diff --git a/utilities/spatialdb/spatial_db.cc b/utilities/spatialdb/spatial_db.cc
index c8d013fed..3dff346bb 100644
--- a/utilities/spatialdb/spatial_db.cc
+++ b/utilities/spatialdb/spatial_db.cc
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 #include <unordered_set>
 
 #include "rocksdb/cache.h"
+#include "rocksdb/options.h"
+#include "rocksdb/slice_transform.h"
 #include "rocksdb/table.h"
 #include "rocksdb/db.h"
 #include "rocksdb/utilities/stackable_db.h"
@@ -244,13 +246,76 @@ std::string FeatureSet::DebugString() const {
   return out + "}";
 }
 
+class ValueGetter {
+ public:
+  ValueGetter() {}
+  virtual ~ValueGetter() {}
+
+  virtual bool Get(uint64_t id) = 0;
+  virtual const Slice value() const = 0;
+
+  virtual Status status() const = 0;
+};
+
+class ValueGetterFromDB : public ValueGetter {
+ public:
+  ValueGetterFromDB(DB* db, ColumnFamilyHandle* cf) : db_(db), cf_(cf) {}
+
+  virtual bool Get(uint64_t id) override {
+    std::string encoded_id;
+    PutFixed64BigEndian(&encoded_id, id);
+    status_ = db_->Get(ReadOptions(), cf_, encoded_id, &value_);
+    if (status_.IsNotFound()) {
+      status_ = Status::Corruption("Index inconsistency");
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  virtual const Slice value() const override { return value_; }
+
+  virtual Status status() const override { return status_; }
+
+ private:
+  std::string value_;
+  DB* db_;
+  ColumnFamilyHandle* cf_;
+  Status status_;
+};
+
+class ValueGetterFromIterator : public ValueGetter {
+ public:
+  explicit ValueGetterFromIterator(Iterator* iterator) : iterator_(iterator) {}
+
+  virtual bool Get(uint64_t id) override {
+    std::string encoded_id;
+    PutFixed64BigEndian(&encoded_id, id);
+    iterator_->Seek(encoded_id);
+
+    if (!iterator_->Valid() || iterator_->key() != Slice(encoded_id)) {
+      status_ = Status::Corruption("Index inconsistency");
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  virtual const Slice value() const override { return iterator_->value(); }
+
+  virtual Status status() const override { return status_; }
+
+ private:
+  std::unique_ptr<Iterator> iterator_;
+  Status status_;
+};
+
 class SpatialIndexCursor : public Cursor {
  public:
   // tile_box is inclusive
-  SpatialIndexCursor(Iterator* spatial_iterator, Iterator* data_iterator,
+  SpatialIndexCursor(Iterator* spatial_iterator, ValueGetter* value_getter,
                      const BoundingBox<uint64_t>& tile_bbox, uint32_t tile_bits)
-      : data_iterator_(data_iterator),
-        valid_(true) {
+      : value_getter_(value_getter), valid_(true) {
     // calculate quad keys we'll need to query
     std::vector<uint64_t> quad_keys;
     quad_keys.reserve((tile_bbox.max_x - tile_bbox.min_x + 1) *
@@ -329,7 +394,7 @@ class SpatialIndexCursor : public Cursor {
     if (!status_.ok()) {
       return status_;
     }
-    return data_iterator_->status();
+    return value_getter_->status();
   }
 
  private:
@@ -356,32 +421,23 @@ class SpatialIndexCursor : public Cursor {
     return true;
   }
 
-  // doesn't return anything, but sets valid_ and status_ on corruption
   void ExtractData() {
     assert(valid_);
-    std::string encoded_id;
-    PutFixed64BigEndian(&encoded_id, *primary_keys_iterator_);
+    valid_ = value_getter_->Get(*primary_keys_iterator_);
 
-    data_iterator_->Seek(encoded_id);
-
-    if (!data_iterator_->Valid() ||
-        data_iterator_->key() != Slice(encoded_id)) {
-      status_ = Status::Corruption("Index inconsistency");
-      valid_ = false;
-      return;
+    if (valid_) {
+      Slice data = value_getter_->value();
+      current_feature_set_.Clear();
+      if (!GetLengthPrefixedSlice(&data, &current_blob_) ||
+          !current_feature_set_.Deserialize(data)) {
+        status_ = Status::Corruption("Primary key column family corruption");
+        valid_ = false;
+      }
     }
 
-    Slice data = data_iterator_->value();
-    current_feature_set_.Clear();
-    if (!GetLengthPrefixedSlice(&data, &current_blob_) ||
-        !current_feature_set_.Deserialize(data)) {
-      status_ = Status::Corruption("Primary key column family corruption");
-      valid_ = false;
-      return;
-    }
   }
 
