diff --git a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AqlExpressionToPlanTranslator.java b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AqlExpressionToPlanTranslator.java
index 09fc2b9..ff854d1 100644
--- a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AqlExpressionToPlanTranslator.java
+++ b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AqlExpressionToPlanTranslator.java
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.aql.expression.WriteStatement;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.aql.expression.visitor.IAqlExpressionVisitor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.aql.util.FunctionUtils;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api.AsterixAppContextInfoImpl;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.DatasetConfig.DatasetType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.functions.FunctionConstants;
@@ -288,7 +289,9 @@
         String outputDir = System.getProperty("java.io.tmpDir");
         String filePath = outputDir + System.getProperty("file.separator") + OUTPUT_FILE_PREFIX
                 + outputFileID.incrementAndGet();
-        return new FileSplit(AsterixProperties.INSTANCE.getMetadataNodeName(), new FileReference(new File(filePath)));
+        AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties = ((AsterixAppContextInfoImpl) AsterixAppContextInfoImpl
+                .getInstance()).getMetadataProperties();
+        return new FileSplit(metadataProperties.getMetadataNodeName(), new FileReference(new File(filePath)));
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/APIFramework.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/APIFramework.java
index 862c701..c840ad2 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/APIFramework.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/APIFramework.java
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.aql.expression.visitor.AQLPrintVisitor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.aql.rewrites.AqlRewriter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api.AsterixAppContextInfoImpl;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.GlobalConfig;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixCompilerProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.OptimizationConfUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.common.AqlExpressionTypeComputer;
@@ -258,7 +258,9 @@
             }
         }
 
-        int frameSize = GlobalConfig.getFrameSize();
+        AsterixCompilerProperties compilerProperties = ((AsterixAppContextInfoImpl) AsterixAppContextInfoImpl
+                .getInstance()).getCompilerProperties();
+        int frameSize = compilerProperties.getFrameSize();
 
         HeuristicCompilerFactoryBuilder builder = new HeuristicCompilerFactoryBuilder(
                 AqlOptimizationContextFactory.INSTANCE);
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java
index d68c569..d92e884 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.api.http.servlet.QueryStatusAPIServlet;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.api.http.servlet.UpdateAPIServlet;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api.AsterixAppContextInfoImpl;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixExternalProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.GlobalConfig;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.MetadataManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.api.IAsterixStateProxy;
@@ -43,11 +44,14 @@
             LOGGER.info("Starting Asterix cluster controller");
         }
 
+        AsterixAppContextInfoImpl.initialize(appCtx);
+
         proxy = AsterixStateProxy.registerRemoteObject();
-        proxy.setAsterixProperties(AsterixProperties.INSTANCE);
         appCtx.setDistributedState(proxy);
 
-        MetadataManager.INSTANCE = new MetadataManager(proxy);
+        AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties = ((AsterixAppContextInfoImpl) AsterixAppContextInfoImpl
+                .getInstance()).getMetadataProperties();
+        MetadataManager.INSTANCE = new MetadataManager(proxy, metadataProperties);
 
         setupWebServer();
         webServer.start();
@@ -55,8 +59,6 @@
         // Setup and start the web interface
         setupJSONAPIServer();
         jsonAPIServer.start();
-
-        AsterixAppContextInfoImpl.initialize(appCtx);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -77,9 +79,9 @@
     }
 
     private void setupWebServer() throws Exception {
-        int port = Integer.parseInt((String) AsterixProperties.INSTANCE
-                .getProperty(AsterixProperties.AsterixConfigurationKeys.WEB_INTERFACE_PORT));
-        webServer = new Server(port);
+        AsterixExternalProperties externalProperties = ((AsterixAppContextInfoImpl) AsterixAppContextInfoImpl
+                .getInstance()).getExternalProperties();
+        webServer = new Server(externalProperties.getWebInterfacePort());
 
         ServletContextHandler context = new ServletContextHandler(ServletContextHandler.SESSIONS);
         context.setContextPath("/");
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/NCApplicationEntryPoint.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/NCApplicationEntryPoint.java
index 8ad8c67..04d5452 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/NCApplicationEntryPoint.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/NCApplicationEntryPoint.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.context.AsterixAppRuntimeContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.MetadataManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.MetadataNode;
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@
     @Override
     public void notifyStartupComplete() throws Exception {
         IAsterixStateProxy proxy = (IAsterixStateProxy) ncApplicationContext.getDistributedState();
+        AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties = runtimeContext.getMetadataProperties();
 
         if (systemState == SystemState.NEW_UNIVERSE) {
             PersistentLocalResourceRepository localResourceRepository = (PersistentLocalResourceRepository) runtimeContext
@@ -94,24 +96,23 @@
             if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
                 LOGGER.info("nodeid" + nodeId);
                 LOGGER.info("proxy" + proxy);
-                LOGGER.info("stores" + proxy.getAsterixProperties().getStores());
-                LOGGER.info("store" + proxy.getAsterixProperties().getStores().get(nodeId)[0]);
+                LOGGER.info("stores" + metadataProperties.getStores());
+                LOGGER.info("store" + metadataProperties.getStores().get(nodeId)[0]);
             }
 
-            localResourceRepository.initialize(nodeId, proxy.getAsterixProperties().getStores().get(nodeId)[0], true,
-                    null);
+            localResourceRepository.initialize(nodeId, metadataProperties.getStores().get(nodeId)[0], true, null);
         }
 
-        isMetadataNode = nodeId.equals(proxy.getAsterixProperties().getMetadataNodeName());
+        isMetadataNode = nodeId.equals(metadataProperties.getMetadataNodeName());
         if (isMetadataNode) {
             registerRemoteMetadataNode(proxy);
 
             if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
                 LOGGER.info("Bootstrapping metadata");
             }
-            MetadataManager.INSTANCE = new MetadataManager(proxy);
+            MetadataManager.INSTANCE = new MetadataManager(proxy, metadataProperties);
             MetadataManager.INSTANCE.init();
-            MetadataBootstrap.startUniverse(proxy.getAsterixProperties(), ncApplicationContext,
+            MetadataBootstrap.startUniverse(metadataProperties, ncApplicationContext,
                     systemState == SystemState.NEW_UNIVERSE);
             MetadataBootstrap.startDDLRecovery();
         }
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/AsterixAppContextInfoImpl.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/AsterixAppContextInfoImpl.java
index 0f1de56..c7393b9 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/AsterixAppContextInfoImpl.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/AsterixAppContextInfoImpl.java
@@ -14,8 +14,18 @@
  */
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api;
 
