diff --git a/src/database/mod.rs b/src/database/mod.rs
index 8b2b89544..99fc5228e 100644
--- a/src/database/mod.rs
+++ b/src/database/mod.rs
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
+use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex, RwLock, RwLockReadGuard};
 use std::error::Error;
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::ops::Deref;
-use std::sync::Arc;
-use std::fmt;
 
 use rocksdb::rocksdb_options::{DBOptions, IngestExternalFileOptions, ColumnFamilyOptions};
-use rocksdb::{DB, DBVector, MergeOperands, SeekKey};
 use rocksdb::rocksdb::{Writable, Snapshot};
+use rocksdb::{DB, DBVector, MergeOperands};
 
 pub use self::document_key::{DocumentKey, DocumentKeyAttr};
 pub use self::database_view::{DatabaseView, DocumentIter};
@@ -43,8 +42,15 @@ where D: Deref<Target=DB>
     }
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone)]
-pub struct Database(Arc<DB>);
+pub struct Database {
+    // DB is under a Mutex to sync update ingestions and separate DB update locking
+    // and DatabaseView acquiring locking in other words:
+    // "Block readers the minimum possible amount of time"
+    db: Mutex<Arc<DB>>,
+
+    // This view is updated each time the DB ingests an update
+    view: RwLock<DatabaseView<Arc<DB>>>,
+}
 
 impl Database {
     pub fn create<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P, schema: Schema) -> Result<Database, Box<Error>> {
@@ -68,7 +74,11 @@ impl Database {
         schema.write_to(&mut schema_bytes)?;
         db.put(DATA_SCHEMA, &schema_bytes)?;
 
-        Ok(Database(Arc::new(db)))
+        let db = Arc::new(db);
+        let snapshot = Snapshot::new(db.clone());
+        let view = RwLock::new(DatabaseView::new(snapshot)?);
+
+        Ok(Database { db: Mutex::new(db), view })
     }
 
     pub fn open<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P) -> Result<Database, Box<Error>> {
@@ -88,58 +98,65 @@ impl Database {
             None => return Err(String::from("Database does not contain a schema").into()),
         };
 
-        Ok(Database(Arc::new(db)))
+        let db = Arc::new(db);
+        let snapshot = Snapshot::new(db.clone());
+        let view = RwLock::new(DatabaseView::new(snapshot)?);
+
+        Ok(Database { db: Mutex::new(db), view })
     }
 
     pub fn ingest_update_file(&self, update: Update) -> Result<(), Box<Error>> {
-        let move_update = update.can_be_moved();
-        let path = update.into_path_buf();
-        let path = path.to_string_lossy();
+        let snapshot = {
+            // We must have a mutex here to ensure that update ingestions and compactions
+            // are done atomatically and in the right order.
+            // This way update ingestions will block other update ingestions without blocking view
+            // creations while doing the "data-index" compaction
+            let db = match self.db.lock() {
+                Ok(db) => db,
+                Err(e) => return Err(e.to_string().into()),
+            };
 
-        let mut options = IngestExternalFileOptions::new();
-        options.move_files(move_update);
+            let move_update = update.can_be_moved();
+            let path = update.into_path_buf();
+            let path = path.to_string_lossy();
 
-        let cf_handle = self.0.cf_handle("default").unwrap();
-        self.0.ingest_external_file_optimized(&cf_handle, &options, &[&path])?;
+            let mut options = IngestExternalFileOptions::new();
+            options.move_files(move_update);
 
-        // compacting to avoid calling the merge operator
-        self.0.compact_range(Some(DATA_INDEX), Some(DATA_INDEX));
+            let cf_handle = db.cf_handle("default").expect("\"default\" column family not found");
+            db.ingest_external_file_optimized(&cf_handle, &options, &[&path])?;
+
+            // Compacting to trigger the merge operator only one time
+            // while ingesting the update and not each time searching
+            db.compact_range(Some(DATA_INDEX), Some(DATA_INDEX));
+
+            Snapshot::new(db.clone())
+        };
+
+        // Here we will block the view creation for the minimum amount of time:
+        // updating the DatabaseView itself with the new database snapshot
+        let view = DatabaseView::new(snapshot)?;
+        match self.view.write() {
+            Ok(mut lock) => *lock = view,
+            Err(e) => return Err(e.to_string().into()),
+        }
 
         Ok(())
     }
 
     pub fn get(&self, key: &[u8]) -> Result<Option<DBVector>, Box<Error>> {
-        Ok(self.0.get(key)?)
+        self.view().get(key)
     }
 
     pub fn flush(&self) -> Result<(), Box<Error>> {
-        Ok(self.0.flush(true)?)
-    }
-
-    pub fn view(&self) -> Result<DatabaseView<&DB>, Box<Error>> {
-        let snapshot = self.0.snapshot();
-        DatabaseView::new(snapshot)
-    }
-
-    pub fn view_arc(&self) -> Result<DatabaseView<Arc<DB>>, Box<Error>> {
-        let snapshot = Snapshot::new(self.0.clone());
-        DatabaseView::new(snapshot)
-    }
-}
-
-impl fmt::Debug for Database {
-    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
-        write!(f, "Database([")?;
-        let mut iter = self.0.iter();
-        iter.seek(SeekKey::Start);
-        let mut first = true;
-        for (key, _value) in &mut iter {
-            if !first { write!(f, ", ")?; }
-            first = false;
-            let key = String::from_utf8_lossy(&key);
-            write!(f, "{:?}", key)?;
+        match self.db.lock() {
+            Ok(db) => Ok(db.flush(true)?),
+            Err(e) => Err(e.to_string().into()),
         }
-        write!(f, "])")
+    }
+
+    pub fn view(&self) -> RwLockReadGuard<DatabaseView<Arc<DB>>> {
+        self.view.read().unwrap()
     }
 }
 
@@ -229,7 +246,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         update.set_move(true);
         database.ingest_update_file(update)?;
-        let view = database.view()?;
+        let view = database.view();
 
         let de_doc0: SimpleDoc = view.retrieve_document(0)?;
         let de_doc1: SimpleDoc = view.retrieve_document(1)?;