# Build ferret for large-file support

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/build-ferret-for-large-file-support/221409>\
**Category:** Ferret\
**Created:** [July 12, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/build-ferret-for-large-file-support/221409 "2012-07-12T23:42:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aris](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@aris](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/aris)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/build-ferret-for-large-file-support/221409/1 "2012-07-12T23:42:34Z")

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Hello,

I want to using ferret to do indexing and searching in my application. I  
am indexing a large number of documents say, 5 million. What should be  
done to optimize ferret for large file-support? Currrently the  
:max\_merge\_docs value is set to INT\_MAX. Would changing the  
:max\_merge\_docs value help? I have changed but did not see a significant  
improvement in performance. What else can I do?