diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/PersisterApplication.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/PersisterApplication.java
index af733298..f3ddc4c7 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/PersisterApplication.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/PersisterApplication.java
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ import monasca.persister.consumer.KafkaConsumerRunnableBasicFactory;
 import monasca.persister.healthcheck.SimpleHealthCheck;
 import monasca.persister.pipeline.ManagedPipeline;
 import monasca.persister.pipeline.ManagedPipelineFactory;
-import monasca.persister.pipeline.event.AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandlerFactory;
+import monasca.persister.pipeline.event.AlarmStateTransitionHandlerFactory;
 import monasca.persister.pipeline.event.MetricHandlerFactory;
 import monasca.persister.resource.Resource;
 
@@ -203,8 +203,8 @@ public class PersisterApplication extends Application<PersisterConfig> {
     int batchSize = configuration.getAlarmHistoryConfiguration().getBatchSize();
     logger.debug("Batch size for each AlarmStateHistoryPipeline [{}]", batchSize);
 
-    AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandlerFactory alarmHistoryEventHandlerFactory =
-        injector.getInstance(AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandlerFactory.class);
+    AlarmStateTransitionHandlerFactory alarmHistoryEventHandlerFactory =
+        injector.getInstance(AlarmStateTransitionHandlerFactory.class);
 
     ManagedPipelineFactory<AlarmStateTransitionedEvent> alarmStateTransitionPipelineFactory =
         injector.getInstance(new Key<ManagedPipelineFactory<AlarmStateTransitionedEvent>>(){});
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/PersisterModule.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/PersisterModule.java
index bf658df6..67e49539 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/PersisterModule.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/PersisterModule.java
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ import monasca.persister.consumer.KafkaConsumerRunnableBasicFactory;
 import monasca.persister.dbi.DBIProvider;
 import monasca.persister.pipeline.ManagedPipeline;
 import monasca.persister.pipeline.ManagedPipelineFactory;
-import monasca.persister.pipeline.event.AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler;
-import monasca.persister.pipeline.event.AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandlerFactory;
+import monasca.persister.pipeline.event.AlarmStateTransitionHandler;
+import monasca.persister.pipeline.event.AlarmStateTransitionHandlerFactory;
 import monasca.persister.pipeline.event.MetricHandler;
 import monasca.persister.pipeline.event.MetricHandlerFactory;
 import monasca.persister.repository.Repo;
@@ -81,9 +81,9 @@ public class PersisterModule extends AbstractModule {
 
     install(
         new FactoryModuleBuilder().implement(
-            AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler.class,
-            AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler.class)
-            .build(AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandlerFactory.class));
+            AlarmStateTransitionHandler.class,
+            AlarmStateTransitionHandler.class)
+            .build(AlarmStateTransitionHandlerFactory.class));
 
     install(
         new FactoryModuleBuilder().implement(
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/consumer/KafkaConsumer.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/consumer/KafkaConsumer.java
index 96cf0725..d8520828 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/consumer/KafkaConsumer.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/consumer/KafkaConsumer.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 package monasca.persister.consumer;
 
+import com.google.common.util.concurrent.ThreadFactoryBuilder;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.assistedinject.Assisted;
 
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 public class KafkaConsumer<T> {
@@ -52,9 +54,14 @@ public class KafkaConsumer<T> {
 
     logger.info("[{}]: start", this.threadId);
 
-    executorService = Executors.newFixedThreadPool(1);
+    ThreadFactory threadFactory = new ThreadFactoryBuilder()
+        .setNameFormat(threadId + "-%d")
+        .setDaemon(true)
+        .build();
 
-    executorService.submit(kafkaConsumerRunnableBasic);
+    executorService = Executors.newSingleThreadExecutor(threadFactory);
+
+    executorService.submit(kafkaConsumerRunnableBasic.setExecutorService(executorService));
 
   }
 
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/consumer/KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/consumer/KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic.java
index 0c039b0e..b4cbb29b 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/consumer/KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/consumer/KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic.java
@@ -17,14 +17,18 @@
 
 package monasca.persister.consumer;
 
+import monasca.persister.pipeline.ManagedPipeline;
+
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.assistedinject.Assisted;
 
