diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 31cad40..2faea62 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -105,6 +105,39 @@ version = "1.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9b34d609dfbaf33d6889b2b7106d3ca345eacad44200913df5ba02bfd31d2ba9"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "async-stream"
+version = "0.3.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "cd56dd203fef61ac097dd65721a419ddccb106b2d2b70ba60a6b529f03961a51"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-stream-impl",
+ "futures-core",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "async-stream-impl"
+version = "0.3.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "16e62a023e7c117e27523144c5d2459f4397fcc3cab0085af8e2224f643a0193"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.39",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "async-trait"
+version = "0.1.74"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a66537f1bb974b254c98ed142ff995236e81b9d0fe4db0575f46612cb15eb0f9"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.39",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "atoi"
 version = "2.0.0"
@@ -139,6 +172,51 @@ version = "1.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d468802bab17cbc0cc575e9b053f41e72aa36bfa6b7f55e3529ffa43161b97fa"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "axum"
+version = "0.6.20"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3b829e4e32b91e643de6eafe82b1d90675f5874230191a4ffbc1b336dec4d6bf"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-trait",
+ "axum-core",
+ "bitflags 1.3.2",
+ "bytes",
+ "futures-util",
+ "http 0.2.11",
+ "http-body 0.4.6",
+ "hyper 0.14.27",
+ "itoa",
+ "matchit",
+ "memchr",
+ "mime",
+ "percent-encoding",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "rustversion",
+ "serde",
+ "sync_wrapper",
+ "tower",
+ "tower-layer",
+ "tower-service",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "axum-core"
+version = "0.3.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "759fa577a247914fd3f7f76d62972792636412fbfd634cd452f6a385a74d2d2c"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-trait",
+ "bytes",
+ "futures-util",
+ "http 0.2.11",
+ "http-body 0.4.6",
+ "mime",
+ "rustversion",
+ "tower-layer",
+ "tower-service",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "backtrace"
 version = "0.3.69"
@@ -432,6 +510,22 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.52.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "etcd-client"
+version = "0.12.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f5231ad671c74ee5dc02753a0a9c855fe6e90de2a07acb2582f8a702470e04d1"
+dependencies = [
+ "http 0.2.11",
+ "prost",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-stream",
+ "tonic",
+ "tonic-build",
+ "tower",
+ "tower-service",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "etcetera"
 version = "0.8.0"
@@ -630,13 +724,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures-sink",
  "futures-util",
  "http 0.2.11",
- "indexmap",
+ "indexmap 2.1.0",
  "slab",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-util",
  "tracing",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hashbrown"
+version = "0.12.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8a9ee70c43aaf417c914396645a0fa852624801b24ebb7ae78fe8272889ac888"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hashbrown"
 version = "0.14.3"
@@ -653,7 +753,7 @@ version = "0.8.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "e8094feaf31ff591f651a2664fb9cfd92bba7a60ce3197265e9482ebe753c8f7"
 dependencies = [
- "hashbrown",
+ "hashbrown 0.14.3",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -814,6 +914,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hyper-timeout"
+version = "0.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bbb958482e8c7be4bc3cf272a766a2b0bf1a6755e7a6ae777f017a31d11b13b1"
+dependencies = [
+ "hyper 0.14.27",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-io-timeout",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hyper-util"
 version = "0.1.1"
@@ -844,6 +956,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-normalization",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "indexmap"
+version = "1.9.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bd070e393353796e801d209ad339e89596eb4c8d430d18ede6a1cced8fafbd99"
+dependencies = [
+ "autocfg",
+ "hashbrown 0.12.3",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "indexmap"
 version = "2.1.0"
@@ -851,7 +973,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d530e1a18b1cb4c484e6e34556a0d948706958449fca0cab753d649f2bce3d1f"