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixCompilerProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixExternalProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixPropertiesAccessor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixStorageProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixTransactionProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.IAsterixPropertiesProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.context.AsterixRuntimeComponentsProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.dataflow.IAsterixApplicationContextInfo;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.application.ICCApplicationContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.IStorageManagerInterface;
@@ -25,16 +35,30 @@
  * instances that are accessed from the NCs. In addition an instance of ICCApplicationContext 
  * is stored for access by the CC.
  */
-public class AsterixAppContextInfoImpl implements IAsterixApplicationContextInfo {
+public class AsterixAppContextInfoImpl implements IAsterixApplicationContextInfo, IAsterixPropertiesProvider {
 
     private static AsterixAppContextInfoImpl INSTANCE;
 
     private final ICCApplicationContext appCtx;
 
-    public static void initialize(ICCApplicationContext ccAppCtx) {
+    private static AsterixCompilerProperties compilerProperties;
+    private static AsterixExternalProperties externalProperties;
+    private static AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties;
+    private static AsterixStorageProperties storageProperties;
+    private static AsterixTransactionProperties txnProperties;
+
+    public static void initialize(ICCApplicationContext ccAppCtx) throws AsterixException {
         if (INSTANCE == null) {
             INSTANCE = new AsterixAppContextInfoImpl(ccAppCtx);
         }
+        AsterixPropertiesAccessor propertiesAccessor = new AsterixPropertiesAccessor();
+        compilerProperties = new AsterixCompilerProperties(propertiesAccessor);
+        externalProperties = new AsterixExternalProperties(propertiesAccessor);
+        metadataProperties = new AsterixMetadataProperties(propertiesAccessor);
+        storageProperties = new AsterixStorageProperties(propertiesAccessor);
+        txnProperties = new AsterixTransactionProperties(propertiesAccessor);
+
+        Logger.getLogger(".").setLevel(externalProperties.getLogLevel());
     }
 