+import org.apache.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+
 import kafka.consumer.ConsumerIterator;
-import monasca.persister.pipeline.ManagedPipeline;
 
 public class KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic<T> implements Runnable {
 
@@ -35,6 +39,7 @@ public class KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic<T> implements Runnable {
   private final ManagedPipeline<T> pipeline;
   private volatile boolean stop = false;
 
+  private ExecutorService executorService;
 
   @Inject
   public KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic(
@@ -47,6 +52,14 @@ public class KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic<T> implements Runnable {
     this.threadId = threadId;
   }
 
+  public KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic<T> setExecutorService(ExecutorService executorService) {
+
+    this.executorService = executorService;
+
+    return this;
+
+  }
+
   protected void publishHeartbeat() {
 
     publishEvent(null);
@@ -67,9 +80,17 @@ public class KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic<T> implements Runnable {
 
     this.stop = true;
 
-    if (pipeline.shutdown()) {
+    try {
 
-      markRead();
+      if (pipeline.shutdown()) {
+
+        markRead();
+
+      }
+
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+
+      logger.error("caught fatal exception while shutting down", e);
 
     }
   }
@@ -82,37 +103,61 @@ public class KafkaConsumerRunnableBasic<T> implements Runnable {
 
     logger.debug("[{}]: KafkaChannel has stream iterator", this.threadId);
 
-    while (!this.stop) {
+      while (!this.stop) {
 
-      try {
+        try {
 
-        if (it.hasNext()) {
+          if (it.hasNext()) {
 
-          final String msg = new String(it.next().message());
+            final String msg = new String(it.next().message());
 
-          logger.debug("[{}]: {}", this.threadId, msg);
+            logger.debug("[{}]: {}", this.threadId, msg);
 
-          publishEvent(msg);
+            publishEvent(msg);
+
+          }
+
+        } catch (kafka.consumer.ConsumerTimeoutException cte) {
+
+          publishHeartbeat();
 
         }
 
-      } catch (kafka.consumer.ConsumerTimeoutException cte) {
+        if (Thread.currentThread().isInterrupted()) {
 
-        publishHeartbeat();
+          logger.debug("[{}]: is interrupted. breaking out of run loop", this.threadId);
 
+          break;
+
+        }
       }
+
+      logger.info("[{}]: shutting down", this.threadId);
+
+      this.kafkaChannel.stop();
+
     }
 
-    logger.info("[{}]: shutting down", this.threadId);
-
-    this.kafkaChannel.stop();
-  }
 
   protected void publishEvent(final String msg) {
 
-    if (pipeline.publishEvent(msg)) {
+    try {
 
-      markRead();
+      if (pipeline.publishEvent(msg)) {
+
+        markRead();
+
+      }
+
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+
+      logger.error("caught fatal exception while publishing msg. Shutting entire persister down now!");
+
+      this.executorService.shutdownNow();
+
+      LogManager.shutdown();
+
+      System.exit(-1);
 
     }
   }
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/ManagedPipeline.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/ManagedPipeline.java
index 47cc09aa..b2662c3f 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/ManagedPipeline.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/ManagedPipeline.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import com.google.inject.Inject;
 import com.google.inject.assistedinject.Assisted;
 
 import monasca.persister.pipeline.event.FlushableHandler;
+import monasca.persister.repository.RepoException;
 
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ public class ManagedPipeline<T> {
 
   }
 
-  public boolean shutdown() {
+  public boolean shutdown() throws RepoException {
 
     logger.info("[{}]: shutdown", this.threadId);
 
@@ -52,26 +53,31 @@ public class ManagedPipeline<T> {
 
       return msgFlushCnt > 0 ? true : false;
 
-    } catch (Exception e) {
+    } catch (RepoException e) {
 
       logger.error("[{}}: failed to flush repo on shutdown", this.threadId, e);
+      logger.error(
+          "[{}]: pipeline broken. repo unavailable. check that database is running. shutting pipeline down now!",
+          this.threadId);
+
+      throw e;
 
-      return false;
     }
   }
 
 
-  public boolean publishEvent(String msg) {
+  public boolean publishEvent(String msg) throws RepoException {
 
       try {
 
         return this.handler.onEvent(msg);
 
