diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/api/application/INCServiceContext.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/api/application/INCServiceContext.java
index 9a484ca..a881c4f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/api/application/INCServiceContext.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-api/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/api/application/INCServiceContext.java
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.lifecycle.ILifeCycleComponentManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.resources.memory.IMemoryManager;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 /**
  * Service Context at the Node Controller for an application.
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
      *
      * @return a Tracer
      */
-    Tracer getTracer();
+    ITracer getTracer();
 
     /**
      * Set the handler for state dumps.
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/NodeControllerService.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/NodeControllerService.java
index f4ec6e4..350343b 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/NodeControllerService.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/NodeControllerService.java
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.ipc.ClusterControllerRemoteProxy;
 import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.ipc.IControllerRemoteProxyIPCEventListener;
 import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.job.profiling.om.JobProfile;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.PidHelper;
 import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.work.FutureValue;
 import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.work.WorkQueue;
 import org.apache.hyracks.control.nc.application.NCServiceContext;
@@ -90,6 +89,9 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.net.protocols.muxdemux.FullFrameChannelInterfaceFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.net.protocols.muxdemux.MuxDemuxPerformanceCounters;
 import org.apache.hyracks.util.ExitUtil;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.PidHelper;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
 import org.kohsuke.args4j.CmdLineException;
 
 public class NodeControllerService implements IControllerService {
@@ -194,8 +196,8 @@
         // Set shutdown hook before so it doesn't have the same uncaught exception handler
         Runtime.getRuntime().addShutdownHook(new NCShutdownHook(this));
         Thread.currentThread().setUncaughtExceptionHandler(getLifeCycleComponentManager());
-        ioManager = new IOManager(IODeviceHandle.getDevices(ncConfig.getIODevices()),
-                application.getFileDeviceResolver());
+        ioManager =
+                new IOManager(IODeviceHandle.getDevices(ncConfig.getIODevices()), application.getFileDeviceResolver());
 
         workQueue = new WorkQueue(id, Thread.NORM_PRIORITY); // Reserves MAX_PRIORITY of the heartbeat thread.
         jobletMap = new Hashtable<>();
@@ -315,6 +317,8 @@
         timerThread.setPriority(Thread.MAX_PRIORITY);
         // Schedule heartbeat generator.
         timer.schedule(heartbeatTask, 0, nodeParameters.getHeartbeatPeriod());
+        // Schedule tracing a human-readable datetime
+        timer.schedule(new TraceCurrentTimeTask(serviceCtx.getTracer()), 0, 60000);
 
         if (nodeParameters.getProfileDumpPeriod() > 0) {
             // Schedule profile dump generator.
@@ -336,8 +340,8 @@
         // Use "public" versions of network addresses and ports
         NetworkAddress datasetAddress = datasetNetworkManager.getPublicNetworkAddress();
         NetworkAddress netAddress = netManager.getPublicNetworkAddress();
-        NetworkAddress meesagingPort = messagingNetManager != null ? messagingNetManager.getPublicNetworkAddress()
-                : null;
+        NetworkAddress meesagingPort =
+                messagingNetManager != null ? messagingNetManager.getPublicNetworkAddress() : null;
         int allCores = osMXBean.getAvailableProcessors();
         nodeRegistration = new NodeRegistration(ipc.getSocketAddress(), id, ncConfig, netAddress, datasetAddress,
                 osMXBean.getName(), osMXBean.getArch(), osMXBean.getVersion(), allCores, runtimeMXBean.getVmName(),
@@ -566,6 +570,24 @@
         }
     }
 
