diff --git a/server/include/node.h b/server/include/node.h
index f2cf396c2..bfa0d5774 100644
--- a/server/include/node.h
+++ b/server/include/node.h
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@
 #include "msg.h"
 #include "tc.h"
 
+/** Static node initialization */
+#define NODE_INIT(n)	{ \
+	.sd = -1, \
+	.name = n \
+}
+
 /** The datastructure for a node.
  *
  * Every entity which exchanges messages is represented by a node.
diff --git a/server/src/random.c b/server/src/random.c
index 4b2d4799e..0f882d03d 100644
--- a/server/src/random.c
+++ b/server/src/random.c
@@ -41,11 +41,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	}
 
 	int rate = atoi(argv[2]);
-	struct msg msg = {
-		.length = atoi(argv[1]),
-		.sequence = 0,
-		.data = { 0 }
-	};
+	struct msg m = MSG_INIT(atoi(argv[1]));
 
 	/* Setup signals */
 	struct sigaction sa_tick = {
@@ -61,7 +57,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	struct sigevent sev = {
 		.sigev_notify = SIGEV_SIGNAL,
 		.sigev_signo = SIG,
-		.sigev_value.sival_ptr = &msg
+		.sigev_value.sival_ptr = &m
 	};
 
 	double period = 1.0 / rate;
diff --git a/server/src/receive.c b/server/src/receive.c
index 4ad9ee548..7001f5444 100644
--- a/server/src/receive.c
+++ b/server/src/receive.c
@@ -31,11 +31,6 @@ void quit(int sig, siginfo_t *si, void *ptr)
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-	struct node n = {
-		.name ="node"
-	};
-	struct msg m;
-
 	if (argc != 2) {
 		printf("Usage: %s LOCAL\n", argv[0]);
 		printf("  LOCAL   is a IP:PORT combination of the local host\n\n");
@@ -44,6 +39,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
+	struct node n = NODE_INIT("remote");
+	struct msg m;
+
 	/* Setup signals */
 	struct sigaction sa_quit = {
 		.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO,
diff --git a/server/src/send.c b/server/src/send.c
index f33351460..110e4bc29 100644
--- a/server/src/send.c
+++ b/server/src/send.c
@@ -41,14 +41,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
-	struct node n = {
-		.name = "node"
-	};
-	struct msg m = {
-		.version = MSG_VERSION,
-		.type = MSG_TYPE_DATA,
-		.length = atoi(argv[1])
-	};
+	struct node n = NODE_INIT("remote");
+	struct msg  m = MSG_INIT(atoi(argv[1]));
 
 	/* Setup signals */
 	struct sigaction sa_quit = {
diff --git a/server/src/test.c b/server/src/test.c
index 9036367b5..b73764e22 100644
--- a/server/src/test.c
+++ b/server/src/test.c
@@ -28,10 +28,6 @@ void quit(int sig, siginfo_t *si, void *ptr)
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-	struct node n;
-
-	memset(&n, 0, sizeof(struct node));
-
 	if (argc != 4) {
 		printf("Usage: %s TEST LOCAL REMOTE\n", argv[0]);
 		printf("  TEST     has to be 'latency' for now\n");
@@ -42,6 +38,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
+	struct node n = NODE_INIT("remote");
+
 	/* Setup signals */
 	struct sigaction sa_quit = {
 		.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO,
@@ -65,9 +63,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	debug(1, "We sent to %s:%u", inet_ntoa(n.remote.sin_addr), ntohs(n.remote.sin_port));
 
 	if (!strcmp(argv[1], "latency")) {
-		struct msg m = {
-			.sequence = 0
-		};
+		struct msg m = MSG_INIT(sizeof(struct timespec) / sizeof(float));
 		struct timespec *ts1 = (struct timespec *) &m.data;
 		struct timespec *ts2 = malloc(sizeof(struct timespec));