diff --git a/storage/metric/leveldb/lifecycle.go b/storage/metric/leveldb/lifecycle.go
index e09c83f10..cbe8cd1e8 100644
--- a/storage/metric/leveldb/lifecycle.go
+++ b/storage/metric/leveldb/lifecycle.go
@@ -14,12 +14,23 @@
 package leveldb
 
 import (
+	"flag"
 	index "github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw/index/leveldb"
 	storage "github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw/leveldb"
 	"io"
 	"log"
 )
 
+var (
+	// These flag values are back of the envelope, though they seem sensible.
+	// Please re-evaluate based on your own needs.
+	fingerprintsToLabelPairCacheSize = flag.Int("fingerprintsToLabelPairCacheSizeBytes", 100*1024*1024, "The size for the fingerprint to label pair index (bytes).")
+	samplesByFingerprintCacheSize    = flag.Int("samplesByFingerprintCacheSizeBytes", 500*1024*1024, "The size for the samples database (bytes).")
+	labelNameToFingerprintsCacheSize = flag.Int("labelNameToFingerprintsCacheSizeBytes", 100*1024*1024, "The size for the label name to metric fingerprint index (bytes).")
+	labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSize = flag.Int("labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSizeBytes", 100*1024*1024, "The size for the label pair to metric fingerprint index (bytes).")
+	metricMembershipIndexCacheSize   = flag.Int("metricMembershipCacheSizeBytes", 50*1024*1024, "The size for the metric membership index (bytes).")
+)
+
 type leveldbOpener func()
 
 func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) Close() error {
@@ -86,7 +97,7 @@ func (l *LevelDBMetricPersistence) Close() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(baseDirectory string) (*LevelDBMetricPersistence, error) {
+func NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(baseDirectory string) (persistence *LevelDBMetricPersistence, err error) {
 	log.Printf("Opening LevelDBPersistence storage containers...")
 
 	errorChannel := make(chan error, 5)
@@ -101,7 +112,7 @@ func NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(baseDirectory string) (*LevelDBMetricPersistenc
 			"Label Names and Value Pairs by Fingerprint",
 			func() {
 				var err error
-				emission.fingerprintToMetrics, err = storage.NewLevelDBPersistence(baseDirectory+"/label_name_and_value_pairs_by_fingerprint", 1000000, 10)
+				emission.fingerprintToMetrics, err = storage.NewLevelDBPersistence(baseDirectory+"/label_name_and_value_pairs_by_fingerprint", *fingerprintsToLabelPairCacheSize, 10)
 				errorChannel <- err
 			},
 		},
@@ -109,7 +120,7 @@ func NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(baseDirectory string) (*LevelDBMetricPersistenc
 			"Samples by Fingerprint",
 			func() {
 				var err error
-				emission.metricSamples, err = storage.NewLevelDBPersistence(baseDirectory+"/samples_by_fingerprint", 1000000, 10)
+				emission.metricSamples, err = storage.NewLevelDBPersistence(baseDirectory+"/samples_by_fingerprint", *samplesByFingerprintCacheSize, 10)
 				errorChannel <- err
 			},
 		},
@@ -117,7 +128,7 @@ func NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(baseDirectory string) (*LevelDBMetricPersistenc
 			"Fingerprints by Label Name",
 			func() {
 				var err error
-				emission.labelNameToFingerprints, err = storage.NewLevelDBPersistence(baseDirectory+"/fingerprints_by_label_name", 1000000, 10)
+				emission.labelNameToFingerprints, err = storage.NewLevelDBPersistence(baseDirectory+"/fingerprints_by_label_name", *labelNameToFingerprintsCacheSize, 10)
 				errorChannel <- err
 			},
 		},
@@ -125,7 +136,7 @@ func NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(baseDirectory string) (*LevelDBMetricPersistenc
 			"Fingerprints by Label Name and Value Pair",
 			func() {
 				var err error
-				emission.labelSetToFingerprints, err = storage.NewLevelDBPersistence(baseDirectory+"/fingerprints_by_label_name_and_value_pair", 1000000, 10)
+				emission.labelSetToFingerprints, err = storage.NewLevelDBPersistence(baseDirectory+"/fingerprints_by_label_name_and_value_pair", *labelPairToFingerprintsCacheSize, 10)
 				errorChannel <- err
 			},
 		},
@@ -133,7 +144,7 @@ func NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(baseDirectory string) (*LevelDBMetricPersistenc
 			"Metric Membership Index",
 			func() {
 				var err error
-				emission.metricMembershipIndex, err = index.NewLevelDBMembershipIndex(baseDirectory+"/metric_membership_index", 1000000, 10)
+				emission.metricMembershipIndex, err = index.NewLevelDBMembershipIndex(baseDirectory+"/metric_membership_index", *metricMembershipIndexCacheSize, 10)
 				errorChannel <- err
 			},
 		},
@@ -149,16 +160,18 @@ func NewLevelDBMetricPersistence(baseDirectory string) (*LevelDBMetricPersistenc
 	}
 
 	for i := 0; i < cap(errorChannel); i++ {
-		openingError := <-errorChannel
+		err = <-errorChannel
 
-		if openingError != nil {
-			log.Printf("Could not open a LevelDBPersistence storage container: %q\n", openingError)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("Could not open a LevelDBPersistence storage container: %q\n", err)
 
-			return nil, openingError
+			return
 		}
 	}
 
 	log.Printf("Successfully opened all LevelDBPersistence storage containers.\n")
 
-	return emission, nil
+	persistence = emission
+
+	return
 }
diff --git a/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go b/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go
index 264a4ada1..34c414796 100644
--- a/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go
+++ b/storage/raw/leveldb/leveldb.go
@@ -14,12 +14,17 @@
 package leveldb
 
 import (
+	"flag"
 	"github.com/jmhodges/levigo"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/coding"
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/storage/raw"
 	"io"
 )
 
+var (
+	leveldbFlushOnMutate = flag.Bool("leveldbFlushOnMutate", true, "Whether LevelDB should flush every operation to disk upon mutation before returning (bool).")
+)
+
 type LevelDBPersistence struct {
 	cache        *levigo.Cache
 	filterPolicy *levigo.FilterPolicy
@@ -54,8 +59,7 @@ func NewLevelDBPersistence(storageRoot string, cacheCapacity, bitsPerBloomFilter
 
 	readOptions := levigo.NewReadOptions()
 	writeOptions := levigo.NewWriteOptions()
-	writeOptions.SetSync(true)
-
+	writeOptions.SetSync(*leveldbFlushOnMutate)
 	p = &LevelDBPersistence{
 		cache:        cache,
 		filterPolicy: filterPolicy,