diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
index 1431d0f..a027570 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/PrimaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
@@ -149,7 +149,8 @@
         IIndexDataflowHelperFactory dataflowHelperFactory = new BTreeDataflowHelperFactory();
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor btreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, btreeSplitProvider, typeTraits, comparatorFactories, null,
-                fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, dataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
+                fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, true, dataflowHelperFactory,
+                NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         JobHelper.createPartitionConstraint(spec, btreeBulkLoad, splitNCs);
 
         // distribute the records from the datagen via hashing to the bulk load
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
index b484f85..805660f 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/btree-example/btreeclient/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/examples/btree/client/SecondaryIndexBulkLoadExample.java
@@ -141,7 +141,8 @@
         IFileSplitProvider btreeSplitProvider = JobHelper.createFileSplitProvider(splitNCs, options.secondaryBTreeName);
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor btreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, btreeSplitProvider, secondaryTypeTraits, comparatorFactories, null,
-                fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, dataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
+                fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, true, dataflowHelperFactory,
+                NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         JobHelper.createPartitionConstraint(spec, btreeBulkLoad, splitNCs);
 
         // connect the ops
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java
index a93c199..eec7225 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/btree/AbstractBTreeOperatorTest.java
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = { 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 };
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor primaryBtreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, primarySplitProvider, primaryTypeTraits, primaryComparatorFactories,
-                primaryBloomFilterKeyFields, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L, dataflowHelperFactory,
+                primaryBloomFilterKeyFields, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L, true, dataflowHelperFactory,
                 NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, primaryBtreeBulkLoad, NC1_ID);
 
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = { 3, 0 };
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor secondaryBtreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, secondarySplitProvider, secondaryTypeTraits,
-                secondaryComparatorFactories, secondaryBloomFilterKeyFields, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L,
+                secondaryComparatorFactories, secondaryBloomFilterKeyFields, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L, true,
                 dataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, secondaryBtreeBulkLoad, NC1_ID);
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/invertedindex/AbstractfWordInvertedIndexTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/invertedindex/AbstractfWordInvertedIndexTest.java
index 8bb698a..1bd22d7 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/invertedindex/AbstractfWordInvertedIndexTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/invertedindex/AbstractfWordInvertedIndexTest.java
@@ -203,8 +203,8 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = { 0, 1 };
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor primaryBtreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, primaryFileSplitProvider, primaryTypeTraits,
-                primaryComparatorFactories, null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L, btreeDataflowHelperFactory,
-                NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
+                primaryComparatorFactories, null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, true, 1000L, true,
+                btreeDataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, primaryBtreeBulkLoad, NC1_ID);
         return primaryBtreeBulkLoad;
     }
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@
 
     private IOperatorDescriptor createInvertedIndexBulkLoadOp(JobSpecification spec, int[] fieldPermutation) {
         LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor invIndexBulkLoadOp = new LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(
-                spec, fieldPermutation, true, 1000L, storageManager, btreeFileSplitProvider, lcManagerProvider,
+                spec, fieldPermutation, true, 1000L, true, storageManager, btreeFileSplitProvider, lcManagerProvider,
                 tokenTypeTraits, tokenComparatorFactories, invListsTypeTraits, invListsComparatorFactories,
                 tokenizerFactory, invertedIndexDataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, invIndexBulkLoadOp, NC1_ID);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
index 00296a5..d1c682c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-examples/hyracks-integration-tests/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/tests/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeOperatorTest.java
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = { 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 };
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor primaryBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, primarySplitProvider, primaryTypeTraits, primaryComparatorFactories,
-                null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, btreeDataflowHelperFactory,
+                null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, true, btreeDataflowHelperFactory,
                 NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, primaryBulkLoad, NC1_ID);
 
@@ -280,8 +280,8 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = { 6, 7, 8, 9, 0 };
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor secondaryBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManager, lcManagerProvider, secondarySplitProvider, secondaryTypeTraits,
-                secondaryComparatorFactories, null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, rtreeDataflowHelperFactory,
-                NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
+                secondaryComparatorFactories, null, fieldPermutation, 0.7f, false, 1000L, true,
+                rtreeDataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, secondaryBulkLoad, NC1_ID);
 
         spec.connect(new OneToOneConnectorDescriptor(spec), keyProviderOp, 0, primarySearchOp, 0);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/BTree.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/BTree.java
index 7c29fc9..25d7b22 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/BTree.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/impls/BTree.java
@@ -934,8 +934,8 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException {
         try {
             return new BTreeBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput);
         } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/IIndex.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/IIndex.java
index 074ae7c..2ee5e75 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/IIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/api/IIndex.java
@@ -119,6 +119,6 @@
      * @param verifyInput
      * @throws IndexException
      */
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws IndexException;
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws IndexException;
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
index 0504a94..a0f9d8e 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
     private final float fillFactor;
     private final boolean verifyInput;
     private final long numElementsHint;
+    private final boolean checkIfEmptyIndex;
     private final IIndexDataflowHelper indexHelper;
     private FrameTupleAccessor accessor;
     private IIndex index;
@@ -43,13 +44,14 @@
 
     public IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable(IIndexOperatorDescriptor opDesc, IHyracksTaskContext ctx, int partition,
             int[] fieldPermutation, float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
-            IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider) {
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex, IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider) {
         this.opDesc = opDesc;
         this.ctx = ctx;
         this.indexHelper = opDesc.getIndexDataflowHelperFactory().createIndexDataflowHelper(opDesc, ctx, partition);
         this.fillFactor = fillFactor;
         this.verifyInput = verifyInput;
         this.numElementsHint = numElementsHint;
+        this.checkIfEmptyIndex = checkIfEmptyIndex;
         this.recDescProvider = recordDescProvider;
         tuple.setFieldPermutation(fieldPermutation);
     }
@@ -61,7 +63,7 @@
         indexHelper.open();
         index = indexHelper.getIndexInstance();
         try {
-            bulkLoader = index.createBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+            bulkLoader = index.createBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             indexHelper.close();
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexDataflowHelper.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexDataflowHelper.java
index 8c2d847..5e07e0c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexDataflowHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/IndexDataflowHelper.java
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
             // any physical artifact that the LocalResourceRepository is managing (e.g. a file containing the resource ID). 
             // Once the index has been created, a new resource ID can be generated.
             if (resourceID != -1) {
-                localResourceRepository.deleteResourceByName(file.getFile().getPath(), ioDeviceId);
+                localResourceRepository.deleteResourceByName(file.getFile().getPath());
             }
             index.create();
             try {
@@ -83,9 +83,8 @@
                 resourceID = resourceIdFactory.createId();
                 ILocalResourceFactory localResourceFactory = opDesc.getLocalResourceFactoryProvider()
                         .getLocalResourceFactory();
-                localResourceRepository.insert(
-                        localResourceFactory.createLocalResource(resourceID, file.getFile().getPath(), partition),
-                        ioDeviceId);
+                localResourceRepository.insert(localResourceFactory.createLocalResource(resourceID, file.getFile()
+                        .getPath(), partition));
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 throw new HyracksDataException(e);
             }
@@ -127,7 +126,7 @@
             }
 
             if (resourceID != -1) {
-                localResourceRepository.deleteResourceByName(file.getFile().getPath(), ioDeviceId);
+                localResourceRepository.deleteResourceByName(file.getFile().getPath());
             }
             index.destroy();
         }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
index 09cdd68..a58e9e8 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/dataflow/TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
@@ -36,12 +36,13 @@
     private final float fillFactor;
     private final boolean verifyInput;
     private final long numElementsHint;
+    private final boolean checkIfEmptyIndex;
 
     public TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(IOperatorDescriptorRegistry spec,
             IStorageManagerInterface storageManager, IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider lifecycleManagerProvider,
             IFileSplitProvider fileSplitProvider, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories, int[] bloomFilterKeyFields, int[] fieldPermutation,
-            float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint, boolean checkIfEmptyIndex,
             IIndexDataflowHelperFactory dataflowHelperFactory,
             IModificationOperationCallbackFactory modificationOpCallbackFactory) {
         super(spec, 1, 0, null, storageManager, lifecycleManagerProvider, fileSplitProvider, typeTraits,
@@ -52,12 +53,13 @@
         this.fillFactor = fillFactor;
         this.verifyInput = verifyInput;
         this.numElementsHint = numElementsHint;
+        this.checkIfEmptyIndex = checkIfEmptyIndex;
     }
 
     @Override
     public IOperatorNodePushable createPushRuntime(IHyracksTaskContext ctx,
             IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider, int partition, int nPartitions) {
         return new IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable(this, ctx, partition, fieldPermutation, fillFactor, verifyInput,
-                numElementsHint, recordDescProvider);
+                numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex, recordDescProvider);
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeDataflowHelper.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeDataflowHelper.java
index d34906e..f217419 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeDataflowHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/dataflow/LSMBTreeDataflowHelper.java
@@ -49,11 +49,10 @@
     @Override
     public ITreeIndex createIndexInstance() throws HyracksDataException {
         AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor treeOpDesc = (AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor) opDesc;
-        return LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, ctx.getIOManager(), file, opDesc.getStorageManager()
-                .getBufferCache(ctx), opDesc.getStorageManager().getFileMapProvider(ctx), treeOpDesc
-                .getTreeIndexTypeTraits(), treeOpDesc.getTreeIndexComparatorFactories(), treeOpDesc
-                .getTreeIndexBloomFilterKeyFields(), bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTrackerFactory
-                .getOperationTracker(ctx), ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider, opDesc.getFileSplitProvider()
-                .getFileSplits()[partition].getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, file, opDesc.getStorageManager().getBufferCache(ctx),
+                opDesc.getStorageManager().getFileMapProvider(ctx), treeOpDesc.getTreeIndexTypeTraits(),
+                treeOpDesc.getTreeIndexComparatorFactories(), treeOpDesc.getTreeIndexBloomFilterKeyFields(),
+                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTrackerFactory.getOperationTracker(ctx), ioScheduler,
+                ioOpCallbackProvider);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java
index 8161200..3eea1b3 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTree.java
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@
 
         List<ILSMComponent> immutableComponents = componentsRef.get();
         mutableComponent.getBTree().clear();
+        mutableComponent.reset();
         for (ILSMComponent c : immutableComponents) {
             LSMBTreeImmutableComponent component = (LSMBTreeImmutableComponent) c;
             component.getBloomFilter().deactivate();
@@ -369,7 +370,7 @@
 
         LSMBTreeImmutableComponent component = createDiskComponent(componentFactory, flushOp.getBTreeFlushTarget(),
                 flushOp.getBloomFilterFlushTarget(), true);
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = component.getBTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numElements);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = component.getBTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numElements, false);
         IIndexBulkLoader builder = component.getBloomFilter().createBuilder(numElements,
                 bloomFilterSpec.getNumHashes(), bloomFilterSpec.getNumBucketsPerElements());
 
@@ -429,7 +430,7 @@
         LSMBTreeImmutableComponent mergedComponent = createDiskComponent(componentFactory,
                 mergeOp.getBTreeMergeTarget(), mergeOp.getBloomFilterMergeTarget(), true);
 
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = mergedComponent.getBTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numElements);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = mergedComponent.getBTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numElements, false);
         IIndexBulkLoader builder = mergedComponent.getBloomFilter().createBuilder(numElements,
                 bloomFilterSpec.getNumHashes(), bloomFilterSpec.getNumBucketsPerElements());
         try {
@@ -464,10 +465,10 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException {
         try {
-            return new LSMBTreeBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+            return new LSMBTreeBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex);
         } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
             throw new TreeIndexException(e);
         }
@@ -499,18 +500,20 @@
         private final BTreeBulkLoader bulkLoader;
         private final IIndexBulkLoader builder;
         private boolean endHasBeenCalled = false;
+        private boolean isEmptyComponent = true;
 
-        public LSMBTreeBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
+        public LSMBTreeBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint, boolean checkIfEmptyIndex)
                 throws TreeIndexException, HyracksDataException {
+            if (checkIfEmptyIndex && !isEmptyIndex()) {
+                throw new TreeIndexException("Cannot load an index that is not empty");
+            }
             try {
                 component = createBulkLoadTarget();
-            } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                throw new TreeIndexException(e);
-            } catch (IndexException e) {
+            } catch (HyracksDataException | IndexException e) {
                 throw new TreeIndexException(e);
             }
             bulkLoader = (BTreeBulkLoader) ((LSMBTreeImmutableComponent) component).getBTree().createBulkLoader(
-                    fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+                    fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, false);
 
             int maxBucketsPerElement = BloomCalculations.maxBucketsPerElement(numElementsHint);
             BloomFilterSpecification bloomFilterSpec = BloomCalculations.computeBloomSpec(maxBucketsPerElement,
@@ -521,22 +524,19 @@
 
         @Override
         public void add(ITupleReference tuple) throws IndexException, HyracksDataException {
+            if (isEmptyComponent) {
+                isEmptyComponent = false;
+            }
             try {
                 bulkLoader.add(tuple);
                 builder.add(tuple);
-            } catch (IndexException e) {
-                handleException();
-                throw e;
-            } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                handleException();
-                throw e;
-            } catch (RuntimeException e) {
-                handleException();
+            } catch (IndexException | HyracksDataException | RuntimeException e) {
+                cleanupArtifacts();
                 throw e;
             }
         }
 
-        protected void handleException() throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
+        protected void cleanupArtifacts() throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
             if (!endHasBeenCalled) {
                 builder.end();
             }
@@ -551,9 +551,12 @@
             bulkLoader.end();
             builder.end();
             endHasBeenCalled = true;
-            lsmHarness.addBulkLoadedComponent(component);
+            if (isEmptyComponent) {
+                cleanupArtifacts();
+            } else {
+                lsmHarness.addBulkLoadedComponent(component);
+            }
         }
-
     }
 
     public LSMBTreeOpContext createOpContext(IModificationOperationCallback modificationCallback,
@@ -630,10 +633,7 @@
     }
 
     public boolean isEmptyIndex() throws HyracksDataException {
-        List<ILSMComponent> immutableComponents = componentsRef.get();
-        return immutableComponents.isEmpty()
-                && mutableComponent.getBTree().isEmptyTree(
-                        mutableComponent.getBTree().getInteriorFrameFactory().createFrame());
+        return componentsRef.get().isEmpty() && !mutableComponent.isModified();
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTreeFileManager.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTreeFileManager.java
index b71e9be..7e8fbb3 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTreeFileManager.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/impls/LSMBTreeFileManager.java
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndex;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IndexException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.AbstractLSMIndexFileManager;
@@ -39,9 +38,9 @@
 
     private final TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> btreeFactory;
 