+    private class TraceCurrentTimeTask extends TimerTask {
+
+        private ITracer tracer;
+
+        public TraceCurrentTimeTask(ITracer tracer) {
+            this.tracer = tracer;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void run() {
+            try {
+                ITracer.check(tracer).instant("CurrentTime", "Timestamp", Tracer.Scope.p, Tracer.dateTimeStamp());
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING, "Exception tracing current time", e);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     public void sendApplicationMessageToCC(byte[] data, DeploymentId deploymentId) throws Exception {
         ccs.sendApplicationMessageToCC(data, deploymentId, id);
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/application/NCServiceContext.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/application/NCServiceContext.java
index d1d2dc9..68d9581 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/application/NCServiceContext.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/nc/application/NCServiceContext.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.control.nc.NodeControllerService;
 import org.apache.hyracks.control.nc.io.IOManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.control.nc.resources.memory.MemoryManager;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
 
 public class NCServiceContext extends ServiceContext implements INCServiceContext {
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@
     private IStateDumpHandler sdh;
     private final NodeControllerService ncs;
     private IChannelInterfaceFactory messagingChannelInterfaceFactory;
-    private final Tracer tracer;
+    private final ITracer tracer;
 
     public NCServiceContext(NodeControllerService ncs, ServerContext serverCtx, IOManager ioManager, String nodeId,
             MemoryManager memoryManager, ILifeCycleComponentManager lifeCyclecomponentManager,
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Tracer getTracer() {
+    public ITracer getTracer() {
         return tracer;
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/io/AbstractFrameAppender.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/io/AbstractFrameAppender.java
index dfb03ab..13632f0 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/io/AbstractFrameAppender.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/io/AbstractFrameAppender.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.comm.IFrameWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import org.apache.hyracks.util.IntSerDeUtils;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 /*
  * Frame
@@ -117,18 +117,13 @@
         writer.flush();
     }
 
-    public void flush(IFrameWriter writer, Tracer tracer, String name, String cat, String args)
+    public void flush(IFrameWriter writer, ITracer tracer, String name, String cat, String args)
             throws HyracksDataException {
-        long tid = -1L;
-        if (tracer != null && tracer.isEnabled()) {
-            tid = tracer.durationB(name, cat, args);
-        }
+        final long tid = ITracer.check(tracer).durationB(name, cat, args);
         if (tupleCount > 0) {
             write(writer, true);
         }
         writer.flush();
-        if (tracer != null && tracer.isEnabled()) {
-            tracer.durationE(tid, args);
-        }
+        ITracer.check(tracer).durationE(tid, args);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/util/FrameUtils.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/util/FrameUtils.java
index 8411ff7..ea53c25 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/util/FrameUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-dataflow-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/dataflow/common/comm/util/FrameUtils.java
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.comm.IFrameWriter;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.ErrorCode;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public class FrameUtils {
 
@@ -150,14 +150,14 @@
     }
 
     public static int appendToWriter(IFrameWriter writer, IFrameTupleAppender frameTupleAppender,
-            IFrameTupleAccessor tupleAccessor, int tIndex, Tracer tracer, String name, String cat, String args)
+            IFrameTupleAccessor tupleAccessor, int tIndex, ITracer tracer, String name, String cat, String args)
             throws HyracksDataException {
         int flushedBytes = 0;
         if (!frameTupleAppender.append(tupleAccessor, tIndex)) {
             flushedBytes = frameTupleAppender.getBuffer().capacity();
-            long tid = tracer.durationB(name, cat, args);
+            long tid = ITracer.check(tracer).durationB(name, cat, args);
             frameTupleAppender.write(writer, true);
-            tracer.durationE(tid, args);
+            ITracer.check(tracer).durationE(tid, args);
             if (!frameTupleAppender.append(tupleAccessor, tIndex)) {
                 throw HyracksDataException.create(ErrorCode.TUPLE_CANNOT_FIT_INTO_EMPTY_FRAME,
                         tupleAccessor.getTupleLength(tIndex));
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java
index a0d5a22..c7d45e1 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.ISearchPredicate;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.MultiComparator;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public class LSMBTree extends AbstractLSMIndex implements ITreeIndex {
 
