diff --git a/apps/kimai/db/database.yaml b/apps/kimai/db/database.yaml
index 0e8b8ed..ba77b99 100644
--- a/apps/kimai/db/database.yaml
+++ b/apps/kimai/db/database.yaml
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@ metadata:
   namespace: kimai
 spec:
   mariaDbRef:
-    name: mariadb.mariadb-operator-system.svc.cluster.local
-  name: kimai
+    name: mariadb
+    namespace: mariadb-databases
diff --git a/apps/kimai/db/grant.yaml b/apps/kimai/db/grant.yaml
index 002a8e7..2040ebc 100644
--- a/apps/kimai/db/grant.yaml
+++ b/apps/kimai/db/grant.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ metadata:
   namespace: kimai
 spec:
   mariaDbRef:
-    name: mariadb.mariadb-operator-system.svc.cluster.local
+    name: mariadb
+    namespace: mariadb-databases
 
   privileges:
     - ALL PRIVILEGES
diff --git a/apps/kimai/db/user.yaml b/apps/kimai/db/user.yaml
index 72434f0..b3afbe8 100644
--- a/apps/kimai/db/user.yaml
+++ b/apps/kimai/db/user.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ metadata:
   namespace: kimai
 spec:
   mariaDbRef:
-    name: mariadb.mariadb-operator-system.svc.cluster.local
+    name: mariadb
+    namespace: mariadb-databases
 
   name: kimai
 
diff --git a/apps/kimai/values.yaml b/apps/kimai/values.yaml
index 12e4129..8d996c4 100644
--- a/apps/kimai/values.yaml
+++ b/apps/kimai/values.yaml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ persistence:
 existingSecret: kimai-secrets
 
 externalDatabase:
-  host: mariadb.mariadb-operator-system.svc.cluster.local
+  host: mariadb
   existingSecret: kimai-db-secrets
   user: kimai
   database: kimai
diff --git a/infrastructure/databases/kustomization.yaml b/infrastructure/databases/kustomization.yaml
index 54dbea7..b99de1b 100644
--- a/infrastructure/databases/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/infrastructure/databases/kustomization.yaml
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ kind: Kustomization
 resources:
 - cloudnative-pg
 - mariadb-operator
+- mariadb-clusters
diff --git a/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-clusters/kustomization.yaml b/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-clusters/kustomization.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5054e39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-clusters/kustomization.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+resources:
+- mariadb.yaml
+- namespace.yaml
diff --git a/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-clusters/mariadb.yaml b/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-clusters/mariadb.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..afbb30b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-clusters/mariadb.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+apiVersion: k8s.mariadb.com/v1alpha1
+kind: MariaDB
+metadata:
+  name: mariadb
+  namespace: mariadb-databases
+spec:
+  replicas: 3
+  replication:
+    enabled: true
+   # primary:
+      #automaticFailover: true
+  rootPasswordSecretKeyRef:
+    name: mariadb-secrets
+    key: password
+  storage:
+    size: 20Gi
+  # Optional but recommended
+  service:
+    type: ClusterIP
+  # Helps with stable operation in GitOps
+  updateStrategy:
+    type: ReplicasFirstPrimaryLast
+  # Basic resource safety
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      cpu: 250m
+      memory: 512Mi
+    limits:
+      cpu: "1"
+      memory: 1Gi
diff --git a/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-clusters/namespace.yaml b/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-clusters/namespace.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..efa1336
--- /dev/null
+++ b/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-clusters/namespace.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: Namespace
+metadata:
+  name: mariadb-databases
diff --git a/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-operator/kustomization.yaml b/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-operator/kustomization.yaml
index b02446e..1c2a5df 100644
--- a/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-operator/kustomization.yaml
+++ b/infrastructure/databases/mariadb-operator/kustomization.yaml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ resources:
 - helmrelease.yaml
 - namespace.yaml
 - crds
-- cluster
+#- cluster
 - mariadb-clustersecrets.yaml
 
 namespace: mariadb-operator-system