diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index d17d343a4..22e802da8 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -11,4 +11,5 @@ examples/*
 **/*.npz
 **/data
 **/*.tgz
-dist
\ No newline at end of file
+dist
+Dockerfile
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 348beb747..6e226d1e2 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,77 +1,36 @@
-# Stage 1: Builder
-ARG BASE_IMG=python:3.12-slim
-FROM $BASE_IMG AS builder
+# ARG BASE_IMG=python:3.11-slim
+ARG RUNTIME_IMG=gcr.io/distroless/python3
+# FROM $BASE_IMG AS builder
+FROM python:3.11-slim AS builder
 
 ARG GRPC_HEALTH_PROBE_VERSION=""
-ARG REQUIREMENTS=""
 
 WORKDIR /build
 
-# Temporarily add the Debian Testing repository to install zlib1g 1:1.3.dfsg+really1.3.1-1+b1 (fixed CVE-2023-45853)
-# Both zlib1g and zlib1g-dev are installed in the builder stage.
-RUN echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian testing main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/testing.list \
-  && apt-get update \
-  && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends -t testing zlib1g=1:1.3.dfsg+really1.3.1-1+b1 zlib1g-dev=1:1.3.dfsg+really1.3.1-1+b1 \
-  && rm -rf /etc/apt/sources.list.d/testing.list \
-  && apt-get clean \
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    python3-dev gcc wget zlib1g-dev \
   && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# Install build dependencies
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends python3-dev gcc wget \
-  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
-
-# Add FEDn and default configs
-COPY . /build
-COPY $REQUIREMENTS /build/requirements.txt
-
-# Install dependencies
-RUN python -m venv /venv \
-  && /venv/bin/pip install --upgrade pip \
-  && /venv/bin/pip install --no-cache-dir 'setuptools>=65' \
-  && /venv/bin/pip install --no-cache-dir . \
-  && if [[ ! -z "$REQUIREMENTS" ]]; then \
-  /venv/bin/pip install --no-cache-dir -r /build/requirements.txt; \
-  fi \
-  && rm -rf /build/requirements.txt
-
-
 # Install grpc health probe
 RUN if [ ! -z "$GRPC_HEALTH_PROBE_VERSION" ]; then \
   wget -qO /build/grpc_health_probe https://github.com/grpc-ecosystem/grpc-health-probe/releases/download/${GRPC_HEALTH_PROBE_VERSION}/grpc_health_probe-linux-amd64 && \
   chmod +x /build/grpc_health_probe; \
   fi
 
-# Stage 2: Runtime
-FROM $BASE_IMG
+COPY . /build
 
-WORKDIR /app
+RUN mkdir /python-dist \
+  && pip install --upgrade pip \
+  && pip install --prefix=/python-dist --no-cache-dir 'setuptools>=65' .
 
-# Copy application and venv from the builder stage
-COPY --from=builder /venv /venv
-COPY --from=builder /build /app
+# Stage 2: Distroless Runtime
 
-# Use a non-root user
-RUN set -ex \
-  # Create a non-root user
-  && addgroup --system --gid 1001 appgroup \
-  && adduser --system --uid 1001 --gid 1001 --no-create-home appuser \
-  # Creare application specific tmp directory, set ENV TMPDIR to /app/tmp
-  && mkdir -p /app/tmp \
-  && chown -R appuser:appgroup /venv /app \
-  # Temporarily add the Debian Testing repository to install zlib1g 1:1.3.dfsg+really1.3.1-1+b1 (fixed CVE-2023-45853)
-  && echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian testing main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/testing.list \
-  && apt-get update \
-  && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends -t testing zlib1g=1:1.3.dfsg+really1.3.1-1+b1 \
-  && rm -rf /etc/apt/sources.list.d/testing.list \
-  # Update package index and upgrade all installed packages
-  && apt-get update \
-  && apt-get upgrade -y \
-  # Clean up
-  && apt-get autoremove -y \
-  && apt-get clean -y \
-  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+FROM $RUNTIME_IMG
+
+COPY --from=builder /python-dist /python-dist
+COPY --from=builder /build /app
 