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@
             double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, int fieldCount, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories,
             ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallback ioOpCallback, boolean needKeyDupCheck, int[] btreeFields, int[] filterFields,
-            boolean durable, boolean updateAware, Tracer tracer) throws HyracksDataException {
+            boolean durable, boolean updateAware, ITracer tracer) throws HyracksDataException {
         super(ioManager, virtualBufferCaches, diskBTreeFactory.getBufferCache(), fileManager,
                 bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallback, filterFrameFactory,
                 filterManager, filterFields, durable, filterHelper, btreeFields, tracer);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/utils/LSMBTreeUtil.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/utils/LSMBTreeUtil.java
index a9c7a80..4aafbe9 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/utils/LSMBTreeUtil.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/utils/LSMBTreeUtil.java
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.LSMComponentFilterManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.TreeIndexFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public class LSMBTreeUtil {
 
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
             ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallback ioOpCallback, boolean needKeyDupCheck, ITypeTraits[] filterTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] filterCmpFactories, int[] btreeFields, int[] filterFields, boolean durable,
-            IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, boolean updateAware, Tracer tracer)
+            IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, boolean updateAware, ITracer tracer)
             throws HyracksDataException {
         LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory insertTupleWriterFactory =
                 new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false, updateAware);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndex.java
index c471cfb..dc64f9b 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndex.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IModificationOperationCallback;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.ISearchOperationCallback;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public abstract class AbstractLSMIndex implements ILSMIndex {
     protected final ILSMHarness lsmHarness;
@@ -89,14 +89,14 @@
     protected boolean isActive;
     protected final AtomicBoolean[] flushRequests;
     protected boolean memoryComponentsAllocated = false;
-    protected Tracer tracer;
+    protected ITracer tracer;
 
     public AbstractLSMIndex(IIOManager ioManager, List<IVirtualBufferCache> virtualBufferCaches,
             IBufferCache diskBufferCache, ILSMIndexFileManager fileManager, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
             ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallback ioOpCallback, ILSMComponentFilterFrameFactory filterFrameFactory,
             LSMComponentFilterManager filterManager, int[] filterFields, boolean durable,
-            IComponentFilterHelper filterHelper, int[] treeFields, Tracer tracer) {
+            IComponentFilterHelper filterHelper, int[] treeFields, ITracer tracer) {
         this.ioManager = ioManager;
         this.virtualBufferCaches = virtualBufferCaches;
         this.diskBufferCache = diskBufferCache;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/LSMHarness.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/LSMHarness.java
index 1ef807f..1069f8f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/LSMHarness.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/LSMHarness.java
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.util.IOOperationUtils;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IIndexCursor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.ISearchPredicate;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer.Scope;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer.Scope;
 
 public class LSMHarness implements ILSMHarness {
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(LSMHarness.class.getName());
@@ -67,10 +67,10 @@
     protected final AtomicBoolean fullMergeIsRequested;
     protected final boolean replicationEnabled;
     protected List<ILSMDiskComponent> componentsToBeReplicated;
-    protected Tracer tracer;
+    protected ITracer tracer;
 
     public LSMHarness(ILSMIndex lsmIndex, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker,
-            boolean replicationEnabled, Tracer tracer) {
+            boolean replicationEnabled, ITracer tracer) {
         this.lsmIndex = lsmIndex;
         this.opTracker = opTracker;
         this.mergePolicy = mergePolicy;
@@ -253,9 +253,8 @@
                                     }
                                     break;
                                 case INACTIVE:
-                                    if (tracer != null && tracer.isEnabled()) {
-                                        tracer.instant(lsmIndex.toString(), "release-memory-component", Scope.p, null);
-                                    }
+                                    ITracer.check(tracer).instant(lsmIndex.toString(), "release-memory-component",
+                                            Scope.p, null);
                                     ((AbstractLSMMemoryComponent) c).reset();
                                     // Notify all waiting threads whenever the mutable component's has change to inactive. This is important because
                                     // even though we switched the mutable components, it is possible that the component that we just switched
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/TracedIOOperation.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/TracedIOOperation.java
index 08e5f94..9cc8022 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/TracedIOOperation.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/TracedIOOperation.java
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperation;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIOOperationCallback;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMIndexAccessor;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer.Scope;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer.Scope;
 
 class TracedIOOperation implements ILSMIOOperation {
 
@@ -36,17 +36,17 @@
 
     protected final ILSMIOOperation ioOp;
     private final LSMIOOpertionType ioOpType;
-    private final Tracer tracer;
+    private final ITracer tracer;
     private final String cat;
 
