diff --git a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/typecast/StaticTypeCastUtil.java b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/typecast/StaticTypeCastUtil.java
index d6e0f42..282d26b 100644
--- a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/typecast/StaticTypeCastUtil.java
+++ b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/optimizer/rules/typecast/StaticTypeCastUtil.java
@@ -188,8 +188,12 @@
         // if already rewritten, the required type is not null
         if (TypeComputerUtilities.getRequiredType(funcExpr) != null)
             return false;
-        TypeComputerUtilities.setRequiredAndInputTypes(funcExpr, requiredRecordType, inputRecordType);
-        return staticRecordTypeCast(funcExpr, requiredRecordType, inputRecordType, env);
+        boolean casted = staticRecordTypeCast(funcExpr, requiredRecordType, inputRecordType, env);
+        if (casted) {
+            //enforce the required type if it is statically casted
+            TypeComputerUtilities.setRequiredAndInputTypes(funcExpr, requiredRecordType, inputRecordType);
+        }
+        return casted;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AbstractAqlTranslator.java b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AbstractAqlTranslator.java
index 9fe5750..792ff25 100644
--- a/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AbstractAqlTranslator.java
+++ b/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/translator/AbstractAqlTranslator.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.entities.AsterixBuiltinTypeMap;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.metadata.entities.Dataverse;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.AsterixClusterProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.common.utils.Pair;
 
 /**
@@ -41,6 +42,12 @@
     protected static final Map<String, BuiltinType> builtinTypeMap = AsterixBuiltinTypeMap.getBuiltinTypes();
 
     public void validateOperation(Dataverse defaultDataverse, Statement stmt) throws AsterixException {
+
+        if (AsterixClusterProperties.INSTANCE.getState().equals(AsterixClusterProperties.State.UNUSABLE)) {
+            throw new AsterixException(" Asterix Cluster is in " + AsterixClusterProperties.State.UNUSABLE + " state."
+                    + "\n One or more Node Controllers have left.\n");
+        }
+
         boolean invalidOperation = false;
         String message = null;
         String dataverse = defaultDataverse != null ? defaultDataverse.getDataverseName() : null;
diff --git a/asterix-app/data/tinysocial/twm.adm b/asterix-app/data/tinysocial/twm.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d18c70f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/data/tinysocial/twm.adm
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{"tweetid":"1","user":{"screen-name":"NathanGiesen@211","lang":"en","friends_count":39339,"statuses_count":473,"name":"Nathan Giesen","followers_count":49416},"sender-location":point("47.44,80.65"),"send-time":datetime("2008-04-26T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"t-mobile","customization"}},"message-text":" love t-mobile its customization is good:)"}
+{"tweetid":"2","user":{"screen-name":"ColineGeyer@63","lang":"en","friends_count":121,"statuses_count":362,"name":"Coline Geyer","followers_count":17159},"sender-location":point("32.84,67.14"),"send-time":datetime("2010-05-13T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"verizon","shortcut-menu"}},"message-text":" like verizon its shortcut-menu is awesome:)"}
+{"tweetid":"3","user":{"screen-name":"NathanGiesen@211","lang":"en","friends_count":39339,"statuses_count":473,"name":"Nathan Giesen","followers_count":49416},"sender-location":point("29.72,75.8"),"send-time":datetime("2006-11-04T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"motorola","speed"}},"message-text":" like motorola the speed is good:)"}
+{"tweetid":"4","user":{"screen-name":"NathanGiesen@211","lang":"en","friends_count":39339,"statuses_count":473,"name":"Nathan Giesen","followers_count":49416},"sender-location":point("39.28,70.48"),"send-time":datetime("2011-12-26T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"sprint","voice-command"}},"message-text":" like sprint the voice-command is mind-blowing:)"}
+{"tweetid":"5","user":{"screen-name":"NathanGiesen@211","lang":"en","friends_count":39339,"statuses_count":473,"name":"Nathan Giesen","followers_count":49416},"sender-location":point("40.09,92.69"),"send-time":datetime("2006-08-04T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"motorola","speed"}},"message-text":" can't stand motorola its speed is terrible:("}
+{"tweetid":"6","user":{"screen-name":"ColineGeyer@63","lang":"en","friends_count":121,"statuses_count":362,"name":"Coline Geyer","followers_count":17159},"sender-location":point("47.51,83.99"),"send-time":datetime("2010-05-07T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"iphone","voice-clarity"}},"message-text":" like iphone the voice-clarity is good:)"}
+{"tweetid":"7","user":{"screen-name":"ChangEwing_573","lang":"en","friends_count":182,"statuses_count":394,"name":"Chang Ewing","followers_count":32136},"sender-location":point("36.21,72.6"),"send-time":datetime("2011-08-25T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"samsung","platform"}},"message-text":" like samsung the platform is good"}
+{"tweetid":"8","user":{"screen-name":"NathanGiesen@211","lang":"en","friends_count":39339,"statuses_count":473,"name":"Nathan Giesen","followers_count":49416},"sender-location":point("46.05,93.34"),"send-time":datetime("2005-10-14T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"t-mobile","shortcut-menu"}},"message-text":" like t-mobile the shortcut-menu is awesome:)"}
+{"tweetid":"9","user":{"screen-name":"NathanGiesen@211","lang":"en","friends_count":39339,"statuses_count":473,"name":"Nathan Giesen","followers_count":49416},"sender-location":point("36.86,74.62"),"send-time":datetime("2012-07-21T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"verizon","voicemail-service"}},"message-text":" love verizon its voicemail-service is awesome"}
+{"tweetid":"10","user":{"screen-name":"ColineGeyer@63","lang":"en","friends_count":121,"statuses_count":362,"name":"Coline Geyer","followers_count":17159},"sender-location":point("29.15,76.53"),"send-time":datetime("2008-01-26T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"verizon","voice-clarity"}},"message-text":" hate verizon its voice-clarity is OMG:("}
+{"tweetid":"11","user":{"screen-name":"NilaMilliron_tw","lang":"en","friends_count":445,"statuses_count":164,"name":"Nila Milliron","followers_count":22649},"sender-location":point("37.59,68.42"),"send-time":datetime("2008-03-09T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"iphone","platform"}},"message-text":" can't stand iphone its platform is terrible"}
+{"tweetid":"12","user":{"screen-name":"OliJackson_512","lang":"en","friends_count":445,"statuses_count":164,"name":"Oli Jackson","followers_count":22649},"sender-location":point("24.82,94.63"),"send-time":datetime("2010-02-13T10:10:00"),"referred-topics":{{"samsung","voice-command"}},"message-text":" like samsung the voice-command is amazing:)"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
index 65eae64..e64f68f 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
@@ -49,10 +49,11 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.ResourceIdFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.ResourceIdFactoryProvider;
 
-public class AsterixAppRuntimeContext implements IAsterixAppRuntimeContext,  IAsterixPropertiesProvider {
+public class AsterixAppRuntimeContext implements IAsterixAppRuntimeContext, IAsterixPropertiesProvider {
     private static final int DEFAULT_BUFFER_CACHE_PAGE_SIZE = 32768;
     private static final int DEFAULT_LIFECYCLEMANAGER_MEMORY_BUDGET = 1024 * 1024 * 1024; // 1GB
     private static final int DEFAULT_MAX_OPEN_FILES = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
+    private static final int METADATA_IO_DEVICE_ID = 0;
 
     private final INCApplicationContext ncApplicationContext;
 
@@ -188,6 +189,10 @@
         return ioManager;
     }
 
+    public int getMetaDataIODeviceId() {
+        return METADATA_IO_DEVICE_ID;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public AsterixStorageProperties getStorageProperties() {
         return storageProperties;
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixHyracksIntegrationUtil.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixHyracksIntegrationUtil.java
index 272050f..fb87a8e1 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixHyracksIntegrationUtil.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/api/common/AsterixHyracksIntegrationUtil.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.api.common;
 
+import java.io.File;
 import java.util.EnumSet;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.config.GlobalConfig;
@@ -50,6 +51,8 @@
         ncConfig1.datasetIPAddress = "127.0.0.1";
         ncConfig1.resultHistorySize = 1000;
         ncConfig1.nodeId = NC1_ID;
+        ncConfig1.ioDevices = System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir") + File.separator + "nc1/iodevice0" + ","
+                + System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir") + File.separator + "nc1/iodevice1";
         ncConfig1.appNCMainClass = NCApplicationEntryPoint.class.getName();
         nc1 = new NodeControllerService(ncConfig1);
         nc1.start();
@@ -62,6 +65,8 @@
         ncConfig2.datasetIPAddress = "127.0.0.1";
         ncConfig2.resultHistorySize = 1000;
         ncConfig2.nodeId = NC2_ID;
+        ncConfig2.ioDevices = System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir") + File.separator + "nc2/iodevice0" + ","
+                + System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir") + File.separator + "nc2/iodevice1";
         ncConfig2.appNCMainClass = NCApplicationEntryPoint.class.getName();
         nc2 = new NodeControllerService(ncConfig2);
         nc2.start();
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/DatasetOperations.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/DatasetOperations.java
index 777ca6f..e22c215 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/DatasetOperations.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/DatasetOperations.java
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@
         //prepare a LocalResourceMetadata which will be stored in NC's local resource repository
         ILocalResourceMetadata localResourceMetadata = new LSMBTreeLocalResourceMetadata(typeTraits,
                 comparatorFactories, blooFilterKeyFields, true, storageProperties.getMemoryComponentPageSize(),
-                storageProperties.getMemoryComponentNumPages());
+                storageProperties.getMemoryComponentNumPages(), fs);
         ILocalResourceFactoryProvider localResourceFactoryProvider = new PersistentLocalResourceFactoryProvider(
                 localResourceMetadata, LocalResource.LSMBTreeResource);
 
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryBTreeCreator.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryBTreeCreator.java
index fb83871..ebd1a9c 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryBTreeCreator.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryBTreeCreator.java
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@
         //prepare a LocalResourceMetadata which will be stored in NC's local resource repository
         ILocalResourceMetadata localResourceMetadata = new LSMBTreeLocalResourceMetadata(
                 secondaryRecDesc.getTypeTraits(), secondaryComparatorFactories, secondaryBloomFilterKeyFields, false,
-                storageProperties.getMemoryComponentPageSize(), storageProperties.getMemoryComponentNumPages());
+                storageProperties.getMemoryComponentPageSize(), storageProperties.getMemoryComponentNumPages(),
+                secondaryFileSplitProvider.getFileSplits());
         ILocalResourceFactoryProvider localResourceFactoryProvider = new PersistentLocalResourceFactoryProvider(
                 localResourceMetadata, LocalResource.LSMBTreeResource);
 
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryIndexCreator.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryIndexCreator.java
index 677eb23..b79102b 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryIndexCreator.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryIndexCreator.java
@@ -76,7 +76,8 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.dataflow.LSMBTreeDataflowHelperFactory;
 
 @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
-// TODO: We should eventually have a hierarchy of classes that can create all possible index job specs, 
+// TODO: We should eventually have a hierarchy of classes that can create all
+// possible index job specs,
 // not just for creation.
 public abstract class SecondaryIndexCreator {
     protected final PhysicalOptimizationConfig physOptConf;
@@ -336,16 +337,13 @@
         for (int i = 0; i < numSecondaryKeyFields + numPrimaryKeys; i++) {
             fieldPermutation[i] = i;
         }
-        Pair<IFileSplitProvider, AlgebricksPartitionConstraint> secondarySplitsAndConstraint = metadataProvider
-                .splitProviderAndPartitionConstraintsForInternalOrFeedDataset(dataverseName, datasetName,
-                        secondaryIndexName);
         TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor treeIndexBulkLoadOp = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                 AsterixRuntimeComponentsProvider.LSMBTREE_PROVIDER, AsterixRuntimeComponentsProvider.LSMBTREE_PROVIDER,
-                secondarySplitsAndConstraint.first, secondaryRecDesc.getTypeTraits(), secondaryComparatorFactories,
+                secondaryFileSplitProvider, secondaryRecDesc.getTypeTraits(), secondaryComparatorFactories,
                 secondaryBloomFilterKeyFields, fieldPermutation, fillFactor, false, numElementsHint,
                 dataflowHelperFactory, NoOpOperationCallbackFactory.INSTANCE);
         AlgebricksPartitionConstraintHelper.setPartitionConstraintInJobSpec(spec, treeIndexBulkLoadOp,
-                secondarySplitsAndConstraint.second);
+                secondaryPartitionConstraint);
         return treeIndexBulkLoadOp;
     }
 
@@ -365,7 +363,8 @@
         }
         ICopyEvaluatorFactory selectCond = null;
         if (numSecondaryKeyFields > 1) {
-            // Create conjunctive condition where all secondary index keys must satisfy 'is not null'.
+            // Create conjunctive condition where all secondary index keys must
+            // satisfy 'is not null'.
             AndDescriptor andDesc = new AndDescriptor();
             selectCond = andDesc.createEvaluatorFactory(andArgsEvalFactories);
         } else {
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryInvertedIndexCreator.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryInvertedIndexCreator.java
index a2e28da..ef94ec2 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryInvertedIndexCreator.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryInvertedIndexCreator.java
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@
         ILocalResourceMetadata localResourceMetadata = new LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceMetadata(invListsTypeTraits,
                 primaryComparatorFactories, tokenTypeTraits, tokenComparatorFactories, tokenizerFactory,
                 storageProperties.getMemoryComponentPageSize(), storageProperties.getMemoryComponentNumPages(),
-                isPartitioned);
+                isPartitioned, secondaryFileSplitProvider.getFileSplits());
         ILocalResourceFactoryProvider localResourceFactoryProvider = new PersistentLocalResourceFactoryProvider(
                 localResourceMetadata, LocalResource.LSMInvertedIndexResource);
 