-    public LSMBTreeFileManager(IIOManager ioManager, IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file,
-            TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> btreeFactory, int ioDeviceId) {
-        super(ioManager, fileMapProvider, file, null, ioDeviceId);
+    public LSMBTreeFileManager(IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file,
+            TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> btreeFactory) {
+        super(fileMapProvider, file, null);
         this.btreeFactory = btreeFactory;
     }
 
@@ -79,16 +78,16 @@
         ArrayList<ComparableFileName> allBTreeFiles = new ArrayList<ComparableFileName>();
         ArrayList<ComparableFileName> allBloomFilterFiles = new ArrayList<ComparableFileName>();
 
-        // Gather files from the IODeviceHandle.
+        // Gather files
 
         // List of valid BTree files.
-        cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(dev, btreeFilter, btreeFactory, allBTreeFiles);
+        cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(btreeFilter, btreeFactory, allBTreeFiles);
         HashSet<String> btreeFilesSet = new HashSet<String>();
         for (ComparableFileName cmpFileName : allBTreeFiles) {
             int index = cmpFileName.fileName.lastIndexOf(SPLIT_STRING);
             btreeFilesSet.add(cmpFileName.fileName.substring(0, index));
         }
-        validateFiles(dev, btreeFilesSet, allBloomFilterFiles, bloomFilterFilter, null);
+        validateFiles(btreeFilesSet, allBloomFilterFiles, bloomFilterFilter, null);
 
         // Sanity check.
         if (allBTreeFiles.size() != allBloomFilterFiles.size()) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeUtils.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeUtils.java
index 28bcb45..507ec02 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeUtils.java
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparatorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.bloomfilter.impls.BloomFilterFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.btree.frames.BTreeNSMInteriorFrameFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.btree.frames.BTreeNSMLeafFrameFactory;
@@ -44,22 +43,11 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.IFileMapProvider;
 
 public class LSMBTreeUtils {
-
-    public static LSMBTree createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager,
-            FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider,
-            ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories, int[] bloomFilterKeyFields,
-            double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker,
-            ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler, ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider) {
-        return createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, ioManager, file, diskBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits,
-                cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler,
-                ioOpCallbackProvider, 0);
-    }
-
-    public static LSMBTree createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager,
-            FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider,
-            ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories, int[] bloomFilterKeyFields,
-            double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker,
-            ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler, ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider, int ioDeviceId) {
+    public static LSMBTree createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, FileReference file,
+            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories, int[] bloomFilterKeyFields, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
+            ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
+            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider) {
         LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory insertTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
                 cmpFactories.length, false);
         LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory deleteTupleWriterFactory = new LSMBTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits,
@@ -83,8 +71,7 @@
         BloomFilterFactory bloomFilterFactory = new BloomFilterFactory(diskBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider,
                 bloomFilterKeyFields);
 
-        ILSMIndexFileManager fileNameManager = new LSMBTreeFileManager(ioManager, diskFileMapProvider, file,
-                diskBTreeFactory, ioDeviceId);
+        ILSMIndexFileManager fileNameManager = new LSMBTreeFileManager(diskFileMapProvider, file, diskBTreeFactory);
 
         LSMBTree lsmTree = new LSMBTree(virtualBufferCache, interiorFrameFactory, insertLeafFrameFactory,
                 deleteLeafFrameFactory, fileNameManager, diskBTreeFactory, bulkLoadBTreeFactory, bloomFilterFactory,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndexFileManager.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndexFileManager.java
index 3f71c67..a6425ce 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndexFileManager.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndexFileManager.java
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IODeviceHandle;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndex;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexMetaDataFrame;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IndexException;
@@ -45,7 +43,6 @@
     protected static final String BLOOM_FILTER_STRING = "f";
 
     protected final IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider;
-    protected final IODeviceHandle dev;
 
     // baseDir should reflect dataset name and partition name.
     protected String baseDir;
@@ -55,15 +52,14 @@
 
     protected final TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> treeFactory;
 
-    public AbstractLSMIndexFileManager(IIOManager ioManager, IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file,
-            TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> treeFactory, int ioDeviceId) {
+    public AbstractLSMIndexFileManager(IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file,
+            TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> treeFactory) {
         this.baseDir = file.getFile().getPath();
         if (!baseDir.endsWith(System.getProperty("file.separator"))) {
             baseDir += System.getProperty("file.separator");
         }
         this.fileMapProvider = fileMapProvider;
         this.treeFactory = treeFactory;
-        this.dev = ioManager.getIODevices().get(ioDeviceId);
     }
 
     private static FilenameFilter fileNameFilter = new FilenameFilter() {
@@ -94,10 +90,10 @@
         }
     }
 
-    protected void cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(IODeviceHandle dev, FilenameFilter filter,
+    protected void cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(FilenameFilter filter,
             TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> treeFactory, ArrayList<ComparableFileName> allFiles)
             throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
-        File dir = new File(dev.getPath(), baseDir);
+        File dir = new File(baseDir);
         String[] files = dir.list(filter);
         for (String fileName : files) {
             File file = new File(dir.getPath() + File.separator + fileName);
@@ -110,11 +106,11 @@
         }
     }
 
-    protected void validateFiles(IODeviceHandle dev, HashSet<String> groundTruth,
-            ArrayList<ComparableFileName> validFiles, FilenameFilter filter,
-            TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> treeFactory) throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
+    protected void validateFiles(HashSet<String> groundTruth, ArrayList<ComparableFileName> validFiles,
+            FilenameFilter filter, TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> treeFactory) throws HyracksDataException,
+            IndexException {
         ArrayList<ComparableFileName> tmpAllInvListsFiles = new ArrayList<ComparableFileName>();
-        cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(dev, filter, treeFactory, tmpAllInvListsFiles);
+        cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(filter, treeFactory, tmpAllInvListsFiles);
         for (ComparableFileName cmpFileName : tmpAllInvListsFiles) {
             int index = cmpFileName.fileName.lastIndexOf(SPLIT_STRING);
             String file = cmpFileName.fileName.substring(0, index);
@@ -129,13 +125,13 @@
 
     @Override
     public void createDirs() {
-        File f = new File(dev.getPath(), baseDir);
+        File f = new File(baseDir);
         f.mkdirs();
     }
 
     @Override
     public void deleteDirs() {
-        File f = new File(dev.getPath(), baseDir);
+        File f = new File(baseDir);
         delete(f);
     }
 
@@ -155,7 +151,7 @@
     };
 
     protected FileReference createFlushFile(String relFlushFileName) {
-        return dev.createFileReference(relFlushFileName);
+        return new FileReference(new File(relFlushFileName));
     }
 
     protected FileReference createMergeFile(String relMergeFileName) {
@@ -185,12 +181,12 @@
         List<LSMComponentFileReferences> validFiles = new ArrayList<LSMComponentFileReferences>();
         ArrayList<ComparableFileName> allFiles = new ArrayList<ComparableFileName>();
 
-        // Gather files from the IODeviceHandle and delete invalid files
+        // Gather files and delete invalid files
         // There are two types of invalid files:
         // (1) The isValid flag is not set
         // (2) The file's interval is contained by some other file
         // Here, we only filter out (1).
-        cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(dev, fileNameFilter, treeFactory, allFiles);
+        cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(fileNameFilter, treeFactory, allFiles);
 
         if (allFiles.isEmpty()) {
             return validFiles;
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
index 425af8d..1c4235c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor.java
@@ -38,13 +38,15 @@
     private final int[] fieldPermutation;
     private final boolean verifyInput;
     private final long numElementsHint;
+    private final boolean checkIfEmptyIndex;
 
     public LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(IOperatorDescriptorRegistry spec, int[] fieldPermutation,
-            boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint, IStorageManagerInterface storageManager,
-            IFileSplitProvider fileSplitProvider, IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider lifecycleManagerProvider,
-            ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenComparatorFactories,
-            ITypeTraits[] invListsTypeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListComparatorFactories,
-            IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory, IIndexDataflowHelperFactory invertedIndexDataflowHelperFactory,
+            boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint, boolean checkIfEmptyIndex,
+            IStorageManagerInterface storageManager, IFileSplitProvider fileSplitProvider,
+            IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider lifecycleManagerProvider, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenComparatorFactories, ITypeTraits[] invListsTypeTraits,
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListComparatorFactories, IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory,
+            IIndexDataflowHelperFactory invertedIndexDataflowHelperFactory,
             IModificationOperationCallbackFactory modificationOpCallbackFactory) {
         super(spec, 1, 0, null, storageManager, fileSplitProvider, lifecycleManagerProvider, tokenTypeTraits,
                 tokenComparatorFactories, invListsTypeTraits, invListComparatorFactories, tokenizerFactory,
@@ -53,12 +55,13 @@
         this.fieldPermutation = fieldPermutation;
         this.verifyInput = verifyInput;
         this.numElementsHint = numElementsHint;
+        this.checkIfEmptyIndex = checkIfEmptyIndex;
     }
 
     @Override
     public IOperatorNodePushable createPushRuntime(IHyracksTaskContext ctx,
             IRecordDescriptorProvider recordDescProvider, int partition, int nPartitions) {
         return new IndexBulkLoadOperatorNodePushable(this, ctx, partition, fieldPermutation, 1.0f, verifyInput,
-                numElementsHint, recordDescProvider);
+                numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex, recordDescProvider);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexDataflowHelper.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexDataflowHelper.java
index 7ec7c84..1afd9d5 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexDataflowHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/LSMInvertedIndexDataflowHelper.java
@@ -59,9 +59,8 @@
                     diskFileMapProvider, invIndexOpDesc.getInvListsTypeTraits(),
                     invIndexOpDesc.getInvListsComparatorFactories(), invIndexOpDesc.getTokenTypeTraits(),
                     invIndexOpDesc.getTokenComparatorFactories(), invIndexOpDesc.getTokenizerFactory(),
-                    diskBufferCache, ctx.getIOManager(), file.getFile().getPath(), bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
-                    mergePolicy, opTrackerFactory.getOperationTracker(ctx), ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider,
-                    opDesc.getFileSplitProvider().getFileSplits()[partition].getIODeviceId());
+                    diskBufferCache, file.getFile().getPath(), bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy,
+                    opTrackerFactory.getOperationTracker(ctx), ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider);
             return invIndex;
         } catch (IndexException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexDataflowHelper.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexDataflowHelper.java
index 4a4956f..0dbd06b 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexDataflowHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/dataflow/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexDataflowHelper.java
@@ -59,9 +59,8 @@
                     virtualBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider, invIndexOpDesc.getInvListsTypeTraits(),
                     invIndexOpDesc.getInvListsComparatorFactories(), invIndexOpDesc.getTokenTypeTraits(),
                     invIndexOpDesc.getTokenComparatorFactories(), invIndexOpDesc.getTokenizerFactory(),
-                    diskBufferCache, ctx.getIOManager(), file.getFile().getPath(), bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
-                    mergePolicy, opTrackerFactory.getOperationTracker(ctx), ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider,
-                    opDesc.getFileSplitProvider().getFileSplits()[partition].getIODeviceId());
+                    diskBufferCache, file.getFile().getPath(), bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy,
+                    opTrackerFactory.getOperationTracker(ctx), ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider);
             return invIndex;
         } catch (IndexException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
index 20d3e7f..bbb8459 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndex.java
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ISearchPredicate;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IVirtualFreePageManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IndexException;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.TreeIndexException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.impls.NoOpOperationCallback;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.ophelpers.IndexOperation;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.ophelpers.MultiComparator;
@@ -175,6 +174,7 @@
         List<ILSMComponent> immutableComponents = componentsRef.get();
         mutableComponent.getInvIndex().clear();
         mutableComponent.getDeletedKeysBTree().clear();
+        mutableComponent.reset();
         for (ILSMComponent c : immutableComponents) {
             LSMInvertedIndexImmutableComponent component = (LSMInvertedIndexImmutableComponent) c;
             component.getBloomFilter().deactivate();
@@ -432,7 +432,7 @@
         memBTreeAccessor.search(scanCursor, nullPred);
 
         // Bulk load the disk inverted index from the in-memory inverted index.
-        IIndexBulkLoader invIndexBulkLoader = diskInvertedIndex.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader invIndexBulkLoader = diskInvertedIndex.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
         try {
             while (scanCursor.hasNext()) {
                 scanCursor.next();
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@
             deletedKeysBTreeAccessor.search(deletedKeysScanCursor, nullPred);
 
             // Bulk load the deleted-keys BTree.
-            IIndexBulkLoader deletedKeysBTreeBulkLoader = diskDeletedKeysBTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+            IIndexBulkLoader deletedKeysBTreeBulkLoader = diskDeletedKeysBTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
             IIndexBulkLoader builder = component.getBloomFilter().createBuilder(numBTreeTuples,
                     bloomFilterSpec.getNumHashes(), bloomFilterSpec.getNumBucketsPerElements());
 
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@
 
         IInvertedIndex mergedDiskInvertedIndex = component.getInvIndex();
         IIndexCursor cursor = mergeOp.getCursor();
-        IIndexBulkLoader invIndexBulkLoader = mergedDiskInvertedIndex.createBulkLoader(1.0f, true, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader invIndexBulkLoader = mergedDiskInvertedIndex.createBulkLoader(1.0f, true, 0L, false);
         try {
             while (cursor.hasNext()) {
                 cursor.next();
@@ -559,42 +559,49 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws IndexException {
-        return new LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws IndexException {
+        try {
+            return new LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex);
+        } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
+            throw new IndexException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public boolean isEmptyIndex() throws HyracksDataException {
+        return componentsRef.get().isEmpty() && !mutableComponent.isModified();
     }
 
     public class LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoader implements IIndexBulkLoader {
         private final ILSMComponent component;
         private final IIndexBulkLoader invIndexBulkLoader;
         private boolean exceptionCaught = false;
+        private boolean isEmptyComponent = true;
 