-    protected TracedIOOperation(ILSMIOOperation ioOp, Tracer tracer) {
+    protected TracedIOOperation(ILSMIOOperation ioOp, ITracer tracer) {
         this.ioOp = ioOp;
         this.tracer = tracer;
         this.ioOpType = ioOp.getIOOpertionType();
         this.cat = ioOpType.name().toLowerCase();
     }
 
-    public static ILSMIOOperation wrap(final ILSMIOOperation ioOp, final Tracer tracer) {
+    public static ILSMIOOperation wrap(final ILSMIOOperation ioOp, final ITracer tracer) {
         if (tracer != null && tracer.isEnabled()) {
             tracer.instant(ioOp.getTarget().getRelativePath(),
                     ioOp.getIOOpertionType() == LSMIOOpertionType.FLUSH ? "schedule-flush" : "schedule-merge", Scope.p,
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@
 
 class ComparableTracedIOOperation extends TracedIOOperation implements Comparable<ILSMIOOperation> {
 
-    protected ComparableTracedIOOperation(ILSMIOOperation ioOp, Tracer trace) {
+    protected ComparableTracedIOOperation(ILSMIOOperation ioOp, ITracer trace) {
         super(ioOp, trace);
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
index 4cd8543..eb3924c 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.ISearchPredicate;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.MultiComparator;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public class LSMInvertedIndex extends AbstractLSMIndex implements IInvertedIndex {
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(LSMInvertedIndex.class.getName());
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@
             throws HyracksDataException {
         super(ioManager, virtualBufferCaches, diskInvIndexFactory.getBufferCache(), fileManager,
                 bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallback, filterFrameFactory,
-                filterManager, filterFields, durable, filterHelper, invertedIndexFields, Tracer.none());
+                filterManager, filterFields, durable, filterHelper, invertedIndexFields, ITracer.NONE);
         this.tokenizerFactory = tokenizerFactory;
         this.invListTypeTraits = invListTypeTraits;
         this.invListCmpFactories = invListCmpFactories;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/AbstractLSMRTree.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/AbstractLSMRTree.java
index 4f08dd3..ec8a857 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/AbstractLSMRTree.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/AbstractLSMRTree.java
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.ISearchOperationCallback;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.ISearchPredicate;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public abstract class AbstractLSMRTree extends AbstractLSMIndex implements ITreeIndex {
 
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@
             boolean isPointMBR, IBufferCache diskBufferCache) throws HyracksDataException {
         super(ioManager, virtualBufferCaches, diskBufferCache, fileManager, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy,
                 opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallback, filterFrameFactory, filterManager, filterFields, durable,
-                filterHelper, rtreeFields, Tracer.none());
+                filterHelper, rtreeFields, ITracer.NONE);
         int i = 0;
         for (IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache : virtualBufferCaches) {
             RTree memRTree = new RTree(virtualBufferCache, new VirtualFreePageManager(virtualBufferCache),
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/support/TestNCServiceContext.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/support/TestNCServiceContext.java
index cbdb7b7..4417795 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/support/TestNCServiceContext.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/test/support/TestNCServiceContext.java
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.messages.IMessageBroker;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.resources.memory.IMemoryManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.api.service.IControllerService;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public class TestNCServiceContext implements INCServiceContext {
     private final ILifeCycleComponentManager lccm;
@@ -87,8 +87,8 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Tracer getTracer() {
-        return Tracer.none();
+    public ITracer getTracer() {
+        return ITracer.NONE;
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java
index 56af40d..960367d 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.util.LSMBTreeTestHarness;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.utils.LSMBTreeUtil;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IIndexAccessor;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
                 bloomFilterKeyFields, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
                 harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallback(), true,
                 filterTypeTraits, filterCmpFactories, btreeFields, filterFields, true,
-                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, Tracer.none());
+                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, ITracer.NONE);
     }
 
