diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAdapter.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAdapter.java
index 97f9a80..8b492a9 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAdapter.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedAdapter.java
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@
                         appendTupleToFrame(writer);
                         break;
                     case NO_MORE_DATA:
-                        LOGGER.info("REACHED END OF FEED");
+                        LOGGER.info("Reached end of feed");
                         FrameUtils.flushFrame(frame, writer);
                         continueIngestion = false;
                         break;
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedFeedClient.java b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedFeedClient.java
index a0c613c..8b0fba1 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedFeedClient.java
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/external/dataset/adapter/PullBasedFeedClient.java
@@ -77,11 +77,7 @@
                 case DATA_AVAILABLE:
                     IAType t = mutableRecord.getType();
                     ATypeTag tag = t.getTypeTag();
-                    try {
-                        dataOutput.writeByte(tag.serialize());
-                    } catch (IOException e) {
-                        throw new HyracksDataException(e);
-                    }
+                    dataOutput.writeByte(tag.serialize());
                     if (first) {
                         recordBuilder.reset(mutableRecord.getType());
                         first = false;
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/basic.pol b/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/basic.pol
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8aed9f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/basic.pol
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+feed.policy.name=Basic
+
+software.failure.persist.exception=false
+software.failure.continue.on.failure=false
+hardware.failure.auto.restart=false
+
+statistics.collect=false
+elastic=false
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/basic_monitored.pol b/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/basic_monitored.pol
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..efca65e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/basic_monitored.pol
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+feed.policy.name=Basic_Monitored
+
+software.failure.persist.exception=true
+software.failure.continue.on.failure=false
+hardware.failure.auto.restart=false
+
+statistics.collect=true
+statistics.collect.period=60
+statistics.collect.period.unit=sec
+
+elastic=false
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/mission_critical.pol b/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/mission_critical.pol
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a1da08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/mission_critical.pol
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+feed.policy.name=Mission_Critical
+
+software.failure.persist.exception=true
+software.failure.continue.on.failure=true
+hardware.failure.auto.restart=true
+
+statistics.collect=true
+statistics.collect.period=60
+statistics.collect.period.unit=sec
+
+elastic=true
+criterion.ingestion.rate.percent=true
+criterion.ingestion.rate.percent.delta=50
+
+criterion.ingestion.rate.absolute=true
+criterion.ingestion.rate.absolute.delta=2000
+criterion.ingestion.rate.absolute.unit=sec
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/twitter.pol b/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/twitter.pol
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5fa507f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-external-data/src/main/resources/feed_policy/twitter.pol
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+feed.policy.name=Twitter
+
+software.failure.persist.exception=true
+software.failure.continue.on.failure=true
+hardware.failure.auto.restart=false
+
+statistics.collect=true
+statistics.collect.period=60
+statistics.collect.period.unit=sec
+
+elastic=true
+criterion.ingestion.rate.percent=true
+criterion.ingestion.rate.percent.delta=50
+
+criterion.ingestion.rate.absolute=true
+criterion.ingestion.rate.absolute.delta=2000
+criterion.ingestion.rate.absolute.unit=sec