diff --git a/app/Main.hs b/app/Main.hs
index 03f72f1..eb54359 100644
--- a/app/Main.hs
+++ b/app/Main.hs
@@ -16,13 +16,10 @@ main = do
     -- ToDo: parse and pass config
     -- probably use `tomland` for that
     conf <- readConfig
-    -- TODO: first initialise 'RealNode', then the vservers
     -- ToDo: load persisted caches, bootstrapping nodes …
     (serverSock, thisNode) <- fediChordInit conf
     -- currently no masking is necessary, as there is nothing to clean up
     cacheWriterThread <- forkIO $ cacheWriter thisNode
-    thisNodeSnap <- readTVarIO thisNode
-    realNode <- readTVarIO $ parentRealNode thisNodeSnap
     -- try joining the DHT using one of the provided bootstrapping nodes
     let
         tryJoining (bn:bns) = do
@@ -31,7 +28,7 @@ main = do
               Left err -> putStrLn ("join error: " <> err) >> tryJoining bns
               Right joined -> pure $ Right joined
         tryJoining [] = pure $ Left "Exhausted all bootstrap points for joining."
-    joinedState <- tryJoining $ bootstrapNodes realNode
+    joinedState <- tryJoining $ confBootstrapNodes conf
     either (\err -> do
         -- handle unsuccessful join
 
diff --git a/src/Hash2Pub/FediChord.hs b/src/Hash2Pub/FediChord.hs
index ba7edb4..5470731 100644
--- a/src/Hash2Pub/FediChord.hs
+++ b/src/Hash2Pub/FediChord.hs
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ module Hash2Pub.FediChord (
   , fediChordJoin
   , fediChordBootstrapJoin
   , fediMainThreads
-  , RealNode (..)
   , nodeStateInit
   , mkServerSocket
   , mkSendSocket
@@ -91,36 +90,27 @@ import           Debug.Trace                   (trace)
 -- | initialise data structures, compute own IDs and bind to listening socket
 -- ToDo: load persisted state, thus this function already operates in IO
 fediChordInit :: FediChordConf -> IO (Socket, LocalNodeStateSTM)
-fediChordInit initConf = do
-    let realNode = RealNode {
-            vservers = []
-          , nodeConfig = initConf
-          , bootstrapNodes = confBootstrapNodes initConf
-                            }
-    realNodeSTM <- newTVarIO realNode
-    initialState <- nodeStateInit realNodeSTM
+fediChordInit conf = do
+    initialState <- nodeStateInit conf
     initialStateSTM <- newTVarIO initialState
     serverSock <- mkServerSocket (getIpAddr initialState) (getDhtPort initialState)
     pure (serverSock, initialStateSTM)
 
 -- | initialises the 'NodeState' for this local node.
 -- Separated from 'fediChordInit' to be usable in tests.
-nodeStateInit :: RealNodeSTM -> IO LocalNodeState
-nodeStateInit realNodeSTM = do
-    realNode <- readTVarIO realNodeSTM
+nodeStateInit :: FediChordConf -> IO LocalNodeState
+nodeStateInit conf = do
     cacheSTM <- newTVarIO initCache
     q <- atomically newTQueue
     let
-        conf = nodeConfig realNode
-        vsID = 0
         containedState = RemoteNodeState {
             domain = confDomain conf
           , ipAddr = confIP conf
-          , nid = genNodeID (confIP conf) (confDomain conf) $ fromInteger vsID
+          , nid = genNodeID (confIP conf) (confDomain conf) 0
           , dhtPort = toEnum $ confDhtPort conf
           , servicePort = 0
-          , vServerID = vsID
-                                          }
+          , vServerID = 0
+                                            }
         initialState = LocalNodeState {
             nodeState = containedState
           , nodeCacheSTM = cacheSTM
@@ -131,7 +121,6 @@ nodeStateInit realNodeSTM = do
           , lNumBestNodes = 3
           , pNumParallelQueries = 2
           , jEntriesPerSlice = 2
-          , parentRealNode = realNodeSTM
                                            }
     pure initialState
 