     @Before
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
index 87ccde7..b633614 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.BlockingIOOperationCallbackWrapper;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.NoOpIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.NoOpOperationTrackerFactory;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
 public class LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest extends AbstractModificationOperationCallbackTest {
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
                 harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
                 NoOpOperationTrackerFactory.INSTANCE.getOperationTracker(null), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallback(), true, null, null, null, null, true,
-                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, Tracer.none());
+                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, ITracer.NONE);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
index 73497a9..9ba7570 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IIndexBulkLoader;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IIndexCursor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.ISearchOperationCallback;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
                 harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
                 NoOpOperationTrackerFactory.INSTANCE.getOperationTracker(null), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallback(), true, null, null, null, null, true,
-                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, Tracer.none());
+                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, ITracer.NONE);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateInPlaceTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateInPlaceTest.java
index 2e68e44..e059faa 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateInPlaceTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateInPlaceTest.java
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.NoOpOperationTrackerFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IIndexAccessor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.IModificationOperationCallback;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Before;
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
                 harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
                 NoOpOperationTrackerFactory.INSTANCE.getOperationTracker(null), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallback(), true, null, null, null, null, true,
-                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), true, Tracer.all());
+                harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), true, ITracer.NONE);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtree.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtree.java
index 79f4e22..6c1a406 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtree.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtree.java
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.LSMComponentFilterManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.LSMTreeIndexAccessor;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.TreeIndexFactory;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public class TestLsmBtree extends LSMBTree {
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@
             double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, int fieldCount, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories,
             ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallback ioOpCallback, boolean needKeyDupCheck, int[] btreeFields, int[] filterFields,
-            boolean durable, boolean updateAware, Tracer tracer) throws HyracksDataException {
+            boolean durable, boolean updateAware, ITracer tracer) throws HyracksDataException {
         super(ioManager, virtualBufferCaches, interiorFrameFactory, insertLeafFrameFactory, deleteLeafFrameFactory,
                 fileManager, diskBTreeFactory, bulkLoadBTreeFactory, bloomFilterFactory, filterHelper,
                 filterFrameFactory, filterManager, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, fieldCount, cmpFactories, mergePolicy,
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeUtil.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeUtil.java
index 940e517..049cb59 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeUtil.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impl/TestLsmBtreeUtil.java
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.LSMComponentFilterManager;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.TreeIndexFactory;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public class TestLsmBtreeUtil {
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
             ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallback ioOpCallback, boolean needKeyDupCheck, ITypeTraits[] filterTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] filterCmpFactories, int[] btreeFields, int[] filterFields, boolean durable,
-            IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, boolean updateAware, Tracer tracer)
+            IMetadataPageManagerFactory freePageManagerFactory, boolean updateAware, ITracer tracer)
             throws HyracksDataException {
         LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory insertTupleWriterFactory =
                 new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, cmpFactories.length, false, updateAware);
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java
index 4ebbe5f..3a7a6bb 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.common.datagen.ProbabilityHelper;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.util.LSMBTreeTestHarness;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.utils.LSMBTreeUtil;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public class LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest extends OrderedIndexMultiThreadTest {
 
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
                 harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), typeTraits, cmpFactories,
                 bloomFilterKeyFields, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
                 harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallback(), true, null,
-                null, null, null, true, harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, Tracer.none());
+                null, null, null, true, harness.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(), false, ITracer.NONE);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java
index 50078ef..6a35fb1 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
 import org.apache.hyracks.test.support.TestStorageManagerComponentHolder;
 import org.apache.hyracks.test.support.TestUtils;
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 
 public class LSMTreeRunner implements IExperimentRunner {
 
