diff --git a/libraries/redis-wrapper/index.coffee b/libraries/redis-wrapper/index.coffee
index 1135d90c36..a72613a0b6 100644
--- a/libraries/redis-wrapper/index.coffee
+++ b/libraries/redis-wrapper/index.coffee
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 _ = require("underscore")
 
-module.exports =
-
-	createClient: (opts)->
+module.exports = RedisSharelatex =
+	createClient: (opts = {port: 6379, host: "localhost"})->
 		if opts.password?
 			opts.auth_pass = opts.password
 			delete opts.password
@@ -17,5 +16,38 @@ module.exports =
 			delete standardOpts.host
 			client = require("redis").createClient opts.port, opts.host, standardOpts
 		return client
+		
+	createRobustSubscriptionClient: (opts, heartbeatOpts = {}) ->
+		sub = RedisSharelatex.createClient(opts)
+		pub = RedisSharelatex.createClient(opts)
+		
+		heartbeatInterval = heartbeatOpts.heartbeat_interval or 1000 #ms
+		reconnectAfter = heartbeatOpts.reconnect_after or 5000 #ms
+		
+		id = require("crypto").createHash("md5").update(Math.random().toString()).digest("hex")
+		heartbeatChannel = "heartbeat-#{id}"
+		lastHeartbeat = Date.now()
+		
+		sub.subscribe heartbeatChannel, (error) ->
+			if error?
+				console.error "ERROR: failed to subscribe to #{heartbeatChannel} channel", error
+		sub.on "message", (channel, message) ->
+			if channel == heartbeatChannel
+				lastHeartbeat = Date.now()
+		
+		reconnectIfInactive = () ->
+			timeSinceLastHeartBeat = Date.now() - lastHeartbeat
+			if timeSinceLastHeartBeat > reconnectAfter
+				console.warn "No heartbeat for #{timeSinceLastHeartBeat}ms, reconnecting"
+				sub.connection_gone("no heartbeat for #{timeSinceLastHeartBeat}ms")
+		
+		setInterval () ->
+			pub.publish heartbeatChannel, "PING"
+			reconnectIfInactive()
+		, heartbeatInterval
+		
+		return sub
+			
+