diff --git a/dbconn/src/scan.rs b/dbconn/src/scan.rs
index b3cbca9..2d36398 100644
--- a/dbconn/src/scan.rs
+++ b/dbconn/src/scan.rs
@@ -47,13 +47,13 @@ fn _get_hostname() -> Result<String, Error> {
 pub async fn get_node_disk_ident(node_config: &NodeConfigCached, dbc: &Client) -> Result<NodeDiskIdent, Error> {
     let sql = "select nodes.rowid, facility, split, hostname from nodes, facilities where facilities.name = $1 and facility = facilities.rowid and hostname = $2";
     let rows = dbc
-        .query(sql, &[&node_config.node.backend, &node_config.node.host])
+        .query(sql, &[&node_config.node_config.cluster.backend, &node_config.node.host])
         .await
         .errconv()?;
     if rows.len() != 1 {
         return Err(Error::with_msg(format!(
             "get_node can't find unique entry for {} {}",
-            node_config.node.host, node_config.node.backend
+            node_config.node.host, node_config.node_config.cluster.backend
         )));
     }
     let row = &rows[0];
@@ -71,13 +71,13 @@ pub async fn get_node_disk_ident_2(
 ) -> Result<NodeDiskIdent, Error> {
     let sql = "select nodes.rowid, facility, split, hostname from nodes, facilities where facilities.name = $1 and facility = facilities.rowid and hostname = $2";
     let rows = dbc
-        .query(sql, &[&node_config.node.backend, &node_config.node.host])
+        .query(sql, &[&node_config.node_config.cluster.backend, &node_config.node.host])
         .await
         .errconv()?;
     if rows.len() != 1 {
         return Err(Error::with_msg(format!(
             "get_node can't find unique entry for {} {}",
-            node_config.node.host, node_config.node.backend
+            node_config.node.host, node_config.node_config.cluster.backend
         )));
     }
     let row = &rows[0];
diff --git a/dbconn/src/search.rs b/dbconn/src/search.rs
index 719be30..45c1b12 100644
--- a/dbconn/src/search.rs
+++ b/dbconn/src/search.rs
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ pub async fn search_channel(
 ) -> Result<ChannelSearchResult, Error> {
     let database = &node_config.node_config.cluster.database;
     if let Some(conf) = node_config.node.channel_archiver.as_ref() {
-        search_channel_archeng(query, node_config.node.backend.clone(), conf, database).await
+        search_channel_archeng(query, node_config.node_config.cluster.backend.clone(), conf, database).await
     } else if let Some(_conf) = node_config.node.archiver_appliance.as_ref() {
         // TODO
         err::todoval()
diff --git a/disk/src/aggtest.rs b/disk/src/aggtest.rs
index 77650e1..a5a7b1e 100644
--- a/disk/src/aggtest.rs
+++ b/disk/src/aggtest.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ pub fn make_test_node(id: u32) -> Node {
         port_raw: 8800 + id as u16 + 100,
         // TODO use a common function to supply the tmp path.
         cache_base_path: test_data_base_path_databuffer().join(format!("node{:02}", id)),
-        backend: "testbackend".into(),
         sf_databuffer: Some(SfDatabuffer {
             data_base_path: test_data_base_path_databuffer().join(format!("node{:02}", id)),
             ksprefix: "ks".into(),
diff --git a/disk/src/binned/prebinned.rs b/disk/src/binned/prebinned.rs
index 32adcc2..b15d633 100644
--- a/disk/src/binned/prebinned.rs
+++ b/disk/src/binned/prebinned.rs
@@ -169,10 +169,10 @@ pub async fn pre_binned_bytes_for_http(
     node_config: &NodeConfigCached,
     query: &PreBinnedQuery,
 ) -> Result<Pin<Box<dyn Stream<Item = Result<Bytes, Error>> + Send>>, Error> {
-    if query.channel().backend != node_config.node.backend {
+    if query.channel().backend != node_config.node_config.cluster.backend {
         let err = Error::with_msg(format!(
             "backend mismatch  node: {}  requested: {}",
-            node_config.node.backend,
+            node_config.node_config.cluster.backend,
             query.channel().backend
         ));
         return Err(err);
diff --git a/disk/src/gen.rs b/disk/src/gen.rs
index 9f0faf6..6aed8f6 100644
--- a/disk/src/gen.rs
+++ b/disk/src/gen.rs
@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ pub async fn gen_test_data() -> Result<(), Error> {
             port: 7780 + i1 as u16,
             port_raw: 7780 + i1 as u16 + 100,
             cache_base_path: data_base_path.join(format!("node{:02}", i1)),
-            backend: "testbackend".into(),
             sf_databuffer: Some(SfDatabuffer {
                 data_base_path: data_base_path.join(format!("node{:02}", i1)),
                 ksprefix: ksprefix.clone(),
diff --git a/httpret/src/channelarchiver.rs b/httpret/src/channelarchiver.rs
index 601d700..0ced47b 100644
--- a/httpret/src/channelarchiver.rs
+++ b/httpret/src/channelarchiver.rs
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ impl BlockStream {
         let read_queue = pairs.get("readQueue").unwrap_or(&"1".to_string()).parse()?;
         let channel_name = pairs.get("channelName").map(String::from).unwrap_or("NONE".into());
         let channel = Channel {
-            backend: node_config.node.backend.clone(),