@@ -198,7 +187,7 @@ joinOnNewEntriesThread nsSTM = loop
             case queryLocalCache nsSnap cache 1 (getNid nsSnap) of
               -- empty cache, block until cache changes and then retry
               (FORWARD s) | Set.null s -> retry
-              result                   -> pure (result, cache)
+              result -> pure (result, cache)
         case lookupResult of
           -- already joined
           FOUND _ -> do
@@ -211,7 +200,7 @@ joinOnNewEntriesThread nsSTM = loop
                 -- on join failure, sleep and retry
                 -- TODO: make delay configurable
                 (const $ threadDelay (30 * 10^6) >> loop)
-                (const $ pure ())
+                (const $ pure ()) 
                 joinResult
     emptyset = Set.empty    -- because pattern matches don't accept qualified names
 
diff --git a/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs b/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs
index 8351eba..660eb49 100644
--- a/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs
+++ b/src/Hash2Pub/FediChordTypes.hs
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ module Hash2Pub.FediChordTypes (
   , LocalNodeState (..)
   , LocalNodeStateSTM
   , RemoteNodeState (..)
-  , RealNode (..)
-  , RealNodeSTM
   , setSuccessors
   , setPredecessors
   , NodeCache
@@ -134,19 +132,6 @@ a `localCompare` b
     wayForwards = getNodeID (b - a)
     wayBackwards = getNodeID (a - b)
 
--- | Data for managing the virtual server nodes of this real node.
--- Also contains shared data and config values.
--- TODO: more data structures for k-choices bookkeeping
-data RealNode = RealNode
-    { vservers       :: [LocalNodeStateSTM]
-    -- ^ references to all active versers
-    , nodeConfig     :: FediChordConf
-    -- ^ holds the initial configuration read at program start
-    , bootstrapNodes :: [(String, PortNumber)]
-    -- ^ nodes to be used as bootstrapping points, new ones learned during operation
-    }
-
-type RealNodeSTM = TVar RealNode
 
 -- | represents a node and all its important state
 data RemoteNodeState = RemoteNodeState
@@ -187,8 +172,6 @@ data LocalNodeState = LocalNodeState
     -- ^ number of parallel sent queries
     , jEntriesPerSlice    :: Int
     -- ^ number of desired entries per cache slice
-    , parentRealNode      :: RealNodeSTM
-    -- ^ the parent node managing this vserver instance
     }
     deriving (Show, Eq)
 
diff --git a/test/FediChordSpec.hs b/test/FediChordSpec.hs
index 1cace7a..1e94628 100644
--- a/test/FediChordSpec.hs
+++ b/test/FediChordSpec.hs
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 module FediChordSpec where
 
-import           Control.Concurrent.STM.TVar
 import           Control.Exception
-import           Data.ASN1.Parse             (runParseASN1)
-import qualified Data.ByteString             as BS
-import qualified Data.Map.Strict             as Map
-import           Data.Maybe                  (fromJust, isJust)
-import qualified Data.Set                    as Set
+import           Data.ASN1.Parse         (runParseASN1)
+import qualified Data.ByteString         as BS
+import qualified Data.Map.Strict         as Map
+import           Data.Maybe              (fromJust, isJust)
+import qualified Data.Set                as Set
 import           Data.Time.Clock.POSIX
 import           Network.Socket
 import           Test.Hspec
@@ -293,20 +292,11 @@ exampleNodeState = RemoteNodeState {
                    }
 
 exampleLocalNode :: IO LocalNodeState
-exampleLocalNode = nodeStateInit =<< (newTVarIO $ RealNode {
-            vservers = []
-          , nodeConfig = exampleFediConf
-          , bootstrapNodes = confBootstrapNodes exampleFediConf
-                                                        })
-
-
-exampleFediConf :: FediChordConf
-exampleFediConf = FediChordConf {
+exampleLocalNode = nodeStateInit $ FediChordConf {
     confDomain = "example.social"
   , confIP = exampleIp
   , confDhtPort = 2342
                                                     }
-
 exampleNodeDomain :: String
 exampleNodeDomain = "example.social"
 exampleVs :: (Integral i) => i