     private AsterixAppContextInfoImpl(ICCApplicationContext ccAppCtx) {
@@ -59,4 +83,29 @@
     public IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider getIndexLifecycleManagerProvider() {
         return AsterixRuntimeComponentsProvider.NOINDEX_PROVIDER;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public AsterixStorageProperties getStorageProperties() {
+        return storageProperties;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public AsterixTransactionProperties getTransactionProperties() {
+        return txnProperties;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public AsterixCompilerProperties getCompilerProperties() {
+        return compilerProperties;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public AsterixMetadataProperties getMetadataProperties() {
+        return metadataProperties;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public AsterixExternalProperties getExternalProperties() {
+        return externalProperties;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AbstractAsterixProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AbstractAsterixProperties.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4968f40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AbstractAsterixProperties.java
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config;
+
+public abstract class AbstractAsterixProperties {
+    protected final AsterixPropertiesAccessor accessor;
+
+    public AbstractAsterixProperties(AsterixPropertiesAccessor accessor) {
+        this.accessor = accessor;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixCompilerProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixCompilerProperties.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1c80bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixCompilerProperties.java
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config;
+
+public class AsterixCompilerProperties extends AbstractAsterixProperties {
+    private static final String COMPILER_SORTMEMORY_KEY = "compiler.sortmemory";
+    private static final int COMPILER_SORTMEMORY_DEFAULT = (512 << 20); // 512MB
+
+    private static final String COMPILER_JOINMEMORY_KEY = "compiler.joinmemory";
+    private static final int COMPILER_JOINMEMORY_DEFAULT = (512 << 20); // 512MB
+
+    private static final String COMPILER_FRAMESIZE_KEY = "compiler.framesize";
+    private static int COMPILER_FRAMESIZE_DEFAULT = (32 << 10); // 32KB
+
+    public AsterixCompilerProperties(AsterixPropertiesAccessor accessor) {
+        super(accessor);
+    }
+
+    public int getSortMemorySize() {
+        return accessor.getInt(COMPILER_SORTMEMORY_KEY, COMPILER_SORTMEMORY_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getJoinMemorySize() {
+        return accessor.getInt(COMPILER_JOINMEMORY_KEY, COMPILER_JOINMEMORY_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getFrameSize() {
+        return accessor.getInt(COMPILER_FRAMESIZE_KEY, COMPILER_FRAMESIZE_DEFAULT);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixExternalProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixExternalProperties.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..958aa7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixExternalProperties.java
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config;
+
+import java.util.logging.Level;
+
+public class AsterixExternalProperties extends AbstractAsterixProperties {
+
+    private static final String EXTERNAL_WEBPORT_KEY = "external.webport";
+    private static int EXTERNAL_WEBPORT_DEFAULT = 19001;
+
+    private static final String EXTERNAL_LOGLEVEL_KEY = "external.loglevel";
+    private static String EXTERNAL_LOGLEVEL_DEFAULT = "INFO";
+
+    public AsterixExternalProperties(AsterixPropertiesAccessor accessor) {
+        super(accessor);
+    }
+
+    public int getWebInterfacePort() {
+        return accessor.getInt(EXTERNAL_WEBPORT_KEY, EXTERNAL_WEBPORT_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public Level getLogLevel() {
+        String level = accessor.getString(EXTERNAL_LOGLEVEL_KEY, EXTERNAL_LOGLEVEL_DEFAULT);
+        return Level.parse(level);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixMetadataProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixMetadataProperties.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d47e78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixMetadataProperties.java
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config;
+
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+public class AsterixMetadataProperties extends AbstractAsterixProperties {
+
+    public AsterixMetadataProperties(AsterixPropertiesAccessor accessor) {
+        super(accessor);
+    }
+
+    public String getMetadataNodeName() {
+        return accessor.getMetadataNodeName();
+    }
+
+    public String getMetadataStore() {
+        return accessor.getMetadataStore();
+    }
+
+    public Map<String, String[]> getStores() {
+        return accessor.getStores();
+    }
+
+    public Set<String> getNodeNames() {
+        return accessor.getNodeNames();
+    }
+
+}
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
deleted file mode 100644
index 39dec45..0000000
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixProperties.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,264 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2009-2010 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.config;
-
-import java.io.FileInputStream;
-import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
-import java.io.InputStream;
-import java.io.Serializable;
-import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.HashSet;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.logging.Level;
-import java.util.logging.Logger;
-
-import javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext;
-import javax.xml.bind.Unmarshaller;
-
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.AsterixConfiguration;
-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;
-
-/**
- * Holder for Asterix properties values typically set as Java Properties.
- * Intended to live in the AsterixStateProxy so it can be accessed remotely.
- */
-public class AsterixProperties implements Serializable {
-    
-    private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(AsterixProperties.class.getName());
-
-    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
-    private static String metadataNodeName;
-    private static HashSet<String> nodeNames;
-    private static Map<String, String[]> stores;
-    private static Map<String, String> asterixConfigurationParams;
-
-    public static AsterixProperties INSTANCE = new AsterixProperties();
-
-    public static class AsterixConfigurationKeys {
-
-        // JVM parameters for each Node Contoller (NC)
-        public static final String NC_JAVA_OPTS = "nc.java.opts";
-        public static final String NC_JAVA_OPTS_DEFAULT = "-Xmx1024m";
-
-        // JVM parameters for the Cluster Contoller (CC)
-        public static final String CC_JAVA_OPTS = "cc.java.opts";
-        public static final String CC_JAVA_OPTS_DEFAULT = "-Xmx1024m";
-        
-        public static final String NUM_PAGES_BUFFER_CACHE = "num.pages.buffer.cache";
-        public static final String NUM_PAGES_BUFFER_CACHE_DEFAULT = "1000";
-
-        public static final String TOTAL_SIZE_MEMORY_COMPONENT = "total.size.memory.component";
-        public static final String TOTAL_SIZE_MEMORY_COMPONENT_DEFAULT = "512m";
-        
-        public static final String MEMORY_COMPONENT_NUM_PAGES = "memory.component.num.pages";
-        public static final String MEMORY_COMPONENT_NUM_PAGES_DEFAULT = "1000";
-        
-        public static final String MEMORY_COMPONENT_PAGE_SIZE = "memory.component.page.size";
-        public static final String MEMORY_COMPONENT_PAGE_SIZE_DEFAULT = "32768";
-
-        public static final String LOG_BUFFER_NUM_PAGES = "log.buffer.num.pages";
-        public static final String LOG_BUFFER_NUM_PAGES_DEFAULT = "8";
-
-        public static final String LOG_BUFFER_PAGE_SIZE = "log.buffer.page.size";
-        public static final String LOG_BUFFER_PAGE_SIZE_DEFAULT = "131072";
-
-        public static final String LOG_PARTITION_SIZE = "log.partition.size";
-        public static final String LOG_PARTITION_SIZE_DEFAULT = "2147483648";
-
-        public static final String GROUP_COMMIT_INTERVAL = "group.commit.interval";
-        public static final String GROUP_COMMIT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT = "200ms";
-        
-        public static final String LSN_THRESHOLD = "lsn.threshold";
-        public static final String LSN_THRESHOLD_DEFAULT = "64m";
-
-        public static final String CHECKPOINT_TERMS_IN_SECS = "checkpoint.terms.in.secs";
-        public static final String CHECKPOINT_TERMS_IN_SECS_DEFAULT = "120";
-
-        public static final String ESCALATE_THRSHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET = "escalate.threshold.entity.to.dataset";
-        public static final String ESCALATE_THRSHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET_DEFAULT = "8";
-
-        public static final String SHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD = "shrink.timer.threshold";
-        public static final String SHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD_DEFAULT = "120000";
-
-        public static final String SORT_OP_MEMORY = "sort.op.memory";
-        public static final String SORT_OP_MEMORY_DEFAULT = "512m";
-
-        public static final String JOIN_OP_MEMORY = "join.op.memory";
-        public static final String JOIN_OP_MEMORY_DEFAULT = "512m";
-
-        public static final String WEB_INTERFACE_PORT = "web.interface.port";
-        public static final String WEB_INTERFACE_PORT_DEFAULT = "19001";
-
-        public static final String LOG_LEVEL = "log.level";
-        public static final String LOG_LEVEL_DEFAULT = "INFO";
-
-    }
-
-    private AsterixProperties() {
-        try {
-            String fileName = System.getProperty(GlobalConfig.CONFIG_FILE_PROPERTY);
-            if (fileName == null) {
-                fileName = GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAME;
-            }
-            InputStream is = this.getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(fileName);
-            if (is == null) {
-                try {
-                    fileName = GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAME;
-                    is = new FileInputStream(fileName);
-                } catch (FileNotFoundException fnf) {
-                    throw new AlgebricksException("Could not find the configuration file " + fileName);
-                }
-            }
-
-            JAXBContext ctx = JAXBContext.newInstance(AsterixConfiguration.class);
-            Unmarshaller unmarshaller = ctx.createUnmarshaller();
-            AsterixConfiguration asterixConfiguration = (AsterixConfiguration) unmarshaller.unmarshal(is);
-            metadataNodeName = asterixConfiguration.getMetadataNode();
-            stores = new HashMap<String, String[]>();
-            List<Store> configuredStores = asterixConfiguration.getStore();
-            nodeNames = new HashSet<String>();
-            for (Store store : configuredStores) {
-                String trimmedStoreDirs = store.getStoreDirs().trim();
-                stores.put(store.getNcId(), trimmedStoreDirs.split(","));
-                nodeNames.add(store.getNcId());
-            }
-            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);
-        }
-    }
-
-    public String getMetadataNodeName() {
-        return metadataNodeName;
-    }
-
-    public String getMetadataStore() {
-        return stores.get(metadataNodeName)[0];
-    }
-
-    public Map<String, String[]> getStores() {
-        return stores;
-    }
-
-    public HashSet<String> getNodeNames() {
-        return nodeNames;
-    }
-
-    public String getProperty(String property) {
-        String propValue = asterixConfigurationParams.get(property);
-        if (propValue == null) {
-            switch (property) {
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.NC_JAVA_OPTS:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.NC_JAVA_OPTS_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.CC_JAVA_OPTS:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.CC_JAVA_OPTS_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.NUM_PAGES_BUFFER_CACHE:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.NUM_PAGES_BUFFER_CACHE_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.TOTAL_SIZE_MEMORY_COMPONENT:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.TOTAL_SIZE_MEMORY_COMPONENT_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.MEMORY_COMPONENT_NUM_PAGES:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.MEMORY_COMPONENT_NUM_PAGES_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.MEMORY_COMPONENT_PAGE_SIZE:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.MEMORY_COMPONENT_PAGE_SIZE_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.LOG_BUFFER_NUM_PAGES:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.LOG_BUFFER_NUM_PAGES_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.LOG_BUFFER_PAGE_SIZE:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.LOG_BUFFER_PAGE_SIZE_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.LOG_PARTITION_SIZE:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.LOG_PARTITION_SIZE_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.GROUP_COMMIT_INTERVAL:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.GROUP_COMMIT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.LSN_THRESHOLD:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.LSN_THRESHOLD_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.CHECKPOINT_TERMS_IN_SECS:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.CHECKPOINT_TERMS_IN_SECS_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.ESCALATE_THRSHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.ESCALATE_THRSHOLD_ENTITY_TO_DATASET_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.SHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.SHRINK_TIMER_THRESHOLD_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.SORT_OP_MEMORY:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.SORT_OP_MEMORY_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.JOIN_OP_MEMORY:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.JOIN_OP_MEMORY_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.WEB_INTERFACE_PORT:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.WEB_INTERFACE_PORT_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                case AsterixConfigurationKeys.LOG_LEVEL:
