diff --git a/apps/emqx/src/emqx_config.erl b/apps/emqx/src/emqx_config.erl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3dd0c3087
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/emqx/src/emqx_config.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+%%--------------------------------------------------------------------
+%% Copyright (c) 2020-2021 EMQ Technologies Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
+%%
+%% 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.
+%%--------------------------------------------------------------------
+-module(emqx_config).
+
+-compile({no_auto_import, [get/0, get/1]}).
+
+-export([ get/0
+        , get/2
+        , put/1
+        , deep_get/3
+        ]).
+
+-spec get() -> term().
+get() ->
+    persistent_term:get(?MODULE, #{}).
+
+-spec get([atom()], term()) -> term().
+get(KeyPath, Default) ->
+    deep_get(KeyPath, get(), Default).
+
+deep_get([], Map, _Default) ->
+    Map;
+deep_get([Key | KeyPath], Map, Default) when is_map(Map) ->
+    case maps:find(Key, Map) of
+        {ok, SubMap} -> deep_get(KeyPath, SubMap, Default);
+        error -> Default
+    end;
+deep_get([_Key | _KeyPath], _Map, Default) ->
+    Default.
+
+put(Config) ->
+    persistent_term:put(?MODULE, Config).
diff --git a/apps/emqx/src/emqx_config_handler.erl b/apps/emqx/src/emqx_config_handler.erl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fd01b648f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/emqx/src/emqx_config_handler.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+%%--------------------------------------------------------------------
+%% Copyright (c) 2020-2021 EMQ Technologies Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
+%%
+%% 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.
+%%--------------------------------------------------------------------
+%% The sub config handlers maintain independent parts of the emqx config map
+%% And there are a top level config handler maintains the overall config map.
+-module(emqx_config_handler).
+
+-behaviour(gen_server).
+
+%% API functions
+-export([ start_link/0
+        , start_handler/2
+        , update_config/2
+        ]).
+
+%% emqx_config_handler callbacks
+-export([ handle_update_config/2
+        , config_key_path/0
+        ]).
+
+%% gen_server callbacks
+-export([init/1,
+         handle_call/3,
+         handle_cast/2,
+         handle_info/2,
+         terminate/2,
+         code_change/3]).
+
+-type config() :: term().
+-type config_map() :: #{atom() => config()}.
+-type handler_name() :: module().
+-type key_path() :: [atom()].
+
+%% the path of the config that maintained by the (sub) handler.
+-callback config_key_path() -> key_path().
+
+-callback handle_update_config(config(), config_map()) -> config_map().
+
+-record(state, {handler_name :: handler_name(), parent :: handler_name()}).
+
+start_link() ->
+    start_handler(?MODULE, top).
+
+-spec start_handler(handler_name(), handler_name()) ->
+    {ok, pid()} | {error, {already_started, pid()}} | {error, term()}.
+start_handler(HandlerName, Parent) ->
+    gen_server:start_link({local, HandlerName}, ?MODULE, {HandlerName, Parent}, []).
+
+-spec update_config(handler_name(), config()) -> ok.
+update_config(top, Config) ->
+    emqx_config:put(Config),
+    save_config_to_disk(Config);
+update_config(Handler, Config) ->
+    gen_server:cast(Handler, {handle_update_config, Config}).
+
+%%============================================================================
+%% callbacks of emqx_config_handler (the top-level handler)
+config_key_path() -> [].
+
+handle_update_config(Config, undefined) ->
+    handle_update_config(Config, #{});
+handle_update_config(Config, OldConfigMap) ->
+    %% simply merge the config to the overall config
+    maps:merge(OldConfigMap, Config).
+
+init({HandlerName, Parent}) ->
+    {ok, #state{handler_name = HandlerName, parent = Parent}}.
+
+handle_call(_Request, _From, State) ->
+    Reply = ok,
+    {reply, Reply, State}.
+
+handle_cast({handle_update_config, Config}, #state{handler_name = HandlerName,
+        parent = Parent} = State) ->
+    %% accumulate the config map of this config handler
+    OldConfigMap = emqx_config:get(HandlerName:config_key_path(), undefined),
+    AccConfig = HandlerName:handle_update_config(Config, OldConfigMap),
+    %% then notify the parent handler
+    update_config(Parent, AccConfig),
+    {noreply, State};
+
+handle_cast(_Msg, State) ->
+    {noreply, State}.