-        public LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-                throws IndexException {
+        public LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+                boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws IndexException, HyracksDataException {
+            if (checkIfEmptyIndex && !isEmptyIndex()) {
+                throw new IndexException("Cannot load an index that is not empty");
+            }
             // Note that by using a flush target file name, we state that the
             // new bulk loaded tree is "newer" than any other merged tree.
             try {
                 component = createBulkLoadTarget();
-            } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                throw new TreeIndexException(e);
-            } catch (IndexException e) {
-                throw new TreeIndexException(e);
+            } catch (HyracksDataException | IndexException e) {
+                throw new IndexException(e);
             }
             invIndexBulkLoader = ((LSMInvertedIndexImmutableComponent) component).getInvIndex().createBulkLoader(
-                    fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+                    fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, false);
         }
 
         @Override
         public void add(ITupleReference tuple) throws IndexException, HyracksDataException {
+            if (isEmptyComponent) {
+                isEmptyComponent = false;
+            }
             try {
                 invIndexBulkLoader.add(tuple);
-            } catch (IndexException e) {
-                handleException();
-                throw e;
-            } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                handleException();
-                throw e;
-            } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+            } catch (IndexException | HyracksDataException | RuntimeException e) {
                 handleException();
                 throw e;
             }
@@ -602,6 +609,10 @@
 
         protected void handleException() throws HyracksDataException {
             exceptionCaught = true;
+            cleanupArtifacts();
+        }
+
+        protected void cleanupArtifacts() throws HyracksDataException {
             ((LSMInvertedIndexImmutableComponent) component).getInvIndex().deactivate();
             ((LSMInvertedIndexImmutableComponent) component).getInvIndex().destroy();
             ((LSMInvertedIndexImmutableComponent) component).getDeletedKeysBTree().deactivate();
@@ -615,7 +626,11 @@
             if (!exceptionCaught) {
                 invIndexBulkLoader.end();
             }
-            lsmHarness.addBulkLoadedComponent(component);
+            if (isEmptyComponent) {
+                cleanupArtifacts();
+            } else {
+                lsmHarness.addBulkLoadedComponent(component);
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndexFileManager.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndexFileManager.java
index db6c337..825e5d3 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndexFileManager.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndexFileManager.java
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IndexException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.AbstractLSMIndexFileManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.BTreeFactory;
@@ -61,9 +60,8 @@
         }
     };
 
-    public LSMInvertedIndexFileManager(IIOManager ioManager, IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file,
-            BTreeFactory btreeFactory, int ioDeviceId) {
-        super(ioManager, fileMapProvider, file, null, ioDeviceId);
+    public LSMInvertedIndexFileManager(IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file, BTreeFactory btreeFactory) {
+        super(fileMapProvider, file, null);
         this.btreeFactory = btreeFactory;
     }
 
@@ -99,8 +97,8 @@
         ArrayList<ComparableFileName> allDeletedKeysBTreeFiles = new ArrayList<ComparableFileName>();
         ArrayList<ComparableFileName> allBloomFilterFiles = new ArrayList<ComparableFileName>();
 
-        // Gather files from the IODeviceHandle.
-        cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(dev, deletedKeysBTreeFilter, btreeFactory, allDeletedKeysBTreeFiles);
+        // Gather files.
+        cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(deletedKeysBTreeFilter, btreeFactory, allDeletedKeysBTreeFiles);
         HashSet<String> deletedKeysBTreeFilesSet = new HashSet<String>();
         for (ComparableFileName cmpFileName : allDeletedKeysBTreeFiles) {
             int index = cmpFileName.fileName.lastIndexOf(SPLIT_STRING);
@@ -108,9 +106,9 @@
         }
 
         // TODO: do we really need to validate the inverted lists files or is validating the dict. BTrees is enough?
-        validateFiles(dev, deletedKeysBTreeFilesSet, allInvListsFiles, invListFilter, null);
-        validateFiles(dev, deletedKeysBTreeFilesSet, allDictBTreeFiles, dictBTreeFilter, btreeFactory);
-        validateFiles(dev, deletedKeysBTreeFilesSet, allBloomFilterFiles, bloomFilterFilter, null);
+        validateFiles(deletedKeysBTreeFilesSet, allInvListsFiles, invListFilter, null);
+        validateFiles(deletedKeysBTreeFilesSet, allDictBTreeFiles, dictBTreeFilter, btreeFactory);
+        validateFiles(deletedKeysBTreeFilesSet, allBloomFilterFiles, bloomFilterFilter, null);
 
         // Sanity check.
         if (allDictBTreeFiles.size() != allInvListsFiles.size()
@@ -151,30 +149,30 @@
         validComparableBloomFilterFiles.add(lastBloomFilter);
 
         for (int i = 1; i < allDictBTreeFiles.size(); i++) {
-            ComparableFileName currentRTree = allDictBTreeFiles.get(i);
-            ComparableFileName currentBTree = allDictBTreeFiles.get(i);
+            ComparableFileName currentDeletedKeysBTree = allDeletedKeysBTreeFiles.get(i);
+            ComparableFileName CurrentDictBTree = allDictBTreeFiles.get(i);
             ComparableFileName currentBloomFilter = allBloomFilterFiles.get(i);
             // Current start timestamp is greater than last stop timestamp.
-            if (currentRTree.interval[0].compareTo(lastDeletedKeysBTree.interval[1]) > 0
-                    && currentBTree.interval[0].compareTo(lastDeletedKeysBTree.interval[1]) > 0
+            if (currentDeletedKeysBTree.interval[0].compareTo(lastDeletedKeysBTree.interval[1]) > 0
+                    && CurrentDictBTree.interval[0].compareTo(lastDictBTree.interval[1]) > 0
                     && currentBloomFilter.interval[0].compareTo(lastBloomFilter.interval[1]) > 0) {
-                validComparableDictBTreeFiles.add(currentRTree);
-                validComparableDeletedKeysBTreeFiles.add(currentBTree);
+                validComparableDictBTreeFiles.add(CurrentDictBTree);
+                validComparableDeletedKeysBTreeFiles.add(currentDeletedKeysBTree);
                 validComparableBloomFilterFiles.add(currentBloomFilter);
-                lastDictBTree = currentRTree;
-                lastDeletedKeysBTree = currentBTree;
+                lastDictBTree = CurrentDictBTree;
+                lastDeletedKeysBTree = currentDeletedKeysBTree;
                 lastBloomFilter = currentBloomFilter;
-            } else if (currentRTree.interval[0].compareTo(lastDictBTree.interval[0]) >= 0
-                    && currentRTree.interval[1].compareTo(lastDictBTree.interval[1]) <= 0
-                    && currentBTree.interval[0].compareTo(lastDeletedKeysBTree.interval[0]) >= 0
-                    && currentBTree.interval[1].compareTo(lastDeletedKeysBTree.interval[1]) <= 0
+            } else if (currentDeletedKeysBTree.interval[0].compareTo(lastDeletedKeysBTree.interval[0]) >= 0
+                    && currentDeletedKeysBTree.interval[1].compareTo(lastDeletedKeysBTree.interval[1]) <= 0
+                    && CurrentDictBTree.interval[0].compareTo(lastDictBTree.interval[0]) >= 0
+                    && CurrentDictBTree.interval[1].compareTo(lastDictBTree.interval[1]) <= 0
                     && currentBloomFilter.interval[0].compareTo(lastBloomFilter.interval[0]) >= 0
                     && currentBloomFilter.interval[1].compareTo(lastBloomFilter.interval[1]) <= 0) {
                 // Invalid files are completely contained in last interval.
-                File invalidRTreeFile = new File(currentRTree.fullPath);
-                invalidRTreeFile.delete();
-                File invalidBTreeFile = new File(currentBTree.fullPath);
-                invalidBTreeFile.delete();
+                File invalidDeletedBTreeFile = new File(currentDeletedKeysBTree.fullPath);
+                invalidDeletedBTreeFile.delete();
+                File invalidDictBTreeFile = new File(CurrentDictBTree.fullPath);
+                invalidDictBTreeFile.delete();
                 File invalidBloomFilterFile = new File(currentBloomFilter.fullPath);
                 invalidBloomFilterFile.delete();
             } else {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndexSearchCursor.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndexSearchCursor.java
index b9f50a1..882d1a1 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndexSearchCursor.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/impls/LSMInvertedIndexSearchCursor.java
@@ -165,14 +165,7 @@
 
     @Override
     public void close() throws HyracksDataException {
-        try {
-            reset();
-            accessorIndex = -1;
-        } finally {
-            if (harness != null) {
-                harness.endSearch(opCtx);
-            }
-        }
+        reset();
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
index 068031d..91d6702 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndex.java
@@ -188,8 +188,8 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws IndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws IndexException {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Bulk load not supported by in-memory inverted index.");
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
index 5f75f8d..82aac60 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndex.java
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@
         private final MultiComparator allCmp;
 
         public OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoader(float btreeFillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
-                int startPageId, int fileId) throws IndexException, HyracksDataException {
+                boolean checkIfEmptyIndex, int startPageId, int fileId) throws IndexException, HyracksDataException {
             this.verifyInput = verifyInput;
             this.tokenCmp = MultiComparator.create(btree.getComparatorFactories());
             this.invListCmp = MultiComparator.create(invListCmpFactories);
@@ -316,7 +316,8 @@
             this.btreeTupleReference = new ArrayTupleReference();
             this.lastTupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(numTokenFields + numInvListKeys);
             this.lastTuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
-            this.btreeBulkloader = btree.createBulkLoader(btreeFillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+            this.btreeBulkloader = btree.createBulkLoader(btreeFillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint,
+                    checkIfEmptyIndex);
             currentPageId = startPageId;
             currentPage = bufferCache.pin(BufferedFileHandle.getDiskPageId(fileId, currentPageId), true);
             currentPage.acquireWriteLatch();
@@ -563,10 +564,11 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws IndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws IndexException {
         try {
-            return new OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, rootPageId, fileId);
+            return new OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput, numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex,
+                    rootPageId, fileId);
         } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
             throw new InvertedIndexException(e);
         }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java
index 17a6742..9d85f56 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/InvertedIndexUtils.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparatorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.bloomfilter.impls.BloomFilterFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.btree.exceptions.BTreeException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.btree.frames.BTreeLeafFrameType;
@@ -120,21 +119,9 @@
             IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory,
-            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager, String onDiskDir, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
+            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, String onDiskDir, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
             ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider) throws IndexException {
-        return createLSMInvertedIndex(virtualBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider, invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories,
-                tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, diskBufferCache, ioManager, onDiskDir,
-                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider, 0);
-    }
-
-    public static LSMInvertedIndex createLSMInvertedIndex(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache,
-            IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory,
-            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager, String onDiskDir, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
-            ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
-            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider, int ioDeviceId) throws IndexException {
 
         BTreeFactory deletedKeysBTreeFactory = createDeletedKeysBTreeFactory(diskFileMapProvider, invListTypeTraits,
                 invListCmpFactories, diskBufferCache);
@@ -147,8 +134,8 @@
                 bloomFilterKeyFields);
 
         FileReference onDiskDirFileRef = new FileReference(new File(onDiskDir));
-        LSMInvertedIndexFileManager fileManager = new LSMInvertedIndexFileManager(ioManager, diskFileMapProvider,
-                onDiskDirFileRef, deletedKeysBTreeFactory, ioDeviceId);
+        LSMInvertedIndexFileManager fileManager = new LSMInvertedIndexFileManager(diskFileMapProvider,
+                onDiskDirFileRef, deletedKeysBTreeFactory);
 
         IInvertedListBuilderFactory invListBuilderFactory = new FixedSizeElementInvertedListBuilderFactory(
                 invListTypeTraits);
@@ -167,21 +154,9 @@
             IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory,
-            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager, String onDiskDir, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
+            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, String onDiskDir, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
             ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider) throws IndexException {
-        return createPartitionedLSMInvertedIndex(virtualBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider, invListTypeTraits,
-                invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, diskBufferCache, ioManager,
-                onDiskDir, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider, 0);
-    }
-
-    public static PartitionedLSMInvertedIndex createPartitionedLSMInvertedIndex(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache,
-            IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory,
-            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager, String onDiskDir, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
-            ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
-            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider, int ioDeviceId) throws IndexException {
 
         BTreeFactory deletedKeysBTreeFactory = createDeletedKeysBTreeFactory(diskFileMapProvider, invListTypeTraits,
                 invListCmpFactories, diskBufferCache);
@@ -194,8 +169,8 @@
                 bloomFilterKeyFields);
 
         FileReference onDiskDirFileRef = new FileReference(new File(onDiskDir));
-        LSMInvertedIndexFileManager fileManager = new LSMInvertedIndexFileManager(ioManager, diskFileMapProvider,
-                onDiskDirFileRef, deletedKeysBTreeFactory, ioDeviceId);
+        LSMInvertedIndexFileManager fileManager = new LSMInvertedIndexFileManager(diskFileMapProvider,
+                onDiskDirFileRef, deletedKeysBTreeFactory);
 