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryRTreeCreator.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryRTreeCreator.java
index ad61cbe..b7e4886 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryRTreeCreator.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/file/SecondaryRTreeCreator.java
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
                 secondaryRecDesc.getTypeTraits(), secondaryComparatorFactories, primaryComparatorFactories,
                 valueProviderFactories, RTreePolicyType.RTREE, AqlMetadataProvider.proposeLinearizer(keyType,
                         secondaryComparatorFactories.length), storageProperties.getMemoryComponentPageSize(),
-                storageProperties.getMemoryComponentNumPages());
+                storageProperties.getMemoryComponentNumPages(), secondaryFileSplitProvider.getFileSplits());
         ILocalResourceFactoryProvider localResourceFactoryProvider = new PersistentLocalResourceFactoryProvider(
                 localResourceMetadata, LocalResource.LSMRTreeResource);
 
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java
index 8019a41..5d4f6ec 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplicationEntryPoint.java
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
         webServer.start();
         setupJSONAPIServer(externalProperties);
         jsonAPIServer.start();
+        ccAppCtx.addClusterLifecycleListener(ClusterLifecycleListener.INSTANCE);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/ClusterLifecycleListener.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/ClusterLifecycleListener.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8a1ad2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/ClusterLifecycleListener.java
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.hyracks.bootstrap;
+
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.AsterixClusterProperties;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.application.IClusterLifecycleListener;
+
+public class ClusterLifecycleListener implements IClusterLifecycleListener {
+
+    public static ClusterLifecycleListener INSTANCE = new ClusterLifecycleListener();
+
+    private ClusterLifecycleListener() {
+    }
+
+    private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(ClusterLifecycleListener.class.getName());
+
+    @Override
+    public void notifyNodeJoin(String nodeId, Map<String, String> ncConfiguration) {
+        if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+            LOGGER.info("NC: " + nodeId + " joined");
+        }
+        AsterixClusterProperties.INSTANCE.addNCConfiguration(nodeId, ncConfiguration);
+    }
+
+    public void notifyNodeFailure(Set<String> deadNodeIds) {
+        for (String deadNode : deadNodeIds) {
+            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                LOGGER.info("NC: " + deadNode + " left");
+            }
+            AsterixClusterProperties.INSTANCE.removeNCConfiguration(deadNode);
+        }
+
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/result/ResultUtils.java b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/result/ResultUtils.java
index 32f17b2..02cf6a4 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/result/ResultUtils.java
+++ b/asterix-app/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/result/ResultUtils.java
@@ -91,11 +91,10 @@
     public static String extractErrorMessage(Throwable e) {
         StringBuilder errorMessageBuilder = new StringBuilder();
         Throwable cause = e;
+        errorMessageBuilder.append(cause.getLocalizedMessage());
         while (cause != null) {
-            StackTraceElement[] stackTraceElements = e.getStackTrace();
-            errorMessageBuilder.append(cause.toString());
-            errorMessageBuilder.append(stackTraceElements.length > 0 ? "\n at " + stackTraceElements[0] : "");
-            errorMessageBuilder.append("\n");
+            StackTraceElement[] stackTraceElements = cause.getStackTrace();
+            errorMessageBuilder.append(stackTraceElements.length > 0 ? "\n caused by: " + stackTraceElements[0] : "");
             cause = cause.getCause();
         }
         return errorMessageBuilder.toString();
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.1.ddl.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17da24b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.1.ddl.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+drop dataverse TinySocial if exists;
+create dataverse TinySocial;
+use dataverse TinySocial;
+
+create type TweetMessageType as open {
+        tweetid: string
+}
+
+create dataset TweetMessages(TweetMessageType)
+primary key tweetid
+hints(cardinality=100); 
+
+
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.2.update.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.2.update.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..627623a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.2.update.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+use dataverse TinySocial;
+
+load dataset TweetMessages
+using "edu.uci.ics.asterix.external.dataset.adapter.NCFileSystemAdapter"
+(("path"="nc1://data/tinysocial/twm.adm"),("format"="adm"));
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.3.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.3.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f40e884
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.3.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+use dataverse TinySocial;
+
+set simfunction "jaccard";
+set simthreshold "0.3";
+
+for $t in dataset TweetMessages
+order by $t.tweetid
+return {                     
+    "tweet": $t,               
+    "similar-tweets": for $t2 in dataset TweetMessages
+    					order by $t2.tweetid
+                        where  $t2.referred-topics ~= $t.referred-topics
+                        and $t2.tweetid != $t.tweetid
+                        return $t2.referred-topics
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/numeric/caret0/caret0.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/numeric/caret0/caret0.1.ddl.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..139597f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/numeric/caret0/caret0.1.ddl.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/numeric/caret0/caret0.2.update.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/numeric/caret0/caret0.2.update.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/numeric/caret0/caret0.2.update.aql
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/numeric/caret0/caret0.3.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/numeric/caret0/caret0.3.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..825b269
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/numeric/caret0/caret0.3.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+let $n1 := 2.0
+let $n2 := 4096.0
+let $n3 := 3
+let $n4 := 2
+return { "c1": $n1^$n2, "c2": $n2^$n1, "c3": $n3^$n4 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.1.ddl.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d74b83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.1.ddl.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/*
+ * Description  : This test case is to verify the fix for issue487
+ 				: https://code.google.com/p/asterixdb/issues/detail?id=487
+ * Expected Res : FAIL
+ * Date         : 30th May 2013
+ */
+ 
+drop dataverse test if exists;
+create dataverse test;
+use dataverse test;
+
+create type EmpType as open {
+id : int32,
+name : string
+}
+
+create dataset Employee(EmpType) primary key id;
+ 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.2.update.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.2.update.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6913b4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.2.update.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+/*
+ * Description  : This test case is to verify the fix for issue487
+ 				: https://code.google.com/p/asterixdb/issues/detail?id=487
+ * Expected Res : FAIL
+ * Date         : 30th May 2013
+ */
+
+use dataverse test;
+ 
+insert into dataset Employee ({ "id":123});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.3.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.3.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d53aba9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.3.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+/*
+ * Description  : This test case is to verify the fix for issue487
+ 				: https://code.google.com/p/asterixdb/issues/detail?id=487
+ * Expected Res : FAIL
+ * Date         : 30th May 2013
+ */
+
+use dataverse test;
+
+for $l in dataset Employee
+return $l;
+ 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.1.ddl.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.1.ddl.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..754ea81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.1.ddl.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+drop dataverse test if exists;
+create dataverse test;
+
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.2.update.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.2.update.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.2.update.aql
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.3.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.3.query.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88f0dfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.3.query.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+use dataverse test;
+
+let $x := "欢迎"
+let $c := string-to-codepoint($x)
+
+return {"result1": $c}
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/tpch/q15_top_supplier/q15_top_supplier.3.query.aql b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/tpch/q15_top_supplier/q15_top_supplier.3.query.aql
index f61ceb5..9f1080d 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/tpch/q15_top_supplier/q15_top_supplier.3.query.aql
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries/tpch/q15_top_supplier/q15_top_supplier.3.query.aql
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 for $s in dataset('Supplier')
 for $r in revenue()
-	where $s.s_suppkey = $r.supplier_no and $r.total_revenue=$m
+	where $s.s_suppkey = $r.supplier_no and $r.total_revenue<$m+0.000000001 and $r.total_revenue>$m-0.000000001
 return {
 "s_suppkey": $s.s_suppkey, 
 "s_name": $s.s_name, 
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.1.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae0c4cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/fuzzyjoin/opentype/opentype.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "1", "user": { "screen-name": "NathanGiesen@211", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 39339, "statuses_count": 473, "name": "Nathan Giesen", "followers_count": 49416 }, "sender-location": point("47.44,80.65"), "send-time": datetime("2008-04-26T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "t-mobile", "customization" }}, "message-text": " love t-mobile its customization is good:)" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "t-mobile", "shortcut-menu" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "10", "user": { "screen-name": "ColineGeyer@63", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 121, "statuses_count": 362, "name": "Coline Geyer", "followers_count": 17159 }, "sender-location": point("29.15,76.53"), "send-time": datetime("2008-01-26T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "verizon", "voice-clarity" }}, "message-text": " hate verizon its voice-clarity is OMG:(" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "verizon", "shortcut-menu" }}, {{ "iphone", "voice-clarity" }}, {{ "verizon", "voicemail-service" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "11", "user": { "screen-name": "NilaMilliron_tw", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 445, "statuses_count": 164, "name": "Nila Milliron", "followers_count": 22649 }, "sender-location": point("37.59,68.42"), "send-time": datetime("2008-03-09T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "iphone", "platform" }}, "message-text": " can't stand iphone its platform is terrible" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "iphone", "voice-clarity" }}, {{ "samsung", "platform" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "12", "user": { "screen-name": "OliJackson_512", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 445, "statuses_count": 164, "name": "Oli Jackson", "followers_count": 22649 }, "sender-location": point("24.82,94.63"), "send-time": datetime("2010-02-13T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "samsung", "voice-command" }}, "message-text": " like samsung the voice-command is amazing:)" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "sprint", "voice-command" }}, {{ "samsung", "platform" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "2", "user": { "screen-name": "ColineGeyer@63", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 121, "statuses_count": 362, "name": "Coline Geyer", "followers_count": 17159 }, "sender-location": point("32.84,67.14"), "send-time": datetime("2010-05-13T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "verizon", "shortcut-menu" }}, "message-text": " like verizon its shortcut-menu is awesome:)" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "verizon", "voice-clarity" }}, {{ "t-mobile", "shortcut-menu" }}, {{ "verizon", "voicemail-service" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "3", "user": { "screen-name": "NathanGiesen@211", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 39339, "statuses_count": 473, "name": "Nathan Giesen", "followers_count": 49416 }, "sender-location": point("29.72,75.8"), "send-time": datetime("2006-11-04T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "motorola", "speed" }}, "message-text": " like motorola the speed is good:)" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "motorola", "speed" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "4", "user": { "screen-name": "NathanGiesen@211", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 39339, "statuses_count": 473, "name": "Nathan Giesen", "followers_count": 49416 }, "sender-location": point("39.28,70.48"), "send-time": datetime("2011-12-26T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "sprint", "voice-command" }}, "message-text": " like sprint the voice-command is mind-blowing:)" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "samsung", "voice-command" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "5", "user": { "screen-name": "NathanGiesen@211", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 39339, "statuses_count": 473, "name": "Nathan Giesen", "followers_count": 49416 }, "sender-location": point("40.09,92.69"), "send-time": datetime("2006-08-04T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "motorola", "speed" }}, "message-text": " can't stand motorola its speed is terrible:(" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "motorola", "speed" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "6", "user": { "screen-name": "ColineGeyer@63", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 121, "statuses_count": 362, "name": "Coline Geyer", "followers_count": 17159 }, "sender-location": point("47.51,83.99"), "send-time": datetime("2010-05-07T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "iphone", "voice-clarity" }}, "message-text": " like iphone the voice-clarity is good:)" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "verizon", "voice-clarity" }}, {{ "iphone", "platform" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "7", "user": { "screen-name": "ChangEwing_573", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 182, "statuses_count": 394, "name": "Chang Ewing", "followers_count": 32136 }, "sender-location": point("36.21,72.6"), "send-time": datetime("2011-08-25T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "samsung", "platform" }}, "message-text": " like samsung the platform is good" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "iphone", "platform" }}, {{ "samsung", "voice-command" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "8", "user": { "screen-name": "NathanGiesen@211", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 39339, "statuses_count": 473, "name": "Nathan Giesen", "followers_count": 49416 }, "sender-location": point("46.05,93.34"), "send-time": datetime("2005-10-14T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "t-mobile", "shortcut-menu" }}, "message-text": " like t-mobile the shortcut-menu is awesome:)" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "t-mobile", "customization" }}, {{ "verizon", "shortcut-menu" }} ] }
+{ "tweet": { "tweetid": "9", "user": { "screen-name": "NathanGiesen@211", "lang": "en", "friends_count": 39339, "statuses_count": 473, "name": "Nathan Giesen", "followers_count": 49416 }, "sender-location": point("36.86,74.62"), "send-time": datetime("2012-07-21T10:10:00.000Z"), "referred-topics": {{ "verizon", "voicemail-service" }}, "message-text": " love verizon its voicemail-service is awesome" }, "similar-tweets": [ {{ "verizon", "voice-clarity" }}, {{ "verizon", "shortcut-menu" }} ] }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/numeric/caret0/caret0.1.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/numeric/caret0/caret0.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1edec8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/numeric/caret0/caret0.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{ "c1": Infinityd, "c2": 1.6777216E7d, "c3": 9 }
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.1.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/open-closed/query-issue487/query-issue487.1.adm
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.1.adm b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.1.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eacdb11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/string/string-to-codepoint2/string-to-codepoint2.1.adm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{ "result1": [ 27426, 36814 ] }
diff --git a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
index ed7b9db..4419671 100644
--- a/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
+++ b/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite.xml
@@ -1755,6 +1755,11 @@
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
     -->
+    <test-case FilePath="fuzzyjoin">
+      <compilation-unit name="opentype">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">opentype</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
   </test-group>
   <test-group name="index-join">
     <test-case FilePath="index-join">
@@ -2160,6 +2165,11 @@
   </test-group>
   <test-group name="numeric">
     <test-case FilePath="numeric">
+      <compilation-unit name="caret0">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">caret0</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="numeric">
       <compilation-unit name="abs0">
         <output-dir compare="Text">abs0</output-dir>
       </compilation-unit>
@@ -2732,6 +2742,12 @@
         <expected-error>edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException</expected-error>
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="open-closed">
+      <compilation-unit name="query-issue487">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">query-issue487</output-dir>
+        <expected-error>edu.uci.ics.asterix.common.exceptions.AsterixException</expected-error>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
   </test-group>
   <test-group name="quantifiers">
     <test-case FilePath="quantifiers">
@@ -3478,6 +3494,11 @@
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
     <test-case FilePath="string">
+      <compilation-unit name="string-to-codepoint2">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">string-to-codepoint2</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="string">
       <compilation-unit name="strlen02">
         <output-dir compare="Text">strlen02</output-dir>
       </compilation-unit>
diff --git a/asterix-aql/pom.xml b/asterix-aql/pom.xml
index 249299c..f8c652f 100644
--- a/asterix-aql/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-aql/pom.xml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 						</goals>
 						<configuration>
 							<isStatic>false</isStatic>
+							<javaUnicodeEscape>true</javaUnicodeEscape>
 						</configuration>
 					</execution>
 					<execution>
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/IAsterixAppRuntimeContext.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/IAsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
index deb51d0..e053989 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/IAsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/api/IAsterixAppRuntimeContext.java
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 
     public ILSMIOOperationScheduler getLSMIOScheduler();
 
