</xsd:element>							
 				</xsd:sequence>
+				<xsd:attribute name="persistent" type="xsd:boolean" default="false">
+					<xsd:annotation>
+						<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+Indicates whether the defined region is persistent or not. GemFire ensures that all the data you put into a region that
+ is configured for persistence will be written to disk in a way that it can be recovered the next time you create the 
+region. This allows data to be recovered after a machine or process failure or after an orderly shutdown and restart 
+of GemFire.
+
+Default is false, meaning the regions are not persisted.
+
+Note: Persistence for partitioned regions is supported only from GemFire 6.5 onwards.						
+						]]></xsd:documentation>
+					</xsd:annotation>
+				</xsd:attribute>
 			</xsd:extension>
 		</xsd:complexContent>
 	</xsd:complexType>
@@ -217,28 +238,7 @@ arbitrarily pick one.
 							</xsd:appinfo>
 						</xsd:annotation>
 					</xsd:element>
-					<xsd:element name="disk-store" type="diskStoreType" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1">
-						<xsd:annotation>
-							<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
-Disk storage configuration for the defined region.
-							]]></xsd:documentation>
-						</xsd:annotation>
-					</xsd:element>
 				</xsd:sequence>
-				<xsd:attribute name="persistent" type="xsd:boolean" default="false">
-					<xsd:annotation>
-						<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
-Indicates whether the defined region is persistent or not. GemFire ensures that all the data you put into a region that
- is configured for persistence will be written to disk in a way that it can be recovered the next time you create the 
-region. This allows data to be recovered after a machine or process failure or after an orderly shutdown and restart 
-of GemFire.
-
-Default is false, meaning the regions are not persisted.
-
-Note: Persistence for partitioned regions is supported only from GemFire 6.5 onwards.						
-						]]></xsd:documentation>
-					</xsd:annotation>
-				</xsd:attribute>
 			</xsd:extension>
 		</xsd:complexContent>
 	</xsd:complexType>
@@ -600,8 +600,8 @@ which it receives its data. The client can hold some data locally or forward all
 		<xsd:complexType>
 			<xsd:complexContent>
 				<xsd:extension base="readOnlyRegionType">
-					<xsd:sequence minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
-						<xsd:choice>
+					<xsd:sequence>
+						<xsd:choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
 							<xsd:element name="key-interest">
 								<xsd:annotation>
 									<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
@@ -649,11 +649,32 @@ Regular expression based interest. If the pattern is '.*' then all keys of any t
 								</xsd:complexType>
 							</xsd:element>
 						</xsd:choice>
+						<xsd:element name="eviction" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1">
+							<xsd:annotation>
+								<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+Eviction policy for the partitioned region.
+								]]></xsd:documentation>
+							</xsd:annotation>
+							<xsd:complexType>
+								<xsd:complexContent>
+									<xsd:extension base="evictionType">
+										<xsd:attribute name="action" type="evictionActionType" default="LOCAL_DESTROY">
+											<xsd:annotation>
+												<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+The action to take when performing eviction.
+												]]></xsd:documentation>
+											</xsd:annotation>
+										</xsd:attribute>
+									</xsd:extension>
+								</xsd:complexContent>
+							</xsd:complexType>
+						</xsd:element>						
 					</xsd:sequence>
 					<xsd:attribute name="data-policy" use="optional" default="NORMAL">
 						<xsd:annotation>
 							<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
-The data policy for this client. Can be either 'EMPTY' or 'NORMAL' (the default). 
+The data policy for this client. Can be either 'EMPTY' or 'NORMAL' (the default). In case persistence or overflow are
+configured for this region, this parameter will be ignored.
 