         IInvertedListBuilderFactory invListBuilderFactory = new FixedSizeElementInvertedListBuilderFactory(
                 invListTypeTraits);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/AbstractLSMRTreeDataflowHelper.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/AbstractLSMRTreeDataflowHelper.java
index 169efc4..9fc8cea 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/AbstractLSMRTreeDataflowHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/AbstractLSMRTreeDataflowHelper.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndex;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.dataflow.AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor;
@@ -73,18 +72,17 @@
     @Override
     public ITreeIndex createIndexInstance() throws HyracksDataException {
         AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor treeOpDesc = (AbstractTreeIndexOperatorDescriptor) opDesc;
-        return createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, ctx.getIOManager(), file,
-                opDesc.getStorageManager().getBufferCache(ctx), opDesc.getStorageManager().getFileMapProvider(ctx),
-                treeOpDesc.getTreeIndexTypeTraits(), treeOpDesc.getTreeIndexComparatorFactories(),
-                btreeComparatorFactories, opTrackerFactory.getOperationTracker(ctx), valueProviderFactories,
-                rtreePolicyType, linearizeCmpFactory, partition);
+        return createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, file, opDesc.getStorageManager().getBufferCache(ctx), opDesc
+                .getStorageManager().getFileMapProvider(ctx), treeOpDesc.getTreeIndexTypeTraits(),
+                treeOpDesc.getTreeIndexComparatorFactories(), btreeComparatorFactories,
+                opTrackerFactory.getOperationTracker(ctx), valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, linearizeCmpFactory);
 
     }
 
-    protected abstract ITreeIndex createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager,
-            FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider,
-            ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker,
-            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
-            ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int startIODeviceIndex) throws HyracksDataException;
+    protected abstract ITreeIndex createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, FileReference file,
+            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
+            ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
+            RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory)
+            throws HyracksDataException;
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeDataflowHelper.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeDataflowHelper.java
index f8b6792..b47bc02 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeDataflowHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeDataflowHelper.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndex;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.TreeIndexException;
@@ -62,18 +61,17 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    protected ITreeIndex createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager,
-            FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider,
-            ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker,
-            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
-            ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int startIODeviceIndex) throws HyracksDataException {
+    protected ITreeIndex createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, FileReference file,
+            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
+            ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
+            RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         try {
-            return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, ioManager, file, diskBufferCache,
-                    diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories,
-                    rtreePolicyType, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler,
-                    ioOpCallbackProvider, linearizeCmpFactory,
-                    opDesc.getFileSplitProvider().getFileSplits()[partition].getIODeviceId());
+            return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, file, diskBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider,
+                    typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType,
+                    bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider,
+                    linearizeCmpFactory);
         } catch (TreeIndexException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
         }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesDataflowHelper.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesDataflowHelper.java
index 3163e3a..ea1b1e2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesDataflowHelper.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/dataflow/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesDataflowHelper.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndex;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.TreeIndexException;
@@ -49,17 +48,16 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    protected ITreeIndex createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager,
-            FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider,
-            ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker,
-            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
-            ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int startIODeviceIndex) throws HyracksDataException {
+    protected ITreeIndex createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, FileReference file,
+            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
+            ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
+            RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         try {
-            return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(virtualBufferCache, ioManager, file,
-                    diskBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories,
-                    valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider,
-                    linearizeCmpFactory, startIODeviceIndex);
+            return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(virtualBufferCache, file, diskBufferCache,
+                    diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories,
+                    rtreePolicyType, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider, linearizeCmpFactory);
         } catch (TreeIndexException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
         }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/AbstractLSMRTree.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/AbstractLSMRTree.java
index 632d462..e3e690b 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/AbstractLSMRTree.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/AbstractLSMRTree.java
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@
 
         mutableComponent.getRTree().clear();
         mutableComponent.getBTree().clear();
+        mutableComponent.reset();
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -346,11 +347,7 @@
     }
 
     public boolean isEmptyIndex() throws HyracksDataException {
-        return componentsRef.get().isEmpty()
-                && mutableComponent.getBTree().isEmptyTree(
-                        mutableComponent.getBTree().getInteriorFrameFactory().createFrame())
-                && mutableComponent.getRTree().isEmptyTree(
-                        mutableComponent.getRTree().getInteriorFrameFactory().createFrame());
+        return componentsRef.get().isEmpty() && !mutableComponent.isModified();
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTree.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTree.java
index 2013d74..2f631af 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTree.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTree.java
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@
         if (!isEmpty) {
             rTreeTupleSorter.sort();
 
-            rTreeBulkloader = diskRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+            rTreeBulkloader = diskRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
             cursor = rTreeTupleSorter;
 
             try {
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@
             BTree diskBTree = component.getBTree();
 
             // BulkLoad the tuples from the in-memory tree into the new disk BTree.
-            IIndexBulkLoader bTreeBulkloader = diskBTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numBTreeTuples);
+            IIndexBulkLoader bTreeBulkloader = diskBTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numBTreeTuples, false);
             IIndexBulkLoader builder = component.getBloomFilter().createBuilder(numBTreeTuples,
                     bloomFilterSpec.getNumHashes(), bloomFilterSpec.getNumBucketsPerElements());
             // scan the memory BTree
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@
 
         LSMRTreeImmutableComponent mergedComponent = createDiskComponent(componentFactory,
                 mergeOp.getRTreeMergeTarget(), mergeOp.getBTreeMergeTarget(), mergeOp.getBloomFilterMergeTarget(), true);
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = mergedComponent.getRTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = mergedComponent.getRTree().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
 
         try {
             while (cursor.hasNext()) {
@@ -400,42 +400,45 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
-        return new LSMRTreeBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException {
+        try {
+            return new LSMRTreeBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint, checkIfEmptyIndex);
+        } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
+            throw new TreeIndexException(e);
+        }
     }
 
     public class LSMRTreeBulkLoader implements IIndexBulkLoader {
         private final ILSMComponent component;
         private final IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader;
+        private boolean isEmptyComponent = true;
 
-        public LSMRTreeBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-                throws TreeIndexException {
+        public LSMRTreeBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint, boolean checkIfEmptyIndex)
+                throws TreeIndexException, HyracksDataException {
+            if (checkIfEmptyIndex && !isEmptyIndex()) {
+                throw new TreeIndexException("Cannot load an index that is not empty");
+            }
             // Note that by using a flush target file name, we state that the
             // new bulk loaded tree is "newer" than any other merged tree.
             try {
                 component = createBulkLoadTarget();
-            } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                throw new TreeIndexException(e);
-            } catch (IndexException e) {
+            } catch (HyracksDataException | IndexException e) {
                 throw new TreeIndexException(e);
             }
             bulkLoader = ((LSMRTreeImmutableComponent) component).getRTree().createBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput,
-                    numElementsHint);
+                    numElementsHint, false);
         }
 
         @Override
         public void add(ITupleReference tuple) throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
+            if (isEmptyComponent) {
+                isEmptyComponent = false;
+            }
             try {
                 bulkLoader.add(tuple);
-            } catch (IndexException e) {
-                handleException();
-                throw e;
-            } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                handleException();
-                throw e;
-            } catch (RuntimeException e) {
-                handleException();
+            } catch (IndexException | HyracksDataException | RuntimeException e) {
+                cleanupArtifacts();
                 throw e;
             }
         }
@@ -443,10 +446,14 @@
         @Override
         public void end() throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
             bulkLoader.end();
-            lsmHarness.addBulkLoadedComponent(component);
+            if (isEmptyComponent) {
+                cleanupArtifacts();
+            } else {
+                lsmHarness.addBulkLoadedComponent(component);
+            }
         }
 
-        protected void handleException() throws HyracksDataException {
+        protected void cleanupArtifacts() throws HyracksDataException {
             ((LSMRTreeImmutableComponent) component).getRTree().deactivate();
             ((LSMRTreeImmutableComponent) component).getRTree().destroy();
             ((LSMRTreeImmutableComponent) component).getBTree().deactivate();
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeFileManager.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeFileManager.java
index cfdf706..9502d5e 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeFileManager.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeFileManager.java
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndex;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IndexException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.AbstractLSMIndexFileManager;
@@ -53,10 +52,9 @@
         }
     };
 
-    public LSMRTreeFileManager(IIOManager ioManager, IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file,
-            TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> rtreeFactory, TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> btreeFactory,
-            int ioDeviceId) {
-        super(ioManager, fileMapProvider, file, null, ioDeviceId);
+    public LSMRTreeFileManager(IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file,
+            TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> rtreeFactory, TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> btreeFactory) {
+        super(fileMapProvider, file, null);
         this.rtreeFactory = rtreeFactory;
         this.btreeFactory = btreeFactory;
     }
@@ -92,15 +90,15 @@
         ArrayList<ComparableFileName> allBTreeFiles = new ArrayList<ComparableFileName>();
         ArrayList<ComparableFileName> allBloomFilterFiles = new ArrayList<ComparableFileName>();
 
-        // Gather files from the IODeviceHandle.
-        cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(dev, btreeFilter, btreeFactory, allBTreeFiles);
+        // Gather files.
+        cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(btreeFilter, btreeFactory, allBTreeFiles);
         HashSet<String> btreeFilesSet = new HashSet<String>();
         for (ComparableFileName cmpFileName : allBTreeFiles) {
             int index = cmpFileName.fileName.lastIndexOf(SPLIT_STRING);
             btreeFilesSet.add(cmpFileName.fileName.substring(0, index));
         }
-        validateFiles(dev, btreeFilesSet, allRTreeFiles, rtreeFilter, rtreeFactory);
-        validateFiles(dev, btreeFilesSet, allBloomFilterFiles, bloomFilterFilter, null);
+        validateFiles(btreeFilesSet, allRTreeFiles, rtreeFilter, rtreeFactory);
+        validateFiles(btreeFilesSet, allBloomFilterFiles, bloomFilterFilter, null);
 
         // Sanity check.
         if (allRTreeFiles.size() != allBTreeFiles.size() || allBTreeFiles.size() != allBloomFilterFiles.size()) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples.java
index cf3bbc6e..1bf9f58 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples.java
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@
             bTreeTupleSorter.sort();
         }
 
-        IIndexBulkLoader rTreeBulkloader = diskRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader rTreeBulkloader = diskRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
         LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFlushCursor cursor = new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFlushCursor(rTreeTupleSorter,
                 bTreeTupleSorter, comparatorFields, linearizerArray);
         cursor.open(null, null);
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@
         LSMRTreeImmutableComponent component = createDiskComponent(componentFactory, mergeOp.getRTreeMergeTarget(),
                 null, null, true);
         RTree mergedRTree = component.getRTree();
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkloader = mergedRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkloader = mergedRTree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, false);
         try {
             while (cursor.hasNext()) {
                 cursor.next();
@@ -363,9 +363,14 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
-        return new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint);
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillLevel, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException {
+        try {
+            return new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoader(fillLevel, verifyInput, numElementsHint,
+                    checkIfEmptyIndex);
+        } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
+            throw new TreeIndexException(e);
+        }
     }
 
     private ILSMComponent createBulkLoadTarget() throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
@@ -377,34 +382,33 @@
     public class LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoader implements IIndexBulkLoader {
         private final ILSMComponent component;
         private final IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader;
+        private boolean isEmptyComponent = true;
 
-        public LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-                throws TreeIndexException {
+        public LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+                boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException, HyracksDataException {
+            if (checkIfEmptyIndex && !isEmptyIndex()) {
+                throw new TreeIndexException("Cannot load an index that is not empty");
+            }
             // Note that by using a flush target file name, we state that the
             // new bulk loaded tree is "newer" than any other merged tree.
             try {
                 component = createBulkLoadTarget();
-            } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                throw new TreeIndexException(e);
-            } catch (IndexException e) {
+            } catch (HyracksDataException | IndexException e) {
                 throw new TreeIndexException(e);
             }
             bulkLoader = ((LSMRTreeImmutableComponent) component).getRTree().createBulkLoader(fillFactor, verifyInput,
-                    numElementsHint);
+                    numElementsHint, false);
         }
 
         @Override
         public void add(ITupleReference tuple) throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
+            if (isEmptyComponent) {
+                isEmptyComponent = false;
+            }
             try {
                 bulkLoader.add(tuple);
-            } catch (IndexException e) {
-                handleException();
-                throw e;
-            } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
-                handleException();
-                throw e;
-            } catch (RuntimeException e) {
-                handleException();
+            } catch (IndexException | HyracksDataException | RuntimeException e) {
+                cleanupArtifacts();
                 throw e;
             }
         }
@@ -412,10 +416,14 @@
         @Override
         public void end() throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
             bulkLoader.end();
-            lsmHarness.addBulkLoadedComponent(component);
+            if (isEmptyComponent) {
+                cleanupArtifacts();
+            } else {
+                lsmHarness.addBulkLoadedComponent(component);
+            }
         }
 
-        protected void handleException() throws HyracksDataException {
+        protected void cleanupArtifacts() throws HyracksDataException {
             ((LSMRTreeImmutableComponent) component).getRTree().deactivate();
             ((LSMRTreeImmutableComponent) component).getRTree().destroy();
         }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFileManager.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFileManager.java
index f426dea..8ef143f 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFileManager.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/impls/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFileManager.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.rtree.impls;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndex;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.AbstractLSMIndexFileManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.TreeIndexFactory;
@@ -24,8 +23,8 @@
 
 public class LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFileManager extends AbstractLSMIndexFileManager {
 
-    public LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFileManager(IIOManager ioManager, IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider,
-            FileReference file, TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> rtreeFactory, int ioDeviceId) {
-        super(ioManager, fileMapProvider, file, rtreeFactory, ioDeviceId);
+    public LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFileManager(IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file,
+            TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> rtreeFactory) {
+        super(fileMapProvider, file, rtreeFactory);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java
index 07c6815..50e5d09 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/utils/LSMRTreeUtils.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ILinearizeComparatorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.DoublePointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.IntegerPointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.bloomfilter.impls.BloomFilterFactory;
@@ -59,28 +58,13 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.IFileMapProvider;
 
 public class LSMRTreeUtils {
-    public static LSMRTree createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager,
-            FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider,
-            ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
-            RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy,
-            ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
-            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider, ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
-        return createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, ioManager, file, diskBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits,
-                rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType,
-                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider,
-                linearizeCmpFactory, 0);
-    }
-
-    public static LSMRTree createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager,
-            FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider,
-            ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
-            RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy,
-            ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
-            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider, ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory,
-            int ioDeviceId) throws TreeIndexException {
+    public static LSMRTree createLSMTree(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, FileReference file,
+            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
+            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
+            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
+            double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker,
+            ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler, ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider,
+            ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory) throws TreeIndexException {
         LSMTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory rtreeTupleWriterFactory = new LSMTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false);
         LSMTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory btreeTupleWriterFactory = new LSMTypeAwareTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, true);
 
