diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dist/src/main/resources/bin/startcc.sh b/hyracks/hyracks-dist/src/main/resources/bin/startcc.sh
index efb79ce..484ecac 100755
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-dist/src/main/resources/bin/startcc.sh
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dist/src/main/resources/bin/startcc.sh
@@ -22,4 +22,10 @@
 
 #Launch hyracks cc script
 chmod -R 755 $HYRACKS_HOME
+if [ -f "conf/topology.xml"  ]; then
+#Launch hyracks cc script with topology
+$HYRACKS_HOME/hyracks-server/target/appassembler/bin/hyrackscc -client-net-ip-address $CCHOST -cluster-net-ip-address $CCHOST -client-net-port $CC_CLIENTPORT -cluster-net-port $CC_CLUSTERPORT -max-heartbeat-lapse-periods 999999 -default-max-job-attempts 0 -job-history-size 0 -cluster-topology "conf/topology.xml" &> $CCLOGS_DIR/cc.log &
+else
+#Launch hyracks cc script without toplogy
 $HYRACKS_HOME/hyracks-server/target/appassembler/bin/hyrackscc -client-net-ip-address $CCHOST -cluster-net-ip-address $CCHOST -client-net-port $CC_CLIENTPORT -cluster-net-port $CC_CLUSTERPORT -max-heartbeat-lapse-periods 999999 -default-max-job-attempts 0 -job-history-size 0 &> $CCLOGS_DIR/cc.log &
+fi
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-dist/src/main/resources/conf/topology-template.xml b/hyracks/hyracks-dist/src/main/resources/conf/topology-template.xml
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4710706
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-dist/src/main/resources/conf/topology-template.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+<cluster-topology>
+    <network-switch name="Global">
+        <network-switch name="local">
+            <terminal name="127.0.0.1"/>
+        </network-switch>
+    </network-switch>
+</cluster-topology>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/RackAwareNcCollectionBuilder.java b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/RackAwareNcCollectionBuilder.java
index 2b9e899..fa5e7ae 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/RackAwareNcCollectionBuilder.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-hdfs/hyracks-hdfs-core/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/hdfs/scheduler/RackAwareNcCollectionBuilder.java
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@
                 String ipAddress = InetAddress.getByAddress(
                         ncNameToNcInfos.get(NCs[i]).getNetworkAddress().getIpAddress()).getHostAddress();
                 topology.lookupNetworkTerminal(ipAddress, path);
+                if (path.size() <= 0) {
+                    // if the hyracks nc is not in the defined cluster
+                    path.add(Integer.MIN_VALUE);
+                    LOGGER.info(NCs[i] + "'s IP address is not in the cluster toplogy file!");
+                }
                 List<String> ncs = pathToNCs.get(path);
                 if (ncs == null) {
                     ncs = new ArrayList<String>();
@@ -70,6 +75,10 @@
                     String ipAddress = InetAddress.getByAddress(
                             ncNameToNcInfos.get(NCs[i]).getNetworkAddress().getIpAddress()).getHostAddress();
                     topology.lookupNetworkTerminal(ipAddress, path);
+                    if (path.size() <= 0) {
+                        // if the hyracks nc is not in the defined cluster
+                        path.add(Integer.MIN_VALUE);
+                    }
                     IntWritable availableSlot = availableIpsToSlots.get(path);
                     if (availableSlot == null) {
                         availableSlot = new IntWritable(slotLimit - workloads[i]);