diff --git a/src/database/mod.rs b/src/database/mod.rs
index aca0120fb..ae2f0cf00 100644
--- a/src/database/mod.rs
+++ b/src/database/mod.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
 use std::error::Error;
 use std::path::Path;
 
-use rocksdb::rocksdb::DB;
+use rocksdb::rocksdb_options::{DBOptions, IngestExternalFileOptions, ColumnFamilyOptions};
+use rocksdb::{DB, MergeOperands};
+use rocksdb::rocksdb::Writable;
 
+pub use crate::database::database_view::DatabaseView;
 use crate::index::update::Update;
-use crate::database::database_view::DatabaseView;
+use crate::index::schema::Schema;
+use crate::blob::{self, Blob};
 
-pub mod document_key;
-pub mod database_view;
+mod document_key;
+mod database_view;
 mod deserializer;
 
 const DATA_INDEX:  &[u8] = b"data-index";
@@ -16,16 +20,64 @@ const DATA_SCHEMA: &[u8] = b"data-schema";
 pub struct Database(DB);
 
 impl Database {
-    pub fn create(path: &Path) -> Result<Database, ()> {
-        unimplemented!()
+    pub fn create<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P, schema: Schema) -> Result<Database, Box<Error>> {
+        let path = path.as_ref();
+        if path.exists() {
+            return Err(format!("File already exists at path: {}, cannot create database.",
+                                path.display()).into())
+        }
+
+        let path = path.to_string_lossy();
+        let mut opts = DBOptions::new();
+        opts.create_if_missing(true);
+
+        let mut cf_opts = ColumnFamilyOptions::new();
+        cf_opts.add_merge_operator("data-index merge operator", merge_indexes);
+
+        let db = DB::open_cf(opts, &path, vec![("default", cf_opts)])?;
+
+        let mut schema_bytes = Vec::new();
+        schema.write_to(&mut schema_bytes)?;
+        db.put(DATA_SCHEMA, &schema_bytes)?;
+
+        Ok(Database(db))
     }
 
-    pub fn open(path: &Path) -> Result<Database, ()> {
-        unimplemented!()
+    pub fn open<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P) -> Result<Database, Box<Error>> {
+        let path = path.as_ref().to_string_lossy();
+
+        let mut opts = DBOptions::new();
+        opts.create_if_missing(false);
+
+        let mut cf_opts = ColumnFamilyOptions::new();
+        cf_opts.add_merge_operator("data-index merge operator", merge_indexes);
+
+        let db = DB::open_cf(opts, &path, vec![("default", cf_opts)])?;
+
+        // FIXME create a generic function to do that !
+        let _schema = match db.get(DATA_SCHEMA)? {
+            Some(value) => Schema::read_from(&*value)?,
+            None => return Err(String::from("Database does not contain a schema").into()),
+        };
+
+        Ok(Database(db))
     }
 
-    pub fn ingest_update_file(&self, update: Update) -> Result<(), ()> {
-        unimplemented!()
+    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 mut options = IngestExternalFileOptions::new();
+        options.move_files(move_update);
+
+        let cf_handle = self.0.cf_handle("default").unwrap();
+        self.0.ingest_external_file_optimized(&cf_handle, &options, &[&path])?;
+
+        // compacting to avoid calling the merge operator
+        self.0.compact_range(Some(DATA_INDEX), Some(DATA_INDEX));
+
+        Ok(())
     }
 
     pub fn view(&self) -> Result<DatabaseView, Box<Error>> {
@@ -33,3 +85,27 @@ impl Database {
         DatabaseView::new(snapshot)
     }
 }
+
+fn merge_indexes(key: &[u8], existing_value: Option<&[u8]>, operands: &mut MergeOperands) -> Vec<u8> {
+    if key != DATA_INDEX { panic!("The merge operator only supports \"data-index\" merging") }
+
+    let capacity = {
+        let remaining = operands.size_hint().0;
+        let already_exist = usize::from(existing_value.is_some());
+        remaining + already_exist
+    };
+
+    let mut op = blob::OpBuilder::with_capacity(capacity);
+    if let Some(existing_value) = existing_value {
+        let blob = bincode::deserialize(existing_value).expect("BUG: could not deserialize data-index");
+        op.push(Blob::Positive(blob));
+    }
+
+    for bytes in operands {
+        let blob = bincode::deserialize(bytes).expect("BUG: could not deserialize blob");
+        op.push(blob);
+    }
+
+    let blob = op.merge().expect("BUG: could not merge blobs");
+    bincode::serialize(&blob).expect("BUG: could not serialize merged blob")
+}
diff --git a/src/index/update/mod.rs b/src/index/update/mod.rs
index 104ec469f..a12f547e6 100644
--- a/src/index/update/mod.rs
+++ b/src/index/update/mod.rs
@@ -18,11 +18,20 @@ const DOC_KEY_ATTR_LEN: usize = DOC_KEY_LEN + 1 + std::mem::size_of::<u32>();
 
 pub struct Update {
     path: PathBuf,
+    can_be_moved: bool,
 }
 
 impl Update {
     pub fn open<P: Into<PathBuf>>(path: P) -> Result<Update, Box<Error>> {
-        Ok(Update { path: path.into() })
+        Ok(Update { path: path.into(), can_be_moved: false })
+    }
+
+    pub fn open_and_move<P: Into<PathBuf>>(path: P) -> Result<Update, Box<Error>> {
+        Ok(Update { path: path.into(), can_be_moved: true })
+    }
+
+    pub fn can_be_moved(&self) -> bool {
+        self.can_be_moved
     }
 
     pub fn into_path_buf(self) -> PathBuf {