diff --git a/src/Driver/DriverArray.php b/src/Driver/DriverArray.php
index 64c4ca5..80d13c6 100644
--- a/src/Driver/DriverArray.php
+++ b/src/Driver/DriverArray.php
@@ -21,10 +21,7 @@ namespace danog\AsyncOrm\Driver;
 use danog\AsyncOrm\DbArray;
 use danog\AsyncOrm\FieldConfig;
 use danog\AsyncOrm\Serializer;
-use danog\AsyncOrm\Serializer\Igbinary;
-use danog\AsyncOrm\Serializer\Native;
-use danog\AsyncOrm\Serializer\Passthrough;
-use danog\AsyncOrm\ValueType;
+use danog\AsyncOrm\Settings\DriverSettings;
 
 use function Amp\async;
 use function Amp\Future\await;
@@ -52,13 +49,9 @@ abstract class DriverArray extends DbArray
         ) {
             return $previous;
         }
+        \assert($config->settings instanceof DriverSettings);
 
-        $instance = new static($config, match ($config->annotation->valueType) {
-            ValueType::BEST => \extension_loaded('igbinary') ? new Igbinary : new Native,
-            ValueType::IGBINARY => new Igbinary,
-            ValueType::SERIALIZE => new Native,
-            default => new Passthrough
-        });
+        $instance = new static($config, $config->settings->serializer);
 
         if ($previous === null) {
             return $instance;
diff --git a/src/Internal/Driver/MysqlArray.php b/src/Internal/Driver/MysqlArray.php
index af2388e..e9cc668 100644
--- a/src/Internal/Driver/MysqlArray.php
+++ b/src/Internal/Driver/MysqlArray.php
@@ -18,14 +18,18 @@
 
 namespace danog\AsyncOrm\Internal\Driver;
 
+use Amp\Mysql\MysqlConnectionPool;
 use Amp\Sql\SqlResult;
 use Amp\Sync\LocalKeyedMutex;
+use AssertionError;
 use danog\AsyncOrm\Driver\Mysql;
 use danog\AsyncOrm\Driver\SqlArray;
-use danog\AsyncOrm\Exception;
-use danog\AsyncOrm\Logger;
-use danog\AsyncOrm\Settings\Database\Mysql as DatabaseMysql;
+use danog\AsyncOrm\FieldConfig;
+use danog\AsyncOrm\KeyType;
+use danog\AsyncOrm\Serializer;
+use danog\AsyncOrm\ValueType;
 use PDO;
+use Revolt\EventLoop;
 use Webmozart\Assert\Assert;
 
 /**
@@ -39,52 +43,143 @@ use Webmozart\Assert\Assert;
  */
 final class MysqlArray extends SqlArray
 {
+    /** @var array<list{MysqlConnectionPool, \PDO}> */
+    private static array $connections = [];
+
+    private static ?LocalKeyedMutex $mutex = null;
+
     // We're forced to use quoting (just like PDO does internally when using prepares) because native MySQL prepares are extremely slow.
     protected PDO $pdo;
 
-    /**
-     * Initialize on startup.
-     */
-    public function initStartup(): void
+    public function __construct(FieldConfig $config, Serializer $serializer)
     {
-        $this->setTable($this->table);
-        $this->initConnection($this->dbSettings);
-    }
+        $settings = $config->settings;
+        \assert($settings instanceof \danog\AsyncOrm\Settings\Mysql);
 