+    public int getMetaDataIODeviceId();
+
     public ILSMMergePolicy getLSMMergePolicy();
 
     public IBufferCache getBufferCache();
@@ -42,8 +44,7 @@
     public void setShuttingdown(boolean b);
 
     public void deinitialize() throws HyracksDataException;
-    
+
     public double getBloomFilterFalsePositiveRate();
-    
 
 }
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java
index d34e4ac..91bdca6 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/config/AsterixStorageProperties.java
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
     private static final int STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_PAGESIZE_DEFAULT = (32 << 10); // 32KB
 
     private static final String STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_NUMPAGES_KEY = "storage.memorycomponent.numpages";
-    private static final int STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT = 4096; // ... so 128MB components
+    private static final int STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_NUMPAGES_DEFAULT = 2048; // ... so 64MB components
 
     private static final String STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_GLOBALBUDGET_KEY = "storage.memorycomponent.globalbudget";
     private static final long STORAGE_MEMORYCOMPONENT_GLOBALBUDGET_DEFAULT = (1 << 30); // 1GB
diff --git a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/dataflow/IAsterixApplicationContextInfo.java b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/dataflow/IAsterixApplicationContextInfo.java
index ee05c7a..a057f91 100644
--- a/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/dataflow/IAsterixApplicationContextInfo.java
+++ b/asterix-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/common/dataflow/IAsterixApplicationContextInfo.java
@@ -19,17 +19,18 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.IStorageManagerInterface;
 
 /**
- * Provides methods for obtaining the IIndexRegistryProvider, IStorageManager and
+ * Provides methods for obtaining the IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider, IStorageManagerInterface and
  * ICCApplicationContext implementation.
  */
-public interface IAsterixApplicationContextInfo{
+public interface IAsterixApplicationContextInfo {
 
     /**
+     * Returns an instance of the implementation for IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider.
      * 
+     * @return IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider implementation instance
      */
     public IIndexLifecycleManagerProvider getIndexLifecycleManagerProvider();
 
-   
     /**
      * Returns an instance of the implementation for IStorageManagerInterface.
      * 
@@ -43,5 +44,4 @@
      * @return ICCApplicationContext implementation instance
      */
     public ICCApplicationContext getCCApplicationContext();
-   
 }
diff --git a/asterix-events/pom.xml b/asterix-events/pom.xml
index 94042e1..108bde2 100644
--- a/asterix-events/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-events/pom.xml
@@ -173,5 +173,10 @@
      <type>jar</type>
      <scope>compile</scope>
     </dependency>
+   <dependency>
+   	<groupId>log4j</groupId>
+   	<artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
+   	<version>1.2.9</version>
+   </dependency>
   </dependencies>
 </project>
diff --git a/asterix-external-data/pom.xml b/asterix-external-data/pom.xml
index d534716..842cd67 100644
--- a/asterix-external-data/pom.xml
+++ b/asterix-external-data/pom.xml
@@ -117,6 +117,12 @@
 			<version>1.0.0</version>
 			<type>jar</type>
 			<scope>compile</scope>
+			<exclusions>
+				<exclusion>
+					<artifactId>rome</artifactId>
+					<groupId>net.java.dev.rome</groupId>
+				</exclusion>
+			</exclusions>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>rome</groupId>
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
index 791666d..422fdfd 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/bootstrap/MetadataBootstrap.java
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IIndexLifecycleManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexMetaDataFrameFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.frames.LIFOMetaDataFrameFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.util.IndexFileNameUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.impls.LSMBTree;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.btree.util.LSMBTreeUtils;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.api.IInMemoryBufferCache;
@@ -333,7 +334,9 @@
     }
 
     private static void enlistMetadataDataset(IMetadataIndex index, boolean create) throws Exception {
-        String filePath = metadataStore + File.separator + index.getFileNameRelativePath();
+        String filePath = IndexFileNameUtil.prepareFileName(
+                metadataStore + File.separator + index.getFileNameRelativePath(),
+                runtimeContext.getMetaDataIODeviceId());
         FileReference file = new FileReference(new File(filePath));
         IInMemoryBufferCache memBufferCache = new InMemoryBufferCache(new HeapBufferAllocator(), DEFAULT_MEM_PAGE_SIZE,
                 DEFAULT_MEM_NUM_PAGES, new TransientFileMapManager());
@@ -350,7 +353,7 @@
                     fileMapProvider, typeTraits, comparatorFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields,
                     runtimeContext.getBloomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), runtimeContext.getLSMMergePolicy(),
                     runtimeContext.getLSMBTreeOperationTrackerFactory(), runtimeContext.getLSMIOScheduler(),
-                    AsterixRuntimeComponentsProvider.LSMBTREE_PROVIDER);
+                    AsterixRuntimeComponentsProvider.LSMBTREE_PROVIDER, runtimeContext.getMetaDataIODeviceId());
             lsmBtree.create();
             resourceID = runtimeContext.getResourceIdFactory().createId();
             indexLifecycleManager.register(resourceID, lsmBtree);
@@ -358,12 +361,14 @@
             AsterixStorageProperties storageProperties = propertiesProvider.getStorageProperties();
             ILocalResourceMetadata localResourceMetadata = new LSMBTreeLocalResourceMetadata(typeTraits,
                     comparatorFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, index.isPrimaryIndex(),
-                    storageProperties.getMemoryComponentPageSize(), storageProperties.getMemoryComponentNumPages());
+                    storageProperties.getMemoryComponentPageSize(), storageProperties.getMemoryComponentNumPages(),
+                    runtimeContext.getMetaDataIODeviceId());
             ILocalResourceFactoryProvider localResourceFactoryProvider = new PersistentLocalResourceFactoryProvider(
                     localResourceMetadata, LocalResource.LSMBTreeResource);
             ILocalResourceFactory localResourceFactory = localResourceFactoryProvider.getLocalResourceFactory();
-            localResourceRepository.insert(localResourceFactory.createLocalResource(resourceID, file.getFile()
-                    .getPath(), 0));
+            localResourceRepository.insert(
+                    localResourceFactory.createLocalResource(resourceID, file.getFile().getPath(), 0),
+                    runtimeContext.getMetaDataIODeviceId());
         } else {
             resourceID = localResourceRepository.getResourceByName(file.getFile().getPath()).getResourceId();
             lsmBtree = (LSMBTree) indexLifecycleManager.getIndex(resourceID);
@@ -372,7 +377,7 @@
                         bufferCache, fileMapProvider, typeTraits, comparatorFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields,
                         runtimeContext.getBloomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), runtimeContext.getLSMMergePolicy(),
                         runtimeContext.getLSMBTreeOperationTrackerFactory(), runtimeContext.getLSMIOScheduler(),
-                        AsterixRuntimeComponentsProvider.LSMBTREE_PROVIDER);
+                        AsterixRuntimeComponentsProvider.LSMBTREE_PROVIDER, runtimeContext.getMetaDataIODeviceId());
                 indexLifecycleManager.register(resourceID, lsmBtree);
             }
         }
diff --git a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
index 3128153..117f492 100644
--- a/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
+++ b/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/metadata/declared/AqlMetadataProvider.java
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.IAType;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.AsterixAppContextInfo;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.AsterixClusterProperties;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util.NonTaggedFormatUtil;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.base.AsterixTupleFilterFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.formats.FormatUtils;
@@ -418,7 +419,8 @@
                 adapterFactoryClassname = adapterFactoryMapping.get(adapterName);
                 if (adapterFactoryClassname != null) {
                 } else {
-                    // adapterName has been provided as a fully qualified classname 
+                    // adapterName has been provided as a fully qualified
+                    // classname
                     adapterFactoryClassname = adapterName;
                 }
                 adapterFactory = (IAdapterFactory) Class.forName(adapterFactoryClassname).newInstance();
@@ -769,9 +771,11 @@
                 numElementsHint = Long.parseLong(dataset.getHints().get("CARDINALITY"));
             }
 
-            //TODO
-            //figure out the right behavior of the bulkload and then give the right callback
-            //(ex. what's the expected behavior when there is an error during bulkload?)
+            // TODO
+            // figure out the right behavior of the bulkload and then give the
+            // right callback
+            // (ex. what's the expected behavior when there is an error during
+            // bulkload?)
             TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor btreeBulkLoad = new TreeIndexBulkLoadOperatorDescriptor(spec,
                     appContext.getStorageManagerInterface(), appContext.getIndexLifecycleManagerProvider(),
                     splitsAndConstraint.first, typeTraits, comparatorFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, fieldPermutation,
@@ -830,7 +834,7 @@
             Pair<IFileSplitProvider, AlgebricksPartitionConstraint> splitsAndConstraint = splitProviderAndPartitionConstraintsForInternalOrFeedDataset(
                     dataSource.getId().getDataverseName(), datasetName, indexName);
 
-            //prepare callback
+            // prepare callback
             JobId jobId = ((JobEventListenerFactory) spec.getJobletEventListenerFactory()).getJobId();
             int datasetId = dataset.getDatasetId();
             int[] primaryKeyFields = new int[numKeys];
@@ -1023,7 +1027,7 @@
             Pair<IFileSplitProvider, AlgebricksPartitionConstraint> splitsAndConstraint = splitProviderAndPartitionConstraintsForInternalOrFeedDataset(
                     dataverseName, datasetName, indexName);
 
-            //prepare callback
+            // prepare callback
             JobId jobId = ((JobEventListenerFactory) spec.getJobletEventListenerFactory()).getJobId();
             int datasetId = dataset.getDatasetId();
             int[] primaryKeyFields = new int[primaryKeys.size()];
@@ -1138,7 +1142,8 @@
             tokenComparatorFactories[0] = NonTaggedFormatUtil.getTokenBinaryComparatorFactory(secondaryKeyType);
             tokenTypeTraits[0] = NonTaggedFormatUtil.getTokenTypeTrait(secondaryKeyType);
             if (isPartitioned) {
-                // The partitioning field is hardcoded to be a short *without* an Asterix type tag.
+                // The partitioning field is hardcoded to be a short *without*
+                // an Asterix type tag.
                 tokenComparatorFactories[1] = PointableBinaryComparatorFactory.of(ShortPointable.FACTORY);
                 tokenTypeTraits[1] = ShortPointable.TYPE_TRAITS;
             }
@@ -1149,7 +1154,7 @@
             Pair<IFileSplitProvider, AlgebricksPartitionConstraint> splitsAndConstraint = splitProviderAndPartitionConstraintsForInternalOrFeedDataset(
                     dataverseName, datasetName, indexName);
 
-            //prepare callback
+            // prepare callback
             JobId jobId = ((JobEventListenerFactory) spec.getJobletEventListenerFactory()).getJobId();
             int datasetId = dataset.getDatasetId();
             int[] primaryKeyFields = new int[primaryKeys.size()];
@@ -1244,7 +1249,7 @@
             Pair<IFileSplitProvider, AlgebricksPartitionConstraint> splitsAndConstraint = splitProviderAndPartitionConstraintsForInternalOrFeedDataset(
                     dataverseName, datasetName, indexName);
 