+            backend: node_config.node_config.cluster.backend.clone(),
             name: channel_name,
         };
         use archapp_wrap::archapp::archeng;
diff --git a/httpret/src/proxy/api4.rs b/httpret/src/proxy/api4.rs
index fe17e88..71e02b5 100644
--- a/httpret/src/proxy/api4.rs
+++ b/httpret/src/proxy/api4.rs
@@ -103,23 +103,12 @@ pub async fn node_status(req: Request<Body>, proxy_config: &ProxyConfig) -> Resu
     let v = head.headers.get(header::ACCEPT).unwrap_or(&vdef);
     if v == APP_JSON || v == ACCEPT_ALL {
         let inpurl = Url::parse(&format!("dummy:{}", head.uri))?;
-        let query = ChannelSearchQuery::from_url(&inpurl)?;
         let mut bodies = vec![];
         let urls = proxy_config
             .backends_status
             .iter()
-            .filter(|k| {
-                if let Some(back) = &query.backend {
-                    back == &k.name
-                } else {
-                    true
-                }
-            })
             .map(|pb| match Url::parse(&format!("{}/api/4/node_status", pb.url)) {
-                Ok(mut url) => {
-                    query.append_to_url(&mut url);
-                    Ok(url)
-                }
+                Ok(url) => Ok(url),
                 Err(_) => Err(Error::with_msg(format!("parse error for: {:?}", pb))),
             })
             .fold_ok(vec![], |mut a, x| {
diff --git a/netfetch/src/test.rs b/netfetch/src/test.rs
index 9994b40..09b4e32 100644
--- a/netfetch/src/test.rs
+++ b/netfetch/src/test.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ fn ca_connect_1() {
                 host: "".into(),
                 port: 123,
                 port_raw: 123,
-                backend: "".into(),
                 cache_base_path: "".into(),
                 listen: "".into(),
                 sf_databuffer: Some(SfDatabuffer {
@@ -30,6 +29,7 @@ fn ca_connect_1() {
             node_config: NodeConfig {
                 name: "".into(),
                 cluster: Cluster {
+                    backend: "".into(),
                     nodes: vec![],
                     database: Database {
                         host: "".into(),
diff --git a/netpod/src/netpod.rs b/netpod/src/netpod.rs
index 4bc7bb4..60ac819 100644
--- a/netpod/src/netpod.rs
+++ b/netpod/src/netpod.rs
@@ -224,7 +224,6 @@ pub struct Node {
     pub port: u16,
     pub port_raw: u16,
     pub cache_base_path: PathBuf,
-    pub backend: String,
     pub sf_databuffer: Option<SfDatabuffer>,
     pub archiver_appliance: Option<ArchiverAppliance>,
     pub channel_archiver: Option<ChannelArchiver>,
@@ -239,7 +238,6 @@ impl Node {
             port: 4444,
             port_raw: 4444,
             cache_base_path: PathBuf::new(),
-            backend: "dummybackend".into(),
             sf_databuffer: Some(SfDatabuffer {
                 data_base_path: PathBuf::new(),
                 ksprefix: "daqlocal".into(),
@@ -261,6 +259,7 @@ pub struct Database {
 
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct Cluster {
+    pub backend: String,
     pub nodes: Vec<Node>,
     pub database: Database,
     #[serde(rename = "runMapPulse", default)]
@@ -1513,7 +1512,6 @@ pub fn test_cluster() -> Cluster {
             port: 6170 + id as u16,
             port_raw: 6170 + id as u16 + 100,
             cache_base_path: test_data_base_path_databuffer().join(format!("node{:02}", id)),
-            backend: "testbackend".into(),
             sf_databuffer: Some(SfDatabuffer {
                 data_base_path: test_data_base_path_databuffer().join(format!("node{:02}", id)),
                 ksprefix: "ks".into(),
@@ -1524,6 +1522,7 @@ pub fn test_cluster() -> Cluster {
         })
         .collect();
     Cluster {
+        backend: "testbackend".into(),
         nodes,
         database: Database {
             host: "127.0.0.1".into(),
@@ -1546,7 +1545,6 @@ pub fn sls_test_cluster() -> Cluster {
             port: 6190 + id as u16,
             port_raw: 6190 + id as u16 + 100,
             cache_base_path: test_data_base_path_databuffer().join(format!("node{:02}", id)),
-            backend: "sls-archive".into(),
             sf_databuffer: None,
             archiver_appliance: None,
             channel_archiver: Some(ChannelArchiver {
@@ -1555,6 +1553,7 @@ pub fn sls_test_cluster() -> Cluster {
         })
         .collect();
     Cluster {
+        backend: "sls-archive".into(),
         nodes,
         database: Database {
             host: "127.0.0.1".into(),
@@ -1577,7 +1576,6 @@ pub fn archapp_test_cluster() -> Cluster {
             port: 6200 + id as u16,
             port_raw: 6200 + id as u16 + 100,
             cache_base_path: test_data_base_path_databuffer().join(format!("node{:02}", id)),
-            backend: "sf-archive".into(),
             sf_databuffer: None,
             channel_archiver: None,
             archiver_appliance: Some(ArchiverAppliance {
@@ -1586,6 +1584,7 @@ pub fn archapp_test_cluster() -> Cluster {
         })
         .collect();
     Cluster {
+        backend: "sf-archive".into(),
         nodes,
         database: Database {
             host: "127.0.0.1".into(),