-      } catch (Exception e) {
+      } catch (RepoException e) {
 
         logger.error("[{}]: failed to handle msg: {}", this.threadId, msg, e);
+        logger.error("[{}]: pipeline broken. repo unavailable. check that database is running. shutting pipeline down now!", this.threadId);
 
-        return false;
+        throw e;
 
       }
   }
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionHandler.java
similarity index 81%
rename from java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler.java
rename to java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionHandler.java
index a5be430f..dae78c0f 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionHandler.java
@@ -28,29 +28,29 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationFeature;
 
 import io.dropwizard.setup.Environment;
 import monasca.persister.repository.Repo;
+import monasca.persister.repository.RepoException;
 
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 
-public class AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler extends
+public class AlarmStateTransitionHandler extends
     FlushableHandler<AlarmStateTransitionedEvent> {
 
   private static final Logger logger =
-      LoggerFactory.getLogger(AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler.class);
+      LoggerFactory.getLogger(AlarmStateTransitionHandler.class);
 
   private final Repo<AlarmStateTransitionedEvent> alarmRepo;
 
   private final Counter alarmStateTransitionCounter;
 
   @Inject
-  public AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler(
-      Repo<AlarmStateTransitionedEvent> alarmRepo,
-      Environment environment,
-      @Assisted PipelineConfig configuration,
-      @Assisted("threadId") String threadId,
-      @Assisted("batchSize") int batchSize) {
+  public AlarmStateTransitionHandler(Repo<AlarmStateTransitionedEvent> alarmRepo,
+                                     Environment environment,
+                                     @Assisted PipelineConfig configuration,
+                                     @Assisted("threadId") String threadId,
+                                     @Assisted("batchSize") int batchSize) {
 
     super(configuration, environment, threadId, batchSize);
 
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ public class AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler extends
   }
 
   @Override
-  protected int flushRepository() throws Exception {
+  protected int flushRepository() throws RepoException {
 
     return this.alarmRepo.flush(this.threadId);
 
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandlerFactory.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionHandlerFactory.java
similarity index 89%
rename from java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandlerFactory.java
rename to java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionHandlerFactory.java
index 9ff8c0fd..aaa0d181 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandlerFactory.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/AlarmStateTransitionHandlerFactory.java
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ import monasca.persister.configuration.PipelineConfig;
 
 import com.google.inject.assistedinject.Assisted;
 
-public interface AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandlerFactory {
+public interface AlarmStateTransitionHandlerFactory {
 
-  AlarmStateTransitionedEventHandler create(
+  AlarmStateTransitionHandler create(
       PipelineConfig configuration,
       @Assisted("threadId") String threadId,
       @Assisted("batchSize") int batchSize);
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/FlushableHandler.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/FlushableHandler.java
index 0011a905..91c4b97d 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/FlushableHandler.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/FlushableHandler.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import com.codahale.metrics.Timer;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 
 import io.dropwizard.setup.Environment;
+import monasca.persister.repository.RepoException;
 
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -85,11 +86,11 @@ public abstract class FlushableHandler<T> {
 
   protected abstract void initObjectMapper();
 
-  protected abstract int flushRepository() throws Exception;
+  protected abstract int flushRepository() throws RepoException;
 
   protected abstract int process(String msg);
 
-  public boolean onEvent(final String msg) throws Exception {
+  public boolean onEvent(final String msg) throws RepoException {
 
     if (msg == null) {
 
@@ -174,7 +175,7 @@ public abstract class FlushableHandler<T> {
     }
   }
 
-  public int flush() throws Exception {
+  public int flush() throws RepoException {
 
     logger.debug("[{}]: flushing", this.threadId);
 
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/MetricHandler.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/MetricHandler.java
index 8928018a..76ae2697 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/MetricHandler.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/pipeline/event/MetricHandler.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 import io.dropwizard.setup.Environment;
+import monasca.persister.repository.RepoException;
 
 public class MetricHandler extends FlushableHandler<MetricEnvelope[]> {
 
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ public class MetricHandler extends FlushableHandler<MetricEnvelope[]> {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public int flushRepository() throws Exception {
+  public int flushRepository() throws RepoException {
 
     return this.metricRepo.flush(this.threadId);
   }
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/Repo.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/Repo.java
index be7c7d30..3fc118ed 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/Repo.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/Repo.java
@@ -20,6 +20,6 @@ public interface Repo<T> {
 
   void addToBatch(final T msg, String id);
 