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
                 cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, new NoMergePolicy(),
                 new ThreadCountingTracker(), ioScheduler, NoOpIOOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE.createIoOpCallback(),
                 true, null, null, null, null, true, TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getMetadataPageManagerFactory(),
-                false, Tracer.none());
+                false, ITracer.NONE);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java
index 6c95f4d..ef5a0d2 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/org/apache/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.ILSMOperationTracker;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.IVirtualBufferCache;
 import org.apache.hyracks.storage.common.buffercache.IBufferCache;
+import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.ITracer;
 import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer;
 
 @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
@@ -96,12 +97,12 @@
             lsmTree = LSMBTreeUtil.createLSMTree(ioManager, virtualBufferCaches, file, diskBufferCache, typeTraits,
                     cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker,
                     ioScheduler, ioOpCallback, needKeyDupCheck, filterTypeTraits, filterCmp, btreefields, filterfields,
-                    true, metadataPageManagerFactory, updateAware, Tracer.none());
+                    true, metadataPageManagerFactory, updateAware, ITracer.NONE);
         } else {
             lsmTree = LSMBTreeUtil.createLSMTree(ioManager, virtualBufferCaches, file, diskBufferCache, typeTraits,
                     cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker,
                     ioScheduler, ioOpCallback, needKeyDupCheck, null, null, null, null, true,
-                    metadataPageManagerFactory, updateAware, Tracer.all());
+                    metadataPageManagerFactory, updateAware, Tracer.ALL);
         }
         LSMBTreeTestContext testCtx = new LSMBTreeTestContext(fieldSerdes, lsmTree, filtered);
         return testCtx;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/Event.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/Event.java
index 444cd4f..b3f5c98 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/Event.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/Event.java
@@ -20,21 +20,19 @@
 
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
-import org.apache.hyracks.util.trace.Tracer.Scope;
-
 final class Event {
-    private static final long NANOTIME_DELTA_TO_EPOCH = System.nanoTime()
-            - TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(System.currentTimeMillis());
+    private static final long NANOTIME_DELTA_TO_EPOCH =
+            System.nanoTime() - TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS.toNanos(System.currentTimeMillis());
     public final String name;
     public final String cat;
-    public final Tracer.Phase ph;
+    public final ITracer.Phase ph;
     public final long ts;
     public final int pid;
     public final long tid;
-    public final Tracer.Scope scope;
+    public final ITracer.Scope scope;
     public final String args;
 
-    private Event(String name, String cat, Tracer.Phase ph, long ts, int pid, long tid, Tracer.Scope scope,
+    private Event(String name, String cat, ITracer.Phase ph, long ts, int pid, long tid, ITracer.Scope scope,
             String args) {
         this.name = name;
         this.cat = cat;
@@ -50,7 +48,8 @@
         return (System.nanoTime() - NANOTIME_DELTA_TO_EPOCH) / 1000;
     }
 
-    public static Event create(String name, String cat, Tracer.Phase ph, int pid, long tid, Scope scope, String args) {
+    public static Event create(String name, String cat, ITracer.Phase ph, int pid, long tid, ITracer.Scope scope,
+            String args) {
         return new Event(name, cat, ph, timestamp(), pid, tid, scope, args);
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/ITracer.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/ITracer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a82360
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/ITracer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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 org.apache.hyracks.util.trace;
+
+public interface ITracer {
+
+    enum Phase {
+        // Duration Events
+        B, // begin
+        E, // end
+        // Complete Events
+        X,
+        // Instant Events
+        i,
+        // Counter Events
+        C,
+        // Async Events
+        b, // nestable start
+        n, // nestable instant
+        e, // nestable end
+        // Flow Events
+        s, // start
+        t, // step
+        f, // end
+        // Object Events
+        N, // created
+        O, // snapshot
+        D // destroyed
+    }
+
+    enum Scope {
+        g, // Global scope
+        p, // Process scope
+        t // Thread scope
+    }
+
+    ITracer NONE = new ITracer() {
+        @Override
+        public String getName() {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean isEnabled() {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public long durationB(String name, String cat, String args) {
+            return -1;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void durationE(long tid, String args) {
+            // nothing to do here
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void instant(String name, String cat, Scope scope, String args) {
+            // nothing to do here
+        }
+    };
+
+    static ITracer check(ITracer tracer) {
+        if (tracer == null) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Tracer cannot be null");
+        }
+        return tracer.isEnabled() ? tracer : NONE;
+    }
+
+    String getName();
+
+    boolean isEnabled();
+
+    long durationB(String name, String cat, String args);
+
+    void durationE(long tid, String args);
+
+    void instant(String name, String cat, Scope scope, String args);
+
+    @Override
+    String toString();
+}
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/Tracer.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/Tracer.java
index cd152a2..00991e4 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/Tracer.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-util/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/util/trace/Tracer.java
@@ -31,7 +31,9 @@
 /**
  * https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CvAClvFfyA5R-PhYUmn5OOQtYMH4h6I0nSsKchNAySU/edit
  */
-public class Tracer {
+public class Tracer implements ITracer {
+
+    public static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(Tracer.class.getName());
 