-                    propValue = AsterixConfigurationKeys.LOG_LEVEL_DEFAULT;
-                    break;
-                default:
-                    if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
-                        LOGGER.warning("Cannot find property '" + property + "'");
-                    }
-            }
-        }
-        return propValue;
-    }
-
-    private void initializeLogLevel(String configuredLogLevel) {
-        Level level = null;
-        switch (configuredLogLevel.toLowerCase()) {
-            case "info":
-                level = Level.INFO;
-                break;
-            case "fine":
-                level = Level.FINE;
-                break;
-            case "finer":
-                level = Level.FINER;
-                break;
-            case "finest":
-                level = Level.FINEST;
-                break;
-            case "severe":
-                level = Level.SEVERE;
-                break;
-            case "off":
-                level = Level.OFF;
-                break;
-            case "warning":
-                level = Level.WARNING;
-                break;
-            default:
-                level = Level.ALL;
-        }
-        Logger.getLogger(".").setLevel(level);
-    }
-}
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixPropertiesAccessor.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixPropertiesAccessor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eeec537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixPropertiesAccessor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config;
+
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext;
+import javax.xml.bind.JAXBException;
+import javax.xml.bind.Unmarshaller;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.AsterixConfiguration;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Property;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.configuration.Store;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
+
+public class AsterixPropertiesAccessor {
+
+    private final String metadataNodeName;
+    private final Set<String> nodeNames;
+    private final Map<String, String[]> stores;
+    private final Map<String, String> asterixConfigurationParams;
+
+    public AsterixPropertiesAccessor() throws AsterixException {
+        String fileName = System.getProperty(GlobalConfig.CONFIG_FILE_PROPERTY);
+        if (fileName == null) {
+            fileName = GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAME;
+        }
+        InputStream is = this.getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(fileName);
+        if (is == null) {
+            try {
+                fileName = GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAME;
+                is = new FileInputStream(fileName);
+            } catch (FileNotFoundException fnf) {
+                throw new AsterixException("Could not find configuration file " + fileName);
+            }
+        }
+
+        AsterixConfiguration asterixConfiguration = null;
+        try {
+            JAXBContext ctx = JAXBContext.newInstance(AsterixConfiguration.class);
+            Unmarshaller unmarshaller = ctx.createUnmarshaller();
+            asterixConfiguration = (AsterixConfiguration) unmarshaller.unmarshal(is);
+        } catch (JAXBException e) {
+            throw new AsterixException("Failed to read configuration file " + fileName);
+        }
+        metadataNodeName = asterixConfiguration.getMetadataNode();
+        stores = new HashMap<String, String[]>();
+        List<Store> configuredStores = asterixConfiguration.getStore();
+        nodeNames = new HashSet<String>();
+        for (Store store : configuredStores) {
+            String trimmedStoreDirs = store.getStoreDirs().trim();
+            stores.put(store.getNcId(), trimmedStoreDirs.split(","));
+            nodeNames.add(store.getNcId());
+        }
+        asterixConfigurationParams = new HashMap<String, String>();
+        for (Property p : asterixConfiguration.getProperty()) {
+            asterixConfigurationParams.put(p.getName(), p.getValue());
+        }
+    }
+
+    public String getMetadataNodeName() {
+        return metadataNodeName;
+    }
+
+    public String getMetadataStore() {
+        return stores.get(metadataNodeName)[0];
+    }
+
+    public Map<String, String[]> getStores() {
+        return stores;
+    }
+
+    public Set<String> getNodeNames() {
+        return nodeNames;
+    }
+
+    public int getInt(String property, int defaultValue) {
+        String propertyValue = asterixConfigurationParams.get(property);
+        return propertyValue == null ? defaultValue : Integer.parseInt(propertyValue);
+    }
+
+    public String getString(String property, String defaultValue) {
+        String propertyValue = asterixConfigurationParams.get(property);
+        return propertyValue == null ? defaultValue : propertyValue;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e41ce8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config;
+
+public class AsterixStorageProperties extends AbstractAsterixProperties {
+
+    private static final String STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_PAGESIZE_KEY = "storage.buffercache.pagesize";
+    private static int STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_PAGESIZE_DEFAULT = (32 << 10); // 32KB
+
+    private static final String STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_NUMPAGES_KEY = "storage.buffercache.numpages";
+    private static final int STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT = 1024;
+
+    private static final String STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_MAXOPENFILES_KEY = "storage.buffercache.maxopenfiles";
+    private static int STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_MAXOPENFILES_DEFAULT = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
+
+    private static final String STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_PAGESIZE_KEY = "storage.memorycomponent.pagesize";
+    private static final int STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_PAGESIZE_DEFAULT = (32 << 10); // 32KB
+
+    private static final String STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_NUMPAGES_KEY = "storage.memorycomponent.numpages";
+    private static final int STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT = 4096; // ... so 128MB components
+
+    private static final String STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_GLOBALBUDGET_KEY = "storage.memorycomponent.globalbudget";
+    private static final int STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_GLOBALBUDGET_DEFAULT = (1 << 30); // 1GB
+
+    private static final String STORAGE_LSM_MERGETHRESHOLD_KEY = "storage.lsm.mergethreshold";
+    private static int STORAGE_LSM_MERGETHRESHOLD_DEFAULT = 3;
+
+    public AsterixStorageProperties(AsterixPropertiesAccessor accessor) {
+        super(accessor);
+    }
+
+    public int getBufferCachePageSize() {
+        return accessor.getInt(STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_PAGESIZE_KEY, STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_PAGESIZE_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getBufferCacheNumPages() {
+        return accessor.getInt(STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_NUMPAGES_KEY, STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getBufferCacheMaxOpenFiles() {
+        return accessor.getInt(STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_MAXOPENFILES_KEY, STORAGE_BUFFERCACHE_MAXOPENFILES_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getMemoryComponentPageSize() {
+        return accessor.getInt(STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_PAGESIZE_KEY, STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_PAGESIZE_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getMemoryComponentNumPages() {
+        return accessor.getInt(STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_NUMPAGES_KEY, STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getMemoryComponentGlobalBudget() {
+        return accessor.getInt(STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_GLOBALBUDGET_KEY, STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_GLOBALBUDGET_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getLSMIndexMergeThreshold() {
+        return accessor.getInt(STORAGE_LSM_MERGETHRESHOLD_KEY, STORAGE_LSM_MERGETHRESHOLD_DEFAULT);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixTransactionProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixTransactionProperties.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f001e37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixTransactionProperties.java
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config;
+
+public class AsterixTransactionProperties extends AbstractAsterixProperties {
+    private static final String TXN_LOG_BUFFER_NUMPAGES_KEY = "txn.log.buffer.numpages";
+    private static int TXN_LOG_BUFFER_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT = 8;
+
+    private static final String TXN_LOG_BUFFER_PAGESIZE_KEY = "txn.log.buffer.pagesize";
+    private static final int TXN_LOG_BUFFER_PAGESIZE_DEFAULT = (128 << 10); // 128KB
+
+    private static final String TXN_LOG_PARTITIONSIZE_KEY = "txn.log.partitionsize";
+    private static final int TXN_LOG_PARTITIONSIZE_DEFAULT = (2 << 30); // 2GB
+
+    private static final String TXN_LOG_GROUPCOMMITINTERVAL_KEY = "txn.log.groupcommitinterval";
+    private static int TXN_LOG_GROUPCOMMITINTERVAL_DEFAULT = 200; // 200ms
+
+    private static final String TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_LSNTHRESHOLD_KEY = "txn.log.checkpoint.lsnthreshold";
+    private static final int TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_LSNTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT = (64 << 20); // 64M
+
+    private static final String TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_POLLFREQUENCY_KEY = "txn.log.checkpoint.pollfrequency";
+    private static int TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_POLLFREQUENCY_DEFAULT = 120; // 120s
+
+    private static final String TXN_LOCK_ESCALATIONTHRESHOLD_KEY = "txn.lock.escalationthreshold";
+    private static int TXN_LOCK_ESCALATIONTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT = 1000;
+
+    private static final String TXN_LOCK_SHRINKTIMER_KEY = "txn.lock.shrinktimer";
+    private static int TXN_LOCK_SHRINKTIMER_DEFAULT = 120000; // 2m
+
+    public AsterixTransactionProperties(AsterixPropertiesAccessor accessor) {
+        super(accessor);
+    }
+
+    public int getLogBufferNumPages() {
+        return accessor.getInt(TXN_LOG_BUFFER_NUMPAGES_KEY, TXN_LOG_BUFFER_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getLogBufferPageSize() {
+        return accessor.getInt(TXN_LOG_BUFFER_PAGESIZE_KEY, TXN_LOG_BUFFER_PAGESIZE_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getLogPartitionSize() {
+        return accessor.getInt(TXN_LOG_PARTITIONSIZE_KEY, TXN_LOG_PARTITIONSIZE_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getGroupCommitInterval() {
+        return accessor.getInt(TXN_LOG_GROUPCOMMITINTERVAL_KEY, TXN_LOG_GROUPCOMMITINTERVAL_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getCheckpointLSNThreshold() {
+        return accessor.getInt(TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_LSNTHRESHOLD_KEY, TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_LSNTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getCheckpointPollFrequency() {
+        return accessor.getInt(TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_POLLFREQUENCY_KEY, TXN_LOG_CHECKPOINT_POLLFREQUENCY_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getEntityToDatasetLockEscalationThreshold() {
+        return accessor.getInt(TXN_LOCK_ESCALATIONTHRESHOLD_KEY, TXN_LOCK_ESCALATIONTHRESHOLD_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    public int getLockManagerShrinkTimer() {
+        return accessor.getInt(TXN_LOCK_SHRINKTIMER_KEY, TXN_LOCK_SHRINKTIMER_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/GlobalConfig.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/GlobalConfig.java
index ebce6fe..c41856d 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/GlobalConfig.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/GlobalConfig.java
@@ -3,61 +3,47 @@
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
 public class GlobalConfig {
-	public static final boolean DEBUG = true;
+    public static final boolean DEBUG = true;
 