 EMPTY - causes data to never be stored in local memory. The region will always appear empty. It can be used to for zero
  footprint producers that only want to distribute their data to others and for zero footprint consumers that only want 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionNamespaceTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionNamespaceTest.java
index e6a58c8c..b9ac8493 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionNamespaceTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionNamespaceTest.java
@@ -21,10 +21,13 @@ import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertSame;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
+import java.io.File;
+
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.data.gemfire.SimpleObjectSizer;
 import org.springframework.data.gemfire.TestUtils;
 import org.springframework.data.gemfire.client.ClientRegionFactoryBean;
 import org.springframework.data.gemfire.client.Interest;
@@ -35,8 +38,13 @@ import org.springframework.util.ObjectUtils;
 
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.CacheListener;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.DataPolicy;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.EvictionAction;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.EvictionAlgorithm;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.EvictionAttributes;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.InterestResultPolicy;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.RegionAttributes;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Scope;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.util.ObjectSizer;
 
 /**
  * @author Costin Leau
@@ -83,6 +91,34 @@ public class ClientRegionNamespaceTest {
 		assertFalse((Boolean) TestUtils.readField("durable", regexInt));
 		assertEquals(InterestResultPolicy.KEYS_VALUES, TestUtils.readField("key", regexInt));
 		assertEquals(".*", TestUtils.readField("key", regexInt));
+	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testPersistent() throws Exception {
+		assertTrue(context.containsBean("persistent"));
+		ClientRegionFactoryBean fb = context.getBean("&persistent", ClientRegionFactoryBean.class);
+		assertEquals(DataPolicy.PERSISTENT_REPLICATE, TestUtils.readField("dataPolicy", fb));
+		assertEquals(Scope.LOCAL, TestUtils.readField("scope", fb));
+		RegionAttributes attrs = TestUtils.readField("attributes", fb);
+		File[] diskDirs = attrs.getDiskDirs();
+		assertEquals(1, diskDirs.length);
+		int[] diskDirSizes = attrs.getDiskDirSizes();
+		assertEquals(1, diskDirSizes.length);
+		assertEquals(1, diskDirSizes[0]);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testOverflowToDisk() throws Exception {
+		assertTrue(context.containsBean("overflow"));
+		ClientRegionFactoryBean fb = context.getBean("&overflow", ClientRegionFactoryBean.class);
+		assertEquals(DataPolicy.NORMAL, TestUtils.readField("dataPolicy", fb));
+		RegionAttributes attrs = TestUtils.readField("attributes", fb);
+		EvictionAttributes evicAttr = attrs.getEvictionAttributes();
+		assertEquals(EvictionAction.LOCAL_DESTROY, evicAttr.getAction());
+		assertEquals(EvictionAlgorithm.LRU_MEMORY, evicAttr.getAlgorithm());
+		// for some reason GemFire resets this to 56 on my machine (not sure why)
+		//assertEquals(10, evicAttr.getMaximum());
+		ObjectSizer sizer = evicAttr.getObjectSizer();
+		assertEquals(SimpleObjectSizer.class, sizer.getClass());
 	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/client-ns.xml b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/client-ns.xml
index 7d403a78..e87d6755 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/client-ns.xml
+++ b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/client-ns.xml
@@ -31,5 +31,23 @@
 	<gfe:pool id="gemfire-pool" subscription-enabled="false">
 		<gfe:locator host="localhost" port="40403"/>
 	</gfe:pool>
+
+	<gfe:client-region id="persistent" pool-name="gemfire-pool" persistent="true">
+		<gfe:disk-store queue-size="50" auto-compact="true" max-oplog-size="10" synchronous-write="false" time-interval="9999">
+			<gfe:disk-dir location="./" max-size="1"/>
+		</gfe:disk-store>
+	</gfe:client-region>
+	
+	<gfe:client-region id="overflow" pool-name="gemfire-pool">
+		<gfe:disk-store queue-size="50" auto-compact="true" max-oplog-size="10" synchronous-write="false" time-interval="9999">
+			<gfe:disk-dir location="./" max-size="1"/>
+		</gfe:disk-store>
+
+		<gfe:eviction type="MEMORY_SIZE" threshold="10" action="LOCAL_DESTROY">
+			<gfe:object-sizer>
+				<bean class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.SimpleObjectSizer"/>
+			</gfe:object-sizer>
+		</gfe:eviction>
+	</gfe:client-region>
 	
 </beans>
\ No newline at end of file