+
+handle_info(_Info, State) ->
+    {noreply, State}.
+
+terminate(_Reason, _State) ->
+    ok.
+
+code_change(_OldVsn, State, _Extra) ->
+    {ok, State}.
+
+%%============================================================================
+save_config_to_disk(ConfigMap) ->
+    Filename = filename:join([emqx_data_dir(), "emqx_override.conf"]),
+    case file:write_file(Filename, jsx:encode(ConfigMap)) of
+        ok -> ok;
+        {error, Reason} -> logger:error("write to ~s failed, ~p", [Filename, Reason])
+    end.
+
+emqx_data_dir() ->
+    %emqx_config:get([node, data_dir])
+    "data".
diff --git a/apps/emqx_data_bridge/src/emqx_data_bridge.erl b/apps/emqx_data_bridge/src/emqx_data_bridge.erl
index 2adc48111..3aa72b1da 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_data_bridge/src/emqx_data_bridge.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_data_bridge/src/emqx_data_bridge.erl
@@ -15,6 +15,12 @@
 %%--------------------------------------------------------------------
 -module(emqx_data_bridge).
 
+-behaviour(emqx_config_handler).
+
+-export([ config_key_path/0
+        , handle_update_config/2
+        ]).
+
 -export([ load_bridges/0
         , resource_type/1
         , bridge_type/1
@@ -46,3 +52,14 @@ is_bridge(#{id := <<"bridge:", _/binary>>}) ->
     true;
 is_bridge(_Data) ->
     false.
+
+%%============================================================================
+
+config_key_path() -> [emqx_data_bridge, bridges].
+
+handle_update_config(_Config, _OldConfigMap) ->
+    [format_conf(Data) || Data <- emqx_data_bridge:list_bridges()].
+
+format_conf(#{resource_type := Type, id := Id, config := Conf}) ->
+    #{type => Type, name => emqx_data_bridge:resource_id_to_name(Id),
+      config => Conf}.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/emqx_data_bridge/src/emqx_data_bridge_config_handler.erl b/apps/emqx_data_bridge/src/emqx_data_bridge_config_handler.erl
deleted file mode 100644
index ed21b4ce3..000000000
--- a/apps/emqx_data_bridge/src/emqx_data_bridge_config_handler.erl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,71 +0,0 @@
-%%--------------------------------------------------------------------
-%% Copyright (c) 2020-2021 EMQ Technologies Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
-%%
-%% 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.
-%%--------------------------------------------------------------------
--module(emqx_data_bridge_config_handler).
-
--behaviour(gen_server).
-
-%% API functions
--export([ start_link/0
-        , notify_updated/0
-        ]).
-
-%% gen_server callbacks
--export([init/1,
-         handle_call/3,
-         handle_cast/2,
-         handle_info/2,
-         terminate/2,
-         code_change/3]).
-
--record(state, {}).
-
-start_link() ->
-    gen_server:start_link({local, ?MODULE}, ?MODULE, [], []).
-
-%% TODO: trigger the `updated` message from emqx_resource.
-notify_updated() ->
-    gen_server:cast(?MODULE, updated).
-
-init([]) ->
-    {ok, #state{}}.
-
-handle_call(_Request, _From, State) ->
-    Reply = ok,
-    {reply, Reply, State}.
-
-%% TODO: change the config handler as a behavoir that calls back the Mod:format_config/1
-handle_cast(updated, State) ->
-    Configs = [format_conf(Data) || Data <- emqx_data_bridge:list_bridges()],
-    emqx_config_handler ! {emqx_data_bridge, Configs},
-    {noreply, State};
-
-handle_cast(_Msg, State) ->
-    {noreply, State}.
-
-handle_info(_Info, State) ->
-    {noreply, State}.
-
-terminate(_Reason, _State) ->
-    ok.
-
-code_change(_OldVsn, State, _Extra) ->
-    {ok, State}.
-
-%%============================================================================
-
-format_conf(#{resource_type := Type, id := Id, config := Conf}) ->
-    #{type => Type, name => emqx_data_bridge:resource_id_to_name(Id),
-      config => Conf}.