In

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have met and worked with some remarkable people during my stay at Texas Tech University. While a brief note of thanks does not do justice to their impact on my life, I deeply appreciate their contributions. I begin by thanking my thesis committee members, Dr. Yong Chen, Dr. Alan Sill, and Dr. Noe Lopez-Benitez for all of their guidance through this process. First and foremost I wish to thank my advisor, Dr. Yong Chen. His guidance and advice during the course of my master studies have shaped my career. I have enjoyed working with him over the years and am grateful for his friendship and counsel. My experience under his advice has been nothing short of amazing. I have been given unique opportunities and taken advantage of them. This includes working at Cloud and Autonomic Computing (CAC) as the first researcher, working as system administrator for a research Hadoop cluster, and being in touch with companies. His strong support and confidence in my abilities were benefits not all students have a chance to experience