-  int flush(String id) throws Exception;
+  int flush(String id) throws RepoException;
 
 }
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/RepoException.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/RepoException.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..99b4f3c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/RepoException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package monasca.persister.repository;
+
+public class RepoException extends Exception {
+
+  public RepoException() {
+
+    super();
+  }
+
+  public RepoException(String message) {
+
+    super(message);
+  }
+
+  public RepoException(String message, Throwable cause) {
+
+    super(message, cause);
+  }
+
+  public RepoException(Throwable cause) {
+
+    super(cause);
+  }
+
+  protected RepoException(String message, Throwable cause, boolean enableSuppression,
+                          boolean writableStackTrace) {
+
+    super(message, cause, enableSuppression, writableStackTrace);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxRepo.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxRepo.java
index 57cdcf42..385695e4 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxRepo.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxRepo.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import io.dropwizard.setup.Environment;
 import monasca.persister.repository.Repo;
+import monasca.persister.repository.RepoException;
 
 public abstract class InfluxRepo<T> implements Repo<T> {
 
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ public abstract class InfluxRepo<T> implements Repo<T> {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public int flush(String id) throws Exception {
+  public int flush(String id) throws RepoException {
 
     if (isBufferEmpty()) {
 
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ public abstract class InfluxRepo<T> implements Repo<T> {
     }
   }
 
-  private int writeToRepo(String id) throws Exception {
+  private int writeToRepo(String id) throws RepoException {
 
     try {
 
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ public abstract class InfluxRepo<T> implements Repo<T> {
 
   protected abstract boolean isBufferEmpty();
 
-  protected abstract int write(String id) throws Exception;
+  protected abstract int write(String id) throws RepoException;
 
   protected abstract void clearBuffers();
 }
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9AlarmRepo.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9AlarmRepo.java
index cae13972..0c4ca1c7 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9AlarmRepo.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9AlarmRepo.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 import io.dropwizard.setup.Environment;
+import monasca.persister.repository.RepoException;
 
 public class InfluxV9AlarmRepo extends InfluxAlarmRepo {
 
@@ -63,13 +64,13 @@ public class InfluxV9AlarmRepo extends InfluxAlarmRepo {
   }
 
   @Override
-  protected int write(String id) throws Exception {
+  protected int write(String id) throws RepoException {
 
     return this.influxV9RepoWriter.write(getInfluxPointArry(id), id);
 
   }
 
-  private InfluxPoint[] getInfluxPointArry(String id) throws Exception {
+  private InfluxPoint[] getInfluxPointArry(String id) {
 
     List<InfluxPoint> influxPointList = new LinkedList<>();
 
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9MetricRepo.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9MetricRepo.java
index 55922421..feb2e4f3 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9MetricRepo.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9MetricRepo.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 import io.dropwizard.setup.Environment;
+import monasca.persister.repository.RepoException;
 
 public class InfluxV9MetricRepo extends InfluxMetricRepo {
 
@@ -43,13 +44,13 @@ public class InfluxV9MetricRepo extends InfluxMetricRepo {
   }
 
   @Override
-  protected int write(String id) throws Exception {
+  protected int write(String id) throws RepoException {
 
     return this.influxV9RepoWriter.write(getInfluxPointArry(), id);
 
   }
 
-  private InfluxPoint[] getInfluxPointArry() throws Exception {
+  private InfluxPoint[] getInfluxPointArry() {
 
     List<InfluxPoint> influxPointList = new LinkedList<>();
 
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9RepoWriter.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9RepoWriter.java
index 2ac54a3e..27e63bbf 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9RepoWriter.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/influxdb/InfluxV9RepoWriter.java
@@ -18,9 +18,11 @@
 package monasca.persister.repository.influxdb;
 
 import monasca.persister.configuration.PersisterConfig;
+import monasca.persister.repository.RepoException;
 
