diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ea8c4bf..5ace2ac 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 /target
+scct.db
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 6dcdb60..78fe47e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -495,17 +495,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "derivative"
-version = "2.2.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "fcc3dd5e9e9c0b295d6e1e4d811fb6f157d5ffd784b8d202fc62eac8035a770b"
-dependencies = [
- "proc-macro2",
- "quote",
- "syn 1.0.109",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "digest"
 version = "0.10.7"
@@ -524,6 +513,18 @@ version = "0.15.7"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "1aaf95b3e5c8f23aa320147307562d361db0ae0d51242340f558153b4eb2439b"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "educe"
+version = "0.5.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e4bd92664bf78c4d3dba9b7cdafce6fa15b13ed3ed16175218196942e99168a8"
+dependencies = [
+ "enum-ordinalize",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.67",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "either"
 version = "1.12.0"
@@ -533,6 +534,26 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "enum-ordinalize"
+version = "4.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fea0dcfa4e54eeb516fe454635a95753ddd39acda650ce703031c6973e315dd5"
+dependencies = [
+ "enum-ordinalize-derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "enum-ordinalize-derive"
+version = "4.3.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0d28318a75d4aead5c4db25382e8ef717932d0346600cacae6357eb5941bc5ff"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.67",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "equivalent"
 version = "1.0.1"
@@ -1605,6 +1626,7 @@ checksum = "f3cb5ba0dc43242ce17de99c180e96db90b235b8a9fdc9543c96d2209116bd9f"
 name = "scct-cli"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
+ "chrono",
  "clap",
  "scct-migrations",
  "scct-server",
@@ -1637,14 +1659,17 @@ name = "scct-server"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
+ "chrono",
  "futures-util",
  "scct-model",
+ "sea-orm",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "thiserror",
  "tokio",
  "tokio-tungstenite",
  "tracing",
+ "uuid",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1677,9 +1702,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sea-orm"
-version = "0.12.15"
+version = "1.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c8814e37dc25de54398ee62228323657520b7f29713b8e238649385dbe473ee0"
+checksum = "f9d4ec1cdd8bdd3553d3c946079f58efa33fedc477f32603652652abcef96fe6"
 dependencies = [
  "async-stream",
  "async-trait",
@@ -1705,9 +1730,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sea-orm-cli"
-version = "0.12.15"
+version = "1.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "620bc560062ae251b1366bde43b3f1508445cab5c2c8cbdb397034638ab1b357"
+checksum = "d525eee597817631f800857b0c2fe8645ec9c65b4304176a44bf14b93366009e"
 dependencies = [
  "chrono",
  "clap",
@@ -1722,9 +1747,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sea-orm-macros"
-version = "0.12.15"
+version = "1.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "5e115c6b078e013aa963cc2d38c196c2c40b05f03d0ac872fe06b6e0d5265603"
+checksum = "f363ead48b625a6f8f905322a820464f728fa4fe4f1c222bed5234ccf8fb8555"
 dependencies = [
  "heck 0.4.1",
  "proc-macro2",
@@ -1736,9 +1761,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sea-orm-migration"
-version = "0.12.15"
+version = "1.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "ee8269bc6ff71afd6b78aa4333ac237a69eebd2cdb439036291e64fb4b8db23c"
+checksum = "5df62369752f91b9295f8d71c146d84f818301a9ae7295106ebe8bbaa989a072"
 dependencies = [
  "async-trait",
  "clap",
@@ -1753,13 +1778,13 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sea-query"
-version = "0.30.7"
+version = "0.31.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "4166a1e072292d46dc91f31617c2a1cdaf55a8be4b5c9f4bf2ba248e3ac4999b"
+checksum = "7e5073b2cfed767511a57d18115f3b3d8bcb5690bf8c89518caec6cb22c0cd74"
 dependencies = [
  "bigdecimal",
  "chrono",
- "derivative",
+ "educe",
  "inherent",
  "ordered-float",
  "rust_decimal",
@@ -1771,9 +1796,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sea-query-binder"
-version = "0.5.0"
+version = "0.6.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "36bbb68df92e820e4d5aeb17b4acd5cc8b5d18b2c36a4dd6f4626aabfa7ab1b9"
+checksum = "754965d4aee6145bec25d0898e5c931e6c22859789ce62fd85a42a15ed5a8ce3"
 dependencies = [
  "bigdecimal",
  "chrono",
@@ -1800,9 +1825,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sea-schema"
-version = "0.14.2"
+version = "0.15.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "30d148608012d25222442d1ebbfafd1228dbc5221baf4ec35596494e27a2394e"
+checksum = "ad52149fc81836ea7424c3425d8f6ed8ad448dd16d2e4f6a3907ba46f3f2fd78"
 dependencies = [
  "futures",
  "sea-query",
@@ -1811,14 +1836,14 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "sea-schema-derive"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c6f686050f76bffc4f635cda8aea6df5548666b830b52387e8bc7de11056d11e"
+checksum = "debdc8729c37fdbf88472f97fd470393089f997a909e535ff67c544d18cfccf0"
 dependencies = [
  "heck 0.4.1",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn 1.0.109",
+ "syn 2.0.67",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2236,9 +2261,9 @@ checksum = "7da8b5736845d9f2fcb837ea5d9e2628564b3b043a70948a3f0b778838c5fb4f"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "strum"
-version = "0.25.0"
+version = "0.26.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "290d54ea6f91c969195bdbcd7442c8c2a2ba87da8bf60a7ee86a235d4bc1e125"
+checksum = "8fec0f0aef304996cf250b31b5a10dee7980c85da9d759361292b8bca5a18f06"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "subtle"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 599f495..dc25817 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -18,11 +18,12 @@ path = "main.rs"
 tracing = "0.1"
 tracing-subscriber = "0.3"
 clap = { version = "4.5", features = ["derive"] }
-sea-orm = { version = "0.12", features = ["runtime-tokio-native-tls", "sqlx-mysql", "sqlx-sqlite", "sqlx-postgres"] }
+sea-orm = { version = "1.0", features = ["runtime-tokio-native-tls", "sqlx-mysql", "sqlx-sqlite", "sqlx-postgres"] }
 tokio = { version = "1.38.0", features = ["full"] }
 
