diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactory.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..97adc83d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2014 - 2015 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.data.solr.server.support;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrClient;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.impl.CloudSolrClient;
+import org.springframework.data.solr.core.SolrTemplate;
+
+/**
+ * A factory class which can be used as a parameter to {@link SolrTemplate} constructor in order to use
+ * {@link CloudSolrClient} and connect to a SolrCloud collection installation.
+ * 
+ * @author Christos Manios
+ * 
+ */
+public class CloudSolrClientFactory extends SolrClientFactoryBase {
+
+	public CloudSolrClientFactory() {
+
+	}
+
+	public CloudSolrClientFactory(SolrClient client) {
+		super(client);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns the same as {@link #getSolrClient()}, as we are in SolrCloud mode.
+	 */
+	@Override
+	public SolrClient getSolrClient(String core) {
+		return this.getSolrClient();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns <code>null</code>, as we are in SolrCloud mode.
+	 */
+	@Override
+	public List<String> getCores() {
+		return null;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactoryBean.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactoryBean.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e3e893425
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactoryBean.java
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2014 - 2015 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.data.solr.server.support;
+
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrClient;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.impl.CloudSolrClient;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.impl.LBHttpSolrClient;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.DisposableBean;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.FactoryBean;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
+import org.springframework.util.Assert;
+
+/**
+ * 
+ * @author Christos Manios
+ *
+ */
+public class CloudSolrClientFactoryBean extends CloudSolrClientFactory implements FactoryBean<SolrClient>,
+		InitializingBean, DisposableBean {
+
+	private String zkHost;
+	private String collection;
+	private Integer zkClientTimeout;
+	private Integer zkConnectTimeout;
+	private Integer httpConnectTimeout;
+	private Integer httpSoTimeout;
+
+	@Override
+	public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
+		Assert.hasText(zkHost);
+		Assert.hasText(collection);
+
+		initSolrClient();
+	}
+
+	private void initSolrClient() {
+
+		// create a new CloudSolrClient with a specified comma delimited string
+		// format which contains IP1:port,IP2:port of Zookeeper ensemble
+		CloudSolrClient solrClient = new CloudSolrClient(zkHost);
+
+		// set collection name
+		solrClient.setDefaultCollection(collection);
+
+		// set Zookeeper ensemble connection timeout
+		if (zkConnectTimeout != null) {
+			solrClient.setZkConnectTimeout(zkConnectTimeout);
+		}
+
+		// set Zookeeper ensemble client timeout
+		if (zkClientTimeout != null) {
+			solrClient.setZkClientTimeout(zkClientTimeout);
+		}
+
+		// set http connection timeout
+		if (httpConnectTimeout != null) {
+			solrClient.getLbClient().setConnectionTimeout(httpConnectTimeout);
+		}
+
+		// set http read timeout
+		if (httpSoTimeout != null) {
+			solrClient.getLbClient().setSoTimeout(httpSoTimeout);
+		}
+
+		this.setSolrClient(solrClient);
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public SolrClient getObject() throws Exception {
+		return getSolrClient();
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public Class<?> getObjectType() {
+		if (getSolrClient() == null) {
+			return CloudSolrClient.class;
+		}
+		return getSolrClient().getClass();
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public boolean isSingleton() {
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns a pair of IP and its respective port of the Zookeeper server which belongs to the Zookeeper ensemble. This
+	 * string can contain multiple IP:port definitions separated by comma.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Example: <code>192.168.1.1:2181,192.168.1.2:2181,192.168.1.3:2181</code>
+	 * </p>
+	 * 
+	 */
+	public String getZkHost() {
+		return zkHost;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Sets the IPs and their respective ports of the Zookeeper servers which belong to the Zookeeper ensemble. This
+	 * string can contain multiple IP:port definitions separated by comma.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Example: <code>192.168.1.1:2181,192.168.1.2:2181,192.168.1.3:2181</code>
+	 * </p>
+	 * 
+	 */
+	public void setZkHost(String zkHost) {
+		this.zkHost = zkHost;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns the SolrCloud collection name on which this {@link CloudSolrClient} will be connected to.
+	 */
+	public String getCollection() {
+		return collection;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Set the SolrCloud collection name on which this {@link CloudSolrClient} will be connected to.
+	 */
+	public void setCollection(String collectionName) {
+		this.collection = collectionName;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns the HTTP connection timeout of underlying {@link LBHttpSolrClient} used for queries, in milliseconds.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Default is 0 (infinite timeout)
+	 * </p>
+	 */
+	public Integer getHttpConnectTimeout() {
+		return httpConnectTimeout;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Sets the HTTP connection timeout of underlying {@link LBHttpSolrClient} in milliseconds.
+	 * 
+	 * @param httpConnectTimeout HTTP connect timeout in milliseconds . Default is 0 (infinite timeout)
+	 *
+	 */
+	public void setHttpConnectTimeout(Integer httpConnectTimeout) {
+		this.httpConnectTimeout = httpConnectTimeout;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns the HTTP soTimeout (read timeout) of underlying {@link LBHttpSolrClient} used for queries, in milliseconds.
+	 * <p>
+	 * Default is 0 (infinite timeout)
+	 * </p>
+	 */
+	public Integer getHttpSoTimeout() {
+		return httpSoTimeout;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Sets the HTTP soTimeout (read timeout) of underlying {@link LBHttpSolrClient} in milliseconds.