-    /**
-     * Prepare statements.
-     *
-     * @param SqlArray::SQL_* $type
-     */
-    protected function getSqlQuery(int $type): string
-    {
-        switch ($type) {
-            case SqlArray::SQL_GET:
-                return "SELECT `value` FROM `{$this->table}` WHERE `key` = :index LIMIT 1";
-            case SqlArray::SQL_SET:
-                return "
-                    REPLACE INTO `{$this->table}` 
-                    SET `key` = :index, `value` = :value 
-                ";
-            case SqlArray::SQL_UNSET:
-                return "
-                    DELETE FROM `{$this->table}`
-                    WHERE `key` = :index
-                ";
-            case SqlArray::SQL_COUNT:
-                return "
-                    SELECT count(`key`) as `count` FROM `{$this->table}`
-                ";
-            case SqlArray::SQL_ITERATE:
-                return "
-                    SELECT `key`, `value` FROM `{$this->table}`
-                ";
-            case SqlArray::SQL_CLEAR:
-                return "
-                    DELETE FROM `{$this->table}`
-                ";
+        self::$mutex ??= new LocalKeyedMutex;
+        $dbKey = $settings->getDbIdentifier();
+        $lock = self::$mutex->acquire($dbKey);
+
+        try {
+            if (!isset(self::$connections[$dbKey])) {
+                $db = $settings->config->getDatabase();
+                $connection = new MysqlConnectionPool($settings->config->withDatabase(null));
+                $connection->query("
+                    CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `{$db}`
+                    CHARACTER SET 'utf8mb4' 
+                    COLLATE 'utf8mb4_general_ci'
+                ");
+                try {
+                    $max = (int) $connection->query("SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'max_connections'")->fetchRow()['Value'];
+                    if ($max < 100000) {
+                        $connection->query("SET GLOBAL max_connections = 100000");
+                    }
+                } catch (\Throwable) {
+                }
+                $connection->close();
+
+                $host = $settings->config->getHost();
+                $port = $settings->config->getPort();
+                if (!\extension_loaded('pdo_mysql')) {
+                    throw new AssertionError("PDO is needed for the mysql backend!");
+                }
+
+                $pdo = new PDO(
+                    $host[0] === '/'
+                        ? "mysql:unix_socket={$host};charset=UTF8"
+                        : "mysql:host={$host};port={$port};charset=UTF8",
+                    $settings->config->getUser(),
+                    $settings->config->getPassword(),
+                );
+
+                self::$connections[$dbKey] = [
+                    new MysqlConnectionPool($settings->config, $settings->maxConnections, $settings->idleTimeout),
+                    $pdo,
+                ];
+            }
+        } finally {
+            EventLoop::queue($lock->release(...));
+        }
+
+        [$db, $pdo] = self::$connections[$dbKey];
+        $this->pdo = $pdo;
+
+        parent::__construct(
+            $config,
+            $serializer,
+            $db,
+            "SELECT `value` FROM `{$config->table}` WHERE `key` = :index LIMIT 1",
+            "
+                REPLACE INTO `{$config->table}` 
+                SET `key` = :index, `value` = :value 
+            ",
+            "
+                DELETE FROM `{$config->table}`
+                WHERE `key` = :index
+            ",
+            "
+                SELECT count(`key`) as `count` FROM `{$config->table}`
+            ",
+            "
+                SELECT `key`, `value` FROM `{$config->table}`
+            ",
+            "
+                DELETE FROM `{$config->table}`
+            "
+        );
+
+        $keyType = match ($config->annotation->keyType) {
+            KeyType::STRING_OR_INT => "VARCHAR(255)",
+            KeyType::STRING => "VARCHAR(255)",
+            KeyType::INT => "BIGINT",
+        };
+        $valueType = match ($config->annotation->valueType) {
+            ValueType::INT => "BIGINT",
+            ValueType::STRING => "VARCHAR(255)",
+            default => "MEDIUMBLOB",
+        };
+
+        $this->db->query("
+            CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `{$config->table}`
+            (
+                `key` $keyType PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL,
+                `value` $valueType NOT NULL,
+            )
+            ENGINE = InnoDB
+            CHARACTER SET 'utf8mb4' 
+            COLLATE 'utf8mb4_general_ci'
+        ");
+
+        $result = $this->db->query("DESCRIBE `{$config->table}`");
+        while ($column = $result->fetchRow()) {
+            ['Field' => $key, 'Type' => $type, 'Null' => $null] = $column;
+            $type = \strtoupper($type);
+            if (\str_starts_with($type, 'BIGINT')) {
+                $type = 'BIGINT';
+            }
+            if ($key === 'key') {
+                $expected = $keyType;
+            } elseif ($key === 'value') {
+                $expected = $valueType;
+            } else {
+                $this->db->query("ALTER TABLE `{$config->table}` DROP `$key`");
+            }
+            if ($expected !== $type || $null !== 'NO') {
+                $this->db->query("ALTER TABLE `{$config->table}` MODIFY `$key` $expected NOT NULL");
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ($settings->optimizeIfWastedGtMb !== null) {
+            $database = $settings->config->getDatabase();
+            $result = $this->db->prepare("SELECT data_free FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema=? AND table_name=?")
+                ->execute([$database, $config->table])
+                ->fetchRow();
+            Assert::notNull($result);
+            $result = $result['data_free'] ?? $result['DATA_FREE'];
+            if (($result >> 20) > $settings->optimizeIfWastedGtMb) {
+                $this->db->query("OPTIMIZE TABLE `{$config->table}`");
+            }
         }
-        throw new Exception("An invalid statement type $type was provided!");
     }
 
     /**
@@ -101,177 +196,6 @@ final class MysqlArray extends SqlArray
         return $this->db->query($sql);
     }
 