-USER appuser
+ENV PYTHONPATH=/python-dist/lib/python3.11/site-packages
 
-ENTRYPOINT [ "/venv/bin/fedn" ]
+ENTRYPOINT ["python3", "/python-dist/bin/fedn"]
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml
index 598aad0cb..1700f624e 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ services:
       retries: 5
     depends_on:
       - api-server
-      - hooks
+      # - hooks
   # Hooks
   hooks:
     container_name: hook
@@ -124,9 +124,9 @@ services:
     working_dir: /app
     volumes:
       - ${HOST_REPO_DIR:-.}/fedn:/app/fedn
-    entrypoint: [ "sh", "-c" ]
     command:
-      - "/venv/bin/pip install --no-cache-dir -e . && /venv/bin/fedn hooks start"
+      - hooks
+      - start
     ports:
       - 12081:12081
     healthcheck:
@@ -143,7 +143,8 @@ services:
     build:
       context: .
       args:
-        BASE_IMG: ${BASE_IMG:-python:3.10-slim}
+        BASE_IMG: ${BASE_IMG:-python:3.11-slim}
+        RUNTIME_IMG: ${RUNTIME_IMG:-python:3.11-slim}
     working_dir: /app
     volumes:
       - ${HOST_REPO_DIR:-.}/fedn:/app/fedn
diff --git a/fedn/network/api/gunicorn_app.py b/fedn/network/api/gunicorn_app.py
index 8c5cb0c30..d249f716c 100644
--- a/fedn/network/api/gunicorn_app.py
+++ b/fedn/network/api/gunicorn_app.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 from gunicorn.app.base import BaseApplication
+
+
 class GunicornApp(BaseApplication):
     def __init__(self, app, options=None):
         self.options = options or {}
@@ -14,10 +16,11 @@ def load_config(self):
     def load(self):
         return self.application
 
-def run_gunicorn(app, host,port,workers=4):
+def run_gunicorn(app, host, port, workers=4):
     bind_address = f"{host}:{port}"
     options = {
         "bind": bind_address,  # Specify the bind address and port here
         "workers": workers,
+        "preload_app": True
     }
     GunicornApp(app, options).run()
diff --git a/fedn/network/api/server.py b/fedn/network/api/server.py
index 834797aab..b4eab0373 100644
--- a/fedn/network/api/server.py
+++ b/fedn/network/api/server.py
@@ -487,7 +487,7 @@ def start_server_api():
     if debug:
         app.run(debug=debug, port=port, host=host)
     else:
-        workers = os.cpu_count()
+        workers = config.get("num_workers", 2)
         gunicorn_app.run_gunicorn(app, host, port, workers)
 
 
diff --git a/fedn/network/storage/s3/saasrepository.py b/fedn/network/storage/s3/saasrepository.py
index 9a734a831..8bb32bee2 100644
--- a/fedn/network/storage/s3/saasrepository.py
+++ b/fedn/network/storage/s3/saasrepository.py
@@ -153,16 +153,5 @@ def delete_artifact(self, instance_name: str, bucket: str) -> None:
             logger.error(f"Could not delete artifact: {instance_name}. Error: {err}")
 
     def create_bucket(self, bucket_name: str) -> None:
-        """Create a new bucket. If bucket exists, do nothing.
-
-        :param bucket_name: The name of the bucket
-        :type bucket_name: str
-        """
-        logger.info(f"Creating bucket: {bucket_name}")
-
-        try:
-            if not self.client.bucket_exists(bucket_name):
-                self.client.make_bucket(bucket_name)
-        except InvalidResponseError as err:
-            logger.error(f"Failed to create bucket: {bucket_name}. Error: {err}")
-            raise
+        # No need to create any buckets in the SaaS.
+        pass