-            //prepare callback
+            // prepare callback
             JobId jobId = ((JobEventListenerFactory) spec.getJobletEventListenerFactory()).getJobId();
             int datasetId = dataset.getDatasetId();
             int[] primaryKeyFields = new int[numPrimaryKeys];
@@ -1338,8 +1343,13 @@
                 continue;
             }
             for (int i = 0; i < nodeStores.length; i++) {
-                File f = new File(nodeStores[i] + File.separator + relPathFile);
-                splits.add(new FileSplit(node, new FileReference(f)));
+                int numIODevices = AsterixClusterProperties.INSTANCE.getNumberOfIODevices(node);
+                for (int j = 0; j < nodeStores.length; j++) {
+                    for (int k = 0; k < numIODevices; k++) {
+                        File f = new File(nodeStores[j] + File.separator + relPathFile);
+                        splits.add(new FileSplit(node, new FileReference(f), k));
+                    }
+                }
             }
         }
         return splits.toArray(new FileSplit[] {});
@@ -1368,9 +1378,17 @@
                     LOGGER.warning("Node " + nd + " has no stores.");
                     throw new AlgebricksException("Node " + nd + " has no stores.");
                 } else {
+                    int numIODevices;
+                    if (datasetDetails.getNodeGroupName().compareTo(MetadataConstants.METADATA_NODEGROUP_NAME) == 0) {
+                        numIODevices = 1;
+                    } else {
+                        numIODevices = AsterixClusterProperties.INSTANCE.getNumberOfIODevices(nd);
+                    }
                     for (int j = 0; j < nodeStores.length; j++) {
-                        File f = new File(nodeStores[j] + File.separator + relPathFile);
-                        splitArray.add(new FileSplit(nd, new FileReference(f)));
+                        for (int k = 0; k < numIODevices; k++) {
+                            File f = new File(nodeStores[j] + File.separator + relPathFile);
+                            splitArray.add(new FileSplit(nd, new FileReference(f), k));
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             }
@@ -1417,21 +1435,6 @@
         return dataverseName + File.separator + fileName;
     }
 
-    public Pair<IFileSplitProvider, IFileSplitProvider> getInvertedIndexFileSplitProviders(
-            IFileSplitProvider splitProvider) {
-        int numSplits = splitProvider.getFileSplits().length;
-        FileSplit[] btreeSplits = new FileSplit[numSplits];
-        FileSplit[] invListsSplits = new FileSplit[numSplits];
-        for (int i = 0; i < numSplits; i++) {
-            String nodeName = splitProvider.getFileSplits()[i].getNodeName();
-            String path = splitProvider.getFileSplits()[i].getLocalFile().getFile().getPath();
-            btreeSplits[i] = new FileSplit(nodeName, path + "_$btree");
-            invListsSplits[i] = new FileSplit(nodeName, path + "_$invlists");
-        }
-        return new Pair<IFileSplitProvider, IFileSplitProvider>(new ConstantFileSplitProvider(btreeSplits),
-                new ConstantFileSplitProvider(invListsSplits));
-    }
-
     public Dataset findDataset(String dataverse, String dataset) throws AlgebricksException {
         try {
             return MetadataManager.INSTANCE.getDataset(mdTxnCtx, dataverse, dataset);
@@ -1463,10 +1466,13 @@
 
     public AlgebricksPartitionConstraint getClusterLocations() {
         ArrayList<String> locs = new ArrayList<String>();
-        for (String k : stores.keySet()) {
-            String[] nodeStores = stores.get(k);
+        for (String i : stores.keySet()) {
+            String[] nodeStores = stores.get(i);
+            int numIODevices = AsterixClusterProperties.INSTANCE.getNumberOfIODevices(i);
             for (int j = 0; j < nodeStores.length; j++) {
-                locs.add(k);
+                for (int k = 0; k < numIODevices; k++) {
+                    locs.add(i);
+                }
             }
         }
         String[] cluster = new String[locs.size()];
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/comparators/ListItemBinaryComparatorFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/comparators/ListItemBinaryComparatorFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e80fe6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/comparators/ListItemBinaryComparatorFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.comparators;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.UTF8StringLowercasePointable;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.EnumDeserializer;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparator;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparatorFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.accessors.PointableBinaryComparatorFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.DoublePointable;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.FloatPointable;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.IntegerPointable;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
+
+public class ListItemBinaryComparatorFactory implements IBinaryComparatorFactory {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public static final ListItemBinaryComparatorFactory INSTANCE = new ListItemBinaryComparatorFactory();
+
+    private ListItemBinaryComparatorFactory() {
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public IBinaryComparator createBinaryComparator() {
+        return createBinaryComparator(ATypeTag.NULL, ATypeTag.NULL, false);
+    }
+
+    public IBinaryComparator createBinaryComparator(final ATypeTag firstItemTypeTag, final ATypeTag secondItemTypeTag,
+            final boolean ignoreCase) {
+        return new IBinaryComparator() {
+            final IBinaryComparator ascBoolComp = BooleanBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascIntComp = new PointableBinaryComparatorFactory(IntegerPointable.FACTORY)
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascLongComp = LongBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascStrComp = new PointableBinaryComparatorFactory(UTF8StringPointable.FACTORY)
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascLowerCaseStrComp = new PointableBinaryComparatorFactory(
+                    UTF8StringLowercasePointable.FACTORY).createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascFloatComp = new PointableBinaryComparatorFactory(FloatPointable.FACTORY)
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascDoubleComp = new PointableBinaryComparatorFactory(DoublePointable.FACTORY)
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascRectangleComp = ARectanglePartialBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascCircleComp = ACirclePartialBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascDurationComp = ADurationPartialBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascIntervalComp = AIntervalPartialBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascLineComp = ALinePartialBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascPointComp = APointPartialBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascPoint3DComp = APoint3DPartialBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator ascPolygonComp = APolygonPartialBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE
+                    .createBinaryComparator();
+            final IBinaryComparator rawComp = RawBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
+
+            @Override
+            public int compare(byte[] b1, int s1, int l1, byte[] b2, int s2, int l2) {
+
+                if (b1[s1] == ATypeTag.NULL.serialize()) {
+                    if (b2[s2] == ATypeTag.NULL.serialize())
+                        return 0;
+                    else
+                        return -1;
+                } else {
+                    if (b2[s2] == ATypeTag.NULL.serialize())
+                        return 1;
+                }
+
+                ATypeTag tag1 = firstItemTypeTag;
+                int skip1 = 0;
+                if (firstItemTypeTag == ATypeTag.ANY) {
+                    tag1 = EnumDeserializer.ATYPETAGDESERIALIZER.deserialize(b1[s1]);
+                    skip1 = 1;
+                }
+
+                ATypeTag tag2 = secondItemTypeTag;
+                int skip2 = 0;
+                if (secondItemTypeTag == ATypeTag.ANY) {
+                    tag2 = EnumDeserializer.ATYPETAGDESERIALIZER.deserialize(b2[s2]);
+                    skip2 = 1;
+                }
+
+                if (tag1 != tag2) {
+                    return rawComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                }
+
+                switch (tag1) {
+                    case BOOLEAN: {
+                        return ascBoolComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case TIME:
+                    case DATE:
+                    case YEARMONTHDURATION:
+                    case INT32: {
+                        return ascIntComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case DATETIME:
+                    case DAYTIMEDURATION:
+                    case INT64: {
+                        return ascLongComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case FLOAT: {
+                        return ascFloatComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case DOUBLE: {
+                        return ascDoubleComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case STRING: {
+                        if (ignoreCase) {
+                            return ascLowerCaseStrComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                        } else {
+                            return ascStrComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                        }
+                    }
+                    case RECTANGLE: {
+                        return ascRectangleComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case CIRCLE: {
+                        return ascCircleComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case POINT: {
+                        return ascPointComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case POINT3D: {
+                        return ascPoint3DComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case LINE: {
+                        return ascLineComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case POLYGON: {
+                        return ascPolygonComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case DURATION: {
+                        return ascDurationComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    case INTERVAL: {
+                        return ascIntervalComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                    default: {
+                        return rawComp.compare(b1, s1 + skip1, l1 - skip1, b2, s2 + skip2, l2 - skip2);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        };
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/hash/ListItemBinaryHashFunctionFactory.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/hash/ListItemBinaryHashFunctionFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fab7de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/dataflow/data/nontagged/hash/ListItemBinaryHashFunctionFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2010 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.hash;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.UTF8StringLowercasePointable;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.types.EnumDeserializer;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryHashFunction;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryHashFunctionFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.accessors.MurmurHash3BinaryHashFunctionFamily;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.accessors.PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.util.GrowableArray;
+
+/**
+ * This hash function factory is introduced to be able to hash heterogeneous list items.
+ * The item type tag is also included in the hash computation to distinguish the different
+ * types with the same raw bytes.
+ */
+public class ListItemBinaryHashFunctionFactory implements IBinaryHashFunctionFactory {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public static final ListItemBinaryHashFunctionFactory INSTANCE = new ListItemBinaryHashFunctionFactory();
+
+    private ListItemBinaryHashFunctionFactory() {
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public IBinaryHashFunction createBinaryHashFunction() {
+        return createBinaryHashFunction(ATypeTag.ANY, false);
+    }
+
+    public IBinaryHashFunction createBinaryHashFunction(final ATypeTag itemTypeTag, final boolean ignoreCase) {
+        return new IBinaryHashFunction() {
+
+            private IBinaryHashFunction lowerCaseStringHash = new PointableBinaryHashFunctionFactory(
+                    UTF8StringLowercasePointable.FACTORY).createBinaryHashFunction();
+            private IBinaryHashFunction genericBinaryHash = MurmurHash3BinaryHashFunctionFamily.INSTANCE
+                    .createBinaryHashFunction(0);
+            private GrowableArray taggedBytes = new GrowableArray();
+
+            @Override
+            public int hash(byte[] bytes, int offset, int length) {
+                ATypeTag tag = itemTypeTag;
+                int skip = 0;
+                if (itemTypeTag == ATypeTag.ANY) {
+                    tag = EnumDeserializer.ATYPETAGDESERIALIZER.deserialize(bytes[offset]);
+                    skip = 1;
+                }
+                switch (tag) {
+                    case STRING: {
+                        if (ignoreCase) {
+                            return lowerCaseStringHash.hash(bytes, offset + skip, length - skip);
+                        }
+                    }
+                    default: {
+                        if (itemTypeTag != ATypeTag.ANY) {
+                            // add the itemTypeTag in front of the data
+                            try {
+                                resetTaggedBytes(bytes, offset, length);
+                                return genericBinaryHash.hash(taggedBytes.getByteArray(), 0, length + 1);
+                            } catch (IOException e) {
+                                throw new RuntimeException(e);
+                            }
+                        } else {
+                            return genericBinaryHash.hash(bytes, offset, length);
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            private void resetTaggedBytes(byte[] data, int offset, int length) throws IOException {
+                taggedBytes.reset();
+                taggedBytes.getDataOutput().writeByte(itemTypeTag.serialize());
+                taggedBytes.getDataOutput().write(data, offset, length);
+            }
+        };
+    }
+}
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixAppContextInfo.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixAppContextInfo.java
index e85a72d..81100bf 100644
--- a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixAppContextInfo.java
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixAppContextInfo.java
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@
         INSTANCE.metadataProperties = new AsterixMetadataProperties(propertiesAccessor);
         INSTANCE.storageProperties = new AsterixStorageProperties(propertiesAccessor);
         INSTANCE.txnProperties = new AsterixTransactionProperties(propertiesAccessor);
-
         Logger.getLogger("edu.uci.ics").setLevel(INSTANCE.externalProperties.getLogLevel());
     }
 
@@ -108,6 +107,4 @@
     public IStorageManagerInterface getStorageManagerInterface() {
         return AsterixRuntimeComponentsProvider.NOINDEX_PROVIDER;
     }
-
-  
 }
diff --git a/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixClusterProperties.java b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixClusterProperties.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc2a6af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-om/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/om/util/AsterixClusterProperties.java
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.util;
+
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+
+/**
+ * A holder class for properties related to the Asterix cluster.
+ */
+
+public class AsterixClusterProperties {
+
+    private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(AsterixClusterProperties.class.getName());
+
+    private static final String IO_DEVICES = "iodevices";
+
+    public static final AsterixClusterProperties INSTANCE = new AsterixClusterProperties();
+
+    private Map<String, Map<String, String>> ncConfiguration = new HashMap<String, Map<String, String>>();
+
+    private AsterixClusterProperties() {
+    }
+
+    public enum State {
+        ACTIVE,
+        UNUSABLE
+    }
+
+    private State state = State.UNUSABLE;
+
+    public void removeNCConfiguration(String nodeId) {
+        state = State.UNUSABLE;
+        ncConfiguration.remove(nodeId);
+    }
+
+    public void addNCConfiguration(String nodeId, Map<String, String> configuration) {
+        ncConfiguration.put(nodeId, configuration);
+        if (ncConfiguration.keySet().size() == AsterixAppContextInfo.getInstance().getMetadataProperties()
+                .getNodeNames().size()) {
+            state = State.ACTIVE;
+        }
+        if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+            LOGGER.info(" Registering configuration parameters for node id" + nodeId);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the number of IO devices configured for a Node Controller
+     * 
+     * @param nodeId
+     *            unique identifier of the Node Controller
+     * @return number of IO devices. -1 if the node id is not valid. A node id is not valid
+     *         if it does not correspond to the set of registered Node Controllers.
+     */
+    public int getNumberOfIODevices(String nodeId) {
+        Map<String, String> ncConfig = ncConfiguration.get(nodeId);
+        if (ncConfig == null) {
+            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.WARNING)) {
+                LOGGER.warning("Configuration parameters for nodeId" + nodeId
+                        + " not found. The node has not joined yet or has left.");
+            }
+            return -1;
+        }
+        return ncConfig.get(IO_DEVICES).split(",").length;
+    }
+
+    public State getState() {
+        return state;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AbstractAsterixListIterator.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AbstractAsterixListIterator.java
index efae5f9..269d363 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AbstractAsterixListIterator.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AbstractAsterixListIterator.java
@@ -13,7 +13,10 @@
     protected byte[] data;
     protected int count = 0;
     protected int pos = -1;
-    protected int size = -1;
+    protected int nextPos = -1;
+    protected int itemLen = -1;
+    protected int numberOfItems = -1;
+    protected int listLength = -1;
     protected int startOff = -1;
     protected IBinaryComparator cmp;
 
