diff --git a/config_example.yaml b/config_example.yaml
index 6eb73db..509a25c 100644
--- a/config_example.yaml
+++ b/config_example.yaml
@@ -15,9 +15,6 @@ nodes:
   saveinterval: 5
   aliases_enable: false
   aliases_path: /var/www/html/meshviewer/data/aliases.json
-  vpn_addresses:
-  - da:25:d6:5c:97:6f
-  - da:62:f2:70:c8:8d
 influxdb:
   enable: false
   database: ffhb
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 07d2562..7a6cd76 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ var (
 	wsserverForNodes *websocketserver.Server
 	collector        *respond.Collector
 	statsDb          *StatsDb
-	nodes            = models.NewNodes()
+	nodes            *models.Nodes
 	//aliases          = models.NewNodes()
 )
 
@@ -30,18 +30,7 @@ func main() {
 	flag.StringVar(&configFile, "config", "config.yml", "path of configuration file (default:config.yaml)")
 	flag.Parse()
 	config = models.ConfigReadFile(configFile)
-
-	if config.Nodes.Enable {
-		go nodes.Saver(config)
-	}
-
-	if config.Webserver.Enable {
-		if config.Webserver.WebsocketNode {
-			wsserverForNodes = websocketserver.NewServer("/nodes")
-			go wsserverForNodes.Listen()
-		}
-		http.Handle("/", http.FileServer(http.Dir(config.Webserver.Webroot)))
-	}
+	nodes = models.NewNodes(config)
 
 	if config.Influxdb.Enable {
 		statsDb = NewStatsDb()
@@ -52,9 +41,18 @@ func main() {
 		collector = respond.NewCollector("nodeinfo statistics neighbours", collectInterval, onReceive)
 	}
 
-	// TODO bad
+	if config.Webserver.WebsocketNode {
+		wsserverForNodes = websocketserver.NewServer("/nodes")
+		go wsserverForNodes.Listen()
+	}
+
 	if config.Webserver.Enable {
-		log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(net.JoinHostPort(config.Webserver.Address, config.Webserver.Port), nil))
+		http.Handle("/", http.FileServer(http.Dir(config.Webserver.Webroot)))
+
+		address := net.JoinHostPort(config.Webserver.Address, config.Webserver.Port)
+		log.Println("starting webserver on", address)
+		// TODO bad
+		log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(address, nil))
 	}
 
 	// Wait for INT/TERM
diff --git a/models/graph.go b/models/graph.go
index 72d5381..c033348 100644
--- a/models/graph.go
+++ b/models/graph.go
@@ -26,18 +26,13 @@ type GraphBuilder struct {
 	vpn     map[string]interface{} // IDs/addresses of VPN servers
 }
 
-func (nodes *Nodes) BuildGraph(vpnAddresses []string) *Graph {
+func (nodes *Nodes) BuildGraph() *Graph {
 	builder := &GraphBuilder{
 		macToID: make(map[string]string),
 		links:   make(map[string]*GraphLink),
 		vpn:     make(map[string]interface{}),
 	}
 
-	// read VPN addresses into map
-	for _, address := range vpnAddresses {
-		builder.vpn[address] = nil
-	}
-
 	builder.readNodes(nodes.List)
 
 	graph := &Graph{Version: 2}
diff --git a/models/nodes.go b/models/nodes.go
index 03b862c..0b62394 100644
--- a/models/nodes.go
+++ b/models/nodes.go
@@ -30,16 +30,23 @@ type Nodes struct {
 	Version   int              `json:"version"`
 	Timestamp jsontime.Time    `json:"timestamp"`
 	List      map[string]*Node `json:"nodes"` // the current nodemap, indexed by node ID
+	config    *Config
 	sync.Mutex
 }
 
-// NewNodes create Nodes structs (cache DB)
-func NewNodes() *Nodes {
+// NewNodes create Nodes structs
+func NewNodes(config *Config) *Nodes {
 	nodes := &Nodes{
-		Version: 2,
-		List:    make(map[string]*Node),
+		List:   make(map[string]*Node),
+		config: config,
 	}
 
+	if config.Nodes.NodesPath != "" {
+		nodes.load()
+	}
+	go nodes.worker()
+
+	nodes.Version = 2
 	return nodes
 }
 
@@ -76,39 +83,55 @@ func (nodes *Nodes) Update(nodeID string, res *data.ResponseData) {
 	}
 }
 
-// Saves the cached DB to json file periodically
-func (nodes *Nodes) Saver(config *Config) {
-	c := time.Tick(time.Second * time.Duration(config.Nodes.SaveInterval))
+// Periodically saves the cached DB to json file
+func (nodes *Nodes) worker() {
+	c := time.Tick(time.Second * 5)
 
 	for range c {
 		log.Println("saving", len(nodes.List), "nodes")
-		nodes.Timestamp = time.Now()
+		nodes.Timestamp = jsontime.Now()
 		nodes.Lock()
-		if path := config.Nodes.NodesPath; path != "" {
+
+		// serialize nodes
+		save(nodes, nodes.config.Nodes.NodesPath)
+
+		if path := nodes.config.Nodes.GraphsPath; path != "" {
 			save(nodes, path)
 		}
-		if path := config.Nodes.GraphsPath; path != "" {
-			save(nodes.BuildGraph(config.Nodes.VpnAddresses), path)
-		}
+
 		nodes.Unlock()
 	}
 }
 
+func (nodes *Nodes) load() {
+	path := nodes.config.Nodes.NodesPath
+	log.Println("loading", path)
+
+	if data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path); err == nil {
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(data, nodes); err == nil {
+			log.Println("loaded", len(nodes.List), "nodes")
+		} else {
+			log.Println("failed to unmarshal nodes:", err)
+		}
+
+	} else {
+		log.Println("failed loading cached nodes:", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func save(input interface{}, outputFile string) {
 	data, err := json.Marshal(input)
-
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Panic(err)
 	}
 
 	tmpFile := outputFile + ".tmp"
 
-	err = ioutil.WriteFile(tmpFile, data, 0644)
-	if err != nil {
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(tmpFile, data, 0644); err != nil {
 		log.Panic(err)
 	}
-	err = os.Rename(tmpFile, outputFile)
-	if err != nil {
+
+	if err := os.Rename(tmpFile, outputFile); err != nil {
 		log.Panic(err)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/models/nodes_test.go b/models/nodes_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51b54e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/models/nodes_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package models
+
+import (
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestLoadAndSave(t *testing.T) {
+	assert := assert.New(t)
+
+	config := &Config{}
+	config.Nodes.NodesPath = "testdata/nodes.json"
+
+	nodes := &Nodes{config: config}
+	nodes.load()
+
+	tmpfile, _ := ioutil.TempFile("/tmp", "nodes")
+	save(nodes, tmpfile.Name())
+	os.Remove(tmpfile.Name())
+
+	assert.Equal(1, len(nodes.List))
+}
diff --git a/models/testdata/nodes.json b/models/testdata/nodes.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7d7671
--- /dev/null
+++ b/models/testdata/nodes.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"nodes": {"f4f26dd7a30a": {"firstseen": "2016-03-10T12:12:01"}}}