 dependencies = [
  "equivalent",
- "hashbrown",
+ "hashbrown 0.14.3",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -940,6 +1062,7 @@ name = "lavina-core"
 version = "0.0.2-dev"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
+ "etcd-client",
  "inner-api",
  "prometheus",
  "prost",
@@ -1003,6 +1126,12 @@ version = "0.4.20"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b5e6163cb8c49088c2c36f57875e58ccd8c87c7427f7fbd50ea6710b2f3f2e8f"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "matchit"
+version = "0.7.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0e7465ac9959cc2b1404e8e2367b43684a6d13790fe23056cc8c6c5a6b7bcb94"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "md-5"
 version = "0.10.6"
@@ -1254,7 +1383,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "e1d3afd2628e69da2be385eb6f2fd57c8ac7977ceeff6dc166ff1657b0e386a9"
 dependencies = [
  "fixedbitset",
- "indexmap",
+ "indexmap 2.1.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1702,6 +1831,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "untrusted",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rustversion"
+version = "1.0.14"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7ffc183a10b4478d04cbbbfc96d0873219d962dd5accaff2ffbd4ceb7df837f4"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ryu"
 version = "1.0.15"
@@ -1946,7 +2081,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures-util",
  "hashlink",
  "hex",
- "indexmap",
+ "indexmap 2.1.0",
  "log",
  "memchr",
  "once_cell",
@@ -2149,6 +2284,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "sync_wrapper"
+version = "0.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2047c6ded9c721764247e62cd3b03c09ffc529b2ba5b10ec482ae507a4a70160"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "system-configuration"
 version = "0.5.1"
@@ -2247,6 +2388,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.48.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tokio-io-timeout"
+version = "1.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "30b74022ada614a1b4834de765f9bb43877f910cc8ce4be40e89042c9223a8bf"
+dependencies = [
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "tokio",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tokio-macros"
 version = "2.2.0"
@@ -2268,6 +2419,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tokio-stream"
+version = "0.1.14"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "397c988d37662c7dda6d2208364a706264bf3d6138b11d436cbac0ad38832842"
+dependencies = [
+ "futures-core",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "tokio",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tokio-util"
 version = "0.7.10"
@@ -2309,13 +2471,53 @@ version = "0.21.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d34d383cd00a163b4a5b85053df514d45bc330f6de7737edfe0a93311d1eaa03"
 dependencies = [
- "indexmap",
+ "indexmap 2.1.0",
  "serde",
  "serde_spanned",
  "toml_datetime",
  "winnow",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tonic"
+version = "0.10.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d560933a0de61cf715926b9cac824d4c883c2c43142f787595e48280c40a1d0e"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-stream",
+ "async-trait",
+ "axum",
+ "base64",
+ "bytes",
+ "h2",
+ "http 0.2.11",
+ "http-body 0.4.6",
+ "hyper 0.14.27",
+ "hyper-timeout",
+ "percent-encoding",
+ "pin-project",
+ "prost",
+ "tokio",
+ "tokio-stream",
+ "tower",
+ "tower-layer",
+ "tower-service",
+ "tracing",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "tonic-build"
+version = "0.10.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9d021fc044c18582b9a2408cd0dd05b1596e3ecdb5c4df822bb0183545683889"
+dependencies = [
+ "prettyplease",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "prost-build",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.39",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tower"
 version = "0.4.13"
@@ -2324,9 +2526,13 @@ checksum = "b8fa9be0de6cf49e536ce1851f987bd21a43b771b09473c3549a6c853db37c1c"
 dependencies = [
  "futures-core",
  "futures-util",
+ "indexmap 1.9.3",
  "pin-project",
  "pin-project-lite",
+ "rand",
+ "slab",
  "tokio",
+ "tokio-util",
  "tower-layer",
  "tower-service",
  "tracing",
diff --git a/config.toml b/config.node-1.toml
similarity index 83%
rename from config.toml
rename to config.node-1.toml
index b0742ae..a513991 100644
--- a/config.toml
+++ b/config.node-1.toml
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ key = "./certs/xmpp.key"
 db_path = "db.sqlite"
 