@@ -113,8 +97,8 @@
         BloomFilterFactory bloomFilterFactory = new BloomFilterFactory(diskBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider,
                 bloomFilterKeyFields);
 
-        ILSMIndexFileManager fileNameManager = new LSMRTreeFileManager(ioManager, diskFileMapProvider, file,
-                diskRTreeFactory, diskBTreeFactory, ioDeviceId);
+        ILSMIndexFileManager fileNameManager = new LSMRTreeFileManager(diskFileMapProvider, file, diskRTreeFactory,
+                diskBTreeFactory);
         LSMRTree lsmTree = new LSMRTree(virtualBufferCache, rtreeInteriorFrameFactory, rtreeLeafFrameFactory,
                 btreeInteriorFrameFactory, btreeLeafFrameFactory, fileNameManager, diskRTreeFactory, diskBTreeFactory,
                 bloomFilterFactory, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits.length,
@@ -124,26 +108,13 @@
     }
 
     public static LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples createLSMTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(
-            IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager, FileReference file,
-            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
+            IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache,
+            IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
             ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
             ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider, ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizerCmpFactory)
             throws TreeIndexException {
-        return createLSMTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(virtualBufferCache, ioManager, file, diskBufferCache,
-                diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories,
-                rtreePolicyType, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider, linearizerCmpFactory, 0);
-    }
-
-    public static LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples createLSMTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(
-            IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IIOManager ioManager, FileReference file,
-            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ITypeTraits[] typeTraits,
-            IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories,
-            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
-            ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
-            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider, ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizerCmpFactory,
-            int ioDeviceId) throws TreeIndexException {
         LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory rtreeTupleWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, false);
         LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory btreeTupleWriterFactory = new LSMRTreeTupleWriterFactory(typeTraits, true);
 
@@ -178,8 +149,8 @@
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] linearizerArray = { linearizerCmpFactory,
                 btreeCmpFactories[btreeCmpFactories.length - 1] };
 
-        ILSMIndexFileManager fileNameManager = new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFileManager(ioManager,
-                diskFileMapProvider, file, diskRTreeFactory, ioDeviceId);
+        ILSMIndexFileManager fileNameManager = new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesFileManager(diskFileMapProvider, file,
+                diskRTreeFactory);
         LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples lsmTree = new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(virtualBufferCache,
                 rtreeInteriorFrameFactory, rtreeLeafFrameFactory, btreeInteriorFrameFactory, btreeLeafFrameFactory,
                 fileNameManager, diskRTreeFactory, bulkLoadRTreeFactory, diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits.length,
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/impls/RTree.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/impls/RTree.java
index 5454832..528c004 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/impls/RTree.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-am-rtree/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/impls/RTree.java
@@ -860,8 +860,8 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint)
-            throws TreeIndexException {
+    public IIndexBulkLoader createBulkLoader(float fillFactor, boolean verifyInput, long numElementsHint,
+            boolean checkIfEmptyIndex) throws TreeIndexException {
         // TODO: verifyInput currently does nothing.
         try {
             return new RTreeBulkLoader(fillFactor);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/common/file/ILocalResourceRepository.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/common/file/ILocalResourceRepository.java
index e07a375..7ae2414 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/common/file/ILocalResourceRepository.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/common/file/ILocalResourceRepository.java
@@ -24,11 +24,11 @@
 
     public LocalResource getResourceByName(String name) throws HyracksDataException;
 
-    public void insert(LocalResource resource, int ioDeviceId) throws HyracksDataException;
+    public void insert(LocalResource resource) throws HyracksDataException;
 
-    public void deleteResourceById(long id, int ioDeviceId) throws HyracksDataException;
+    public void deleteResourceById(long id) throws HyracksDataException;
 
-    public void deleteResourceByName(String name, int ioDeviceId) throws HyracksDataException;
+    public void deleteResourceByName(String name) throws HyracksDataException;
 
     public List<LocalResource> getAllResources() throws HyracksDataException;
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/common/file/TransientLocalResourceRepository.java b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/common/file/TransientLocalResourceRepository.java
index f4fa440..63b71a3 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/common/file/TransientLocalResourceRepository.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-storage-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/common/file/TransientLocalResourceRepository.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public synchronized void insert(LocalResource resource, int ioDeviceId) throws HyracksDataException {
+    public synchronized void insert(LocalResource resource) throws HyracksDataException {
         long id = resource.getResourceId();
 
         if (id2ResourceMap.containsKey(id)) {
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public synchronized void deleteResourceById(long id, int ioDeviceId) throws HyracksDataException {
+    public synchronized void deleteResourceById(long id) throws HyracksDataException {
         LocalResource resource = id2ResourceMap.get(id);
         if (resource == null) {
             throw new HyracksDataException("Resource doesn't exist");
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public synchronized void deleteResourceByName(String name, int ioDeviceId) throws HyracksDataException {
+    public synchronized void deleteResourceByName(String name) throws HyracksDataException {
         LocalResource resource = name2ResourceMap.get(name);
         if (resource == null) {
             throw new HyracksDataException("Resource doesn't exist");
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
index f36419c..54eac1e 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@
         ctx.getIndex().deactivate();
         ctx.getIndex().destroy();
     }
-    
+
     @Override
     protected String getTestOpName() {
         return "BulkLoad";
     }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java
index 5b8f7d9..eafeff2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/btree/OrderedIndexExamplesTest.java
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@
             LOGGER.info("Bulk loading " + ins + " tuples");
         }
         long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, ins);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, ins, true);
         ArrayTupleBuilder tb = new ArrayTupleBuilder(fieldCount);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
         for (int i = 0; i < ins; i++) {
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@
             treeIndex.activate();
 
             // Load sorted records, and expect to fail at tuple i.
-            IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, true, ins);
+            IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, true, ins, true);
             for (int j = 0; j < ins; j++) {
                 if (j > i) {
                     fail("Bulk load failure test unexpectedly succeeded past tuple: " + j);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/TreeIndexTestUtils.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/TreeIndexTestUtils.java
index 852a0b6..b5742b5 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/TreeIndexTestUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/common/TreeIndexTestUtils.java
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@
         ArrayTupleBuilder tupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(fieldCount);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
         // Perform bulk load.
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = ctx.getIndex().createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, numTuples);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = ctx.getIndex().createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, numTuples, false);
         int c = 1;
         for (CheckTuple checkTuple : checkTuples) {
             if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest.java
index e8d9c96..11adaa2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -26,11 +26,9 @@
 public abstract class AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest extends AbstractRTreeTestDriver {
 
     private final RTreeTestUtils rTreeTestUtils;
-    private final int bulkLoadRounds;
 
-    public AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest(int bulkLoadRounds, boolean testRstarPolicy) {
+    public AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest(boolean testRstarPolicy) {
         super(testRstarPolicy);
-        this.bulkLoadRounds = bulkLoadRounds;
         this.rTreeTestUtils = new RTreeTestUtils();
     }
 
@@ -41,19 +39,19 @@
         AbstractRTreeTestContext ctx = createTestContext(fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType);
         ctx.getIndex().create();
         ctx.getIndex().activate();
-        for (int i = 0; i < bulkLoadRounds; i++) {
-            // We assume all fieldSerdes are of the same type. Check the first
-            // one to determine which field types to generate.
-            if (fieldSerdes[0] instanceof IntegerSerializerDeserializer) {
-                rTreeTestUtils.bulkLoadIntTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
-            } else if (fieldSerdes[0] instanceof DoubleSerializerDeserializer) {
-                rTreeTestUtils.bulkLoadDoubleTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
-            }
 
-            rTreeTestUtils.checkScan(ctx);
-            rTreeTestUtils.checkDiskOrderScan(ctx);
-            rTreeTestUtils.checkRangeSearch(ctx, key);
+        // We assume all fieldSerdes are of the same type. Check the first
+        // one to determine which field types to generate.
+        if (fieldSerdes[0] instanceof IntegerSerializerDeserializer) {
+            rTreeTestUtils.bulkLoadIntTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
+        } else if (fieldSerdes[0] instanceof DoubleSerializerDeserializer) {
+            rTreeTestUtils.bulkLoadDoubleTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
         }
+
+        rTreeTestUtils.checkScan(ctx);
+        rTreeTestUtils.checkDiskOrderScan(ctx);
+        rTreeTestUtils.checkRangeSearch(ctx, key);
+
         ctx.getIndex().deactivate();
         ctx.getIndex().destroy();
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java
index 50ff154..44ab0d9 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-test-support/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/AbstractRTreeExamplesTest.java
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@
             LOGGER.info("Bulk loading " + numInserts + " tuples");
         }
         long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, numInserts);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = treeIndex.createBulkLoader(0.7f, false, numInserts, true);
         ArrayTupleBuilder tb = new ArrayTupleBuilder(fieldCount);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeBulkLoadTest.java
index ec4f7e2..e0a2a46 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -51,11 +51,10 @@
     @Override
     protected OrderedIndexTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes, int numKeys,
             BTreeLeafFrameType leafType) throws Exception {
-        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, numKeys, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, numKeys,
+                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(),
+                harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeDeleteTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeDeleteTest.java
index b294f39..122b788 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeDeleteTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeDeleteTest.java
@@ -51,11 +51,10 @@
     @Override
     protected OrderedIndexTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes, int numKeys,
             BTreeLeafFrameType leafType) throws Exception {
-        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, numKeys, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, numKeys,
+                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(),
+                harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java
index afdd5cf..60e0492 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeExamplesTest.java
@@ -34,11 +34,10 @@
     @Override
     protected ITreeIndex createTreeIndex(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories,
             int[] bloomFilterKeyFields) throws TreeIndexException {
-        return LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), typeTraits,
-                cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), typeTraits, cmpFactories,
+                bloomFilterKeyFields, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Before
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeInsertTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeInsertTest.java
index ab5fa1f..76a0206 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeInsertTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeInsertTest.java
@@ -51,11 +51,10 @@
     @Override
     protected OrderedIndexTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes, int numKeys,
             BTreeLeafFrameType leafType) throws Exception {
-        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, numKeys, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, numKeys,
+                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(),
+                harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeLifecycleTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeLifecycleTest.java
index a10185d..639fd47 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeLifecycleTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeLifecycleTest.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IODeviceHandle;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.IntegerSerializerDeserializer;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.btree.OrderedIndexTestUtils;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.AbstractIndexLifecycleTest;
@@ -40,10 +39,8 @@
     @Override
     protected boolean persistentStateExists() throws Exception {
         // make sure all of the directories exist
-        for (IODeviceHandle handle : harness.getIOManager().getIODevices()) {
-            if (!new FileReference(handle, harness.getFileReference().getFile().getPath()).getFile().exists()) {
-                return false;
-            }
+        if (!new FileReference(harness.getFileReference().getFile()).getFile().exists()) {
+            return false;
         }
         return true;
     }
@@ -56,11 +53,10 @@
     @Override
     public void setup() throws Exception {
         harness.setUp();
-        testCtx = LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, fieldSerdes.length, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                harness.getIODeviceId());
+        testCtx = LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, fieldSerdes.length,
+                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(),
+                harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
         index = testCtx.getIndex();
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMergeTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMergeTest.java
index b84397c..e3c86df 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMergeTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMergeTest.java
@@ -50,11 +50,10 @@
     @Override
     protected OrderedIndexTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes, int numKeys,
             BTreeLeafFrameType leafType) throws Exception {
-        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, numKeys, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, numKeys,
+                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(),
+                harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMergeTestDriver.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMergeTestDriver.java
index 97b5eb4..f7aa7f4 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMergeTestDriver.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMergeTestDriver.java
@@ -57,9 +57,15 @@
         for (int i = 0; i < maxTreesToMerge; i++) {
             for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) {
                 if (fieldSerdes[0] instanceof IntegerSerializerDeserializer) {
-                    orderedIndexTestUtils.bulkLoadIntTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
+                    orderedIndexTestUtils.insertIntTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
+                    // Deactivate and the re-activate the index to force it flush its in memory component
+                    ctx.getIndex().deactivate();
+                    ctx.getIndex().activate();
                 } else if (fieldSerdes[0] instanceof UTF8StringSerializerDeserializer) {
-                    orderedIndexTestUtils.bulkLoadStringTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
+                    orderedIndexTestUtils.insertStringTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
+                    // Deactivate and the re-activate the index to force it flush its in memory component
+                    ctx.getIndex().deactivate();
+                    ctx.getIndex().activate();
                 }
             }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
index 0c5bf76..77b65ca 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeModificationOperationCallbackTest.java
@@ -42,13 +42,13 @@
 
     @Override
     protected void createIndexInstance() throws Exception {
-        index = LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
+        index = LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
                 SerdeUtils.serdesToTypeTraits(keySerdes),
                 SerdeUtils.serdesToComparatorFactories(keySerdes, keySerdes.length), bloomFilterKeyFields,
                 harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
                 NoOpOperationTrackerProvider.INSTANCE.getOperationTracker(null), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMultiBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMultiBulkLoadTest.java
index f0b230a..a7c8b81 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMultiBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeMultiBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -52,15 +52,14 @@
     @Override
     protected OrderedIndexTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes, int numKeys,
             BTreeLeafFrameType leafType) throws Exception {
-        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, numKeys, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, numKeys,
+                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(),
+                harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
     protected Random getRandom() {
         return harness.getRandom();
     }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
index e0db517..f21087d 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeSearchOperationCallbackTest.java
@@ -49,13 +49,13 @@
 
     @Override
     protected void createIndexInstance() throws Exception {
-        index = LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
+        index = LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
                 SerdeUtils.serdesToTypeTraits(keySerdes),
                 SerdeUtils.serdesToComparatorFactories(keySerdes, keySerdes.length), bloomFilterKeyFields,
                 harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
                 NoOpOperationTrackerProvider.INSTANCE.getOperationTracker(null), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -222,11 +222,15 @@
             try {
                 insertTaskStarted = true;
 