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 
 import org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64;
@@ -123,7 +125,7 @@ public class InfluxV9RepoWriter {
     }
   }
 
-  protected int write(final InfluxPoint[] influxPointArry, String id) throws Exception {
+  protected int write(final InfluxPoint[] influxPointArry, String id) throws RepoException {
 
     HttpPost request = new HttpPost(this.influxUrl);
 
@@ -135,7 +137,7 @@ public class InfluxV9RepoWriter {
         new InfluxWrite(this.influxName, this.influxRetentionPolicy, influxPointArry,
                         new HashMap<String, String>());
 
-    String json = this.objectMapper.writeValueAsString(influxWrite);
+    String jsonBody = getJsonBody(influxWrite);
 
     if (this.gzip) {
 
@@ -145,7 +147,7 @@ public class InfluxV9RepoWriter {
           requestEntity =
           EntityBuilder
               .create()
-              .setText(json)
+              .setText(jsonBody)
               .setContentType(ContentType.APPLICATION_JSON)
               .setContentEncoding("UTF-8")
               .gzipCompress()
@@ -159,7 +161,7 @@ public class InfluxV9RepoWriter {
 
       logger.debug("[{}]: gzip set to false. sending non-gzip msg", id);
 
-      StringEntity stringEntity = new StringEntity(json, "UTF-8");
+      StringEntity stringEntity = new StringEntity(jsonBody, "UTF-8");
 
       request.setEntity(stringEntity);
 
@@ -170,34 +172,71 @@ public class InfluxV9RepoWriter {
       logger.debug("[{}]: sending {} points to influxdb {} at {}", id,
                    influxPointArry.length, this.influxName, this.influxUrl);
 
-      HttpResponse response = this.httpClient.execute(request);
+      HttpResponse response = null;
+
+      try {
+
+        response = this.httpClient.execute(request);
+
+      } catch (IOException e) {
+
+        throw new RepoException("failed to execute http request", e);
+      }
 
       int rc = response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode();
 
       if (rc != HttpStatus.SC_OK) {
 
-        HttpEntity responseEntity = response.getEntity();
-
-        String responseString = EntityUtils.toString(responseEntity, "UTF-8");
-
         logger.error("[{}]: failed to send data to influxdb {} at {}: {}", id,
                      this.influxName, this.influxUrl, String.valueOf(rc));
 
+        HttpEntity responseEntity = response.getEntity();
+
+        String responseString = null;
+
+        try {
+
+          responseString = EntityUtils.toString(responseEntity, "UTF-8");
+
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+
+         throw new RepoException("failed to read http response for non ok return code " + rc, e);
+
+        }
+
         logger.error("[{}]: http response: {}", id, responseString);
 
-        throw new Exception(rc + ":" + responseString);
+        throw new RepoException("failed to execute http request to influxdb " + rc + " - " + responseString);
+
+      } else {
+
+        logger.debug("[{}]: successfully sent {} points to influxdb {} at {}", id,
+                     influxPointArry.length, this.influxName, this.influxUrl);
+
+        return influxPointArry.length;
+
       }
 
-      logger
-          .debug("[{}]: successfully sent {} points to influxdb {} at {}", id,
-                 influxPointArry.length, this.influxName, this.influxUrl);
-
-      return influxPointArry.length;
-
     } finally {
 
       request.releaseConnection();
 
     }
   }
+
+  private String getJsonBody(InfluxWrite influxWrite) throws RepoException {
+
+    String json = null;
+
+    try {
+
+      json = this.objectMapper.writeValueAsString(influxWrite);
+
+    } catch (JsonProcessingException e) {
+
+      throw new RepoException("failed to serialize json", e);
+    }
+
+    return json;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/vertica/VerticaAlarmRepo.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/vertica/VerticaAlarmRepo.java
index 02c8b824..4ce07e77 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/vertica/VerticaAlarmRepo.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/vertica/VerticaAlarmRepo.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import java.util.TimeZone;
 import javax.inject.Inject;
 
 import io.dropwizard.setup.Environment;
+import monasca.persister.repository.RepoException;
 
 public class VerticaAlarmRepo extends VerticaRepo implements Repo<AlarmStateTransitionedEvent> {
 