 [clustering]
+cluster_name = "example"
 self_id = 1
 listen_on = "0.0.0.0:23732"
 advertised_address = "127.0.0.1:23732"
-bootstrap_via = []
+etcd_address = "http://127.0.0.1:2379"
diff --git a/config2.toml b/config.node-2.toml
similarity index 81%
rename from config2.toml
rename to config.node-2.toml
index f2ef981..9eb5771 100644
--- a/config2.toml
+++ b/config.node-2.toml
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ key = "./certs/xmpp.key"
 db_path = "db.sqlite"
 
 [clustering]
-self_id = 1
+cluster_name = "example"
+self_id = 2
 listen_on = "0.0.0.0:23733"
 advertised_address = "127.0.0.1:23733"
-bootstrap_via = ["0.0.0.0:23732"]
+etcd_address = "127.0.0.1:2379"
diff --git a/crates/lavina-core/Cargo.toml b/crates/lavina-core/Cargo.toml
index 25c37ae..b61d056 100644
--- a/crates/lavina-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/lavina-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,3 +12,4 @@ tracing.workspace = true
 prometheus.workspace = true
 inner-api = { path = "../inner-api" }
 prost.workspace = true
+etcd-client = "0.12.3"
diff --git a/crates/lavina-core/src/clustering/mod.rs b/crates/lavina-core/src/clustering/mod.rs
index 1df0be2..57eb006 100644
--- a/crates/lavina-core/src/clustering/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/lavina-core/src/clustering/mod.rs
@@ -11,13 +11,19 @@ use tokio::sync::mpsc::{channel, Receiver, Sender};
 use tokio::sync::RwLock;
 use tokio::task::JoinHandle;
 use tracing::{info, trace, warn};
+use etcd_client::Client as EtcdClient;
 
 use inner_api::proto;
+use crate::prelude::Str;
 use crate::table::{AnonTable};
 use crate::terminator::Terminator;
 
 #[derive(Deserialize, Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct ClusteringConfig {
+    /// The name of the cluster used for prefixing the data in etcd and to prevent accidental communication between different clusters.
+    ///
+    /// Useful for multi-tenant usage of etcd.
+    pub cluster_name: Str,
     /// The unique identifier of the node in the cluster, needed to distinguish it form other nodes.
     pub self_id: u32,
     /// The local address where this node listens incoming for node-to-node communication.
@@ -27,9 +33,8 @@ pub struct ClusteringConfig {
     /// This is useful when a node is behind a NAT or a proxy, where the publicly accessible IP
     /// address can differ from the local IP address.
     pub advertised_address: SocketAddr,
-    /// A list of network addresses with the node's initial set of peers in the cluster.
-    /// These nodes will be contacted first in order to discover additional nodes and to initialize the local state.
-    pub bootstrap_via: Box<[SocketAddr]>,
+    /// The address of the etcd node which will be used to discover or to bootstrap the cluster.
+    pub etcd_address: Str,
 }
 
 /// Cluster registry is a service which handles all connections to other nodes of the cluster.
@@ -54,29 +59,10 @@ impl ClusterRegistry {
             peer_tasks: AnonTable::new(),
         }));
         let listener = TcpListener::bind(config.listen_on).await?;
-
         let listener_task = start_connection_listener(listener, inner.clone()).await;
+        let client = EtcdClient::connect(&[config.etcd_address], None).await?;
+        dbg!(client.kv_client().get(b"kek", None).await?);
 
-        if let Some(bootstrap) = config.bootstrap_via.first() {
-            info!("Connecting to the bootstrap server");
-            let mut stream = TcpStream::connect(bootstrap).await?;
-            let handshake_request = proto::HandshakeRequest {
-                node_id: config.self_id,
-                address: config.advertised_address.to_string(),
-            };
-            let mut buf = vec![];
-
-            handshake_request.encode(&mut buf).unwrap();
-
-            let length = u16::to_be_bytes(buf.len() as u16);
-            stream.write_all(&length).await?;
-            stream.write_all(&buf).await?;
-            stream.flush().await?;
-
-            let handshake_response = read_message::<proto::HandshakeResponse>(&mut stream).await?;
-            info!("Connection to the bootstrap server succeeded");
-            peer_launch(stream, inner.clone()).await;
-        }
 
         Ok(ClusterRegistry {
             inner,
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..263ecc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+version: "3"
+
+services:
+  etcd:
+    image: quay.io/coreos/etcd:v3.5.11
+    ports:
+      - "2379:2379"
+      - "2380:2380"