diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/AsterixThreadExecutor.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/AsterixThreadExecutor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..519e222
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/AsterixThreadExecutor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * 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 from
+ * 
+ *     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 edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.Executor;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.lifecycle.ApplicationThreadExecutor;
+
+public class AsterixThreadExecutor implements Executor {
+
+    private static ApplicationThreadExecutor threadExecutor = new ApplicationThreadExecutor(
+            AsterixThreadFactory.INSTANCE);
+
+    public static AsterixThreadExecutor INSTANCE = new AsterixThreadExecutor();
+
+    private AsterixThreadExecutor() {
+
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void execute(Runnable command) {
+        threadExecutor.execute(command);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/AsterixThreadFactory.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/AsterixThreadFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8a668cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/AsterixThreadFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2012 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * 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 from
+ *
+ *     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 edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
+
+public class AsterixThreadFactory implements ThreadFactory {
+
+    public static AsterixThreadFactory INSTANCE = new AsterixThreadFactory();
+
+    private AsterixThreadFactory() {
+
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Thread newThread(Runnable r) {
+        Thread t;
+        if ((r instanceof Thread)) {
+            t = (Thread) r;
+        } else {
+            t = new Thread(r);
+        }
+        return t;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixProperties.java
index 20a0d11..a2340b1 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixProperties.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixProperties.java
@@ -30,9 +30,10 @@
 import javax.xml.bind.Unmarshaller;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.AsterixConfiguration;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Coredump;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Property;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Store;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.common.exceptions.AlgebricksException;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 
 /**
  * Holder for Asterix properties values typically set as Java Properties.
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@
     private static String metadataNodeName;
     private static HashSet<String> nodeNames;
     private static Map<String, String[]> stores;
+    private static Map<String, String> coredumpDirs;
     private static Map<String, String> asterixConfigurationParams;
 
     public static AsterixProperties INSTANCE = new AsterixProperties();
@@ -103,6 +105,9 @@
         public static final String SHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD = "shrink_timer_threshold";
         public static final String SHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD_DEFAULT = "120000";
 
+        public static final String COREDUMP_PATH = "core_dump_dir";
+        public static final String COREDUMP_PATH_DEFAULT = System.getProperty("user.dir");
+
     }
 
     private AsterixProperties() {
@@ -117,7 +122,7 @@
                     fileName = GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAME;
                     is = new FileInputStream(fileName);
                 } catch (FileNotFoundException fnf) {
-                    throw new AlgebricksException("Could not find the configuration file " + fileName);
+                    throw new AsterixException("Could not find the configuration file " + fileName);
                 }
             }
 
@@ -133,11 +138,17 @@
                 stores.put(store.getNcId(), trimmedStoreDirs.split(","));
                 nodeNames.add(store.getNcId());
             }
+
+            coredumpDirs = new HashMap<String, String>();
+            List<Coredump> configuredCoredumps = asterixConfiguration.getCoredump();
+            for (Coredump coredump : configuredCoredumps) {
+                coredumpDirs.put(coredump.getNcId(), coredump.getCoredumpPath().trim());
+            }
+
             asterixConfigurationParams = new HashMap<String, String>();
             for (Property p : asterixConfiguration.getProperty()) {
                 asterixConfigurationParams.put(p.getName(), p.getValue());
             }
-
             initializeLogLevel(getProperty(AsterixConfigurationKeys.LOG_LEVEL));
         } catch (Exception e) {
             throw new IllegalStateException(e);
@@ -160,6 +171,10 @@
         return nodeNames;
     }
 
+    public String getCoredumpPath(String ncId) {
+        return coredumpDirs.get(ncId);
+    }
+
     public String getProperty(String property) {
         String propValue = asterixConfigurationParams.get(property);
         if (propValue == null) {
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/context/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/context/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
index 5070938..6f7c29c 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/context/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/context/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.application.INCApplicationContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.lifecycle.LifeCycleComponentManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IIndex;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IIndexLifecycleManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.dataflow.IndexLifecycleManager;
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@
         IPageCleanerPolicy pcp = new DelayPageCleanerPolicy(600000);
         bufferCache = new BufferCache(ioManager, allocator, prs, pcp, fileMapManager, pageSize, numPages,
                 DEFAULT_MAX_OPEN_FILES);
-
+        LifeCycleComponentManager.INSTANCE.register(bufferCache);
         lsmIOScheduler = SynchronousScheduler.INSTANCE;
         mergePolicy = new ConstantMergePolicy(3, this);
         lsmBTreeOpTrackerFactory = new IndexOperationTrackerFactory(LSMBTreeIOOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd b/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd
index f53fb4b..5aefdbd 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/resources/schema/asterix-conf.xsd
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
         
 	<xs:element name="metadataNode" type="xs:string" />
+	<xs:element name="coredumpPath" type="xs:string" />
 	<xs:element name="storeDirs" type="xs:string" />
 	<xs:element name="ncId" type="xs:string" />
 	<xs:element name="name" type="xs:string" />
@@ -23,6 +24,15 @@
 		</xs:complexType>
 	</xs:element>
 
+	<xs:element name="coredump">
+		<xs:complexType>
+			<xs:sequence>
+				<xs:element ref="mg:ncId" />
+				<xs:element ref="mg:coredumpPath" />
+			</xs:sequence>
+		</xs:complexType>
+	</xs:element>
+
 	<xs:element name="property">
 		<xs:complexType>
 			<xs:sequence>
@@ -39,6 +49,7 @@
 			<xs:sequence>
 				<xs:element ref="mg:metadataNode" minOccurs="0"/>
 				<xs:element ref="mg:store" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
+				<xs:element ref="mg:coredump" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
 				<xs:element ref="mg:property" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
 			</xs:sequence>
 		</xs:complexType>