-    /** @var array<list{MysqlConnectionPool, \PDO}> */
-    private static array $connections = [];
-
-    private static ?LocalKeyedMutex $mutex = null;
-    /** @return list{MysqlConnectionPool, \PDO} */
-    public static function getConnection(DatabaseMysql $settings): array
-    {
-        self::$mutex ??= new LocalKeyedMutex;
-        $dbKey = $settings->getDbIdentifier();
-        $lock = self::$mutex->acquire($dbKey);
-
-        try {
-            if (!isset(self::$connections[$dbKey])) {
-                $host = \str_replace(['tcp://', 'unix://'], '', $settings->getUri());
-                if ($host[0] === '/') {
-                    $port = 0;
-                } else {
-                    $host = \explode(':', $host, 2);
-                    if (\count($host) === 2) {
-                        [$host, $port] = $host;
-                    } else {
-                        $host = $host[0];
-                        $port = MysqlConfig::DEFAULT_PORT;
-                    }
-                }
-                $config = new MysqlConfig(
-                    host: $host,
-                    port: (int) $port,
-                    user: $settings->getUsername(),
-                    password: $settings->getPassword(),
-                    database: $settings->getDatabase()
-                );
-
-                self::createDb($config);
-
-                $host = $config->getHost();
-                $port = $config->getPort();
-                if (!\extension_loaded('pdo_mysql')) {
-                    throw Exception::extension('pdo_mysql');
-                }
-
-                try {
-                    $pdo = new PDO(
-                        $host[0] === '/'
-                            ? "mysql:unix_socket={$host};charset=UTF8"
-                            : "mysql:host={$host};port={$port};charset=UTF8",
-                        $settings->getUsername(),
-                        $settings->getPassword(),
-                    );
-                } catch (PDOException $e) {
-                    $config = $config->withPassword(null);
-                    try {
-                        $pdo = new PDO(
-                            $host[0] === '/'
-                                ? "mysql:unix_socket={$host};charset=UTF8"
-                                : "mysql:host={$host};port={$port};charset=UTF8",
-                            $settings->getUsername(),
-                        );
-                    } catch (\Throwable) {
-                        throw $e;
-                    }
-                }
-
-                self::$connections[$dbKey] = [
-                    new MysqlConnectionPool($config, $settings->getMaxConnections(), $settings->getIdleTimeout()),
-                    $pdo,
-                ];
-            }
-        } finally {
-            EventLoop::queue($lock->release(...));
-        }
-
-        return self::$connections[$dbKey];
-    }
-
-    private static function createDb(MysqlConfig $config): void
-    {
-        try {
-            $db = $config->getDatabase();
-            $connection = new MysqlConnectionPool($config->withDatabase(null));
-            $connection->query("
-                    CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS `{$db}`
-                    CHARACTER SET 'utf8mb4' 
-                    COLLATE 'utf8mb4_general_ci'
-                ");
-            try {
-                $max = (int) $connection->query("SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'max_connections'")->fetchRow()['Value'];
-                if ($max < 100000) {
-                    $connection->query("SET GLOBAL max_connections = 100000");
-                }
-            } catch (Throwable) {
-            }
-            $connection->close();
-        } catch (Throwable $e) {
-            Logger::log("An error occurred while trying to create the database: ".$e->getMessage(), Logger::ERROR);
-        }
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Initialize connection.
-     */
-    public function initConnection(DatabaseMysql $settings): void
-    {
-        if (isset($this->db)) {
-            return;
-        }
-        [$this->db, $this->pdo] = self::getConnection($settings);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Create table for property.
-     */
-    protected function prepareTable(): void
-    {
-        //Logger::log("Creating/checking table {$this->table}", Logger::WARNING);
-        \assert($this->dbSettings instanceof DatabaseMysql);
-        $keyType = $this->dbSettings->keyType;
-        $valueType = $this->dbSettings->valueType;
-
-        $this->db->query("
-            CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS mgmt
-            (
-                `tableName` VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
-                `versionInfo` LONGBLOB NOT NULL,
-                PRIMARY KEY (`tableName`)
-            )
-            ENGINE = InnoDB
-            CHARACTER SET 'utf8mb4' 
-            COLLATE 'utf8mb4_general_ci'
-        ");
-
-        $version = $this->db->prepare("SELECT version FROM mgmt WHERE tableName=?")->execute([$this->table])->fetchRow()['versionInfo'] ?? null;
-
-        if ($version === null) {
-            $this->db->query("
-                CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `{$this->table}`
-                (
-                    `key` $keyType NOT NULL,
-                    `value` LONGBLOB NOT NULL,
-                    PRIMARY KEY (`key`)
-                )
-                ENGINE = InnoDB
-                CHARACTER SET 'utf8mb4' 
-                COLLATE 'utf8mb4_general_ci'
-            ");
-        }
-        if ($version < 1) {
-        }
-        if ($version < 2) {
-            $this->db->query("ALTER TABLE `{$this->table}` MODIFY `key` BIGINT");
-            $this->db->query("ALTER TABLE `{$this->table}` DROP `ts`");
-        }
-        $this->db->prepare("REPLACE INTO mgmt SET version=? WHERE tableName=?")->execute([self::V, $this->table]);
-
-        if ($this->dbSettings->getOptimizeIfWastedGtMb() !== null) {
-            try {
-                $database = $this->dbSettings->getDatabase();
-                $result = $this->db->prepare("SELECT data_free FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_schema=? AND table_name=?")
-                    ->execute([$database, $this->table])
-                    ->fetchRow();
-                Assert::notNull($result);
-                $result = $result['data_free'] ?? $result['DATA_FREE'];
-                if (($result >> 20) > $this->dbSettings->getOptimizeIfWastedGtMb()) {
-                    $this->db->query("OPTIMIZE TABLE `{$this->table}`");
-                }
-            } catch (\Throwable $e) {
-                Logger::log("An error occurred while optimizing the table: $e", Logger::ERROR);
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
     protected function importFromTable(string $fromTable): void
     {
         $this->db->query("
diff --git a/src/Internal/Driver/PostgresArray.php b/src/Internal/Driver/PostgresArray.php
index c0757c1..17b032e 100644
--- a/src/Internal/Driver/PostgresArray.php
+++ b/src/Internal/Driver/PostgresArray.php
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 
 namespace danog\AsyncOrm\Internal\Driver;
 