+	 * 
+	 * @param httpReadTimeout HTTP read timeout in milliseconds. Default is 0 (infinite timeout)
+	 */
+	public void setHttpSoTimeout(Integer httpSoTimeout) {
+		this.httpSoTimeout = httpSoTimeout;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns the client timeout to the zookeeper ensemble in milliseconds
+	 */
+	public Integer getZkClientTimeout() {
+		return zkClientTimeout;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Sets the client timeout to the zookeeper ensemble in milliseconds. Default value: 10000ms
+	 * 
+	 * @param zkClientTimeout client timeout to zookeeper ensemble in milliseconds.
+	 */
+	public void setZkClientTimeout(Integer zkClientTimeout) {
+		this.zkClientTimeout = zkClientTimeout;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns the connection timeout to the zookeeper ensemble in milliseconds. Default value: 10000ms
+	 * 
+	 * @param zkConnectTimeout connection timeout to zookeeper ensemble in milliseconds.
+	 */
+	public Integer getZkConnectTimeout() {
+		return zkConnectTimeout;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Sets the connection timeout to the zookeeper ensemble in milliseconds. Default value: 10000ms
+	 * 
+	 * @param zkConnectTimeout connection timeout to zookeeper ensemble in milliseconds.
+	 */
+	public void setZkConnectTimeout(Integer zkConnectTimeout) {
+		this.zkConnectTimeout = zkConnectTimeout;
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactoryTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactoryTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fc8872a51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactoryTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2012 - 2015 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.data.solr.server.support;
+
+import java.lang.reflect.Field;
+
+import org.apache.http.params.HttpConnectionParams;
+import org.apache.http.params.HttpParams;
+import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.impl.CloudSolrClient;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+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.solr.core.SolrTemplate;
+import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
+import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner;
+
+/**
+ * @author Manios Christos
+ */
+@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
+@ContextConfiguration("CloudSolrClientFactoryTest-context.xml")
+public class CloudSolrClientFactoryTests {
+
+	@Autowired
+	ApplicationContext context;
+
+	private static final String zkHost = "127.0.0.1:2181,127.0.0.1:2182";
+	private static final Integer expectedHttpConnectTimeout = 1500;
+	private static final Integer expectedHttpSoTimeout = 1800;
+	private static final Integer expectedZkConnectTimeout = 1300;
+	private static final Integer expectedZkClientTimeout = 1400;
+	private static final String collectionName = "jet2pilot";
+
+	/**
+	 * Testing issue DATASOLR-211
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void testCreateCloudSorlClientUsingFactory() {
+
+		// test solrtemplate
+		SolrTemplate solrTemplate = context.getBean("solrTemplate", SolrTemplate.class);
+		Assert.assertNotNull(solrTemplate);
+
+		CloudSolrClient clientFromfactoryBean = context.getBean("cloudSolrClientFactory", CloudSolrClient.class);
+		Assert.assertNotNull(clientFromfactoryBean);
+
+		// check that solr client is not null
+		CloudSolrClient solrClient = (CloudSolrClient) solrTemplate.getSolrClient();
+		Assert.assertNotNull(solrClient);
+
+		Assert.assertSame(solrClient, clientFromfactoryBean);
+
+		Assert.assertEquals(collectionName, solrClient.getDefaultCollection());
+
+		// get httpParams() which is deprecated in order to test timeouts
+		// I could not find another way to get them..
+		HttpParams httpParams = solrClient.getLbClient().getHttpClient().getParams();
+
+		Assert.assertEquals(expectedHttpConnectTimeout, (Integer) HttpConnectionParams.getConnectionTimeout(httpParams));
+		Assert.assertEquals(expectedHttpSoTimeout, (Integer) HttpConnectionParams.getSoTimeout(httpParams));
+
+		// now try to get private fields using reflection
+
+		try {
+			// try to get zkHost
+			Field actualZkHostField = solrClient.getClass().getDeclaredField("zkHost");
+
+			// try to get zkConnectTimeout
+			Field actualZkConnectTimeoutField = solrClient.getClass().getDeclaredField("zkConnectTimeout");
+
+			// try to get zkClientTimeout
+			Field actualZkClientTimeoutField = solrClient.getClass().getDeclaredField("zkClientTimeout");
+
+			Assert.assertEquals(zkHost, (String) actualZkHostField.get(solrClient));
+			Assert.assertEquals(expectedZkConnectTimeout.intValue(), actualZkConnectTimeoutField.getInt(solrClient));
+			Assert.assertEquals(expectedZkClientTimeout.intValue(), actualZkClientTimeoutField.getInt(solrClient));
+
+		} catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
+		} catch (SecurityException e) {
+		} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+		} catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
+		}
+
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactoryTest-context.xml b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactoryTest-context.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fc85dea54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/solr/server/support/CloudSolrClientFactoryTest-context.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:solr="http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/solr"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/solr http://www.springframework.org/schema/data/solr/spring-solr-1.0.xsd
+		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd">
+
+	<solr:repositories base-package="org.springframework.data.solr.repository.config" />
+
+	<!-- Configures CloudSolrClient using a factory bean -->
+	<bean id="cloudSolrClientFactory"
+		class="org.springframework.data.solr.server.support.CloudSolrClientFactoryBean">
+		<property name="zkHost" value="127.0.0.1:2181,127.0.0.1:2182" />
+		<property name="collection" value="jet2pilot" />
+		<property name="httpConnectTimeout" value="1500" />
+		<property name="httpSoTimeout" value="1800" />
+		<property name="zkConnectTimeout" value="1300" />
+		<property name="zkClientTimeout" value="1400" />
+	</bean>
+
+	<!-- Configures Solr template -->
+	<bean id="solrTemplate" class="org.springframework.data.solr.core.SolrTemplate">
+		<constructor-arg index="0" ref="cloudSolrClientFactory" />
+	</bean>
+
+</beans>
\ No newline at end of file