@@ -27,12 +30,12 @@
 
     @Override
     public boolean hasNext() {
-        return count < size;
+        return count < numberOfItems;
     }
 
     @Override
     public int size() {
-        return size;
+        return numberOfItems;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -45,10 +48,20 @@
         return pos;
     }
 
+    public int getItemLen() {
+        return itemLen;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void next() {
         try {
-            pos = getItemOffset(data, startOff, ++count);
+            pos = nextPos;
+            ++count;
+            nextPos = startOff + listLength;
+            if (count + 1 < numberOfItems) {
+                nextPos = getItemOffset(data, startOff, count + 1);
+            }
+            itemLen = nextPos - pos;
         } catch (AsterixException e) {
             throw new AsterixRuntimeException(e);
         }
@@ -59,6 +72,11 @@
         count = 0;
         try {
             pos = getItemOffset(data, startOff, count);
+            nextPos = startOff + listLength;
+            if (count + 1 < numberOfItems) {
+                nextPos = getItemOffset(data, startOff, count + 1);
+            }
+            itemLen = nextPos - pos;
         } catch (AsterixException e) {
             throw new AsterixRuntimeException(e);
         }
@@ -67,7 +85,8 @@
     public void reset(byte[] data, int startOff) {
         this.data = data;
         this.startOff = startOff;
-        size = getNumberOfItems(data, startOff);
+        this.numberOfItems = getNumberOfItems(data, startOff);
+        this.listLength = getListLength(data, startOff);
         ATypeTag tag = EnumDeserializer.ATYPETAGDESERIALIZER.deserialize(data[startOff + 1]);
         switch (tag) {
             case INT32: {
@@ -102,4 +121,6 @@
     protected abstract int getItemOffset(byte[] serOrderedList, int offset, int itemIndex) throws AsterixException;
 
     protected abstract int getNumberOfItems(byte[] serOrderedList, int offset);
+
+    protected abstract int getListLength(byte[] serOrderedList, int offset);
 }
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AsterixOrderedListIterator.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AsterixOrderedListIterator.java
index d3714c1..fc92875 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AsterixOrderedListIterator.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AsterixOrderedListIterator.java
@@ -14,4 +14,9 @@
     protected int getNumberOfItems(byte[] serOrderedList, int offset) {
         return AOrderedListSerializerDeserializer.getNumberOfItems(serOrderedList, offset);
     }
+
+    @Override
+    protected int getListLength(byte[] serOrderedList, int offset) {
+        return AOrderedListSerializerDeserializer.getOrderedListLength(serOrderedList, offset + 1);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AsterixUnorderedListIterator.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AsterixUnorderedListIterator.java
index de7742b..5f01581 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AsterixUnorderedListIterator.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/AsterixUnorderedListIterator.java
@@ -14,4 +14,9 @@
     protected int getNumberOfItems(byte[] serOrderedList, int offset) {
         return AUnorderedListSerializerDeserializer.getNumberOfItems(serOrderedList, offset);
     }
+
+    @Override
+    protected int getListLength(byte[] serOrderedList, int offset) {
+        return AUnorderedListSerializerDeserializer.getUnorderedListLength(serOrderedList, offset + 1);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/SimilarityJaccardCheckEvaluator.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/SimilarityJaccardCheckEvaluator.java
index ab73df2..b732f40 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/SimilarityJaccardCheckEvaluator.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/SimilarityJaccardCheckEvaluator.java
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@
             probeListCount++;
             byte[] buf = probeIter.getData();
             int off = probeIter.getPos();
-            int len = getItemLen(buf, off);
-            keyEntry.set(buf, off, len);            
+            int len = probeIter.getItemLen();
+            keyEntry.set(buf, off, len);
             BinaryEntry entry = hashMap.get(keyEntry);
             if (entry != null) {
                 // Increment second value.
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
         }
         return intersectionSize;
     }
-    
+
     @Override
     protected void writeResult(float jacc) throws IOException {
         listBuilder.reset(listType);
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/SimilarityJaccardEvaluator.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/SimilarityJaccardEvaluator.java
index 9f5c9c8..391fb30 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/SimilarityJaccardEvaluator.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/common/SimilarityJaccardEvaluator.java
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider;
-import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.formats.nontagged.AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.base.AFloat;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.base.AMutableFloat;
@@ -22,9 +20,10 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ISerializerDeserializer;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.api.IDataOutputProvider;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.IntegerPointable;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.primitive.UTF8StringPointable;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.data.std.util.ArrayBackedValueStorage;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.common.data.accessors.IFrameTupleReference;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.comparators.ListItemBinaryComparatorFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.dataflow.data.nontagged.hash.ListItemBinaryHashFunctionFactory;
 
 public class SimilarityJaccardEvaluator implements ICopyEvaluator {
 
@@ -58,7 +57,8 @@
     protected int firstStart = -1;
     protected int secondStart = -1;
     protected float jaccSim = 0.0f;
-    protected ATypeTag itemTypeTag;
+    protected ATypeTag firstItemTypeTag;
+    protected ATypeTag secondItemTypeTag;
 
     protected BinaryHashMap hashMap;
     protected BinaryEntry keyEntry = new BinaryEntry();
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@
 
         firstTypeTag = EnumDeserializer.ATYPETAGDESERIALIZER.deserialize(argOut.getByteArray()[firstStart]);
         secondTypeTag = EnumDeserializer.ATYPETAGDESERIALIZER.deserialize(argOut.getByteArray()[secondStart]);
+
+        firstItemTypeTag = EnumDeserializer.ATYPETAGDESERIALIZER.deserialize(argOut.getByteArray()[firstStart + 1]);
+        secondItemTypeTag = EnumDeserializer.ATYPETAGDESERIALIZER.deserialize(argOut.getByteArray()[secondStart + 1]);
     }
 
     protected boolean prepareLists(byte[] bytes, int firstStart, int secondStart, ATypeTag argType)
@@ -116,17 +119,12 @@
         if (firstListIter.size() == 0 || secondListIter.size() == 0) {
             return false;
         }
-        if (firstTypeTag == ATypeTag.ANY || secondTypeTag == ATypeTag.ANY) {
-            throw new AlgebricksException("\n Jaccard can only be called on homogenous lists");
-        }
         // TODO: Check item types are compatible.
-        itemTypeTag = EnumDeserializer.ATYPETAGDESERIALIZER.deserialize(bytes[firstStart + 1]);
         return true;
     }
 
     protected float computeResult(byte[] bytes, int firstStart, int secondStart, ATypeTag argType)
             throws AlgebricksException {
-        setHashMap(bytes, firstStart, secondStart);
         // We will subtract the intersection size later to get the real union size.
         int firstListSize = firstListIter.size();
         int secondListSize = secondListIter.size();
@@ -136,7 +134,10 @@
         AbstractAsterixListIterator probeList = (buildList == firstListIter) ? secondListIter : firstListIter;
         int buildListSize = (buildList == firstListIter) ? firstListSize : secondListSize;
         int probeListSize = (probeList == firstListIter) ? firstListSize : secondListSize;
+        ATypeTag buildItemTypeTag = (buildList == firstListIter) ? firstItemTypeTag : secondItemTypeTag;
+        ATypeTag probeItemTypeTag = (probeList == firstListIter) ? firstItemTypeTag : secondItemTypeTag;
 
+        setHashMap(bytes, buildItemTypeTag, probeItemTypeTag);
         buildHashMap(buildList);
         int intersectionSize = probeHashMap(probeList, buildListSize, probeListSize);
         // Special indicator for the "check" version of jaccard.
@@ -154,7 +155,7 @@
         while (buildIter.hasNext()) {
             byte[] buf = buildIter.getData();
             int off = buildIter.getPos();
-            int len = getItemLen(buf, off);
+            int len = buildIter.getItemLen();
             keyEntry.set(buf, off, len);
             BinaryEntry entry = hashMap.put(keyEntry, valEntry);
             if (entry != null) {
@@ -172,7 +173,7 @@
         while (probeIter.hasNext()) {
             byte[] buf = probeIter.getData();
             int off = probeIter.getPos();
-            int len = getItemLen(buf, off);
+            int len = probeIter.getItemLen();
             keyEntry.set(buf, off, len);
             BinaryEntry entry = hashMap.get(keyEntry);
             if (entry != null) {
@@ -195,69 +196,19 @@
         return intersectionSize;
     }
 
-    protected void setHashMap(byte[] bytes, int firstStart, int secondStart) {
+    protected void setHashMap(byte[] bytes, ATypeTag buildItemTypeTag, ATypeTag probeItemTypeTag) {
         if (hashMap != null) {
             hashMap.clear();
             return;
         }
-        IBinaryHashFunction hashFunc = null;
-        IBinaryComparator cmp = null;
-        switch (itemTypeTag) {
-            case INT32: {
-                hashFunc = AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.INTEGER_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryHashFunction();
-                cmp = AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.INTEGER_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
-                break;
-            }
-            case FLOAT: {
-                hashFunc = AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.FLOAT_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryHashFunction();
-                cmp = AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.FLOAT_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
-                break;
-            }
-            case DOUBLE: {
-                hashFunc = AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.DOUBLE_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryHashFunction();
-                cmp = AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.DOUBLE_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
-                break;
-            }
-            case STRING: {
-                if (ignoreCase) {
-                    // Ignore case in comparisons and hashing.
-                    hashFunc = AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.UTF8STRING_LOWERCASE_POINTABLE_INSTANCE
-                            .createBinaryHashFunction();
-                    cmp = AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.UTF8STRING_LOWERCASE_POINTABLE_INSTANCE
-                            .createBinaryComparator();
-                } else {
-                    hashFunc = AqlBinaryHashFunctionFactoryProvider.UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE
-                            .createBinaryHashFunction();
-                    cmp = AqlBinaryComparatorFactoryProvider.UTF8STRING_POINTABLE_INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator();
-                }
-                break;
-            }
-            default: {
-                break;
-            }
-        }
-        hashMap = new BinaryHashMap(TABLE_SIZE, TABLE_FRAME_SIZE, hashFunc, cmp);
-    }
 
-    protected int getItemLen(byte[] bytes, int itemOff) {
-        switch (itemTypeTag) {
-            case INT32: {
-                return 4;
-            }
-            case FLOAT: {
-                return 4;
-            }
-            case DOUBLE: {
-                return 8;
-            }
-            case STRING: {
-                // 2 bytes for the UTF8 len, plus the string data.
-                return 2 + UTF8StringPointable.getUTFLength(bytes, itemOff);
-            }
-            default: {
-                return -1;
-            }
-        }
+        IBinaryHashFunction putHashFunc = ListItemBinaryHashFunctionFactory.INSTANCE.createBinaryHashFunction(
+                buildItemTypeTag, ignoreCase);
+        IBinaryHashFunction getHashFunc = ListItemBinaryHashFunctionFactory.INSTANCE.createBinaryHashFunction(
+                probeItemTypeTag, ignoreCase);
+        IBinaryComparator cmp = ListItemBinaryComparatorFactory.INSTANCE.createBinaryComparator(buildItemTypeTag,
+                probeItemTypeTag, ignoreCase);
+        hashMap = new BinaryHashMap(TABLE_SIZE, TABLE_FRAME_SIZE, putHashFunc, getHashFunc, cmp);
     }
 
