code: private int getInitialPartitionCount() throws IllegalAccessException
      {
          AppointerState currentState = m_state.get();
          if (currentState != AppointerState.INIT && currentState != AppointerState.CLUSTER_START) {
              throw new IllegalAccessException("Getting cached partition count after cluster " +
                      "startup");
          }
          return m_initialPartitionCount;
      }
docs: Gets the initial cluster partition count on startup. This can only be called during
  initialization. Calling this after initialization throws, because the partition count may
  not reflect the actual partition count in the cluster.
  
  @return