diff --git a/backend/gtime/gtime.go b/backend/gtime/gtime.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..22e6eefb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/gtime/gtime.go
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+package gtime
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"strconv"
+	"time"
+)
+
+var dateUnitPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`^(\d+)([dwMy])$`)
+
+// ParseInterval parses an interval with support for all units that Grafana uses.
+// An interval is relative to the current wall time.
+func ParseInterval(inp string) (time.Duration, error) {
+	dur, period, err := parse(inp)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	if period == "" {
+		return dur, nil
+	}
+
+	num := int(dur)
+
+	// Use UTC to ensure that the interval is deterministic, and daylight saving
+	// doesn't cause surprises
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	switch period {
+	case "d":
+		return now.AddDate(0, 0, num).Sub(now), nil
+	case "w":
+		return now.AddDate(0, 0, num*7).Sub(now), nil
+	case "M":
+		return now.AddDate(0, num, 0).Sub(now), nil
+	case "y":
+		return now.AddDate(num, 0, 0).Sub(now), nil
+	}
+
+	return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid interval %q", inp)
+}
+
+// ParseDuration parses a duration with support for all units that Grafana uses.
+// Durations are independent of wall time.
+func ParseDuration(inp string) (time.Duration, error) {
+	dur, period, err := parse(inp)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, err
+	}
+	if period == "" {
+		return dur, nil
+	}
+
+	// The average number of days in a year, using the Julian calendar
+	const daysInAYear = 365.25
+	const day = 24 * time.Hour
+	const week = 7 * day
+	const year = time.Duration(float64(day) * daysInAYear)
+	const month = time.Duration(float64(year) / 12)
+
+	switch period {
+	case "d":
+		return dur * day, nil
+	case "w":
+		return dur * week, nil
+	case "M":
+		return dur * month, nil
+	case "y":
+		return dur * year, nil
+	}
+
+	return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid duration %q", inp)
+}
+
+func parse(inp string) (time.Duration, string, error) {
+	result := dateUnitPattern.FindSubmatch([]byte(inp))
+	if len(result) != 3 {
+		dur, err := time.ParseDuration(inp)
+		return dur, "", err
+	}
+
+	num, err := strconv.Atoi(string(result[1]))
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, "", err
+	}
+
+	return time.Duration(num), string(result[2]), nil
+}
diff --git a/backend/gtime/gtime_test.go b/backend/gtime/gtime_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..93111e499
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/gtime/gtime_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+package gtime
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestParseInterval(t *testing.T) {
+	daysInMonth, daysInYear := calculateDays()
+
+	tcs := []struct {
+		inp      string
+		duration time.Duration
+		err      *regexp.Regexp
+	}{
+		{inp: "1d", duration: 24 * time.Hour},
+		{inp: "1w", duration: 168 * time.Hour},
+		{inp: "2w", duration: 2 * 168 * time.Hour},
+		{inp: "1M", duration: time.Duration(daysInMonth * 24 * int(time.Hour))},
+		{inp: "1y", duration: time.Duration(daysInYear * 24 * int(time.Hour))},
+		{inp: "5y", duration: time.Duration(calculateDays5y() * 24 * int(time.Hour))},
+		{inp: "invalid-duration", err: regexp.MustCompile(`^time: invalid duration "?invalid-duration"?$`)},
+	}
+	for i, tc := range tcs {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("testcase %d", i), func(t *testing.T) {
+			res, err := ParseInterval(tc.inp)
+			if tc.err == nil {
+				require.NoError(t, err, "input %q", tc.inp)
+				require.Equal(t, tc.duration, res, "input %q", tc.inp)
+			} else {
+				require.Error(t, err, "input %q", tc.inp)
+				require.Regexp(t, tc.err, err.Error())
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseDuration(t *testing.T) {
+	tcs := []struct {
+		inp      string
+		duration time.Duration
+		err      *regexp.Regexp
+	}{
+		{inp: "1s", duration: time.Second},
+		{inp: "1m", duration: time.Minute},
+		{inp: "1h", duration: time.Hour},
+		{inp: "1d", duration: 24 * time.Hour},
+		{inp: "1w", duration: 7 * 24 * time.Hour},
+		{inp: "2w", duration: 2 * 7 * 24 * time.Hour},
+		{inp: "1M", duration: time.Duration(730.5 * float64(time.Hour))},
+		{inp: "1y", duration: 365.25 * 24 * time.Hour},
+		{inp: "5y", duration: 5 * 365.25 * 24 * time.Hour},
+		{inp: "invalid-duration", err: regexp.MustCompile(`^time: invalid duration "?invalid-duration"?$`)},
+	}
+	for i, tc := range tcs {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("testcase %d", i), func(t *testing.T) {
+			res, err := ParseDuration(tc.inp)
+			if tc.err == nil {
+				require.NoError(t, err, "input %q", tc.inp)
+				require.Equal(t, tc.duration, res, "input %q", tc.inp)
+			} else {
+				require.Error(t, err, "input %q", tc.inp)
+				require.Regexp(t, tc.err, err.Error())
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func calculateDays() (int, int) {
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	currentYear, currentMonth, _ := now.Date()
+
+	firstDayOfMonth := time.Date(currentYear, currentMonth, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	daysInMonth := firstDayOfMonth.AddDate(0, 1, -1).Day()
+
+	t1 := time.Date(currentYear, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	t2 := time.Date(currentYear+1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+
+	daysInYear := int(t2.Sub(t1).Hours() / 24)
+
+	return daysInMonth, daysInYear
+}
+
+func calculateDays5y() int {
+	now := time.Now().UTC()
+	currentYear, _, _ := now.Date()
+
+	var daysInYear int
+
+	for i := 0; i < 5; i++ {
+		t1 := time.Date(currentYear+i, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+		t2 := time.Date(currentYear+i+1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+
+		daysInYear += int(t2.Sub(t1).Hours() / 24)
+	}
+
+	return daysInYear
+}