diff --git a/node/db/AuthorManager.js b/node/db/AuthorManager.js
index f93ebb682..8fa98189a 100644
--- a/node/db/AuthorManager.js
+++ b/node/db/AuthorManager.js
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ function mapAuthorWithDBKey (mapperkey, mapper, callback)
 exports.createAuthor = function(name, callback)
 {
   //create the new author name
-  var author = "g." + _randomString(16);
+  var author = "a." + randomString(16);
         
   //create the globalAuthors db entry
   var authorObj = {"colorId" : Math.floor(Math.random()*32), "name": name, "timestamp": new Date().getTime()};
@@ -193,11 +193,14 @@ exports.setAuthorName = function (author, name, callback)
 /**
  * Generates a random String with the given length. Is needed to generate the Author Ids
  */
-function _randomString(len) {
-  // use only numbers and lowercase letters
-  var pieces = [];
-  for(var i=0;i<len;i++) {
-    pieces.push(Math.floor(Math.random()*36).toString(36).slice(-1));
+function randomString(len) 
+{
+  var chars = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
+  var randomstring = '';
+  for (var i = 0; i < len; i++)
+  {
+    var rnum = Math.floor(Math.random() * chars.length);
+    randomstring += chars.substring(rnum, rnum + 1);
   }
-  return pieces.join('');
+  return randomstring;
 }
diff --git a/node/db/GroupManager.js b/node/db/GroupManager.js
index 0d4ed7f17..424d32dea 100644
--- a/node/db/GroupManager.js
+++ b/node/db/GroupManager.js
@@ -34,41 +34,11 @@ exports.doesGroupExist = function(groupID, callback)
 exports.createGroup = function(callback)
 {
   //search for non existing groupID
-  var groupID;
-  var foundNonExistingGroupID = false;
-  async.whilst(
-    function () { return !foundNonExistingGroupID; },
-    function (callback) 
-    {
-       //generate a random 10 digit groupID
-       groupID = "";
-       for(var i=0;i<10;i++)
-       {
-         groupID+=Math.floor(Math.random()*10);
-       }
-       
-       //check if this groupID already exisits
-       exports.doesGroupExist(groupID, function(err, exists)
-       {
-         foundNonExistingGroupID = !exists;
-         callback(err);
-       })
-    },
-    //we found a non existing groupID or an error happend
-    function (err) 
-    {
-      //check for errors
-      if(err)
-      {
-        callback(err);
-        return;
-      }
-      
-      //create the group
-      db.set("group:" + groupID, {pads: {}});
-      callback(null, {groupID: groupID});
-    }
-  );
+  var groupID = "g." + randomString(16);
+  
+  //create the group
+  db.set("group:" + groupID, {pads: {}});
+  callback(null, {groupID: groupID});
 }
 
 exports.createGroupIfNotExistsFor = function(groupMapper, callback)
@@ -183,11 +153,6 @@ exports.createGroupPad = function(groupID, padName, text, callback)
   {
     callback(err, {padID: padID});
   });
-
-  //check if groupID exists
-  //check if pad already exists
-  //create the pad
-  //create the subentry in the padobject
 }
 
 exports.listPads = function(groupID, callback)
@@ -214,3 +179,18 @@ exports.listPads = function(groupID, callback)
     }
   });
 }
+
+/**
+ * Generates a random String with the given length. Is needed to generate the Author Ids
+ */
+function randomString(len) 
+{
+  var chars = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
+  var randomstring = '';
+  for (var i = 0; i < len; i++)
+  {
+    var rnum = Math.floor(Math.random() * chars.length);
+    randomstring += chars.substring(rnum, rnum + 1);
+  }
+  return randomstring;
+}
diff --git a/node/db/ReadOnlyManager.js b/node/db/ReadOnlyManager.js
index 30d726b60..741f9fd51 100644
--- a/node/db/ReadOnlyManager.js
+++ b/node/db/ReadOnlyManager.js
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ exports.getReadOnlyId = function (padId, callback)
       //there is no readOnly Entry in the database, let's create one
       if(dbReadOnlyId == null)
       {
-        readOnlyId = randomString(10);
+        readOnlyId = "r." + randomString(16);
         
         db.set("pad2readonly:" + padId, readOnlyId);
         db.set("readonly2pad:" + readOnlyId, padId);
@@ -74,10 +74,12 @@ exports.getPadId = function(readOnlyId, callback)
  */
 function randomString(len) 
 {
-  // use only numbers and lowercase letters
-  var pieces = [];
-  for(var i=0;i<len;i++) {
-    pieces.push(Math.floor(Math.random()*36).toString(36).slice(-1));
+  var chars = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
+  var randomstring = '';
+  for (var i = 0; i < len; i++)
+  {
+    var rnum = Math.floor(Math.random() * chars.length);
+    randomstring += chars.substring(rnum, rnum + 1);
   }
-  return pieces.join('');
+  return randomstring;
 }
diff --git a/node/db/SessionManager.js b/node/db/SessionManager.js
index 05fe32088..797e6cde4 100644
--- a/node/db/SessionManager.js
+++ b/node/db/SessionManager.js
@@ -380,12 +380,14 @@ function listSessionsWithDBKey (dbkey, callback)
  */
 function randomString(len) 
 {
-  // use only numbers and lowercase letters
-  var pieces = [];
-  for(var i=0;i<len;i++) {
-    pieces.push(Math.floor(Math.random()*36).toString(36).slice(-1));
+  var chars = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
+  var randomstring = '';
+  for (var i = 0; i < len; i++)
+  {
+    var rnum = Math.floor(Math.random() * chars.length);
+    randomstring += chars.substring(rnum, rnum + 1);
   }
-  return pieces.join('');
+  return randomstring;
 }
 
 //checks if a number is an int
diff --git a/node/handler/APIHandler.js b/node/handler/APIHandler.js
index 2aa78f2ad..102178556 100644
--- a/node/handler/APIHandler.js
+++ b/node/handler/APIHandler.js
@@ -131,11 +131,14 @@ exports.handle = function(functionName, fields, req, res)
 /**
  * Generates a random String with the given length. Is needed to generate the Author Ids
  */
-function randomString(len) {
-  // use only numbers and lowercase letters
-  var pieces = [];
-  for(var i=0;i<len;i++) {
-    pieces.push(Math.floor(Math.random()*36).toString(36).slice(-1));
+function randomString(len) 
+{
+  var chars = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
+  var randomstring = '';
+  for (var i = 0; i < len; i++)
+  {
+    var rnum = Math.floor(Math.random() * chars.length);
+    randomstring += chars.substring(rnum, rnum + 1);
   }
-  return pieces.join('');
+  return randomstring;
 }