-	public static final String ASTERIX_LOGGER_NAME = "edu.uci.ics.asterix";
+    public static final String ASTERIX_LOGGER_NAME = "edu.uci.ics.asterix";
 
-	public static final Logger ASTERIX_LOGGER = Logger
-			.getLogger(ASTERIX_LOGGER_NAME);
+    public static final Logger ASTERIX_LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(ASTERIX_LOGGER_NAME);
 
-	public static final String ASTERIX_LOGFILE_PATTERN = "%t/asterix.log";
+    public static final String DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAME = "asterix-configuration.xml";
 
-	public static final String DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAME = "asterix-configuration.xml";
+    public static final String CONFIG_FILE_PROPERTY = "AsterixConfigFileName";
 
-	public static final String TEST_CONFIG_FILE_NAME = "src/main/resources/asterix-configuration.xml";
+    public static final String WEB_SERVER_PORT_PROPERTY = "AsterixWebServerPort";
 
-	public static final String CONFIG_FILE_PROPERTY = "AsterixConfigFileName";
+    public static final String JSON_API_SERVER_PORT_PROPERTY = "AsterixJSONAPIServerPort";
 
-	public static final String WEB_SERVER_PORT_PROPERTY = "AsterixWebServerPort";
+    public static final int DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE = 32768;
 
-	public static final String JSON_API_SERVER_PORT_PROPERTY = "AsterixJSONAPIServerPort";
+    public static final String FRAME_SIZE_PROPERTY = "FrameSize";
 
-	public static final String BUFFER_CACHE_PAGE_SIZE_PROPERTY = "BufferCachePageSize";
+    public static final float DEFAULT_BTREE_FILL_FACTOR = 1.00f;
 
-	public static final String BUFFER_CACHE_NUM_PAGES_PROPERTY = "BufferCacheNumPages";
+    public static int DEFAULT_INPUT_DATA_COLUMN = 0;
 
-	public static final int DEFAULT_BUFFER_CACHE_NUM_PAGES = 4096;
+    public static int DEFAULT_INDEX_MEM_PAGE_SIZE = 32768;
 
-	public static final int DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE = 32768;
+    public static int DEFAULT_INDEX_MEM_NUM_PAGES = 1000;
 