-use Amp\Postgres\PostgresConfig;
 use Amp\Postgres\PostgresConnectionPool;
 use Amp\Sync\LocalKeyedMutex;
 use danog\AsyncOrm\Driver\SqlArray;
@@ -55,29 +54,9 @@ class PostgresArray extends SqlArray
 
         try {
             if (!isset(self::$connections[$dbKey])) {
-                $host = \str_replace(['tcp://', 'unix://'], '', $settings->uri);
-                if ($host[0] === '/') {
-                    $port = 0;
-                } else {
-                    $host = \explode(':', $host, 2);
-                    if (\count($host) === 2) {
-                        [$host, $port] = $host;
-                    } else {
-                        $host = $host[0];
-                        $port = PostgresConfig::DEFAULT_PORT;
-                    }
-                }
-                $config = new PostgresConfig(
-                    host: $host,
-                    port: (int) $port,
-                    user: $settings->username,
-                    password: $settings->password,
-                    database: $settings->database
-                );
-
-                $db = $config->getDatabase();
-                $user = $config->getUser();
-                $connection =  new PostgresConnectionPool($config->withDatabase(null));
+                $db = $settings->config->getDatabase();
+                $user = $settings->config->getUser();
+                $connection =  new PostgresConnectionPool($settings->config->withDatabase(null));
 
                 $result = $connection->query("SELECT * FROM pg_database WHERE datname = '{$db}'");
 
@@ -91,7 +70,7 @@ class PostgresArray extends SqlArray
                 }
                 $connection->close();
 
-                self::$connections[$dbKey] = new PostgresConnectionPool($config, $settings->maxConnections, $settings->idleTimeoutgetIdleTimeout());
+                self::$connections[$dbKey] = new PostgresConnectionPool($settings->config, $settings->maxConnections, $settings->idleTimeoutgetIdleTimeout());
             }
         } finally {
             EventLoop::queue($lock->release(...));
@@ -122,6 +101,25 @@ class PostgresArray extends SqlArray
             );            
         ");
 
+        $result = $this->db->query("DESCRIBE \"bytea_{$config->table}\"");
+        while ($column = $result->fetchRow()) {
+            ['Field' => $key, 'Type' => $type, 'Null' => $null] = $column;
+            $type = \strtoupper($type);
+            if (\str_starts_with($type, 'BIGINT')) {
+                $type = 'BIGINT';
+            }
+            if ($key === 'key') {
+                $expected = $keyType;
+            } elseif ($key === 'value') {
+                $expected = $valueType;
+            } else {
+                $this->db->query("ALTER TABLE \"bytea_{$config->table}\" DROP \"$key\"");
+            }
+            if ($expected !== $type || $null !== 'NO') {
+                $this->db->query("ALTER TABLE \"bytea_{$config->table}\" MODIFY \"$key\" $expected NOT NULL");
+            }
+        }
+
         parent::__construct(
             $config,
             $serializer,
diff --git a/src/Internal/Driver/RedisArray.php b/src/Internal/Driver/RedisArray.php
index 84999ac..22deca1 100644
--- a/src/Internal/Driver/RedisArray.php
+++ b/src/Internal/Driver/RedisArray.php
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ namespace danog\AsyncOrm\Internal\Driver;
 