 scct-migrations = { path = "migrations", optional = true }
 scct-server = { path = "server", optional = true }
+chrono = "0.4.38"
 
 [features]
 default = ["server", "migrations"]
diff --git a/main.rs b/main.rs
index ca853d1..0185f80 100644
--- a/main.rs
+++ b/main.rs
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ async fn main() {
 
 		#[cfg(feature = "server")]
 		Command::Serve { addr } =>
-			scct_server::serve(&addr)
+			scct_server::serve(&addr, db)
 				.await
 				.expect("scct server terminated with exception"),
 	}
diff --git a/migrations/Cargo.toml b/migrations/Cargo.toml
index ec59bc0..7220b13 100644
--- a/migrations/Cargo.toml
+++ b/migrations/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@ edition = "2021"
 [lib]
 
 [dependencies]
-sea-orm-migration = "0.12"
+sea-orm-migration = "1.0"
diff --git a/model/Cargo.toml b/model/Cargo.toml
index a0a4058..c8d2c77 100644
--- a/model/Cargo.toml
+++ b/model/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ edition = "2021"
 [lib]
 
 [dependencies]
-sea-orm = "0.12"
+sea-orm = "1.0"
 serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
 uuid = { version = "1.9.1", features = ["v4"] }
 chrono = { version = "0.4.38", features = ["serde"] }
diff --git a/model/src/proto/c2s.rs b/model/src/proto/c2s.rs
index 81a55d1..f24f1bf 100644
--- a/model/src/proto/c2s.rs
+++ b/model/src/proto/c2s.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 pub mod s {
 	#[derive(Debug, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize)]
 	pub enum Packet {
-		Chat(crate::messages::Model),
+		Message(crate::messages::Model),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ pub mod s {
 pub mod c {
 	#[derive(Debug, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize)]
 	pub enum Packet {
-		Chat(crate::messages::Model),
+		Message(crate::messages::Model),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ mod test {
 		panic!(
 			"{}",
 			serde_json::to_string(
-				&super::c::Packet::Chat(
+				&super::c::Packet::Message(
 					crate::messages::Model {
 						id: uuid::Uuid::new_v4(),
 						user_id: uuid::Uuid::new_v4(),
diff --git a/server/Cargo.toml b/server/Cargo.toml
index 395d4d6..653258b 100644
--- a/server/Cargo.toml
+++ b/server/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ futures-util = "0.3.30"
 async-trait = "0.1.80"
 serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = { version = "1.0.118", optional = true }
+sea-orm = { version = "1.0" }
+chrono = "0.4.38"
+uuid = { version = "1.9.1", features = ["v4"] }
+
+
 
