diff --git a/src/Hash2Pub/DHTProtocol.hs b/src/Hash2Pub/DHTProtocol.hs
index 2fe41eb..3c6cd6c 100644
--- a/src/Hash2Pub/DHTProtocol.hs
+++ b/src/Hash2Pub/DHTProtocol.hs
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ import           Hash2Pub.FediChordTypes        (CacheEntry (..),
                                                  NodeID, NodeState (..),
                                                  RemoteNodeState (..),
                                                  RingEntry (..), RingMap (..),
+                                                 addRMapEntryWith,
                                                  cacheGetNodeStateUnvalidated,
                                                  cacheLookup, cacheLookupPred,
                                                  cacheLookupSucc, localCompare,
@@ -114,14 +115,14 @@ addCacheEntry entry cache = do
 
 -- | pure version of 'addCacheEntry' with current time explicitly specified as argument
 addCacheEntryPure :: POSIXTime      -- ^ current time
-              -> RemoteCacheEntry   -- ^ a remote cache entry received from network
-              -> NodeCache          -- ^ node cache to insert to
-              -> NodeCache       -- ^ new node cache with the element inserted
+                  -> RemoteCacheEntry   -- ^ a remote cache entry received from network
+                  -> NodeCache          -- ^ node cache to insert to
+                  -> NodeCache       -- ^ new node cache with the element inserted
 addCacheEntryPure now (RemoteCacheEntry ns ts) cache =
     let
         -- TODO: limit diffSeconds to some maximum value to prevent malicious nodes from inserting entries valid nearly until eternity
         timestamp' = if ts <= now then ts else now
-        newCache = addRMapEntryWith insertCombineFunction (KeyEntry (CacheEntry False ns timestamp')) cache
+        newCache = addRMapEntryWith insertCombineFunction (CacheEntry False ns timestamp') cache
         insertCombineFunction newVal@(KeyEntry (CacheEntry newValidationState newNode newTimestamp)) oldVal =
             case oldVal of
               ProxyEntry n _ -> ProxyEntry n (Just newVal)
diff --git a/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs b/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs
index b41e3dd..27d5f32 100644
--- a/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs
+++ b/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs
@@ -149,9 +149,9 @@ data LocalNodeState = LocalNodeState
     -- ^ EpiChord node cache with expiry times for nodes
     , cacheWriteQueue     :: TQueue (NodeCache -> NodeCache)
     -- ^ cache updates are not written directly to the  'nodeCache' but queued and
-    , successors          :: RingMap RemoteNodeState -- could be a set instead as these are ordered as well
+    , successors          :: [RemoteNodeState] -- could be a set instead as these are ordered as well
     -- ^ successor nodes in ascending order by distance
-    , predecessors        :: RingMap RemoteNodeState
+    , predecessors        :: [RemoteNodeState]
     -- ^ predecessor nodes in ascending order by distance
     , kNeighbours         :: Int
     -- ^ desired length of predecessor and successor list
@@ -231,13 +231,14 @@ instance Typeable a => Show (TVar a) where
 instance Typeable a => Show (TQueue a) where
     show x = show (typeOf x)
 
+
 -- | convenience function that updates the successors of a 'LocalNodeState'
 setSuccessors :: [RemoteNodeState] -> LocalNodeState -> LocalNodeState
-setSuccessors succ' ns = ns {successors = take (kNeighbours ns) . nub . sortBy (localCompare `on` getNid) . filter ((== LT) . (localCompare `on` getNid) (toRemoteNodeState ns)) $ succ'}
+setSuccessors succs ns = ns {successors = takeRMapSuccessors (getNid ns) (kNeighbours ns) . rMapFromList $ succs}
 
 -- | convenience function that updates the predecessors of a 'LocalNodeState'
 setPredecessors :: [RemoteNodeState] -> LocalNodeState -> LocalNodeState
-setPredecessors pred' ns = ns {predecessors = take (kNeighbours ns) . nub . sortBy (flip localCompare `on` getNid) . filter ((== GT) . (localCompare `on` getNid) (toRemoteNodeState ns)) $ pred'}
+setPredecessors preds ns = ns {predecessors = takeRMapPredecessors (getNid ns) (kNeighbours ns) . rMapFromList $ preds}
 
 -- | Class for all types that can be identified via an EpiChord key.
 -- Used for restricting the types a 'RingMap' can store
@@ -255,10 +256,10 @@ type NodeCache = RingMap CacheEntry
 -- | generic data structure for holding elements with a key and modular lookup
 newtype RingMap a = RingMap { getRingMap :: HasKeyID a => Map.Map NodeID (RingEntry a) }
 
-instance Eq (RingMap a) where
+instance (HasKeyID a) => Eq (RingMap a) where
     a == b = getRingMap a == getRingMap b
 
-instance Show (RingMap a) where
+instance (HasKeyID a) => Show (RingMap a) where
     show rmap = shows (getRingMap rmap) "RingMap "
 
 -- | entry of a 'RingMap' that holds a value and can also
@@ -463,8 +464,8 @@ takeRMapEntries_ getterFunc startAt num rmap = reverse $
     takeEntriesUntil havingReached previousEntry remaining takeAcc
       | remaining <= 0 = takeAcc
       | getKeyID (fromJust $ getterFunc previousEntry rmap) == havingReached = takeAcc
-      | otherwise = let (Just gotEntry) = getterFunc (getKeyID previousEntry) rmap
-                    in takeEntriesUntil (getKeyID havingReached) (getKeyID gotEntry) (remaining-1) (gotEntry:takeAcc)
+      | otherwise = let (Just gotEntry) = getterFunc previousEntry rmap
+                    in takeEntriesUntil havingReached (getKeyID gotEntry) (remaining-1) (gotEntry:takeAcc)
 
 takeRMapPredecessors :: (HasKeyID a, Integral i)
                  => NodeID