@@ -105,6 +106,8 @@ public class VerticaAlarmRepo extends VerticaRepo implements Repo<AlarmStateTran
         .bind("reason", message.stateChangeReason)
         .bind("reason_data", "{}")
         .bind("time_stamp", timeStamp);
+
+    this.msgCnt++;
   }
 
   private String getSerializedString(Object o, String id) {
@@ -122,30 +125,23 @@ public class VerticaAlarmRepo extends VerticaRepo implements Repo<AlarmStateTran
     }
   }
 
-  public int flush(String id) {
+  public int flush(String id) throws RepoException {
 
     try {
 
       commitBatch(id);
 
-      int flushCnt = msgCnt;
+      int commitCnt = this.msgCnt;
 
       this.msgCnt = 0;
 
-      return flushCnt;
+      return commitCnt;
 
     } catch (Exception e) {
 
-      logger.error("[{}]: failed to write alarms to database", id, e);
+      logger.error("[{}]: failed to write alarms to vertica", id, e);
 
-      if (handle.isInTransaction()) {
-
-        handle.rollback();
-      }
-
-      handle.begin();
-
-      return this.msgCnt = 0;
+      throw new RepoException("failed to commit batch to vertica", e);
 
     }
   }
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/vertica/VerticaMetricRepo.java b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/vertica/VerticaMetricRepo.java
index 67d4cc97..e96c1506 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/vertica/VerticaMetricRepo.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/monasca/persister/repository/vertica/VerticaMetricRepo.java
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ import monasca.common.model.metric.Metric;
 import monasca.common.model.metric.MetricEnvelope;
 import monasca.persister.configuration.PersisterConfig;
 import monasca.persister.repository.Repo;
+import monasca.persister.repository.RepoException;
 
 public class VerticaMetricRepo extends VerticaRepo implements Repo<MetricEnvelope> {
 
@@ -246,11 +247,11 @@ public class VerticaMetricRepo extends VerticaRepo implements Repo<MetricEnvelop
   public void addToBatch(MetricEnvelope metricEnvelope, String id) {
 
     Metric metric = metricEnvelope.metric;
-    Map<String, Object> meta = metricEnvelope.meta;
+    Map<String, Object> metaMap = metricEnvelope.meta;
 
-    String tenantId = getMeta(TENANT_ID, metric, meta, id);
+    String tenantId = getMeta(TENANT_ID, metric, metaMap, id);
 
-    String region = getMeta(REGION, metric, meta, id);
+    String region = getMeta(REGION, metric, metaMap, id);
 
     // Add the definition to the batch.
     StringBuilder definitionIdStringToHash =
@@ -298,8 +299,8 @@ public class VerticaMetricRepo extends VerticaRepo implements Repo<MetricEnvelop
 
     Sha1HashId definitionDimensionsSha1HashId = new Sha1HashId(definitionDimensionsIdSha1Hash);
 
-    this.addDefinitionDimensionToBatch(definitionDimensionsSha1HashId, definitionSha1HashId,
-                                       dimensionsSha1HashId, id);
+    addDefinitionDimensionToBatch(definitionDimensionsSha1HashId, definitionSha1HashId,
+                                  dimensionsSha1HashId, id);
 
     // Add the measurement to the batch.
     String timeStamp = simpleDateFormat.format(new Date(metric.getTimestamp()));
@@ -459,7 +460,7 @@ public class VerticaMetricRepo extends VerticaRepo implements Repo<MetricEnvelop
   }
 
   @Override
-  public int flush(String id) {
+  public int flush(String id) throws RepoException {
 
     try {
 
@@ -492,20 +493,10 @@ public class VerticaMetricRepo extends VerticaRepo implements Repo<MetricEnvelop
 
     } catch (Exception e) {
 
-      logger.error("[{}]: failed to write measurements, definitions, or dimensions to vertica",
-                   id, e);
+      logger.error("[{}]: failed to write measurements, definitions, and dimensions to vertica", id,
+                   e);
 
-      if (handle.isInTransaction()) {
-
-        handle.rollback();
-
-      }
-
-      clearTempCaches();
-
-      handle.begin();
-
-      return this.measurementCnt = 0;
+      throw new RepoException("failed to commit batch to vertica", e);
 
     }
   }