 scct-model = { path = "../model/" }
 
diff --git a/server/src/lib.rs b/server/src/lib.rs
index b54f463..567f147 100644
--- a/server/src/lib.rs
+++ b/server/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use futures_util::FutureExt;
-use scct_model::proto::c2s;
+use scct_model::{chats, proto::c2s, users};
+use sea_orm::{ActiveModelTrait, ConnectionTrait, DatabaseConnection, IntoActiveModel};
 use tokio::sync::Mutex;
 use transport::{Transport, TransportSink, TransportStream};
+use uuid;
 
 pub mod transport;
 
-pub async fn serve(addr: &str) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+pub async fn serve(addr: &str, db_connection: DatabaseConnection) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
 	let state = Arc::new(Mutex::new(Vec::new()));
 
 	let c2s = transport::new();
@@ -15,38 +17,69 @@ pub async fn serve(addr: &str) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
 	tracing::info!("preparing C2S transport");
 	let mut listener = c2s.serve(addr.to_string()).await?;
 
+	let chat = chats::Model {
+		id: uuid::Uuid::nil(), // temporarily we have only one chat
+		name: String::from("global")
+	};
+	chat.clone().into_active_model().insert(&db_connection).await.expect("failed to create global chat");
+
 	tracing::info!("listening for connections");
 	while let Some((tx, rx)) = listener.recv().await {
 		tracing::info!("new connection, starting handler");
 		state.lock().await.push(tx);
 		let _state = state.clone();
 
+		let handler_db_conn = db_connection.clone();
+
 		// TODO need .boxed() because https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/100013
-		tokio::spawn(async move { handle(_state, rx).boxed().await });
+		tokio::spawn(async move { handle(_state, rx, handler_db_conn).boxed().await });
 	}
 
 	Ok(())
 }
 
-async fn handle(state: Arc<Mutex<Vec<impl TransportSink>>>, mut rx: impl TransportStream) {
+/// Connection handler for handling a connecting client
+async fn handle(active_client_peers: Arc<Mutex<Vec<impl TransportSink>>>, mut rx: impl TransportStream, db_connection: impl ConnectionTrait) {
+	// for now we're creating a new user for each connection
+	let new_client_id = uuid::Uuid::new_v4();
+	let user = users::Model{ 
+		id: new_client_id,
+		username: new_client_id.to_string(),
+		domain: String::from("localhost"),
+		display_name: Some(new_client_id.to_string()),
+		description: None,
+		avatar: None,
+		created: chrono::offset::Utc::now(),
+		updated: None 
+	};
+
+	user.clone().into_active_model().insert(&db_connection).await.expect("failed adding a new user for the connection");
+
+	// continuously waiting then receiving new messages
 	loop {
-		match rx.pop().await {
+		match rx.pop().await { //
 			Err(e) => {
 				tracing::error!("error receiving from client: {e} -- stopping");
 				break;
 			},
-			Ok(None) => break,
+			Ok(None) => break, // clean exit
 			Ok(Some(pkt)) => match pkt {
-				c2s::s::Packet::Chat(msg) => {
-					let mut to_remove = Vec::new();
-					for (i, tx) in state.lock().await.iter_mut().enumerate() {
-						if let Err(e) = tx.push(c2s::c::Packet::Chat(msg.clone())).await {
+				c2s::s::Packet::Message(mut msg) => {
+					msg.user_id = user.id;
+					msg.chat_id = uuid::Uuid::nil(); // temporarily we have only one chat
+					if let Err(err) = msg.clone().into_active_model().insert(&db_connection).await {
+						tracing::error!("failed saving incoming message from a client to the database: {}", err);
+					}
+
+					let mut disconnected_peers_to_remove = Vec::new();
+					for (i, tx) in active_client_peers.lock().await.iter_mut().enumerate() {
+						if let Err(e) = tx.push(c2s::c::Packet::Message(msg.clone())).await {
 							tracing::error!("failed broadcasting: {e}");
-							to_remove.push(i);
+							disconnected_peers_to_remove.push(i);
 						}
 					}
-					for i in to_remove.into_iter().rev() {
-						state.lock().await.remove(i);
+					for i in disconnected_peers_to_remove.into_iter().rev() {
+						active_client_peers.lock().await.remove(i);
 					}
 				},
 			},