-                // bulkload [101, 150] & [151, 200] as two separate disk components 
+                // bulkload [101, 150] and then insert [151, 200] and make sure it reaches disk, thus we will have two separate disk components 
                 // insert [50, 100] & [301, 350] to the in-memory component
                 // delete tuple 151
                 bulkloadIntTupleRange(101, 150);
-                bulkloadIntTupleRange(151, 200);
+                insertIntTupleRange(151, 200);
+                // Deactivate and the re-activate the index to force it flush its in memory component
+                index.deactivate();
+                index.activate();
+
                 insertIntTupleRange(50, 100);
                 insertIntTupleRange(301, 350);
                 int tupleTobeDeletedValue = 151;
@@ -270,7 +274,7 @@
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid range: [" + begin + ", " + end + "]");
             }
 
-            IIndexBulkLoader bulkloader = index.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, end - begin);
+            IIndexBulkLoader bulkloader = index.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, end - begin, true);
             for (int i = begin; i <= end; i++) {
                 TupleUtils.createIntegerTuple(builder, tuple, i);
                 bulkloader.add(tuple);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateTest.java
index 59b837c..db221a2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/LSMBTreeUpdateTest.java
@@ -51,11 +51,10 @@
     @Override
     protected OrderedIndexTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes, int numKeys,
             BTreeLeafFrameType leafType) throws Exception {
-        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, numKeys, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMBTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, numKeys,
+                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(),
+                harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java
index c5db1c1..9dfa713 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/multithread/LSMBTreeMultiThreadTest.java
@@ -50,11 +50,10 @@
     @Override
     protected ITreeIndex createIndex(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories,
             int[] bloomFilterKeyFields) throws TreeIndexException {
-        return LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), typeTraits,
-                cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), typeTraits, cmpFactories,
+                bloomFilterKeyFields, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeBulkLoadRunner.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeBulkLoadRunner.java
index d364955..52cbddb 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeBulkLoadRunner.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/BTreeBulkLoadRunner.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
     public long runExperiment(DataGenThread dataGen, int numThreads) throws Exception {
         btree.create();
         long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = btree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = btree.createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, 0L, true);
         for (int i = 0; i < numBatches; i++) {
             TupleBatch batch = dataGen.tupleBatchQueue.take();
             for (int j = 0; j < batch.size(); j++) {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java
index 1307212..fc6642c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/perf/LSMTreeRunner.java
@@ -91,9 +91,9 @@
         IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache = new VirtualBufferCache(new HeapBufferAllocator(), inMemPageSize,
                 inMemNumPages);
         this.ioScheduler = SynchronousScheduler.INSTANCE;
-        lsmtree = LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, ioManager, file, bufferCache, fmp, typeTraits,
-                cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, NoMergePolicy.INSTANCE,
-                new ThreadCountingTracker(), ioScheduler, NoOpIOOperationCallback.INSTANCE, ioDeviceId);
+        lsmtree = LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, file, bufferCache, fmp, typeTraits, cmpFactories,
+                bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, NoMergePolicy.INSTANCE,
+                new ThreadCountingTracker(), ioScheduler, NoOpIOOperationCallback.INSTANCE);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java
index 5f8809b..e307506 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestContext.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.nc.io.IOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.util.SerdeUtils;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.btree.OrderedIndexTestContext;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.CheckTuple;
@@ -62,20 +61,20 @@
         upsertCheckTuple(checkTuple, checkTuples);
     }
 
-    public static LSMBTreeTestContext create(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IOManager ioManager,
-            FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider,
-            ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes, int numKeyFields, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
-            ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
-            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider, int ioDeviceId) throws Exception {
+    public static LSMBTreeTestContext create(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, FileReference file,
+            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
+            int numKeyFields, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy,
+            ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
+            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider) throws Exception {
         ITypeTraits[] typeTraits = SerdeUtils.serdesToTypeTraits(fieldSerdes);
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories = SerdeUtils.serdesToComparatorFactories(fieldSerdes, numKeyFields);
         int[] bloomFilterKeyFields = new int[numKeyFields];
         for (int i = 0; i < numKeyFields; ++i) {
             bloomFilterKeyFields[i] = i;
         }
-        LSMBTree lsmTree = LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, ioManager, file, diskBufferCache,
-                diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits, cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
-                mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider, ioDeviceId);
+        LSMBTree lsmTree = LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, file, diskBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider,
+                typeTraits, cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker,
+                ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider);
         LSMBTreeTestContext testCtx = new LSMBTreeTestContext(fieldSerdes, lsmTree);
         return testCtx;
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestHarness.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestHarness.java
index 94aa841..e643cf9 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestHarness.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-btree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/btree/util/LSMBTreeTestHarness.java
@@ -107,36 +107,36 @@
     }
 
     public void setUp() throws HyracksException {
-        onDiskDir = "lsm_btree_" + simpleDateFormat.format(new Date()) + sep;
+        ioManager = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getIOManager();
+        ioDeviceId = 0;
+        onDiskDir = ioManager.getIODevices().get(ioDeviceId).getPath() + sep + "lsm_btree_"
+                + simpleDateFormat.format(new Date()) + sep;
         file = new FileReference(new File(onDiskDir));
         ctx = TestUtils.create(getHyracksFrameSize());
         TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.init(diskPageSize, diskNumPages, diskMaxOpenFiles);
         diskBufferCache = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getBufferCache(ctx);
         diskFileMapProvider = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getFileMapProvider(ctx);
         virtualBufferCache = new VirtualBufferCache(new HeapBufferAllocator(), memPageSize, memNumPages);
-        ioManager = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getIOManager();
-        ioDeviceId = 0;
         rnd.setSeed(RANDOM_SEED);
     }
 
     public void tearDown() throws HyracksDataException {
         diskBufferCache.close();
-        for (IODeviceHandle dev : ioManager.getIODevices()) {
-            File dir = new File(dev.getPath(), onDiskDir);
-            FilenameFilter filter = new FilenameFilter() {
-                public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
-                    return !name.startsWith(".");
-                }
-            };
-            String[] files = dir.list(filter);
-            if (files != null) {
-                for (String fileName : files) {
-                    File file = new File(dir.getPath() + File.separator + fileName);
-                    file.delete();
-                }
+        IODeviceHandle dev = ioManager.getIODevices().get(ioDeviceId);
+        File dir = new File(dev.getPath(), onDiskDir);
+        FilenameFilter filter = new FilenameFilter() {
+            public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
+                return !name.startsWith(".");
             }
-            dir.delete();
+        };
+        String[] files = dir.list(filter);
+        if (files != null) {
+            for (String fileName : files) {
+                File file = new File(dir.getPath() + File.separator + fileName);
+                file.delete();
+            }
         }
+        dir.delete();
     }
 
     public int getDiskPageSize() {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/DummyLSMIndexFileManager.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/DummyLSMIndexFileManager.java
index 19bf21f..e4dd974 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/DummyLSMIndexFileManager.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/DummyLSMIndexFileManager.java
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IODeviceHandle;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndex;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IndexException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.AbstractLSMIndexFileManager;
@@ -31,15 +29,15 @@
 
 public class DummyLSMIndexFileManager extends AbstractLSMIndexFileManager {
 
-    public DummyLSMIndexFileManager(IIOManager ioManager, IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file,
-            TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> treeFactory, int ioDeviceId) {
-        super(ioManager, fileMapProvider, file, treeFactory, ioDeviceId);
+    public DummyLSMIndexFileManager(IFileMapProvider fileMapProvider, FileReference file,
+            TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> treeFactory) {
+        super(fileMapProvider, file, treeFactory);
     }
 
-    protected void cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(IODeviceHandle dev, FilenameFilter filter,
+    protected void cleanupAndGetValidFilesInternal(FilenameFilter filter,
             TreeIndexFactory<? extends ITreeIndex> treeFactory, ArrayList<ComparableFileName> allFiles)
             throws HyracksDataException, IndexException {
-        File dir = new File(dev.getPath(), baseDir);
+        File dir = new File(baseDir);
         String[] files = dir.list(filter);
         for (String fileName : files) {
             File file = new File(dir.getPath() + File.separator + fileName);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/LSMIndexFileManagerTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/LSMIndexFileManagerTest.java
index 5695eb8..d9fdeb3 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/LSMIndexFileManagerTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/LSMIndexFileManagerTest.java
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@
         TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.init(DEFAULT_PAGE_SIZE, DEFAULT_NUM_PAGES, DEFAULT_MAX_OPEN_FILES);
         ioManager = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getIOManager();
         fileMapProvider = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getFileMapProvider(null);
-        baseDir = "lsm_tree" + simpleDateFormat.format(new Date()) + sep;
+        baseDir = ioManager.getIODevices().get(DEFAULT_IO_DEVICE_ID).getPath() + sep + "lsm_tree"
+                + simpleDateFormat.format(new Date()) + sep;
         File f = new File(baseDir);
         f.mkdirs();
         file = new FileReference(f);
@@ -74,8 +75,7 @@
     }
 
     public void sortOrderTest(boolean testFlushFileName) throws InterruptedException, HyracksDataException {
-        ILSMIndexFileManager fileManager = new DummyLSMIndexFileManager(ioManager, fileMapProvider, file,
-                new DummyTreeFactory(), DEFAULT_IO_DEVICE_ID);
+        ILSMIndexFileManager fileManager = new DummyLSMIndexFileManager(fileMapProvider, file, new DummyTreeFactory());
         LinkedList<String> fileNames = new LinkedList<String>();
 
         int numFileNames = 100;
@@ -115,8 +115,7 @@
     }
 
     public void cleanInvalidFilesTest(IOManager ioManager) throws InterruptedException, IOException, IndexException {
-        ILSMIndexFileManager fileManager = new DummyLSMIndexFileManager(ioManager, fileMapProvider, file,
-                new DummyTreeFactory(), DEFAULT_IO_DEVICE_ID);
+        ILSMIndexFileManager fileManager = new DummyLSMIndexFileManager(fileMapProvider, file, new DummyTreeFactory());
         fileManager.createDirs();
 
         List<FileReference> flushFiles = new ArrayList<FileReference>();
@@ -190,7 +189,7 @@
 
         // Make sure invalid files were removed from the IODevices.
         ArrayList<String> remainingFiles = new ArrayList<String>();
-        File dir = new File(ioManager.getIODevices().get(DEFAULT_IO_DEVICE_ID).getPath(), baseDir);
+        File dir = new File(baseDir);
         FilenameFilter filter = new FilenameFilter() {
             public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
                 return !name.startsWith(".");
@@ -218,7 +217,7 @@
     }
 
     private void cleanDirs(IOManager ioManager) {
-        File dir = new File(ioManager.getIODevices().get(DEFAULT_IO_DEVICE_ID).getPath(), baseDir);
+        File dir = new File(baseDir);
         FilenameFilter filter = new FilenameFilter() {
             public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
                 return !name.startsWith(".");
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
index e254fba..ee09f2f 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@
 public class LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest {
 
     public LSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.LSM, true, 1);
+        super(InvertedIndexType.LSM, true);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexInsertTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
index 07afebe..748dd32 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@
 public class LSMInvertedIndexInsertTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest {
 
     public LSMInvertedIndexInsertTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.LSM, false, 1);
+        super(InvertedIndexType.LSM, false);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexMergeTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexMergeTest.java
index 8c0c597..5115b7e 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexMergeTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexMergeTest.java
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
     private final int maxTreesToMerge = AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_INVINDEX_MAX_TREES_TO_MERGE;
 
     public LSMInvertedIndexMergeTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.LSM, true, 1);
+        super(InvertedIndexType.LSM, false);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -48,11 +48,10 @@
 
         for (int i = 0; i < maxTreesToMerge; i++) {
             for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) {
-                if (bulkLoad) {
-                    LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.bulkLoadInvIndex(testCtx, tupleGen, NUM_DOCS_TO_INSERT);
-                } else {
-                    LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.insertIntoInvIndex(testCtx, tupleGen, NUM_DOCS_TO_INSERT);
-                }
+                LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.insertIntoInvIndex(testCtx, tupleGen, NUM_DOCS_TO_INSERT);
+                // Deactivate and the re-activate the index to force it flush its in memory component
+                invIndex.deactivate();
+                invIndex.activate();
             }
             // Perform merge.
             invIndexAccessor.scheduleMerge(NoOpIOOperationCallback.INSTANCE);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexMultiBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexMultiBulkLoadTest.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 0d8f59c..0000000
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/LSMInvertedIndexMultiBulkLoadTest.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
- *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
-package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex;
-
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.config.AccessMethodTestsConfig;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.common.AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.util.LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.InvertedIndexType;
-
-public class LSMInvertedIndexMultiBulkLoadTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest {
-
-    public LSMInvertedIndexMultiBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.LSM, true, AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_INVINDEX_NUM_BULKLOAD_ROUNDS);
-    }
-}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
index 6c2da74..0f0345f 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@
 public class PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest {
 
     public PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_LSM, true, 1);
+        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_LSM, true);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexInsertTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
index 7a93069..608f2fc 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@
 public class PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexInsertTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest {
 
     public PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexInsertTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_LSM, false, 1);
+        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_LSM, false);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexMergeTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexMergeTest.java
index bccf27b..523557d 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexMergeTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexMergeTest.java
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
     private final int maxTreesToMerge = AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_INVINDEX_MAX_TREES_TO_MERGE;
 
     public PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexMergeTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_LSM, true, 1);
+        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_LSM, false);
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -48,11 +48,10 @@
 
         for (int i = 0; i < maxTreesToMerge; i++) {
             for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) {
-                if (bulkLoad) {
-                    LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.bulkLoadInvIndex(testCtx, tupleGen, NUM_DOCS_TO_INSERT);
-                } else {
-                    LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.insertIntoInvIndex(testCtx, tupleGen, NUM_DOCS_TO_INSERT);
-                }
+                LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.insertIntoInvIndex(testCtx, tupleGen, NUM_DOCS_TO_INSERT);
+                // Deactivate and the re-activate the index to force it flush its in memory component
+                invIndex.deactivate();
+                invIndex.activate();
             }
             // Perform merge.
             invIndexAccessor.scheduleMerge(NoOpIOOperationCallback.INSTANCE);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexMultiBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexMultiBulkLoadTest.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 71194f5..0000000
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexMultiBulkLoadTest.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
- *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
-package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex;
-
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.config.AccessMethodTestsConfig;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.common.AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.invertedindex.util.LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.InvertedIndexType;
-
-public class PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexMultiBulkLoadTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest {
-
-    public PartitionedLSMInvertedIndexMultiBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_LSM, true, AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_INVINDEX_NUM_BULKLOAD_ROUNDS);
-    }
-}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/common/AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/common/AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest.java
index c3d6a16..8ccc203 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/common/AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/common/AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest.java
@@ -29,12 +29,10 @@
 public abstract class AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexTest {
 
     protected final boolean bulkLoad;
-    protected final int numRounds;
 
