I have a web server that runs Basex 11.1. The server is a VPS with 18G of RAM.

I have a directory of documents in various sizes, ranging from a few kilobytes up to 2G.

I am trying to import these documents with the command
CREATE DB mydb /path/to/docs

With the default jvm max heap size (2GB) I get the error: Out of main memory 

If I raise the max heap size to 4GB, I get the same error.

If I raise it to 8GB, the system becomes unresponsive.

How can I determine how much system memory I need to be able to carry out this task?

Thanks