diff --git a/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/common/controllers/CCConfig.java b/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/common/controllers/CCConfig.java
index d12d037..6afa43e 100644
--- a/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/common/controllers/CCConfig.java
+++ b/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/common/controllers/CCConfig.java
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
  */
 package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.common.controllers;
 
+import java.util.List;
+
 import org.kohsuke.args4j.Option;
 
 public class CCConfig {
@@ -34,4 +36,19 @@
 
     @Option(name = "-default-max-job-attempts", usage = "Sets the default number of job attempts allowed if not specified in the job specification. (default: 5)")
     public int defaultMaxJobAttempts = 5;
+
+    public void toCommandLine(List<String> cList) {
+        cList.add("-port");
+        cList.add(String.valueOf(port));
+        cList.add("-http-port");
+        cList.add(String.valueOf(httpPort));
+        cList.add("-heartbeat-period");
+        cList.add(String.valueOf(heartbeatPeriod));
+        cList.add("-max-heartbeat-lapse-periods");
+        cList.add(String.valueOf(maxHeartbeatLapsePeriods));
+        cList.add("-profile-dump-period");
+        cList.add(String.valueOf(profileDumpPeriod));
+        cList.add("-default-max-job-attempts");
+        cList.add(String.valueOf(defaultMaxJobAttempts));
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/common/controllers/NCConfig.java b/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/common/controllers/NCConfig.java
index c887223..02ce0f8 100644
--- a/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/common/controllers/NCConfig.java
+++ b/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/common/controllers/NCConfig.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.common.controllers;
 
 import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.util.List;
 
 import org.kohsuke.args4j.Option;
 