-    public AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest(InvertedIndexType invIndexType, boolean bulkLoad, int numRounds) {
+    public AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest(InvertedIndexType invIndexType, boolean bulkLoad) {
         super(invIndexType);
         this.bulkLoad = bulkLoad;
-        this.numRounds = numRounds;
     }
 
     protected void runTest(LSMInvertedIndexTestContext testCtx, TupleGenerator tupleGen) throws IOException,
@@ -43,15 +41,13 @@
         invIndex.create();
         invIndex.activate();
 
-        for (int i = 0; i < numRounds; i++) {
-            if (bulkLoad) {
-                LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.bulkLoadInvIndex(testCtx, tupleGen, NUM_DOCS_TO_INSERT);
-            } else {
-                LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.insertIntoInvIndex(testCtx, tupleGen, NUM_DOCS_TO_INSERT);
-            }
-            validateAndCheckIndex(testCtx);
-            runTinySearchWorkload(testCtx, tupleGen);
+        if (bulkLoad) {
+            LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.bulkLoadInvIndex(testCtx, tupleGen, NUM_DOCS_TO_INSERT);
+        } else {
+            LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.insertIntoInvIndex(testCtx, tupleGen, NUM_DOCS_TO_INSERT);
         }
+        validateAndCheckIndex(testCtx);
+        runTinySearchWorkload(testCtx, tupleGen);
 
         invIndex.deactivate();
         invIndex.destroy();
@@ -59,7 +55,8 @@
 
     @Test
     public void wordTokensInvIndexTest() throws IOException, IndexException {
-        LSMInvertedIndexTestContext testCtx = LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.createWordInvIndexTestContext(harness, invIndexType);
+        LSMInvertedIndexTestContext testCtx = LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.createWordInvIndexTestContext(harness,
+                invIndexType);
         TupleGenerator tupleGen = LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.createStringDocumentTupleGen(harness.getRandom());
         runTest(testCtx, tupleGen);
     }
@@ -74,7 +71,8 @@
 
     @Test
     public void ngramTokensInvIndexTest() throws IOException, IndexException {
-        LSMInvertedIndexTestContext testCtx = LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.createNGramInvIndexTestContext(harness, invIndexType);
+        LSMInvertedIndexTestContext testCtx = LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.createNGramInvIndexTestContext(harness,
+                invIndexType);
         TupleGenerator tupleGen = LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.createPersonNamesTupleGen(harness.getRandom());
         runTest(testCtx, tupleGen);
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/common/LSMInvertedIndexTestHarness.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/common/LSMInvertedIndexTestHarness.java
index 7407c24..7276464 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/common/LSMInvertedIndexTestHarness.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/common/LSMInvertedIndexTestHarness.java
@@ -108,7 +108,10 @@
     }
 
     public void setUp() throws HyracksException {
-        onDiskDir = "lsm_invertedindex_" + simpleDateFormat.format(new Date()) + sep;
+        ioManager = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getIOManager();
+        ioDeviceId = 0;
+        onDiskDir = ioManager.getIODevices().get(ioDeviceId).getPath() + sep + "lsm_invertedindex_"
+                + simpleDateFormat.format(new Date()) + sep;
         ctx = TestUtils.create(getHyracksFrameSize());
         TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.init(diskPageSize, diskNumPages, diskMaxOpenFiles);
         diskBufferCache = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getBufferCache(ctx);
@@ -117,30 +120,27 @@
                 memPageSize, memNumPages));
         virtualBufferCache.open();
         virtualFreePageManager = new VirtualFreePageManager(memNumPages);
-        ioManager = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getIOManager();
-        ioDeviceId = 0;
         rnd.setSeed(RANDOM_SEED);
         invIndexFileRef = ioManager.getIODevices().get(0).createFileReference(onDiskDir + invIndexFileName);
     }
 
     public void tearDown() throws HyracksDataException {
         diskBufferCache.close();
-        for (IODeviceHandle dev : ioManager.getIODevices()) {
-            File dir = new File(dev.getPath(), onDiskDir);
-            FilenameFilter filter = new FilenameFilter() {
-                public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
-                    return !name.startsWith(".");
-                }
-            };
-            String[] files = dir.list(filter);
-            if (files != null) {
-                for (String fileName : files) {
-                    File file = new File(dir.getPath() + File.separator + fileName);
-                    file.delete();
-                }
+        IODeviceHandle dev = ioManager.getIODevices().get(ioDeviceId);
+        File dir = new File(dev.getPath(), onDiskDir);
+        FilenameFilter filter = new FilenameFilter() {
+            public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
+                return !name.startsWith(".");
             }
-            dir.delete();
+        };
+        String[] files = dir.list(filter);
+        if (files != null) {
+            for (String fileName : files) {
+                File file = new File(dir.getPath() + File.separator + fileName);
+                file.delete();
+            }
         }
+        dir.delete();
         virtualBufferCache.close();
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
index bba0f36..8bc2817 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/InMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@
 public class InMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest {
     
     public InMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.INMEMORY, false, 1);
+        super(InvertedIndexType.INMEMORY, false);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
index fa8eee0..46ea72c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/inmemory/PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@
 public class PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest {
 
     public PartitionedInMemoryInvertedIndexInsertTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_INMEMORY, false, 1);
+        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_INMEMORY, false);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
index fd90ad4..776b193 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@
 public class OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest {
 
     public OnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.ONDISK, true, 1);
+        super(InvertedIndexType.ONDISK, true);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
index ad2b93a..6b9890d 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/ondisk/PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@
 public class PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest extends AbstractInvertedIndexLoadTest {
 
     public PartitionedOnDiskInvertedIndexBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_ONDISK, true, 1);
+        super(InvertedIndexType.PARTITIONED_ONDISK, true);
     }
 }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.java
index 119226e..81babf3 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestContext.java
@@ -147,19 +147,19 @@
             case LSM: {
                 invIndex = InvertedIndexUtils.createLSMInvertedIndex(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(),
                         harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits,
-                        tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                        harness.getOnDiskDir(), harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
+                        tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getOnDiskDir(),
+                        harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
                         harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                        harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                        harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
                 break;
             }
             case PARTITIONED_LSM: {
                 invIndex = InvertedIndexUtils.createPartitionedLSMInvertedIndex(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(),
                         harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories, tokenTypeTraits,
-                        tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                        harness.getOnDiskDir(), harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
+                        tokenCmpFactories, tokenizerFactory, harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getOnDiskDir(),
+                        harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
                         harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                        harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                        harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
                 break;
             }
             default: {
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java
index fcbf133..c4e1ac5 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-invertedindex-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/invertedindex/util/LSMInvertedIndexTestUtils.java
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@
         ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes = testCtx.getFieldSerdes();
 
         // Use the expected index to bulk-load the actual index.
-        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = testCtx.getIndex().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numDocs);
+        IIndexBulkLoader bulkLoader = testCtx.getIndex().createBulkLoader(1.0f, false, numDocs, true);
         ArrayTupleBuilder tupleBuilder = new ArrayTupleBuilder(testCtx.getFieldSerdes().length);
         ArrayTupleReference tuple = new ArrayTupleReference();
         Iterator<CheckTuple> checkTupleIter = tmpMemIndex.iterator();
@@ -493,7 +493,6 @@
         int[] fieldPermutation = new int[] { 0 };
         PermutingTupleReference searchDocument = new PermutingTupleReference(fieldPermutation);
 
-        IIndexCursor resultCursor = accessor.createSearchCursor();
         int numQueries = numDocQueries + numRandomQueries;
         for (int i = 0; i < numQueries; i++) {
             // If number of documents in the corpus is less than numDocQueries, then replace the remaining ones with random queries.
@@ -511,7 +510,7 @@
             searchPred.setQueryTuple(searchDocument);
             searchPred.setQueryFieldIndex(0);
 
-            resultCursor.reset();
+            IIndexCursor resultCursor = accessor.createSearchCursor();
             boolean panic = false;
             try {
                 accessor.search(resultCursor, searchPred);
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeBulkLoadTest.java
index b9f652a..3fcb4e5 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 public class LSMRTreeBulkLoadTest extends AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest {
 
     public LSMRTreeBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(1, AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_RTREE_TEST_RSTAR_POLICY);
+        super(AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_RTREE_TEST_RSTAR_POLICY);
     }
 
     private final LSMRTreeTestHarness harness = new LSMRTreeTestHarness();
@@ -54,12 +54,10 @@
     protected AbstractRTreeTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeys, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType)
             throws Exception {
-        return LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType,
-                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories,
+                numKeys, rtreePolicyType, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeDeleteTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeDeleteTest.java
index c4c5d00..467916e 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeDeleteTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeDeleteTest.java
@@ -54,12 +54,10 @@
     protected AbstractRTreeTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeys, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType)
             throws Exception {
-        return LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType,
-                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories,
+                numKeys, rtreePolicyType, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeExamplesTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeExamplesTest.java
index 0778269..a35170c 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeExamplesTest.java
@@ -37,13 +37,12 @@
     protected ITreeIndex createTreeIndex(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
             RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType) throws TreeIndexException {
-        return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), typeTraits,
-                rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType,
-                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
+        return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories,
+                btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(),
+                harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length));
     }
 
     @Before
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeInsertTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeInsertTest.java
index 33e0bca..44da0c0 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeInsertTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeInsertTest.java
@@ -54,12 +54,10 @@
     protected AbstractRTreeTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeys, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType)
             throws Exception {
-        return LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType,
-                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories,
+                numKeys, rtreePolicyType, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeLifecycleTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeLifecycleTest.java
index 5da1fe0..b97bebb 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeLifecycleTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeLifecycleTest.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IODeviceHandle;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.IntegerPointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.IntegerSerializerDeserializer;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.AbstractIndexLifecycleTest;
@@ -50,10 +49,8 @@
     @Override
     protected boolean persistentStateExists() throws Exception {
         // make sure all of the directories exist
-        for (IODeviceHandle handle : harness.getIOManager().getIODevices()) {
-            if (!new FileReference(handle, harness.getFileReference().getFile().getPath()).getFile().exists()) {
-                return false;
-            }
+        if (!new FileReference(harness.getFileReference().getFile()).getFile().exists()) {
+            return false;
         }
         return true;
     }
@@ -66,11 +63,10 @@
     @Override
     public void setup() throws Exception {
         harness.setUp();
-        testCtx = LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, RTreePolicyType.RTREE,
-                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(),
-                harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+        testCtx = LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories,
+                numKeys, RTreePolicyType.RTREE, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
         index = testCtx.getIndex();
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMergeTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMergeTest.java
index 42fde48..b13ce4d 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMergeTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMergeTest.java
@@ -53,12 +53,10 @@
     protected AbstractRTreeTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeys, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType)
             throws Exception {
-        return LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType,
-                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+        return LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories,
+                numKeys, rtreePolicyType, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMergeTestDriver.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMergeTestDriver.java
index 4cde8d2..18528c4 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMergeTestDriver.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMergeTestDriver.java
@@ -59,9 +59,15 @@
         for (int i = 0; i < maxTreesToMerge; i++) {
             for (int j = 0; j < i; j++) {
                 if (fieldSerdes[0] instanceof IntegerSerializerDeserializer) {
-                    rTreeTestUtils.bulkLoadIntTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
+                    rTreeTestUtils.insertIntTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
+                    // Deactivate and the re-activate the index to force it flush its in memory component
+                    ctx.getIndex().deactivate();
+                    ctx.getIndex().activate();
                 } else if (fieldSerdes[0] instanceof DoubleSerializerDeserializer) {
-                    rTreeTestUtils.bulkLoadDoubleTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
+                    rTreeTestUtils.insertDoubleTuples(ctx, numTuplesToInsert, getRandom());
+                    // Deactivate and the re-activate the index to force it flush its in memory component
+                    ctx.getIndex().deactivate();
+                    ctx.getIndex().activate();
                 }
             }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMultiBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMultiBulkLoadTest.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 6796546..0000000
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeMultiBulkLoadTest.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,69 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
- *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
-package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.rtree;
-
-import java.util.Random;
-
-import org.junit.After;
-import org.junit.Before;
-
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksException;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.config.AccessMethodTestsConfig;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.rtree.util.LSMRTreeTestContext;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.rtree.util.LSMRTreeTestHarness;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.AbstractRTreeTestContext;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.frames.RTreePolicyType;
-
-@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
-public class LSMRTreeMultiBulkLoadTest extends AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest {
-
-    public LSMRTreeMultiBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_RTREE_BULKLOAD_ROUNDS, AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_RTREE_TEST_RSTAR_POLICY);
-    }
-
-    private final LSMRTreeTestHarness harness = new LSMRTreeTestHarness();
-
-    @Before
-    public void setUp() throws HyracksException {
-        harness.setUp();
-    }
-
-    @After
-    public void tearDown() throws HyracksDataException {
-        harness.tearDown();
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    protected AbstractRTreeTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
-            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeys, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType)
-            throws Exception {
-        return LSMRTreeTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType,
-                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    protected Random getRandom() {
-        return harness.getRandom();
-    }
-}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoadTest.java
index cf33d05..2baf485 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 public class LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoadTest extends AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest {
 
     public LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(1, AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_RTREE_TEST_RSTAR_POLICY);
+        super(AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_RTREE_TEST_RSTAR_POLICY);
     }
 
     private final LSMRTreeTestHarness harness = new LSMRTreeTestHarness();
@@ -54,11 +54,10 @@
     protected AbstractRTreeTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeys, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType)
             throws Exception {
-        return LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
+        return LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(),
                 harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
                 fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType, harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesDeleteTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesDeleteTest.java
index 7be02f3..9c440cc 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesDeleteTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesDeleteTest.java
@@ -54,11 +54,10 @@
     protected AbstractRTreeTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeys, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType)
             throws Exception {
-        return LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
+        return LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(),
                 harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
                 fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType, harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesExamplesTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesExamplesTest.java
index 71d6c1c..909d0cd 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesExamplesTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesExamplesTest.java
@@ -37,12 +37,12 @@
     protected ITreeIndex createTreeIndex(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
             RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType) throws TreeIndexException {
-        return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
+        return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(),
                 harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), typeTraits,
                 rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType,
                 harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length));
     }
 
