diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/authtypes/device.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/authtypes/device.go
index 4feceada0..d9f2a4e06 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/authtypes/device.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/authtypes/device.go
@@ -16,8 +16,9 @@ package authtypes
 
 // Device represents a client's device (mobile, web, etc)
 type Device struct {
-	ID          string
-	UserID      string
+	UserID string
+	// The access_token granted to this device.
+	// This uniquely identifies the device from all other devices and clients.
 	AccessToken string
 	// TODO: display name, last used timestamp, keys, etc
 }
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/storage/devices/devices_table.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/storage/devices/devices_table.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..81417a8be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/storage/devices/devices_table.go
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+// Copyright 2017 Vector Creations Ltd
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package devices
+
+import (
+	"database/sql"
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/authtypes"
+	"github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib"
+)
+
+const devicesSchema = `
+-- Stores data about devices.
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS devices (
+	-- The access token granted to this device. This has to be the primary key
+	-- so we can distinguish which device is making a given request.
+	access_token TEXT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
+	-- The Matrix user ID localpart for this device
+    localpart TEXT NOT NULL,
+    -- When this devices was first recognised on the network, as a unix timestamp (ms resolution).
+    created_ts BIGINT NOT NULL
+    -- TODO: device keys, device display names, last used ts and IP address?, token restrictions (if 3rd-party OAuth app)
+);
+`
+
+const insertDeviceSQL = "" +
+	"INSERT INTO devices(access_token, localpart, created_ts) VALUES ($1, $2, $3)"
+
+const selectDeviceByTokenSQL = "" +
+	"SELECT localpart FROM devices WHERE access_token = $1"
+
+// TODO: List devices, delete device API
+
+type devicesStatements struct {
+	insertDeviceStmt        *sql.Stmt
+	selectDeviceByTokenStmt *sql.Stmt
+	serverName              gomatrixserverlib.ServerName
+}
+
+func (s *devicesStatements) prepare(db *sql.DB, server gomatrixserverlib.ServerName) (err error) {
+	_, err = db.Exec(devicesSchema)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if s.insertDeviceStmt, err = db.Prepare(insertDeviceSQL); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if s.selectDeviceByTokenStmt, err = db.Prepare(selectDeviceByTokenSQL); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	s.serverName = server
+	return
+}
+
+// insertDevice creates a new device. Returns an error if a device with the same access token already exists.
+// Returns the device on success.
+func (s *devicesStatements) insertDevice(localpart, accessToken string) (dev *authtypes.Device, err error) {
+	createdTimeMS := time.Now().UnixNano() / 1000000
+	if _, err = s.insertDeviceStmt.Exec(accessToken, localpart, createdTimeMS); err == nil {
+		dev = &authtypes.Device{
+			UserID:      makeUserID(localpart, s.serverName),
+			AccessToken: accessToken,
+		}
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+func (s *devicesStatements) selectDeviceByToken(accessToken string) (*authtypes.Device, error) {
+	var dev authtypes.Device
+	var localpart string
+	err := s.selectDeviceByTokenStmt.QueryRow(accessToken).Scan(&localpart)
+	if err != nil {
+		dev.UserID = makeUserID(localpart, s.serverName)
+		dev.AccessToken = accessToken
+	}
+	return &dev, err
+}
+
+func makeUserID(localpart string, server gomatrixserverlib.ServerName) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("@%s:%s", localpart, string(server))
+}
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/storage/devices/storage.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/storage/devices/storage.go
index ef5fe495d..f3a4ac951 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/storage/devices/storage.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/storage/devices/storage.go
@@ -15,17 +15,30 @@
 package devices
 
 import (
+	"database/sql"
+
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/auth/authtypes"
+	"github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib"
 )
 
 // Database represents a device database.
 type Database struct {
-	// TODO
+	db      *sql.DB
+	devices devicesStatements
 }
 
 // NewDatabase creates a new device database
-func NewDatabase(dataSource string) (*Database, error) {
-	return &Database{}, nil
+func NewDatabase(dataSourceName string, serverName gomatrixserverlib.ServerName) (*Database, error) {
+	var db *sql.DB
+	var err error
+	if db, err = sql.Open("postgres", dataSourceName); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	d := devicesStatements{}
+	if err = d.prepare(db, serverName); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &Database{db, d}, nil
 }
 
 // GetDeviceByAccessToken returns the device matching the given access token.
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-client-api-server/main.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-client-api-server/main.go
index c75ca3235..e0a6616f2 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-client-api-server/main.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-client-api-server/main.go
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func main() {
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Panicf("Failed to setup account database(%s): %s", accountDataSource, err.Error())
 	}
-	deviceDB, err := devices.NewDatabase(accountDataSource)
+	deviceDB, err := devices.NewDatabase(accountDataSource, serverName)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Panicf("Failed to setup device database(%s): %s", accountDataSource, err.Error())
 	}
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-sync-api-server/main.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-sync-api-server/main.go
index 090c0d88c..638eba3cd 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-sync-api-server/main.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-sync-api-server/main.go
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ func loadConfig(configPath string) (*config.Sync, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	// check required fields
+	if cfg.ServerName == "" {
+		log.Fatalf("'server_name' must be supplied in %s", configPath)
+	}
 	return &cfg, nil
 }
 
@@ -74,7 +77,7 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	// TODO: DO NOT USE THIS DATA SOURCE (it's the sync one, not devices!)
-	deviceDB, err := devices.NewDatabase(cfg.DataSource)
+	deviceDB, err := devices.NewDatabase(cfg.DataSource, cfg.ServerName)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Panicf("startup: failed to create device database with data source %s : %s", cfg.DataSource, err)
 	}
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/syncserver-integration-tests/main.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/syncserver-integration-tests/main.go
index b9c9caf1a..fb1fdfcb1 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/syncserver-integration-tests/main.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/syncserver-integration-tests/main.go
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ func getLastRequestError() error {
 var syncServerConfigFileContents = (`consumer_uris: ["` + kafkaURI + `"]
 roomserver_topic: "` + inputTopic + `"
 database: "` + testDatabase + `"
+server_name: "localhost"
 `)
 
 func defaulting(value, defaultValue string) string {
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/config/config.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/config/config.go
index ecfc5eaf7..433a7a2b6 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/config/config.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/syncapi/config/config.go
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@
 
 package config
 
+import (
+	"github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib"
+)
+
 // Sync contains the config information necessary to spin up a sync-server process.
 type Sync struct {
 	// The topic for events which are written by the room server output log.
@@ -22,4 +26,6 @@ type Sync struct {
 	KafkaConsumerURIs []string `yaml:"consumer_uris"`
 	// The postgres connection config for connecting to the database e.g a postgres:// URI
 	DataSource string `yaml:"database"`
+	// The server_name of the running process e.g "localhost"
+	ServerName gomatrixserverlib.ServerName `yaml:"server_name"`
 }