-	public static final String FRAME_SIZE_PROPERTY = "FrameSize";
-
-	public static final float DEFAULT_BTREE_FILL_FACTOR = 1.00f;
-
-	public static int DEFAULT_INPUT_DATA_COLUMN = 0;
-
-	public static int DEFAULT_INDEX_MEM_PAGE_SIZE = 32768;
-
-	public static int DEFAULT_INDEX_MEM_NUM_PAGES = 1000;
-
-	public static int getFrameSize() {
-		int frameSize = GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE;
-		String frameSizeStr = System
-				.getProperty(GlobalConfig.FRAME_SIZE_PROPERTY);
-		if (frameSizeStr != null) {
-			int fz = -1;
-			try {
-				fz = Integer.parseInt(frameSizeStr);
-			} catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
-				GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER
-						.warning("Wrong frame size size argument. Picking default value ("
-								+ GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE
-								+ ") instead.\n");
-			}
-			if (fz >= 0) {
-				frameSize = fz;
-			}
-		}
-		return frameSize;
-	}
+    public static int getFrameSize() {
+        int frameSize = GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE;
+        String frameSizeStr = System.getProperty(GlobalConfig.FRAME_SIZE_PROPERTY);
+        if (frameSizeStr != null) {
+            int fz = -1;
+            try {
+                fz = Integer.parseInt(frameSizeStr);
+            } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
+                GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.warning("Wrong frame size size argument. Picking default value ("
+                        + GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_FRAME_SIZE + ") instead.\n");
+            }
+            if (fz >= 0) {
+                frameSize = fz;
+            }
+        }
+        return frameSize;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/IAsterixPropertiesProvider.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/IAsterixPropertiesProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e42c827
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/IAsterixPropertiesProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config;
+
+
+public interface IAsterixPropertiesProvider {
+    public AsterixStorageProperties getStorageProperties();
+
+    public AsterixTransactionProperties getTransactionProperties();
+
+    public AsterixCompilerProperties getCompilerProperties();
+
+    public AsterixMetadataProperties getMetadataProperties();
+
+    public AsterixExternalProperties getExternalProperties();
+}
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..f7c2a59 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
@@ -1,9 +1,16 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.context;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.GlobalConfig;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixCompilerProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixExternalProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixPropertiesAccessor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixStorageProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixTransactionProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.IAsterixPropertiesProvider;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.exception.ACIDException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.ioopcallbacks.LSMBTreeIOOperationCallbackFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.ioopcallbacks.LSMInvertedIndexIOOperationCallbackFactory;
@@ -39,12 +46,15 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.ResourceIdFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.ResourceIdFactoryProvider;
 
-public class AsterixAppRuntimeContext {
-    private static final int DEFAULT_BUFFER_CACHE_PAGE_SIZE = 32768;
-    private static final int DEFAULT_LIFECYCLEMANAGER_MEMORY_BUDGET = 1024 * 1024 * 1024; // 1GB
-    private static final int DEFAULT_MAX_OPEN_FILES = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
+public class AsterixAppRuntimeContext implements IAsterixPropertiesProvider {
     private final INCApplicationContext ncApplicationContext;
 
+    private AsterixCompilerProperties compilerProperties;
+    private AsterixExternalProperties externalProperties;
+    private AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties;
+    private AsterixStorageProperties storageProperties;
+    private AsterixTransactionProperties txnProperties;
+
     private IIndexLifecycleManager indexLifecycleManager;
     private IFileMapManager fileMapManager;
     private IBufferCache bufferCache;
@@ -64,24 +74,29 @@
         this.ncApplicationContext = ncApplicationContext;
     }
 
-    public void initialize() throws IOException, ACIDException {
-        int pageSize = getBufferCachePageSize();
-        int numPages = getBufferCacheNumPages();
+    public void initialize() throws IOException, ACIDException, AsterixException {
+        AsterixPropertiesAccessor propertiesAccessor = new AsterixPropertiesAccessor();
+        compilerProperties = new AsterixCompilerProperties(propertiesAccessor);
+        externalProperties = new AsterixExternalProperties(propertiesAccessor);
+        metadataProperties = new AsterixMetadataProperties(propertiesAccessor);
+        storageProperties = new AsterixStorageProperties(propertiesAccessor);
+        txnProperties = new AsterixTransactionProperties(propertiesAccessor);
+
+        Logger.getLogger(".").setLevel(externalProperties.getLogLevel());
 
         fileMapManager = new AsterixFileMapManager();
         ICacheMemoryAllocator allocator = new HeapBufferAllocator();
         IPageReplacementStrategy prs = new ClockPageReplacementStrategy();
-        ioManager = ncApplicationContext.getRootContext().getIOManager();
-        indexLifecycleManager = new IndexLifecycleManager(DEFAULT_LIFECYCLEMANAGER_MEMORY_BUDGET);
-        IAsterixAppRuntimeContextProvider asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider = new AsterixAppRuntimeContextProviderForRecovery(
-                this);
-        txnSubsystem = new TransactionSubsystem(ncApplicationContext.getNodeId(), asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider);
         IPageCleanerPolicy pcp = new DelayPageCleanerPolicy(600000);
-        bufferCache = new BufferCache(ioManager, allocator, prs, pcp, fileMapManager, pageSize, numPages,
-                DEFAULT_MAX_OPEN_FILES);
+        ioManager = ncApplicationContext.getRootContext().getIOManager();
+        bufferCache = new BufferCache(ioManager, allocator, prs, pcp, fileMapManager,
+                storageProperties.getBufferCachePageSize(), storageProperties.getBufferCacheNumPages(),
+                storageProperties.getBufferCacheMaxOpenFiles());
+
+        indexLifecycleManager = new IndexLifecycleManager(storageProperties.getMemoryComponentGlobalBudget());
 
         lsmIOScheduler = SynchronousScheduler.INSTANCE;
-        mergePolicy = new ConstantMergePolicy(3, this);
+        mergePolicy = new ConstantMergePolicy(storageProperties.getLSMIndexMergeThreshold(), this);
         lsmBTreeOpTrackerFactory = new IndexOperationTrackerFactory(LSMBTreeIOOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         lsmRTreeOpTrackerFactory = new IndexOperationTrackerFactory(LSMRTreeIOOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         lsmInvertedIndexOpTrackerFactory = new IndexOperationTrackerFactory(
@@ -92,6 +107,10 @@
         localResourceRepository = (PersistentLocalResourceRepository) persistentLocalResourceRepositoryFactory
                 .createRepository();
         resourceIdFactory = (new ResourceIdFactoryProvider(localResourceRepository)).createResourceIdFactory();
+
+        IAsterixAppRuntimeContextProvider asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider = new AsterixAppRuntimeContextProviderForRecovery(
+                this);
+        txnSubsystem = new TransactionSubsystem(ncApplicationContext.getNodeId(), asterixAppRuntimeContextProvider);
         isShuttingdown = false;
     }
 