     protected static final Level TRACE_LOG_LEVEL = Level.INFO;
     protected static final String CAT = "Tracer";
@@ -42,80 +44,51 @@
 
     protected static final int pid = PidHelper.getPid();
 
-    public enum Phase {
-        // Duration Events
-        B, // begin
-        E, // end
-        // Complete Events
-        X,
-        // Instant Events
-        i,
-        // Counter Events
-        C,
-        // Async Events
-        b, // nestable start
-        n, // nestable instant
-        e, // nestable end
-        // Flow Events
-        s, // start
-        t, // step
-        f, // end
-        // Object Events
-        N, // created
-        O, // snapshot
-        D // destroyed
-    }
-
-    public enum Scope {
-        g, // Global scope
-        p, // Process scope
-        t // Thread scope
-    }
-
     public Tracer(String name, String[] categories) {
-        this.traceLog = Logger.getLogger(Tracer.class.getName() + "@" + name);
+        final String traceLoggerName = Tracer.class.getName() + "@" + name;
+        LOGGER.info("Initialize Tracer " + traceLoggerName + " " + Arrays.toString(categories));
+        this.traceLog = Logger.getLogger(traceLoggerName);
         this.categories = categories;
         instant("Trace-Start", CAT, Scope.p, dateTimeStamp());
     }
 
     public static String dateTimeStamp() {
         synchronized (DATE_FORMAT) {
-            return DATE_FORMAT.format(new Date());
+            return "{\"datetime\":\"" + DATE_FORMAT.format(new Date()) + "\"}";
         }
     }
 
-    public static Tracer none() {
-        return new Tracer("None", new String[0]);
-    }
-
-    public static Tracer all() {
-        return new Tracer("All", new String[] { "*" });
-    }
+    public static final Tracer ALL = new Tracer("All", new String[] { "*" });
 
     @Override
     public String toString() {
         return getName() + Arrays.toString(categories) + (isEnabled() ? "enabled" : "disabled");
     }
 
+    @Override
     public String getName() {
         return traceLog.getName();
     }
 
+    @Override
     public boolean isEnabled() {
         return categories.length > 0;
     }
 
+    @Override
     public long durationB(String name, String cat, String args) {
         Event e = Event.create(name, cat, Phase.B, pid, Thread.currentThread().getId(), null, args);
         traceLog.log(TRACE_LOG_LEVEL, e.toJson());
         return e.tid;
     }
 
+    @Override
     public void durationE(long tid, String args) {
         Event e = Event.create(null, null, Phase.E, pid, tid, null, args);
         traceLog.log(TRACE_LOG_LEVEL, e.toJson());
     }
 
+    @Override
     public void instant(String name, String cat, Scope scope, String args) {
         Event e = Event.create(name, cat, Phase.i, pid, Thread.currentThread().getId(), scope, args);
         traceLog.log(TRACE_LOG_LEVEL, e.toJson());