diff --git a/docs/my-website/docs/proxy/configs.md b/docs/my-website/docs/proxy/configs.md
index 28b0b67e336..1adc4943d33 100644
--- a/docs/my-website/docs/proxy/configs.md
+++ b/docs/my-website/docs/proxy/configs.md
@@ -692,9 +692,13 @@ general_settings:
   allowed_routes: ["route1", "route2"]  # list of allowed proxy API routes - a user can access. (currently JWT-Auth only)
   key_management_system: google_kms  # either google_kms or azure_kms
   master_key: string
+
+  # Database Settings
   database_url: string
   database_connection_pool_limit: 0  # default 100
   database_connection_timeout: 0  # default 60s
+  allow_requests_on_db_unavailable: boolean  # if true, will allow requests that can not connect to the DB to verify Virtual Key to still work 
+
   custom_auth: string
   max_parallel_requests: 0  # the max parallel requests allowed per deployment 
   global_max_parallel_requests: 0  # the max parallel requests allowed on the proxy all up 
@@ -766,6 +770,7 @@ general_settings:
 | database_url | string | The URL for the database connection [Set up Virtual Keys](virtual_keys) |
 | database_connection_pool_limit | integer | The limit for database connection pool [Setting DB Connection Pool limit](#configure-db-pool-limits--connection-timeouts) |
 | database_connection_timeout | integer | The timeout for database connections in seconds [Setting DB Connection Pool limit, timeout](#configure-db-pool-limits--connection-timeouts) |
+| allow_requests_on_db_unavailable | boolean | If true, allows requests to succeed even if DB is unreachable. **Only use this if running LiteLLM in your VPC** This will allow requests to work even when LiteLLM cannot connect to the DB to verify a Virtual Key |
 | custom_auth | string | Write your own custom authentication logic [Doc Custom Auth](virtual_keys#custom-auth) |
 | max_parallel_requests | integer | The max parallel requests allowed per deployment |
 | global_max_parallel_requests | integer | The max parallel requests allowed on the proxy overall |
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/auth/auth_checks.py b/litellm/proxy/auth/auth_checks.py
index e00d494d94b..d2b04122b43 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/auth/auth_checks.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/auth/auth_checks.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import traceback
 from datetime import datetime
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, List, Literal, Optional
 
+import httpx
 from pydantic import BaseModel
 
 import litellm
@@ -717,12 +718,49 @@ async def get_key_object(
         )
 
         return _response
-    except Exception:
+    except httpx.ConnectError as e:
+        return await _handle_failed_db_connection_for_get_key_object(e=e)
+    except Exception as e:
         raise Exception(
             f"Key doesn't exist in db. key={hashed_token}. Create key via `/key/generate` call."
         )
 
 
+async def _handle_failed_db_connection_for_get_key_object(
+    e: Exception,
+) -> UserAPIKeyAuth:
+    """
+    Handles httpx.ConnectError when reading a Virtual Key from LiteLLM DB
+
+    Use this if you don't want failed DB queries to block LLM API reqiests
+
+    Returns:
+        - UserAPIKeyAuth: If general_settings.allow_requests_on_db_unavailable is True
+
+    Raises:
+        - Orignal Exception in all other cases
+    """
+    from litellm.proxy.proxy_server import general_settings, proxy_logging_obj
+
+    # If this flag is on, requests failing to connect to the DB will be allowed
+    if general_settings.get("allow_requests_on_db_unavailable", False) is True:
+        # log to prometheus
+        proxy_logging_obj.service_logging_obj.service_success_hook(
+            service=ServiceTypes.ALLOW_REQUESTS_ON_DB_UNAVAILABLE,
+            call_type="get_key_object",
+            parent_otel_span=None,
+            duration=0.0,
+            start_time=None,
+            end_time=None,
+        )
+
+        return UserAPIKeyAuth(
+            key_name="failed-to-connect-to-db", token="failed-to-connect-to-db"
+        )
+    else:
+        raise e
+
+
 @log_to_opentelemetry
 async def get_org_object(
     org_id: str,
diff --git a/litellm/proxy/proxy_config.yaml b/litellm/proxy/proxy_config.yaml
index acae35530bd..53ab370010e 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/proxy_config.yaml
+++ b/litellm/proxy/proxy_config.yaml
@@ -6,22 +6,10 @@ model_list:
       api_base: https://exampleopenaiendpoint-production.up.railway.app/
 
 
+litellm_settings:
+  callbacks: ["prometheus"]
+  service_callback: ["prometheus_system"]
+
 
 general_settings:
-  disable_prisma_schema_update: true
-  # Temoporarily disable callbacks and key and budget constraints for large batch inference jobs
-  # alerting: ["slack"]
-  alerting_threshold: 300 # sends alerts if requests hang for 5min+ and responses take 5min+
-litellm_settings: # module level litellm settings - https://github.com/BerriAI/litellm/blob/main/litellm/__init__.py
-  success_callback: ["prometheus"]
-  service_callback: ["prometheus_system"]
-  # callbacks: ["otel"]
-  # upperbound_key_generate_params:
-  #   max_budget: 5000 # upperbound of $5000, for all /key/generate requests
-  #   duration: "7d" # upperbound of 7 days for all /key/generate requests
-  drop_params: True # Raise an exception if the openai param being passed in isn't supported.
-  # set_verbose: True
-  json_logs: true
-  cache: false
-router_settings:
-  routing_strategy: simple-shuffle # "simple-shuffle" shown to result in highest throughput. https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/configs#load-balancing
\ No newline at end of file
+  allow_requests_on_db_unavailable: true
diff --git a/litellm/types/services.py b/litellm/types/services.py
index cfa427ebc3d..6ffdfc8916f 100644
--- a/litellm/types/services.py
+++ b/litellm/types/services.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ class ServiceTypes(str, enum.Enum):
 
     REDIS = "redis"
     DB = "postgres"
+    ALLOW_REQUESTS_ON_DB_UNAVAILABLE = "allow_requests_on_db_unavailable"
     BATCH_WRITE_TO_DB = "batch_write_to_db"
     LITELLM = "self"
     ROUTER = "router"