 use Amp\Redis\Connection\ReconnectingRedisLink;
 use Amp\Redis\RedisClient;
-use Amp\Redis\RedisConfig;
-use Amp\Serialization\PassthroughSerializer;
 use Amp\Sync\LocalKeyedMutex;
 use danog\AsyncOrm\Driver\DriverArray;
 use danog\AsyncOrm\FieldConfig;
@@ -62,14 +60,11 @@ final class RedisArray extends DriverArray
         \assert($config->settings instanceof Redis);
         $dbKey = $config->settings->getDbIdentifier();
         $lock = self::$mutex->acquire($dbKey);
+        \assert($config->settings instanceof Redis);
 
         try {
             if (!isset(self::$connections[$dbKey])) {
-                $config = RedisConfig::fromUri($config->settings->uri)
-                    ->withPassword($config->settings->password)
-                    ->withDatabase($config->settings->database);
-
-                self::$connections[$dbKey] = new RedisClient(new ReconnectingRedisLink(createRedisConnector($config)));
+                self::$connections[$dbKey] = new RedisClient(new ReconnectingRedisLink(createRedisConnector($config->settings->config)));
                 self::$connections[$dbKey]->ping();
             }
         } finally {
diff --git a/src/Serializer/ByteaSerializer.php b/src/Serializer/ByteaSerializer.php
index 5739a74..7e44871 100644
--- a/src/Serializer/ByteaSerializer.php
+++ b/src/Serializer/ByteaSerializer.php
@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@ final class ByteaSerializer implements Serializer
 {
     public function __construct(
         private readonly Serializer $inner
-    )
-    {
+    ) {
     }
     public function serialize(mixed $value): mixed
     {
diff --git a/src/Settings/Mysql.php b/src/Settings/Mysql.php
index f9df81f..d9816f0 100644
--- a/src/Settings/Mysql.php
+++ b/src/Settings/Mysql.php
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ use danog\AsyncOrm\Serializer;
  * MySQL backend settings.
  *
  * MariaDb 10.2+ or Mysql 5.6+ required.
+ *
+ * @extends SqlSettings<MysqlConfig>
  */
 final readonly class Mysql extends SqlSettings
 {
@@ -53,7 +55,7 @@ final readonly class Mysql extends SqlSettings
     ) {
         parent::__construct($config, $serializer, $cacheTtl, $maxConnections, $idleTimeout);
     }
-    
+
     public function getDriverClass(): string
     {
         return MysqlArray::class;
diff --git a/src/Settings/Postgres.php b/src/Settings/Postgres.php
index 96c7ba1..5b9078d 100644
--- a/src/Settings/Postgres.php
+++ b/src/Settings/Postgres.php
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ use danog\AsyncOrm\Internal\Driver\PostgresArray;
 
 /**
  * Postgres backend settings.
+ * @extends SqlSettings<PostgresConfig>
  */
 final readonly class Postgres extends SqlSettings
 {
diff --git a/src/Settings/SqlSettings.php b/src/Settings/SqlSettings.php
index dae15bb..580886a 100644
--- a/src/Settings/SqlSettings.php
+++ b/src/Settings/SqlSettings.php
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ use danog\AsyncOrm\Serializer;
 
 /**
  * Generic SQL db backend settings.
+ *
+ * @template T as SqlConfig
  */
 abstract readonly class SqlSettings extends DriverSettings
 {
@@ -58,6 +60,7 @@ abstract readonly class SqlSettings extends DriverSettings
      * @param int<1, max> $idleTimeout Idle timeout
      */
     public function __construct(
+        /** @var T */
         public readonly SqlConfig $config,
         Serializer $serializer,
         int $cacheTtl = self::DEFAULT_CACHE_TTL,
diff --git a/src/ValueType.php b/src/ValueType.php
index e591936..6a9a482 100644
--- a/src/ValueType.php
+++ b/src/ValueType.php
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ enum ValueType: string
     case OBJECT = 'object';
     /**
      * Values of any type, serialized as specified in the settings.
-     * 
+     *
      * Using MIXED worsens performances, please use STRING, INT or OBJECT whenever possible.
      */
     case MIXED = 'object';