     @Before
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesInsertTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesInsertTest.java
index ad502c7..6b35192 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesInsertTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesInsertTest.java
@@ -54,11 +54,10 @@
     protected AbstractRTreeTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeys, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType)
             throws Exception {
-        return LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
+        return LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(),
                 harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
                 fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType, harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesLifecycleTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesLifecycleTest.java
index 44c1966..6dcbdf2 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesLifecycleTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesLifecycleTest.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IODeviceHandle;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.IntegerPointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.marshalling.IntegerSerializerDeserializer;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.AbstractIndexLifecycleTest;
@@ -50,10 +49,8 @@
     @Override
     protected boolean persistentStateExists() throws Exception {
         // make sure all of the directories exist
-        for (IODeviceHandle handle : harness.getIOManager().getIODevices()) {
-            if (!new FileReference(handle, harness.getFileReference().getFile().getPath()).getFile().exists()) {
-                return false;
-            }
+        if (!new FileReference(harness.getFileReference().getFile()).getFile().exists()) {
+            return false;
         }
         return true;
     }
@@ -67,10 +64,9 @@
     public void setup() throws Exception {
         harness.setUp();
         testCtx = LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(),
-                harness.getIOManager(), harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(),
-                harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, RTreePolicyType.RTREE,
-                harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
+                fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, RTreePolicyType.RTREE, harness.getMergePolicy(),
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
         index = testCtx.getIndex();
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMergeTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMergeTest.java
index 16a9679..dc81fc3 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMergeTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMergeTest.java
@@ -53,11 +53,10 @@
     protected AbstractRTreeTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
             IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeys, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType)
             throws Exception {
-        return LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
+        return LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(),
                 harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
                 fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType, harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(), harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider());
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiBulkLoadTest.java
deleted file mode 100644
index c91948e..0000000
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiBulkLoadTest.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,68 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * you may obtain a copy of the License from
- * 
- *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * 
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-
-package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.rtree;
-
-import java.util.Random;
-
-import org.junit.After;
-import org.junit.Before;
-
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksException;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.config.AccessMethodTestsConfig;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.rtree.util.LSMRTreeTestHarness;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.rtree.util.LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.AbstractRTreeTestContext;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.rtree.frames.RTreePolicyType;
-
-@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
-public class LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiBulkLoadTest extends AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest {
-
-    public LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_RTREE_BULKLOAD_ROUNDS, AccessMethodTestsConfig.LSM_RTREE_TEST_RSTAR_POLICY);
-    }
-
-    private final LSMRTreeTestHarness harness = new LSMRTreeTestHarness();
-
-    @Before
-    public void setUp() throws HyracksException {
-        harness.setUp();
-    }
-
-    @After
-    public void tearDown() throws HyracksDataException {
-        harness.tearDown();
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    protected AbstractRTreeTestContext createTestContext(ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
-            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeys, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType)
-            throws Exception {
-        return LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.create(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(),
-                fieldSerdes, valueProviderFactories, numKeys, rtreePolicyType, harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
-                harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(), harness.getIODeviceId());
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    protected Random getRandom() {
-        return harness.getRandom();
-    }
-}
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeMultiThreadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeMultiThreadTest.java
index 8c6c305..850d540 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeMultiThreadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeMultiThreadTest.java
@@ -57,13 +57,12 @@
     protected ITreeIndex createTreeIndex(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
             RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType) throws TreeIndexException {
-        return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
-                harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), typeTraits,
-                rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType,
-                harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), harness.getMergePolicy(),
-                harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
+        return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTree(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getFileReference(),
+                harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories,
+                btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, harness.getBoomFilterFalsePositiveRate(),
+                harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length));
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiThreadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiThreadTest.java
index d9e4658..4a6b462 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiThreadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/multithread/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesMultiThreadTest.java
@@ -57,12 +57,12 @@
     protected ITreeIndex createTreeIndex(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
             RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType) throws TreeIndexException {
-        return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(), harness.getIOManager(),
+        return LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(harness.getVirtualBufferCache(),
                 harness.getFileReference(), harness.getDiskBufferCache(), harness.getDiskFileMapProvider(), typeTraits,
                 rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType,
                 harness.getMergePolicy(), harness.getOperationTracker(), harness.getIOScheduler(),
                 harness.getIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
-                LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length), harness.getIODeviceId());
+                LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length));
 
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestContext.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestContext.java
index fe2cc9e..9e77be0 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestContext.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.nc.io.IOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.util.SerdeUtils;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndex;
@@ -66,22 +65,21 @@
         return lsmTree.getComparatorFactories();
     }
 
-    public static LSMRTreeTestContext create(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, IOManager ioManager,
-            FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider,
-            ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
-            int numKeyFields, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate,
-            ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
-            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider, int ioDeviceId) throws Exception {
+    public static LSMRTreeTestContext create(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache, FileReference file,
+            IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
+            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeyFields, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
+            double bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker,
+            ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler, ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider)
+            throws Exception {
         ITypeTraits[] typeTraits = SerdeUtils.serdesToTypeTraits(fieldSerdes);
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories = SerdeUtils
                 .serdesToComparatorFactories(fieldSerdes, numKeyFields);
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories = SerdeUtils.serdesToComparatorFactories(fieldSerdes,
                 fieldSerdes.length);
-        LSMRTree lsmTree = LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, ioManager, file, diskBufferCache,
-                diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories,
-                rtreePolicyType, bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler,
-                ioOpCallbackProvider, LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length),
-                ioDeviceId);
+        LSMRTree lsmTree = LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTree(virtualBufferCache, file, diskBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider,
+                typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType,
+                bloomFilterFalsePositiveRate, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider,
+                LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length));
         LSMRTreeTestContext testCtx = new LSMRTreeTestContext(fieldSerdes, lsmTree);
         return testCtx;
     }
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestHarness.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestHarness.java
index 3382318..118b1bc 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestHarness.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeTestHarness.java
@@ -104,35 +104,34 @@
     }
 
     public void setUp() throws HyracksException {
-        onDiskDir = "lsm_rtree_" + simpleDateFormat.format(new Date()) + sep;
+        ioManager = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getIOManager();
+        ioDeviceId = 0;
+        onDiskDir = ioManager.getIODevices().get(ioDeviceId).getPath() + sep + "lsm_rtree_"
+                + simpleDateFormat.format(new Date()) + sep;
         file = new FileReference(new File(onDiskDir));
         ctx = TestUtils.create(getHyracksFrameSize());
         TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.init(diskPageSize, diskNumPages, diskMaxOpenFiles);
         diskBufferCache = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getBufferCache(ctx);
         diskFileMapProvider = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getFileMapProvider(ctx);
         virtualBufferCache = new VirtualBufferCache(new HeapBufferAllocator(), memPageSize, memNumPages);
-        ioManager = TestStorageManagerComponentHolder.getIOManager();
-        ioDeviceId = 0;
         rnd.setSeed(RANDOM_SEED);
     }
 
     public void tearDown() throws HyracksDataException {
         diskBufferCache.close();
-        for (IODeviceHandle dev : ioManager.getIODevices()) {
-            File dir = new File(dev.getPath(), onDiskDir);
-            FilenameFilter filter = new FilenameFilter() {
-                public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
-                    return !name.startsWith(".");
-                }
-            };
-            String[] files = dir.list(filter);
-            if (files != null) {
-                for (String fileName : files) {
-                    File file = new File(dir.getPath() + File.separator + fileName);
-                    file.delete();
-                }
+        IODeviceHandle dev = ioManager.getIODevices().get(ioDeviceId);
+        File dir = new File(dev.getPath(), onDiskDir);
+        FilenameFilter filter = new FilenameFilter() {
+            public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
+                return !name.startsWith(".");
             }
-            dir.delete();
+        };
+        String[] files = dir.list(filter);
+        if (files != null) {
+            for (String fileName : files) {
+                File file = new File(dir.getPath() + File.separator + fileName);
+                file.delete();
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.java
index b1f4d8f..d3fe23b 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/rtree/util/LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.nc.io.IOManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.util.SerdeUtils;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndex;
@@ -67,21 +66,20 @@
     }
 
     public static LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext create(IVirtualBufferCache virtualBufferCache,
-            IOManager ioManager, FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache,
-            IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider, ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes,
-            IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories, int numKeyFields, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType,
-            ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy, ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
-            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider, int ioDeviceId) throws Exception {
+            FileReference file, IBufferCache diskBufferCache, IFileMapProvider diskFileMapProvider,
+            ISerializerDeserializer[] fieldSerdes, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
+            int numKeyFields, RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, ILSMMergePolicy mergePolicy,
+            ILSMOperationTracker opTracker, ILSMIOOperationScheduler ioScheduler,
+            ILSMIOOperationCallbackProvider ioOpCallbackProvider) throws Exception {
         ITypeTraits[] typeTraits = SerdeUtils.serdesToTypeTraits(fieldSerdes);
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories = SerdeUtils
                 .serdesToComparatorFactories(fieldSerdes, numKeyFields);
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories = SerdeUtils.serdesToComparatorFactories(fieldSerdes,
                 fieldSerdes.length);
         LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuples lsmTree = LSMRTreeUtils.createLSMTreeWithAntiMatterTuples(virtualBufferCache,
-                ioManager, file, diskBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories,
-                btreeCmpFactories, valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler,
-                ioOpCallbackProvider, LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length),
-                ioDeviceId);
+                file, diskBufferCache, diskFileMapProvider, typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories, btreeCmpFactories,
+                valueProviderFactories, rtreePolicyType, mergePolicy, opTracker, ioScheduler, ioOpCallbackProvider,
+                LSMRTreeUtils.proposeBestLinearizer(typeTraits, rtreeCmpFactories.length));
         LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext testCtx = new LSMRTreeWithAntiMatterTuplesTestContext(fieldSerdes,
                 lsmTree);
         return testCtx;
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeBulkLoadTest.java b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeBulkLoadTest.java
index 7f42223..4b68ddc 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeBulkLoadTest.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-tests/hyracks-storage-am-rtree-test/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/rtree/RTreeBulkLoadTest.java
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 public class RTreeBulkLoadTest extends AbstractRTreeBulkLoadTest {
 
     public RTreeBulkLoadTest() {
-        super(1, AccessMethodTestsConfig.RTREE_TEST_RSTAR_POLICY);
+        super(AccessMethodTestsConfig.RTREE_TEST_RSTAR_POLICY);
     }
 
     private final RTreeTestHarness harness = new RTreeTestHarness();
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/jobgen/JobGen.java b/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/jobgen/JobGen.java
index e066637..dc1c73f 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/jobgen/JobGen.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/jobgen/JobGen.java
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@
         typeTraits[1] = new TypeTraits(false);
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor btreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManagerInterface, lcManagerProvider, fileSplitProvider, typeTraits, comparatorFactories, null,
-                fieldPermutation, DEFAULT_BTREE_FILL_FACTOR, false, 0, getIndexDataflowHelperFactory(),
+                fieldPermutation, DEFAULT_BTREE_FILL_FACTOR, false, 0, false, getIndexDataflowHelperFactory(),
                 NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         ClusterConfig.setLocationConstraint(spec, btreeBulkLoad);
 
@@ -504,4 +504,4 @@
     /** generate clean-up job */
     public abstract JobSpecification[] generateCleanup() throws HyracksException;
 
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/join/JoinTest.java b/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/join/JoinTest.java
index 24a96a3..4c7f91d 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/join/JoinTest.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-core/src/test/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/core/join/JoinTest.java
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@
             typeTraits[i] = new TypeTraits(false);
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor writer = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 storageManagerInterface, lcManagerProvider, fileSplitProvider, typeTraits, comparatorFactories, null,
-                fieldPermutation, DEFAULT_BTREE_FILL_FACTOR, false, 0, new BTreeDataflowHelperFactory(),
+                fieldPermutation, DEFAULT_BTREE_FILL_FACTOR, false, 0, false, new BTreeDataflowHelperFactory(),
                 NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         PartitionConstraintHelper.addAbsoluteLocationConstraint(spec, writer, NC1_ID, NC2_ID);
 
diff --git a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/TreeIndexBulkReLoadOperatorNodePushable.java b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/TreeIndexBulkReLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
index 208d41c..e3d89d5 100644
--- a/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/TreeIndexBulkReLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
+++ b/pregelix/pregelix-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/pregelix/dataflow/std/TreeIndexBulkReLoadOperatorNodePushable.java
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
         treeIndexOpHelper.open();
         try {
             index = (ITreeIndex) treeIndexOpHelper.getIndexInstance();
-            bulkLoader = index.createBulkLoader(fillFactor, false, 0);
+            bulkLoader = index.createBulkLoader(fillFactor, false, 0, false);
         } catch (Exception e) {
             // cleanup in case of failure
             treeIndexOpHelper.close();