     protected boolean checkArgTypes(ATypeTag typeTag1, ATypeTag typeTag2) throws AlgebricksException {
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/BinaryHashMap.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/BinaryHashMap.java
index 240f8c7..6367996 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/BinaryHashMap.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/BinaryHashMap.java
@@ -20,150 +20,154 @@
  * Intended to work with binary data and be able to map arbitrary key types to
  * arbitrary value types, given that they have implementations of
  * IBinaryHashFunction and IBinaryComparator.
- * 
  * Uses 2 bytes each to indicate the length of the key and the value.
  * Uses 8 byte pointers for the linked list (4 bytes frame index, 4 bytes frame offset).
- * 
  * This class is NOT thread safe.
- * 
  */
 public class BinaryHashMap {
-	// Special value to indicate an empty "bucket" in the header array.
-	private static final long NULL_PTR = -1;
-	private static final int PTR_SIZE = 8;
-	private static final int SLOT_SIZE = 2;
-	private static final int ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE = PTR_SIZE + 2 * SLOT_SIZE;
-	private final IBinaryHashFunction hashFunc;
-	private final IBinaryComparator cmp;
-	private final BinaryEntry returnValue = new BinaryEntry();
-	
-	private final long[] listHeads;
-	private final int frameSize;
-	private final List<ByteBuffer> frames = new ArrayList<ByteBuffer>();
-	private int currFrameIndex;
-	private int nextOff;
-	private int size;
-	
-	// Can be used for key or value.
-	public static class BinaryEntry {
-		public byte[] buf;
-		public int off;
-		public int len;
-		
-		public void set(byte[] buf, int off, int len) {
-			this.buf = buf;
-			this.off = off;
-			this.len = len;
-		}
-		
-		// Inefficient. Just for debugging.
-		@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
-		public String print(ISerializerDeserializer serde) throws HyracksDataException {
-			ByteArrayInputStream inStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(buf, off, len);
+    // Special value to indicate an empty "bucket" in the header array.
+    private static final long NULL_PTR = -1;
+    private static final int PTR_SIZE = 8;
+    private static final int SLOT_SIZE = 2;
+    private static final int ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE = PTR_SIZE + 2 * SLOT_SIZE;
+    private final IBinaryHashFunction putHashFunc;
+    private final IBinaryHashFunction getHashFunc;
+    private final IBinaryComparator cmp;
+    private final BinaryEntry returnValue = new BinaryEntry();
+
+    private final long[] listHeads;
+    private final int frameSize;
+    private final List<ByteBuffer> frames = new ArrayList<ByteBuffer>();
+    private int currFrameIndex;
+    private int nextOff;
+    private int size;
+
+    // Can be used for key or value.
+    public static class BinaryEntry {
+        public byte[] buf;
+        public int off;
+        public int len;
+
+        public void set(byte[] buf, int off, int len) {
+            this.buf = buf;
+            this.off = off;
+            this.len = len;
+        }
+
+        // Inefficient. Just for debugging.
+        @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
+        public String print(ISerializerDeserializer serde) throws HyracksDataException {
+            ByteArrayInputStream inStream = new ByteArrayInputStream(buf, off, len);
             DataInput dataIn = new DataInputStream(inStream);
             return serde.deserialize(dataIn).toString();
-		}
-	}
-	
-	public BinaryHashMap(int tableSize, int frameSize, IBinaryHashFunction hashFunc, IBinaryComparator cmp) {
-		listHeads = new long[tableSize];
-		this.frameSize = frameSize;		
-		this.hashFunc = hashFunc;
-		this.cmp = cmp;
-		frames.add(ByteBuffer.allocate(frameSize));
-		clear();
-	}
-	
-	/**
-	 * Inserts key, value into the hash map. If key already exists, returns
-	 * existing entry. Otherwise, returns null.
-	 * 
-	 * @param key
-	 * @param value
-	 * @return
-	 */
-	public BinaryEntry put(BinaryEntry key, BinaryEntry value) {
-		return getPutInternal(key, value, true);
-	}
-	
-	/**
-	 * Retrieves value for given key. Returns null if key doesn't exist.
-	 * 
-	 * @param key
-	 * @param value
-	 * @return
-	 */
-	public BinaryEntry get(BinaryEntry key) {
-		return getPutInternal(key, null, false);
-	}
-	
-	private BinaryEntry getPutInternal(BinaryEntry key, BinaryEntry value, boolean put) {
-		int bucket = Math.abs(hashFunc.hash(key.buf, key.off, key.len) % listHeads.length);
-		long headPtr = listHeads[bucket];
-		if (headPtr == NULL_PTR) {
-			// Key definitely doesn't exist yet.
-			if (put) {
-				listHeads[bucket] = appendEntry(key, value);
-			}
-			return null;
-		}
-		// Follow the chain until we found an entry matching the given key.
-		int frameOff;
-		ByteBuffer frame;
-		do {				
-			int frameIndex = getFrameIndex(headPtr);
-			frameOff = getFrameOffset(headPtr);
-			frame = frames.get(frameIndex);
-			int entryKeyOff = frameOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE;
-			int entryKeyLen = frame.getShort(frameOff);
-			if (cmp.compare(frame.array(), entryKeyOff, entryKeyLen, key.buf,
-					key.off, key.len) == 0) {
-				// Key found, set values and return.
-				int entryValOff = frameOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE + entryKeyLen;
-				int entryValLen = frame.getShort(frameOff + SLOT_SIZE);
-				returnValue.set(frame.array(), entryValOff, entryValLen);
-				return returnValue;
-			}
-			headPtr = frame.getLong(frameOff + 2 * SLOT_SIZE);
-		} while (headPtr != NULL_PTR);
-		// We've followed the chain to its end, and didn't find the key.
-		if (put) {
-			// Append the new entry, and set a pointer to it in the last entry we've checked.
-			long newPtr = appendEntry(key, value);
-			frame.putLong(frameOff + 2 * SLOT_SIZE, newPtr);
-		}
-		return null;
-	}
-	
-	public long appendEntry(BinaryEntry key, BinaryEntry value) {
-		ByteBuffer frame = frames.get(currFrameIndex);
-		int requiredSpace = key.len + value.len + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE;
-		if (nextOff + requiredSpace >= frameSize) {
-			// Entry doesn't fit on frame, allocate a new one.
-			if (requiredSpace > frameSize) {
-				throw new IllegalStateException("Key and value greater than framesize.");
-			}
-			frames.add(ByteBuffer.allocate(frameSize));
-			currFrameIndex++;
-			nextOff = 0;
-			frame = frames.get(currFrameIndex);
-		}
-		writeEntryHeader(frame, nextOff, key.len, value.len, NULL_PTR);
-		System.arraycopy(key.buf, key.off, frame.array(), nextOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE, key.len);
-		System.arraycopy(value.buf, value.off, frame.array(), nextOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE + key.len, value.len);
-		long entryPtr = getEntryPtr(currFrameIndex, nextOff);
-		nextOff += requiredSpace;
-		size++;
-		return entryPtr;
-	}
-	
-	private void writeEntryHeader(ByteBuffer frame, int targetOff, int keyLen, int valLen, long ptr) {
-		frame.putShort(targetOff, (short) keyLen);
-		frame.putShort(targetOff + SLOT_SIZE, (short) valLen);
-		frame.putLong(targetOff + 2 * SLOT_SIZE, ptr);
-	}
+        }
+    }
 
-	private long getEntryPtr(int frameIndex, int frameOff) {
+    public BinaryHashMap(int tableSize, int frameSize, IBinaryHashFunction putHashFunc,
+            IBinaryHashFunction getHashFunc, IBinaryComparator cmp) {
+        listHeads = new long[tableSize];
+        this.frameSize = frameSize;
+        this.putHashFunc = putHashFunc;
+        this.getHashFunc = getHashFunc;
+        this.cmp = cmp;
+        frames.add(ByteBuffer.allocate(frameSize));
+        clear();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Inserts key, value into the hash map. If key already exists, returns
+     * existing entry. Otherwise, returns null.
+     * 
+     * @param key
+     * @param value
+     * @return
+     */
+    public BinaryEntry put(BinaryEntry key, BinaryEntry value) {
+        return getPutInternal(key, value, true);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Retrieves value for given key. Returns null if key doesn't exist.
+     * 
+     * @param key
+     * @param value
+     * @return
+     */
+    public BinaryEntry get(BinaryEntry key) {
+        return getPutInternal(key, null, false);
+    }
+
+    private BinaryEntry getPutInternal(BinaryEntry key, BinaryEntry value, boolean put) {
+        int bucket;
+        if (put) {
+            bucket = Math.abs(putHashFunc.hash(key.buf, key.off, key.len) % listHeads.length);
+        } else {
+            bucket = Math.abs(getHashFunc.hash(key.buf, key.off, key.len) % listHeads.length);
+        }
+        long headPtr = listHeads[bucket];
+        if (headPtr == NULL_PTR) {
+            // Key definitely doesn't exist yet.
+            if (put) {
+                listHeads[bucket] = appendEntry(key, value);
+            }
+            return null;
+        }
+        // Follow the chain until we found an entry matching the given key.
+        int frameOff;
+        ByteBuffer frame;
+        do {
+            int frameIndex = getFrameIndex(headPtr);
+            frameOff = getFrameOffset(headPtr);
+            frame = frames.get(frameIndex);
+            int entryKeyOff = frameOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE;
+            int entryKeyLen = frame.getShort(frameOff);
+            if (cmp.compare(frame.array(), entryKeyOff, entryKeyLen, key.buf, key.off, key.len) == 0) {
+                // Key found, set values and return.
+                int entryValOff = frameOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE + entryKeyLen;
+                int entryValLen = frame.getShort(frameOff + SLOT_SIZE);
+                returnValue.set(frame.array(), entryValOff, entryValLen);
+                return returnValue;
+            }
+            headPtr = frame.getLong(frameOff + 2 * SLOT_SIZE);
+        } while (headPtr != NULL_PTR);
+        // We've followed the chain to its end, and didn't find the key.
+        if (put) {
+            // Append the new entry, and set a pointer to it in the last entry we've checked.
+            long newPtr = appendEntry(key, value);
+            frame.putLong(frameOff + 2 * SLOT_SIZE, newPtr);
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    public long appendEntry(BinaryEntry key, BinaryEntry value) {
+        ByteBuffer frame = frames.get(currFrameIndex);
+        int requiredSpace = key.len + value.len + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE;
+        if (nextOff + requiredSpace >= frameSize) {
+            // Entry doesn't fit on frame, allocate a new one.
+            if (requiredSpace > frameSize) {
+                throw new IllegalStateException("Key and value greater than framesize.");
+            }
+            frames.add(ByteBuffer.allocate(frameSize));
+            currFrameIndex++;
+            nextOff = 0;
+            frame = frames.get(currFrameIndex);
+        }
+        writeEntryHeader(frame, nextOff, key.len, value.len, NULL_PTR);
+        System.arraycopy(key.buf, key.off, frame.array(), nextOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE, key.len);
+        System.arraycopy(value.buf, value.off, frame.array(), nextOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE + key.len, value.len);
+        long entryPtr = getEntryPtr(currFrameIndex, nextOff);
+        nextOff += requiredSpace;
+        size++;
+        return entryPtr;
+    }
+
+    private void writeEntryHeader(ByteBuffer frame, int targetOff, int keyLen, int valLen, long ptr) {
+        frame.putShort(targetOff, (short) keyLen);
+        frame.putShort(targetOff + SLOT_SIZE, (short) valLen);
+        frame.putLong(targetOff + 2 * SLOT_SIZE, ptr);
+    }
+
+    private long getEntryPtr(int frameIndex, int frameOff) {
         return (((long) frameIndex) << 32) + frameOff;
     }
 
@@ -175,93 +179,94 @@
         return (int) (ptr & 0xffffffff);
     }
 
-	public int size() {
-		return size;
-	}
+    public int size() {
+        return size;
+    }
 
-	public boolean isEmpty() {
-		return size > 0;
-	}
+    public boolean isEmpty() {
+        return size > 0;
+    }
 
-	public void clear() {
-		// Initialize all entries to point to nothing.
-		Arrays.fill(listHeads, NULL_PTR);
-		currFrameIndex = 0;
-		nextOff = 0;
-		size = 0;
-	}
-	
-	public Iterator<Pair<BinaryEntry, BinaryEntry>> iterator() {
-		return new BinaryHashMapIterator();
-	}
-	
-	public class BinaryHashMapIterator implements Iterator<Pair<BinaryEntry, BinaryEntry> > {
-		private final Pair<BinaryEntry, BinaryEntry> val = new Pair<BinaryEntry, BinaryEntry>(new BinaryEntry(), new BinaryEntry());
-		private int listHeadIndex;
-		private ByteBuffer frame;
-		private int frameIndex;
-		private int frameOff;
-		
-		public BinaryHashMapIterator() {
-			listHeadIndex = 0;
-			frame = null;
-			frameIndex = -1;
-			frameOff = -1;
-		}
-		
-		@Override
-		public boolean hasNext() {
-			if (frame != null) {
-				long nextPtr = frame.getLong(frameOff + 2 * SLOT_SIZE);
-				if (nextPtr == NULL_PTR) {
-					// End of current list.
-					listHeadIndex++;
-					return nextListHead();
-				} else {
-					// Follow pointer.
-					setValue(nextPtr);
-					return true;
-				}
-			}
-			return nextListHead();
-		}
+    public void clear() {
+        // Initialize all entries to point to nothing.
+        Arrays.fill(listHeads, NULL_PTR);
+        currFrameIndex = 0;
+        nextOff = 0;
+        size = 0;
+    }
 
-		private boolean nextListHead() {
-			// Position to first non-null list-head pointer.
-			while(listHeadIndex < listHeads.length && listHeads[listHeadIndex] == NULL_PTR) {
-				listHeadIndex++;
-			}
-			if (listHeadIndex < listHeads.length) {
-				// Positioned to first non-null list head.
-				setValue(listHeads[listHeadIndex]);
-				return true;
-			} else {
-				// No more lists.
-				frame = null;
-				return false;
-			}
-		}
-		
-		private void setValue(long ptr) {
-			frameIndex = getFrameIndex(ptr);
-			frameOff = getFrameOffset(ptr);
-			frame = frames.get(frameIndex);
-			int entryKeyOff = frameOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE;
-			int entryKeyLen = frame.getShort(frameOff);
-			int entryValOff = frameOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE + entryKeyLen;
-			int entryValLen = frame.getShort(frameOff + SLOT_SIZE);
-			val.first.set(frame.array(), entryKeyOff, entryKeyLen);
-			val.second.set(frame.array(), entryValOff, entryValLen);
-		}
-		
-		@Override
-		public Pair<BinaryEntry, BinaryEntry> next() {
-			return val;
-		}
+    public Iterator<Pair<BinaryEntry, BinaryEntry>> iterator() {
+        return new BinaryHashMapIterator();
+    }
 