@@ -47,4 +48,27 @@
 
     @Option(name = "-dcache-client-path", usage = "Sets the path to store the files retrieved from the DCache server (default /tmp/dcache-client)")
     public String dcacheClientPath = "/tmp/dcache-client";
+
+    public void toCommandLine(List<String> cList) {
+        cList.add("-cc-host");
+        cList.add(ccHost);
+        cList.add("-cc-port");
+        cList.add(String.valueOf(ccPort));
+        cList.add("-node-id");
+        cList.add(nodeId);
+        cList.add("-data-ip-address");
+        cList.add(dataIPAddress);
+        cList.add("-frame-size");
+        cList.add(String.valueOf(frameSize));
+        cList.add("-iodevices");
+        cList.add(ioDevices);
+        cList.add("-dcache-client-servers");
+        cList.add(dcacheClientServers);
+        if (dcacheClientServerLocal != null) {
+            cList.add("-dcache-client-server-local");
+            cList.add(dcacheClientServerLocal);
+        }
+        cList.add("-dcache-client-path");
+        cList.add(dcacheClientPath);
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/ExternalSortRunMerger.java b/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/ExternalSortRunMerger.java
index 647d750..09984aa 100644
--- a/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/ExternalSortRunMerger.java
+++ b/hyracks-dataflow-std/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/dataflow/std/sort/ExternalSortRunMerger.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.comm.IFrameReader;
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@
             IFrameWriter writer) {
         this.ctx = ctx;
         this.frameSorter = frameSorter;
-        this.runs = runs;
+        this.runs = new LinkedList<IFrameReader>(runs);
         this.sortFields = sortFields;
         this.comparators = comparators;
         this.recordDesc = recordDesc;
diff --git a/hyracks-server/.classpath b/hyracks-server/.classpath
index 3f62785..1f3c1ff 100644
--- a/hyracks-server/.classpath
+++ b/hyracks-server/.classpath
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <classpath>
-	<classpathentry kind="con" path="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER/org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.StandardVMType/J2SE-1.4"/>
+	<classpathentry kind="src" output="target/classes" path="src/main/java"/>
+	<classpathentry kind="con" path="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER/org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.StandardVMType/JavaSE-1.6"/>
 	<classpathentry kind="con" path="org.maven.ide.eclipse.MAVEN2_CLASSPATH_CONTAINER"/>
 	<classpathentry kind="output" path="target/classes"/>
 </classpath>
diff --git a/hyracks-server/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs b/hyracks-server/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
index f362c73..611528f 100644
--- a/hyracks-server/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
+++ b/hyracks-server/.settings/org.eclipse.jdt.core.prefs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-#Sun Aug 14 10:18:14 PDT 2011
+#Tue Sep 20 17:16:43 PDT 2011
 eclipse.preferences.version=1
-org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.codegen.targetPlatform=1.4
-org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.compliance=1.4
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.codegen.targetPlatform=1.6
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.compliance=1.6
 org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.problem.forbiddenReference=warning
-org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.source=1.4
+org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.source=1.6
diff --git a/hyracks-server/pom.xml b/hyracks-server/pom.xml
index 73819b3..8732ca4 100644
--- a/hyracks-server/pom.xml
+++ b/hyracks-server/pom.xml
@@ -13,6 +13,15 @@
   <build>
     <plugins>
       <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>2.0.2</version>
+        <configuration>
+          <source>1.6</source>
+          <target>1.6</target>
+        </configuration>
+      </plugin>
+      <plugin>
         <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
         <artifactId>appassembler-maven-plugin</artifactId>
         <executions>
@@ -27,6 +36,10 @@
                   <mainClass>edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.nc.NCDriver</mainClass>
                   <name>hyracksnc</name>
                 </program>
+                <program>
+                  <mainClass>edu.uci.ics.hyracks.server.drivers.VirtualClusterDriver</mainClass>
+                  <name>hyracks-virtual-cluster</name>
+                </program>
               </programs>
               <repositoryLayout>flat</repositoryLayout>
               <repositoryName>lib</repositoryName>
diff --git a/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/drivers/VirtualClusterDriver.java b/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/drivers/VirtualClusterDriver.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92a1ad5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/drivers/VirtualClusterDriver.java
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+/*
+ * 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.hyracks.server.drivers;
+
+import org.kohsuke.args4j.CmdLineParser;
+import org.kohsuke.args4j.Option;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.common.controllers.CCConfig;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.common.controllers.NCConfig;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.server.process.HyracksCCProcess;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.server.process.HyracksNCProcess;
+
+public class VirtualClusterDriver {
+    private static class Options {
+        @Option(name = "-n", required = false, usage = "Number of node controllers (default: 2)")
+        public int n = 2;
+
+        @Option(name = "-cc-port", required = false, usage = "CC Port (default: 1099)")
+        public int ccPort = 1099;
+    }
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+        Options options = new Options();
+        CmdLineParser cp = new CmdLineParser(options);
+        try {
+            cp.parseArgument(args);
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            System.err.println(e.getMessage());
+            cp.printUsage(System.err);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        CCConfig ccConfig = new CCConfig();
+        ccConfig.port = options.ccPort;
+        HyracksCCProcess ccp = new HyracksCCProcess(ccConfig);
+        ccp.start();
+
+        Thread.sleep(2000);
+
+        HyracksNCProcess ncps[] = new HyracksNCProcess[options.n];
+        for (int i = 0; i < options.n; ++i) {
+            NCConfig ncConfig = new NCConfig();
+            ncConfig.ccHost = "localhost";
+            ncConfig.nodeId = "nc" + i;
+            ncConfig.dataIPAddress = "127.0.0.1";
+            ncps[i] = new HyracksNCProcess(ncConfig);
+            ncps[i].start();
+        }
+
+        while (true) {
+            Thread.sleep(10000);
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java b/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb1be95
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/process/HyracksCCProcess.java
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.server.process;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.cc.CCDriver;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.common.controllers.CCConfig;
+
+public class HyracksCCProcess extends HyracksServerProcess {
+    private CCConfig config;
+
+    public HyracksCCProcess(CCConfig config) {
+        this.config = config;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void addCmdLineArgs(List<String> cList) {
+        config.toCommandLine(cList);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected String getMainClassName() {
+        return CCDriver.class.getName();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/process/HyracksNCProcess.java b/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/process/HyracksNCProcess.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd110c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/process/HyracksNCProcess.java
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package edu.uci.ics.hyracks.server.process;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.common.controllers.NCConfig;
+import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.control.nc.NCDriver;
+
+public class HyracksNCProcess extends HyracksServerProcess {
+    private NCConfig config;
+
+    public HyracksNCProcess(NCConfig config) {
+        this.config = config;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected void addCmdLineArgs(List<String> cList) {
+        config.toCommandLine(cList);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected String getMainClassName() {
+        return NCDriver.class.getName();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java b/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17169ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hyracks-server/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/server/process/HyracksServerProcess.java
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/*
+ * 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.hyracks.server.process;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.InputStreamReader;
+import java.io.Reader;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+
+public abstract class HyracksServerProcess {
+    private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(HyracksServerProcess.class.getName());
+
+    protected Process process;
+
+    public void start() throws IOException {
+        String[] cmd = buildCommand();
+        if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
+            LOGGER.info("Starting command: " + Arrays.toString(cmd));
+        }
+        process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd, null, null);
+        dump(process.getInputStream());
+        dump(process.getErrorStream());
+    }
+
+    private void dump(InputStream input) {
+        final int streamBufferSize = 1000;
+        final Reader in = new InputStreamReader(input);
+        new Thread(new Runnable() {
+            public void run() {
+                try {
+                    char[] chars = new char[streamBufferSize];
+                    int c;
+                    while ((c = in.read(chars)) != -1) {
+                        if (c > 0) {
+                            System.out.print(String.valueOf(chars, 0, c));
+                        }
+                    }
+                } catch (IOException e) {
+                }
+            }
+        }).start();
+    }
+
+    private String[] buildCommand() {
+        List<String> cList = new ArrayList<String>();
+        cList.add(getJavaCommand());
+        cList.add("-classpath");
+        cList.add(getClasspath());
+        cList.add(getMainClassName());
+        addCmdLineArgs(cList);
+        return cList.toArray(new String[cList.size()]);
+    }
+
+    protected abstract void addCmdLineArgs(List<String> cList);
+
+    protected abstract String getMainClassName();
+
+    private final String getClasspath() {
+        return System.getProperty("java.class.path");
+    }
+
+    protected final String getJavaCommand() {
+        return System.getProperty("java.home") + File.separator + "bin" + File.separator + "java";
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file