@@ -103,49 +122,6 @@
         this.isShuttingdown = isShuttingdown;
     }
 
-    private int getBufferCachePageSize() {
-        int pageSize = DEFAULT_BUFFER_CACHE_PAGE_SIZE;
-        String pageSizeStr = System.getProperty(GlobalConfig.BUFFER_CACHE_PAGE_SIZE_PROPERTY, null);
-        if (pageSizeStr != null) {
-            try {
-                pageSize = Integer.parseInt(pageSizeStr);
-            } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
-                if (GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
-                    GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.warning("Wrong buffer cache page size argument. "
-                            + "Using default value: " + pageSize);
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
-        if (GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-            GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.info("Buffer cache page size: " + pageSize);
-        }
-
-        return pageSize;
-    }
-
-    private int getBufferCacheNumPages() {
-        int numPages = GlobalConfig.DEFAULT_BUFFER_CACHE_NUM_PAGES;
-        String numPagesStr = System.getProperty(GlobalConfig.BUFFER_CACHE_NUM_PAGES_PROPERTY, null);
-        if (numPagesStr != null) {
-            try {
-                numPages = Integer.parseInt(numPagesStr);
-            } catch (NumberFormatException nfe) {
-                if (GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
-                    GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.warning("Wrong buffer cache size argument. " + "Using default value: "
-                            + numPages);
-                }
-                return numPages;
-            }
-        }
-
-        if (GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-            GlobalConfig.ASTERIX_LOGGER.info("Buffer cache size (number of pages): " + numPages);
-        }
-
-        return numPages;
-    }
-
     public void deinitialize() throws HyracksDataException {
         bufferCache.close();
         for (IIndex index : indexLifecycleManager.getOpenIndexes()) {
@@ -216,4 +192,29 @@
     public IIOManager getIOManager() {
         return ioManager;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public AsterixStorageProperties getStorageProperties() {
+        return storageProperties;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public AsterixTransactionProperties getTransactionProperties() {
+        return txnProperties;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public AsterixCompilerProperties getCompilerProperties() {
+        return compilerProperties;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public AsterixMetadataProperties getMetadataProperties() {
+        return metadataProperties;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public AsterixExternalProperties getExternalProperties() {
+        return externalProperties;
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/conf/asterix-configuration.xml b/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/conf/asterix-configuration.xml
index ba08022..9920ecf 100644
--- a/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/conf/asterix-configuration.xml
+++ b/asterix-installer/src/main/resources/conf/asterix-configuration.xml
@@ -14,100 +14,136 @@
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>num.pages.buffer.cache</name>
-		<value>1000</value>
-		<description>The number of pages allocated to the disk buffer cache.</description>
-	</property>
-	
-	<property>
-		<name>total.size.memory.component</name>
-		<value>512m</value>
-		<description>The total size of memory that the sum of all open memory
-			components cannot exceed.</description>
-	</property>
-
-	<property>
-		<name>memory.component.num.pages</name>
-		<value>1000</value>
-		<description>The number of pages to allocate for a memory component.
-		</description>
-	</property>
-
-	<property>
-		<name>memory.component.page.size</name>
+		<name>storage.buffercache.pagesize</name>
 		<value>32768</value>
-		<description>The size of buffer pages for memory components.
+		<description>The page size in bytes for pages in the buffer cache.
+			(Default = 32KB)
 		</description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>log.buffer.num.pages</name>
+		<name>storage.buffercache.numpages</name>
+		<value>1024</value>
+		<description>The number of pages allocated to the disk buffer cache.
+			(Default = 1024)
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
+		<name>storage.buffercache.maxopenfiles</name>
+		<value>214748364</value>
+		<description>The maximum number of open files in the buffer cache.
+			(Default = 214748364)
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
+		<name>storage.memorycomponent.pagesize</name>
+		<value>32768</value>
+		<description>The page size in bytes for pages allocated to memory
+			components. (Default = 32KB)
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
+		<name>storage.memorycomponent.numpages</name>
+		<value>4096</value>
+		<description>The number of pages to allocate for a memory component.
+			(Default = 4096)
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
+		<name>storage.memorycomponent.globalbudget</name>
+		<value>1073741824</value>
+		<description>The total size of memory in bytes that the sum of all
+			open memory
+			components cannot exceed. (Default = 1073741824 // 1GB)
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
+		<name>storage.lsm.mergethreshold</name>
+		<value>3</value>
+		<description>The number of on-disk components an LSM index can have
+			before a merge is triggered. (Default = 3)
+		</description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
+		<name>txn.log.buffer.numpages</name>
 		<value>8</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>log.buffer.page.size</name>
-		<value>128k</value>
+		<name>txn.log.buffer.pagesize</name>
+		<value>131072</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>log.partition.size</name>
+		<name>txn.log.partitionsize</name>
 		<value>2147483648</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>group.commit.interval</name>
-		<value>200ms</value>
+		<name>txn.log.groupcommitinterval</name>
+		<value>200</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>lsn.threshold</name>
-		<value>64m</value>
+		<name>txn.log.checkpoint.lsnthreshold</name>
+		<value>67108864</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>checkpoint.terms.in.secs</name>
+		<name>txn.log.checkpoint.pollfrequency</name>
 		<value>120</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>escalate.threshold.entity.to.dataset</name>
-		<value>8</value>
+		<name>txn.lock.escalationthreshold</name>
+		<value>1000</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>shrink.timer.threshold</name>
+		<name>txn.lock.shrinktimer</name>
 		<value>120000</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
-	
+
 	<property>
-		<name>sort.op.memory</name>
-		<value>200m</value>
+		<name>compiler.sortmemory</name>
+		<value>536870912</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>join.op.memory</name>
-		<value>200m</value>
+		<name>compiler.joinmemory</name>
+		<value>536870912</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>web.interface.port</name>
+		<name>compiler.framesize</name>
+		<value>32768</value>
+		<description></description>
+	</property>
+
+	<property>
+		<name>external.webport</name>
 		<value>19001</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
 
 	<property>
-		<name>log.level</name>
+		<name>external.loglevel</name>
 		<value>INFO</value>
 		<description></description>
 	</property>
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/MetadataManager.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/MetadataManager.java
index 994262d..09ec2f7 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/MetadataManager.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/MetadataManager.java
@@ -20,11 +20,11 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReadWriteLock;
 import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantReadWriteLock;
 
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.functions.FunctionSignature;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.api.IAsterixStateProxy;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.api.IMetadataManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.api.IMetadataNode;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.bootstrap.MetadataConstants;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.entities.Dataset;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.entities.DatasourceAdapter;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.entities.Datatype;
@@ -85,12 +85,14 @@
     private IAsterixStateProxy proxy;
     private IMetadataNode metadataNode;
     private final ReadWriteLock metadataLatch;
+    private final AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties;
 