-		@Override
-		public void remove() {
-			throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Remove not implemented");
-		}
-	}
+    public class BinaryHashMapIterator implements Iterator<Pair<BinaryEntry, BinaryEntry>> {
+        private final Pair<BinaryEntry, BinaryEntry> val = new Pair<BinaryEntry, BinaryEntry>(new BinaryEntry(),
+                new BinaryEntry());
+        private int listHeadIndex;
+        private ByteBuffer frame;
+        private int frameIndex;
+        private int frameOff;
+
+        public BinaryHashMapIterator() {
+            listHeadIndex = 0;
+            frame = null;
+            frameIndex = -1;
+            frameOff = -1;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean hasNext() {
+            if (frame != null) {
+                long nextPtr = frame.getLong(frameOff + 2 * SLOT_SIZE);
+                if (nextPtr == NULL_PTR) {
+                    // End of current list.
+                    listHeadIndex++;
+                    return nextListHead();
+                } else {
+                    // Follow pointer.
+                    setValue(nextPtr);
+                    return true;
+                }
+            }
+            return nextListHead();
+        }
+
+        private boolean nextListHead() {
+            // Position to first non-null list-head pointer.
+            while (listHeadIndex < listHeads.length && listHeads[listHeadIndex] == NULL_PTR) {
+                listHeadIndex++;
+            }
+            if (listHeadIndex < listHeads.length) {
+                // Positioned to first non-null list head.
+                setValue(listHeads[listHeadIndex]);
+                return true;
+            } else {
+                // No more lists.
+                frame = null;
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        private void setValue(long ptr) {
+            frameIndex = getFrameIndex(ptr);
+            frameOff = getFrameOffset(ptr);
+            frame = frames.get(frameIndex);
+            int entryKeyOff = frameOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE;
+            int entryKeyLen = frame.getShort(frameOff);
+            int entryValOff = frameOff + ENTRY_HEADER_SIZE + entryKeyLen;
+            int entryValLen = frame.getShort(frameOff + SLOT_SIZE);
+            val.first.set(frame.array(), entryKeyOff, entryKeyLen);
+            val.second.set(frame.array(), entryValOff, entryValLen);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public Pair<BinaryEntry, BinaryEntry> next() {
+            return val;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public void remove() {
+            throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Remove not implemented");
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/NumericCaretDescriptor.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/NumericCaretDescriptor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..208c454
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/evaluators/functions/NumericCaretDescriptor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2009-2013 by The Regents of the University of California
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * you may obtain a copy of the License from
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.functions.AsterixBuiltinFunctions;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.functions.IFunctionDescriptorFactory;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.algebricks.core.algebra.functions.FunctionIdentifier;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+
+public class NumericCaretDescriptor extends AbstractNumericArithmeticEval {
+
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
+    public static final IFunctionDescriptorFactory FACTORY = new IFunctionDescriptorFactory() {
+        public IFunctionDescriptor createFunctionDescriptor() {
+            return new NumericCaretDescriptor();
+        }
+    };
+
+    /* (non-Javadoc)
+     * @see edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.AbstractNumericArithmeticEval#evaluateInteger(long, long)
+     */
+    @Override
+    protected long evaluateInteger(long lhs, long rhs) throws HyracksDataException {
+        double result = Math.pow(lhs, rhs);
+        if (result > Long.MAX_VALUE) {
+            throw new ArithmeticException("Overflow of caret operation: " + lhs + " ^ " + rhs);
+        }
+        if (result < Long.MIN_VALUE) {
+            throw new ArithmeticException("Underflow of caret operation: " + lhs + " ^ " + rhs);
+        }
+        return (long) result;
+    }
+
+    /* (non-Javadoc)
+     * @see edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.AbstractNumericArithmeticEval#evaluateDouble(double, double)
+     */
+    @Override
+    protected double evaluateDouble(double lhs, double rhs) throws HyracksDataException {
+        return Math.pow(lhs, rhs);
+    }
+
+    /* (non-Javadoc)
+     * @see edu.uci.ics.asterix.om.functions.AbstractFunctionDescriptor#getIdentifier()
+     */
+    @Override
+    public FunctionIdentifier getIdentifier() {
+        return AsterixBuiltinFunctions.CARET;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/formats/NonTaggedDataFormat.java b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/formats/NonTaggedDataFormat.java
index 2c81b7c..af647e9 100644
--- a/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/formats/NonTaggedDataFormat.java
+++ b/asterix-runtime/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/runtime/formats/NonTaggedDataFormat.java
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NotNullDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericAbsDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericAddDescriptor;
+import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericCaretDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericCeilingDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericDivideDescriptor;
 import edu.uci.ics.asterix.runtime.evaluators.functions.NumericFloorDescriptor;
@@ -347,6 +348,7 @@
         temp.add(NumericMultiplyDescriptor.FACTORY);
         temp.add(NumericSubtractDescriptor.FACTORY);
         temp.add(NumericModuloDescriptor.FACTORY);
+        temp.add(NumericCaretDescriptor.FACTORY);
         temp.add(IsNullDescriptor.FACTORY);
         temp.add(NotDescriptor.FACTORY);
         temp.add(LenDescriptor.FACTORY);
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMBTreeLocalResourceMetadata.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMBTreeLocalResourceMetadata.java
index e06b5df..c3f9747 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMBTreeLocalResourceMetadata.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMBTreeLocalResourceMetadata.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 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.dataflow.std.file.FileSplit;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IInMemoryFreePageManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexMetaDataFrameFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.frames.LIFOMetaDataFrameFactory;
@@ -27,14 +28,27 @@
     private final int[] bloomFilterKeyFields;
     private final int memPageSize;
     private final int memNumPages;
+    private FileSplit[] fileSplits;
+    private int ioDeviceID;
 
     public LSMBTreeLocalResourceMetadata(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories,
-            int[] bloomFilterKeyFields, boolean isPrimary, int memPageSize, int memNumPages) {
+            int[] bloomFilterKeyFields, boolean isPrimary, int memPageSize, int memNumPages, FileSplit[] fileSplits) {
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
         this.cmpFactories = cmpFactories;
         this.bloomFilterKeyFields = bloomFilterKeyFields;
         this.memPageSize = memPageSize;
         this.memNumPages = memNumPages;
+        this.fileSplits = fileSplits;
+    }
+
+    public LSMBTreeLocalResourceMetadata(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] cmpFactories,
+            int[] bloomFilterKeyFields, boolean isPrimary, int memPageSize, int memNumPages, int ioDeviceID) {
+        this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
+        this.cmpFactories = cmpFactories;
+        this.bloomFilterKeyFields = bloomFilterKeyFields;
+        this.memPageSize = memPageSize;
+        this.memNumPages = memNumPages;
+        this.ioDeviceID = ioDeviceID;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -45,13 +59,13 @@
                 memNumPages, new TransientFileMapManager());
         ITreeIndexMetaDataFrameFactory metaDataFrameFactory = new LIFOMetaDataFrameFactory();
         IInMemoryFreePageManager memFreePageManager = new InMemoryFreePageManager(memNumPages, metaDataFrameFactory);
-        LSMBTree lsmBTree = LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(memBufferCache, memFreePageManager,
-                runtimeContextProvider.getIOManager(), file, runtimeContextProvider.getBufferCache(),
-                runtimeContextProvider.getFileMapManager(), typeTraits, cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields,
-                runtimeContextProvider.getBloomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), runtimeContextProvider.getLSMMergePolicy(),
-                runtimeContextProvider.getLSMBTreeOperationTrackerFactory(),
-                runtimeContextProvider.getLSMIOScheduler(),
-                runtimeContextProvider.getLSMBTreeIOOperationCallbackProvider(), partition);
+        LSMBTree lsmBTree = LSMBTreeUtils.createLSMTree(memBufferCache, memFreePageManager, runtimeContextProvider
+                .getIOManager(), file, runtimeContextProvider.getBufferCache(), runtimeContextProvider
+                .getFileMapManager(), typeTraits, cmpFactories, bloomFilterKeyFields, runtimeContextProvider
+                .getBloomFilterFalsePositiveRate(), runtimeContextProvider.getLSMMergePolicy(), runtimeContextProvider
+                .getLSMBTreeOperationTrackerFactory(), runtimeContextProvider.getLSMIOScheduler(),
+                runtimeContextProvider.getLSMBTreeIOOperationCallbackProvider(), fileSplits == null ? ioDeviceID
+                        : fileSplits[partition].getIODeviceId());
         return lsmBTree;
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceMetadata.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceMetadata.java
index d56c6ee..89a32c5 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceMetadata.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceMetadata.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.IBinaryComparatorFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.dataflow.value.ITypeTraits;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.dataflow.std.file.FileSplit;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IInMemoryFreePageManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexMetaDataFrameFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IndexException;
@@ -28,11 +29,12 @@
     private final int memPageSize;
     private final int memNumPages;
     private final boolean isPartitioned;
+    private final FileSplit[] fileSplits;
 
     public LSMInvertedIndexLocalResourceMetadata(ITypeTraits[] invListTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] invListCmpFactories, ITypeTraits[] tokenTypeTraits,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] tokenCmpFactories, IBinaryTokenizerFactory tokenizerFactory, int memPageSize,
-            int memNumPages, boolean isPartitioned) {
+            int memNumPages, boolean isPartitioned, FileSplit[] fileSplits) {
         this.invListTypeTraits = invListTypeTraits;
         this.invListCmpFactories = invListCmpFactories;
         this.tokenTypeTraits = tokenTypeTraits;
@@ -41,6 +43,7 @@
         this.memPageSize = memPageSize;
         this.memNumPages = memNumPages;
         this.isPartitioned = isPartitioned;
+        this.fileSplits = fileSplits;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -62,7 +65,8 @@
                         runtimeContextProvider.getLSMMergePolicy(),
                         runtimeContextProvider.getLSMInvertedIndexOperationTrackerFactory(),
                         runtimeContextProvider.getLSMIOScheduler(),
-                        runtimeContextProvider.getLSMInvertedIndexIOOperationCallbackProvider(), partition);
+                        runtimeContextProvider.getLSMInvertedIndexIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
+                        fileSplits[partition].getIODeviceId());
             } else {
                 return InvertedIndexUtils.createLSMInvertedIndex(memBufferCache, memFreePageManager,
                         runtimeContextProvider.getFileMapManager(), invListTypeTraits, invListCmpFactories,
@@ -72,7 +76,8 @@
                         runtimeContextProvider.getLSMMergePolicy(),
                         runtimeContextProvider.getLSMInvertedIndexOperationTrackerFactory(),
                         runtimeContextProvider.getLSMIOScheduler(),
-                        runtimeContextProvider.getLSMInvertedIndexIOOperationCallbackProvider(), partition);
+                        runtimeContextProvider.getLSMInvertedIndexIOOperationCallbackProvider(),
+                        fileSplits[partition].getIODeviceId());
             }
         } catch (IndexException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMRTreeLocalResourceMetadata.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMRTreeLocalResourceMetadata.java
index 95fab45..2506697 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMRTreeLocalResourceMetadata.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/LSMRTreeLocalResourceMetadata.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 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.dataflow.std.file.FileSplit;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IInMemoryFreePageManager;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.ITreeIndexMetaDataFrameFactory;
@@ -33,11 +34,12 @@
     private final ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory;
     private final int memPageSize;
     private final int memNumPages;
+    private final FileSplit[] fileSplits;
 
     public LSMRTreeLocalResourceMetadata(ITypeTraits[] typeTraits, IBinaryComparatorFactory[] rtreeCmpFactories,
             IBinaryComparatorFactory[] btreeCmpFactories, IPrimitiveValueProviderFactory[] valueProviderFactories,
             RTreePolicyType rtreePolicyType, ILinearizeComparatorFactory linearizeCmpFactory, int memPageSize,
-            int memNumPages) {
+            int memNumPages, FileSplit[] fileSplits) {
         this.typeTraits = typeTraits;
         this.rtreeCmpFactories = rtreeCmpFactories;
         this.btreeCmpFactories = btreeCmpFactories;
@@ -46,6 +48,7 @@
         this.linearizeCmpFactory = linearizeCmpFactory;
         this.memPageSize = memPageSize;
         this.memNumPages = memNumPages;
+        this.fileSplits = fileSplits;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -66,7 +69,8 @@
                     runtimeContextProvider.getLSMMergePolicy(),
                     runtimeContextProvider.getLSMRTreeOperationTrackerFactory(),
                     runtimeContextProvider.getLSMIOScheduler(),
-                    runtimeContextProvider.getLSMRTreeIOOperationCallbackProvider(), linearizeCmpFactory, partition);
+                    runtimeContextProvider.getLSMRTreeIOOperationCallbackProvider(), linearizeCmpFactory,
+                    fileSplits[partition].getIODeviceId());
         } catch (TreeIndexException e) {
             throw new HyracksDataException(e);
         }
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepository.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepository.java
index 191bc8a..2361bac 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepository.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepository.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IODeviceHandle;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.ILocalResourceRepository;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.LocalResource;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.ResourceIdFactory;
@@ -36,26 +37,34 @@
 public class PersistentLocalResourceRepository implements ILocalResourceRepository {
 
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(PersistentLocalResourceRepository.class.getName());
-    private final String mountPoint;
-    private static final String ROOT_METADATA_DIRECTORY = "asterix_root_metadata/";
-    private static final String ROOT_METADATA_FILE_NAME_PREFIX = ".asterix_root_metadata_";
+    private final String[] mountPoints;
+    private static final String ROOT_METADATA_DIRECTORY = "asterix_root_metadata";
+    private static final String ROOT_METADATA_FILE_NAME_PREFIX = ".asterix_root_metadata";
     private static final long ROOT_LOCAL_RESOURCE_ID = -4321;
     private static final String METADATA_FILE_NAME = ".metadata";
     private Map<String, LocalResource> name2ResourceMap = new HashMap<String, LocalResource>();
     private Map<Long, LocalResource> id2ResourceMap = new HashMap<Long, LocalResource>();
-    private String rootMetadataFileName;
-    private String rootDir;
+    private final int numIODevices;
 
-    public PersistentLocalResourceRepository(String mountPoint) throws HyracksDataException {
-        File mountPointDir = new File(mountPoint);
-        if (!mountPointDir.exists()) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException(mountPointDir.getAbsolutePath() + "doesn't exist.");
+    public PersistentLocalResourceRepository(List<IODeviceHandle> devices) throws HyracksDataException {
+        numIODevices = devices.size();
+        this.mountPoints = new String[numIODevices];
+        for (int i = 0; i < numIODevices; i++) {
+            String mountPoint = devices.get(i).getPath().getPath();
+            File mountPointDir = new File(mountPoint);
+            if (!mountPointDir.exists()) {
+                throw new HyracksDataException(mountPointDir.getAbsolutePath() + "doesn't exist.");
+            }
+            if (!mountPoint.endsWith(System.getProperty("file.separator"))) {
+                mountPoints[i] = new String(mountPoint + System.getProperty("file.separator"));
+            } else {
+                mountPoints[i] = new String(mountPoint);
+            }
         }
-        if (!mountPoint.endsWith(System.getProperty("file.separator"))) {
-            this.mountPoint = new String(mountPoint + System.getProperty("file.separator"));
-        } else {
-            this.mountPoint = new String(mountPoint);
-        }
+    }
+
+    private String prepareRootMetaDataFileName(String mountPoint, String nodeId, int ioDeviceId) {
+        return mountPoint + ROOT_METADATA_DIRECTORY + "_" + nodeId + "_" + "iodevice" + ioDeviceId;
     }
 
     public void initialize(String nodeId, String rootDir, boolean isNewUniverse, ResourceIdFactory resourceIdFactory)
@@ -63,53 +72,40 @@
         if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
             LOGGER.info("Initializing local resource repository ... ");
         }
-        LocalResource rootLocalResource = null;
 
-        //#. if the rootMetadataFile doesn't exist, create it and return.
-        rootMetadataFileName = new String(mountPoint + ROOT_METADATA_DIRECTORY + ROOT_METADATA_FILE_NAME_PREFIX
-                + nodeId);
-        File rootMetadataFile = new File(rootMetadataFileName);
         if (isNewUniverse) {
-            File rootMetadataDir = new File(mountPoint + ROOT_METADATA_DIRECTORY);
-            if (!rootMetadataDir.exists()) {
-                rootMetadataDir.mkdir();
-                if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-                    LOGGER.info("created the root-metadata-file's directory: " + rootMetadataDir.getAbsolutePath());
+            //#. if the rootMetadataFile doesn't exist, create it and return.
+            for (int i = 0; i < numIODevices; i++) {
+                String rootMetadataFileName = prepareRootMetaDataFileName(mountPoints[i], nodeId, i) + File.separator
+                        + ROOT_METADATA_FILE_NAME_PREFIX;
+                File rootMetadataFile = new File(rootMetadataFileName);
+
+                File rootMetadataDir = new File(prepareRootMetaDataFileName(mountPoints[i], nodeId, i));
+                if (!rootMetadataDir.exists()) {
+                    rootMetadataDir.mkdir();
+                    if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                        LOGGER.info("created the root-metadata-file's directory: " + rootMetadataDir.getAbsolutePath());
+                    }
                 }
-            }
 
-            rootMetadataFile.delete();
-            if (rootDir.startsWith(System.getProperty("file.separator"))) {
-                this.rootDir = new String(mountPoint + rootDir.substring(System.getProperty("file.separator").length()));
-            } else {
-                this.rootDir = new String(mountPoint + rootDir);
-            }
-            rootLocalResource = new LocalResource(ROOT_LOCAL_RESOURCE_ID, rootMetadataFileName, 0, 0, this.rootDir);
-            insert(rootLocalResource);
-            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-                LOGGER.info("created the root-metadata-file: " + rootMetadataFileName);
-            }
-            
-            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-                LOGGER.info("Completed the initialization of the local resource repository");
-            }
-            return;
-        }
+                rootMetadataFile.delete();
+                String mountedRootDir;
+                if (rootDir.startsWith(System.getProperty("file.separator"))) {
+                    mountedRootDir = new String(mountPoints[i]
+                            + rootDir.substring(System.getProperty("file.separator").length()));
+                } else {
+                    mountedRootDir = new String(mountPoints[i] + rootDir);
+                }
+                LocalResource rootLocalResource = new LocalResource(ROOT_LOCAL_RESOURCE_ID, rootMetadataFileName, 0, 0,
+                        mountedRootDir);
+                insert(rootLocalResource, i);
+                if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                    LOGGER.info("created the root-metadata-file: " + rootMetadataFileName);
+                }
 
-        //#. if the rootMetadataFile exists, read it and set this.rootDir.
-        rootLocalResource = readLocalResource(rootMetadataFile);
-        this.rootDir = (String) rootLocalResource.getResourceObject();
-        if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-            LOGGER.info("The root directory of the local resource repository is " + this.rootDir);
-        }
-
-        //#. load all local resources. 
-        File rootDirFile = new File(this.rootDir);
-        if (!rootDirFile.exists()) {
-            //rootDir may not exist if this node is not the metadata node and doesn't have any user data.
-            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-                LOGGER.info("The root directory of the local resource repository doesn't exist: there is no local resource.");
-                LOGGER.info("Completed the initialization of the local resource repository");
+                if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                    LOGGER.info("Completed the initialization of the local resource repository");
+                }
             }
             return;
         }
@@ -124,27 +120,50 @@
             }
         };
 
-        long maxResourceId = 0;
-        File[] dataverseFileList = rootDirFile.listFiles();
-        if (dataverseFileList == null) {
-            throw new HyracksDataException("Metadata dataverse doesn't exist.");
-        }
-        for (File dataverseFile : dataverseFileList) {
-            if (dataverseFile.isDirectory()) {
-                File[] indexFileList = dataverseFile.listFiles();
-                if (indexFileList != null) {
-                    for (File indexFile : indexFileList) {
-                        if (indexFile.isDirectory()) {
-                            File[] metadataFiles = indexFile.listFiles(filter);
-                            if (metadataFiles != null) {
-                                for (File metadataFile : metadataFiles) {
-                                    LocalResource localResource = readLocalResource(metadataFile);
-                                    id2ResourceMap.put(localResource.getResourceId(), localResource);
-                                    name2ResourceMap.put(localResource.getResourceName(), localResource);
-                                    maxResourceId = Math.max(localResource.getResourceId(), maxResourceId);
-                                    if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-                                        LOGGER.info("loaded local resource - [id: " + localResource.getResourceId()
-                                                + ", name: " + localResource.getResourceName() + "]");
+        for (int i = 0; i < numIODevices; i++) {
+            String rootMetadataFileName = prepareRootMetaDataFileName(mountPoints[i], nodeId, i) + File.separator
+                    + ROOT_METADATA_FILE_NAME_PREFIX;
+            File rootMetadataFile = new File(rootMetadataFileName);
+            //#. if the rootMetadataFile exists, read it and set this.rootDir.
+            LocalResource rootLocalResource = readLocalResource(rootMetadataFile);
+            String mountedRootDir = (String) rootLocalResource.getResourceObject();
+            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                LOGGER.info("The root directory of the local resource repository is " + mountedRootDir);
+            }
+
+            //#. load all local resources. 
+            File rootDirFile = new File(mountedRootDir);
+            if (!rootDirFile.exists()) {
+                //rootDir may not exist if this node is not the metadata node and doesn't have any user data.
+                if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                    LOGGER.info("The root directory of the local resource repository doesn't exist: there is no local resource.");
+                    LOGGER.info("Completed the initialization of the local resource repository");
+                }
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            long maxResourceId = 0;
+            File[] dataverseFileList = rootDirFile.listFiles();
+            if (dataverseFileList == null) {
+                throw new HyracksDataException("Metadata dataverse doesn't exist.");
+            }
+            for (File dataverseFile : dataverseFileList) {
+                if (dataverseFile.isDirectory()) {
+                    File[] indexFileList = dataverseFile.listFiles();
+                    if (indexFileList != null) {
+                        for (File indexFile : indexFileList) {
+                            if (indexFile.isDirectory()) {
+                                File[] metadataFiles = indexFile.listFiles(filter);
+                                if (metadataFiles != null) {
+                                    for (File metadataFile : metadataFiles) {
+                                        LocalResource localResource = readLocalResource(metadataFile);
+                                        id2ResourceMap.put(localResource.getResourceId(), localResource);
+                                        name2ResourceMap.put(localResource.getResourceName(), localResource);
+                                        maxResourceId = Math.max(localResource.getResourceId(), maxResourceId);
+                                        if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                                            LOGGER.info("loaded local resource - [id: " + localResource.getResourceId()
+                                                    + ", name: " + localResource.getResourceName() + "]");
+                                        }
                                     }
                                 }
                             }
@@ -152,11 +171,11 @@
                     }
                 }
             }
-        }
-        resourceIdFactory.initId(maxResourceId + 1);
-        if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
-            LOGGER.info("The resource id factory is intialized with the value: " + (maxResourceId + 1));
-            LOGGER.info("Completed the initialization of the local resource repository");
+            resourceIdFactory.initId(maxResourceId + 1);
+            if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+                LOGGER.info("The resource id factory is intialized with the value: " + (maxResourceId + 1));
+                LOGGER.info("Completed the initialization of the local resource repository");
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -171,7 +190,7 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public synchronized void insert(LocalResource resource) throws HyracksDataException {
+    public synchronized void insert(LocalResource resource, int ioDeviceId) throws HyracksDataException {
         long id = resource.getResourceId();
 
         if (id2ResourceMap.containsKey(id)) {
@@ -185,8 +204,10 @@
 
         FileOutputStream fos = null;
         ObjectOutputStream oosToFos = null;
+
         try {
-            fos = new FileOutputStream(getFileName(mountPoint, resource.getResourceName(), resource.getResourceId()));
+            fos = new FileOutputStream(getFileName(mountPoints[ioDeviceId], resource.getResourceName(),
+                    resource.getResourceId()));
             oosToFos = new ObjectOutputStream(fos);
             oosToFos.writeObject(resource);
             oosToFos.flush();
@@ -211,26 +232,26 @@
     }
 
     @Override
-    public synchronized void deleteResourceById(long id) throws HyracksDataException {
+    public synchronized void deleteResourceById(long id, int ioDeviceId) throws HyracksDataException {
         LocalResource resource = id2ResourceMap.get(id);
         if (resource == null) {
             throw new HyracksDataException("Resource doesn't exist");
         }
         id2ResourceMap.remove(id);
         name2ResourceMap.remove(resource.getResourceName());
-        File file = new File(getFileName(mountPoint, resource.getResourceName(), resource.getResourceId()));
+        File file = new File(getFileName(mountPoints[ioDeviceId], resource.getResourceName(), resource.getResourceId()));
         file.delete();
     }
 
     @Override
-    public synchronized void deleteResourceByName(String name) throws HyracksDataException {
+    public synchronized void deleteResourceByName(String name, int ioDeviceId) throws HyracksDataException {
         LocalResource resource = name2ResourceMap.get(name);
         if (resource == null) {
             throw new HyracksDataException("Resource doesn't exist");
         }
         id2ResourceMap.remove(resource.getResourceId());
         name2ResourceMap.remove(name);
-        File file = new File(getFileName(mountPoint, resource.getResourceName(), resource.getResourceId()));
+        File file = new File(getFileName(mountPoints[ioDeviceId], resource.getResourceName(), resource.getResourceId()));
         file.delete();
     }
 
diff --git a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepositoryFactory.java b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepositoryFactory.java
index c7efca5..f6847f9 100644
--- a/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepositoryFactory.java
+++ b/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepositoryFactory.java
@@ -14,11 +14,8 @@
  */
 package edu.uci.ics.asterix.transaction.management.resource;
 
-import java.util.List;
-
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IIOManager;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.IODeviceHandle;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.ILocalResourceRepository;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.common.file.ILocalResourceRepositoryFactory;
 
@@ -31,7 +28,6 @@
 
     @Override
     public ILocalResourceRepository createRepository() throws HyracksDataException {
-        List<IODeviceHandle> devices = ioManager.getIODevices();
-        return new PersistentLocalResourceRepository(devices.get(0).getPath().getPath());
+        return new PersistentLocalResourceRepository(ioManager.getIODevices());
     }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index c313bd7..aa0bc82 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -135,14 +135,6 @@
 			<url>http://obelix.ics.uci.edu/nexus/content/repositories/algebricks-snapshots/</url>
 		</repository>
 	</repositories>
-    <dependencies>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>net.sourceforge.cobertura</groupId>
-            <artifactId>cobertura</artifactId>
-            <version>1.9.4</version>
-            <optional>true</optional>
-        </dependency>
-    </dependencies>
         <dependencyManagement>
     	<dependencies>
     		<dependency>