-    public MetadataManager(IAsterixStateProxy proxy) {
+    public MetadataManager(IAsterixStateProxy proxy, AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties) {
         if (proxy == null) {
             throw new Error("Null proxy given to MetadataManager.");
         }
         this.proxy = proxy;
+        this.metadataProperties = metadataProperties;
         this.metadataNode = null;
         this.metadataLatch = new ReentrantReadWriteLock(true);
     }
@@ -105,7 +107,7 @@
             metadataNode = proxy.getMetadataNode();
             if (metadataNode == null) {
                 throw new Error("Failed to get the MetadataNode.\n" + "The MetadataNode was configured to run on NC: "
-                        + proxy.getAsterixProperties().getMetadataNodeName());
+                        + metadataProperties.getMetadataNodeName());
             }
         }
     }
@@ -544,10 +546,10 @@
             throw new MetadataException(e);
         }
     }
-    
+
     @Override
     public int getMostRecentDatasetId() throws MetadataException {
-        try { 
+        try {
             return metadataNode.getMostRecentDatasetId();
         } catch (RemoteException e) {
             throw new MetadataException(e);
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/api/IAsterixStateProxy.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/api/IAsterixStateProxy.java
index d67cd27..7f06c30 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/api/IAsterixStateProxy.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/api/IAsterixStateProxy.java
@@ -19,17 +19,11 @@
 import java.rmi.Remote;
 import java.rmi.RemoteException;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixProperties;
-
 /**
  * Interface for setting/getting distributed state of Asterix.
  */
 public interface IAsterixStateProxy extends Remote, Serializable {
     public void setMetadataNode(IMetadataNode metadataNode) throws RemoteException;
 
-    public void setAsterixProperties(AsterixProperties asterixProperties) throws RemoteException;
-
     public IMetadataNode getMetadataNode() throws RemoteException;
-
-    public AsterixProperties getAsterixProperties() throws RemoteException;
 }
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/AsterixStateProxy.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/AsterixStateProxy.java
index 55aaf33..33f6994 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/AsterixStateProxy.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/AsterixStateProxy.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 import java.rmi.server.UnicastRemoteObject;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.api.IAsterixStateProxy;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.api.IMetadataNode;
 
@@ -31,7 +30,6 @@
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(AsterixStateProxy.class.getName());
 
     private IMetadataNode metadataNode;
-    private AsterixProperties asterixProperties;
     private static final IAsterixStateProxy cc = new AsterixStateProxy();
 
     public static IAsterixStateProxy registerRemoteObject() throws RemoteException {
@@ -54,14 +52,4 @@
     public IMetadataNode getMetadataNode() throws RemoteException {
         return this.metadataNode;
     }
-
-    @Override
-    public void setAsterixProperties(AsterixProperties asterixProperity) throws RemoteException {
-        this.asterixProperties = asterixProperity;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public AsterixProperties getAsterixProperties() throws RemoteException {
-        return this.asterixProperties;
-    }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
index d978f8a..8322ae1 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.DatasetConfig.DatasetType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.DatasetConfig.IndexType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.GlobalConfig;
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
 
     private static String metadataNodeName;
     private static String metadataStore;
-    private static HashSet<String> nodeNames;
+    private static Set<String> nodeNames;
     private static String outputDir;
 
     private static IMetadataIndex[] primaryIndexes;
@@ -127,8 +127,8 @@
                 MetadataSecondaryIndexes.DATATYPENAME_ON_DATATYPE_INDEX };
     }
 
-    public static void startUniverse(AsterixProperties asterixProperties, INCApplicationContext ncApplicationContext,
-            boolean isNewUniverse) throws Exception {
+    public static void startUniverse(AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties,
+            INCApplicationContext ncApplicationContext, boolean isNewUniverse) throws Exception {
         runtimeContext = (AsterixAppRuntimeContext) ncApplicationContext.getApplicationObject();
 
         // Initialize static metadata objects, such as record types and metadata
@@ -149,9 +149,9 @@
         resourceRepository.registerTransactionalResourceManager(ResourceType.LSM_INVERTED_INDEX,
                 new IndexResourceManager(ResourceType.LSM_INVERTED_INDEX, runtimeContext.getTransactionSubsystem()));
 
-        metadataNodeName = asterixProperties.getMetadataNodeName();
-        metadataStore = asterixProperties.getMetadataStore();
-        nodeNames = asterixProperties.getNodeNames();
+        metadataNodeName = metadataProperties.getMetadataNodeName();
+        metadataStore = metadataProperties.getMetadataStore();
+        nodeNames = metadataProperties.getNodeNames();
         // nodeStores = asterixProperity.getStores();
 
         indexLifecycleManager = runtimeContext.getIndexLifecycleManager();
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@
             // Begin a transaction against the metadata.
             // Lock the metadata in X mode.
             MetadataManager.INSTANCE.lock(mdTxnCtx, LockMode.X);
-            
+
             if (isNewUniverse) {
                 for (int i = 0; i < primaryIndexes.length; i++) {
                     enlistMetadataDataset(primaryIndexes[i], true);
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@
                     LOGGER.info("Finished enlistment of metadata B-trees.");
                 }
             }
-            
+
             //#. initialize datasetIdFactory
             MetadataManager.INSTANCE.initializeDatasetIdFactory(mdTxnCtx);
             MetadataManager.INSTANCE.commitTransaction(mdTxnCtx);
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlCompiledMetadataDeclarations.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlCompiledMetadataDeclarations.java
index 70383f9..51702a7 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlCompiledMetadataDeclarations.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlCompiledMetadataDeclarations.java
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.annotations.TypeDataGen;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api.AsterixAppContextInfoImpl;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.DatasetConfig.DatasetType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.base.IDataFormat;
@@ -73,8 +74,10 @@
         this.dataverseName = dataverseName;
         this.outputFile = outputFile;
         this.config = config;
+        AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties = ((AsterixAppContextInfoImpl) AsterixAppContextInfoImpl
+                .getInstance()).getMetadataProperties();
         if (stores == null && online) {
-            this.stores = AsterixProperties.INSTANCE.getStores();
+            this.stores = metadataProperties.getStores();
         } else {
             this.stores = stores;
         }
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
index 8bbddec..22c9013 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.api.AsterixAppContextInfoImpl;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.AsterixMetadataProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.DatasetConfig.DatasetType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.DatasetConfig.IndexType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.GlobalConfig;
@@ -171,7 +172,9 @@
 
     public AqlMetadataProvider(Dataverse defaultDataverse) {
         this.defaultDataverse = defaultDataverse;
-        this.stores = AsterixProperties.INSTANCE.getStores();
+        AsterixMetadataProperties metadataProperties = ((AsterixAppContextInfoImpl) AsterixAppContextInfoImpl
+                .getInstance()).getMetadataProperties();
+        this.stores = metadataProperties.getStores();
     }
 
     public void setJobId(JobId jobId) {