-  unique_ptr<Iterator> data_iterator_;
+  unique_ptr<ValueGetter> value_getter_;
   bool valid_;
   Status status_;
 
@@ -427,10 +483,11 @@ class SpatialDBImpl : public SpatialDB {
       DB* db, ColumnFamilyHandle* data_column_family,
       const std::vector<std::pair<SpatialIndexOptions, ColumnFamilyHandle*>>&
           spatial_indexes,
-      uint64_t next_id)
+      uint64_t next_id, bool read_only)
       : SpatialDB(db),
         data_column_family_(data_column_family),
-        next_id_(next_id) {
+        next_id_(next_id),
+        read_only_(read_only) {
     for (const auto& index : spatial_indexes) {
       name_to_index_.insert(
           {index.first.name, IndexColumnFamily(index.first, index.second)});
@@ -521,17 +578,26 @@ class SpatialDBImpl : public SpatialDB {
       return new ErrorCursor(Status::InvalidArgument(
           "Spatial index " + spatial_index + " not found"));
     }
+    const auto& si = itr->second.index;
+    Iterator* spatial_iterator;
+    ValueGetter* value_getter;
 
-    std::vector<Iterator*> iterators;
-    Status s = NewIterators(read_options,
-                            {data_column_family_, itr->second.column_family},
-                            &iterators);
-    if (!s.ok()) {
-      return new ErrorCursor(s);
-    }
+    if (read_only_) {
+      spatial_iterator = NewIterator(read_options, itr->second.column_family);
+      value_getter = new ValueGetterFromDB(this, data_column_family_);
+    } else {
+      std::vector<Iterator*> iterators;
+      Status s = NewIterators(read_options,
+                              {data_column_family_, itr->second.column_family},
+                              &iterators);
+      if (!s.ok()) {
+        return new ErrorCursor(s);
+      }
 
-    const auto& si = itr->second.index;
-    return new SpatialIndexCursor(iterators[1], iterators[0],
+      spatial_iterator = iterators[1];
+      value_getter = new ValueGetterFromIterator(iterators[0]);
+    }
+    return new SpatialIndexCursor(spatial_iterator, value_getter,
                                   GetTileBoundingBox(si, bbox), si.tile_bits);
   }
 
@@ -548,31 +614,61 @@ class SpatialDBImpl : public SpatialDB {
   std::unordered_map<std::string, IndexColumnFamily> name_to_index_;
 
   std::atomic<uint64_t> next_id_;
+  bool read_only_;
 };
 
 namespace {
-Options GetRocksDBOptionsFromOptions(const SpatialDBOptions& options) {
-  Options rocksdb_options;
-  rocksdb_options.IncreaseParallelism(options.num_threads);
-  rocksdb_options.write_buffer_size = 256 * 1024 * 1024;          // 256MB
-  rocksdb_options.max_bytes_for_level_base = 1024 * 1024 * 1024;  // 1 GB
+DBOptions GetDBOptions(const SpatialDBOptions& options) {
+  DBOptions db_options;
+  db_options.IncreaseParallelism(options.num_threads);
+  if (options.bulk_load) {
+    db_options.disableDataSync = true;
+  }
+  return db_options;
+}
+
+ColumnFamilyOptions GetColumnFamilyOptions(const SpatialDBOptions& options,
+                                           std::shared_ptr<Cache> block_cache) {
+  ColumnFamilyOptions column_family_options;
+  column_family_options.write_buffer_size = 256 * 1024 * 1024;          // 256MB
+  column_family_options.max_bytes_for_level_base = 1024 * 1024 * 1024;  // 1 GB
   // only compress levels >= 1
-  rocksdb_options.compression_per_level.resize(rocksdb_options.num_levels);
-  for (int i = 0; i < rocksdb_options.num_levels; ++i) {
+  column_family_options.compression_per_level.resize(
+      column_family_options.num_levels);
+  for (int i = 0; i < column_family_options.num_levels; ++i) {
     if (i == 0) {
-      rocksdb_options.compression_per_level[i] = kNoCompression;
+      column_family_options.compression_per_level[i] = kNoCompression;
     } else {
-      rocksdb_options.compression_per_level[i] = kLZ4Compression;
+      column_family_options.compression_per_level[i] = kLZ4Compression;
     }
   }
   BlockBasedTableOptions table_options;
-  table_options.block_cache = NewLRUCache(options.cache_size);
-  rocksdb_options.table_factory.reset(NewBlockBasedTableFactory(table_options));
+  table_options.block_cache = block_cache;
+  column_family_options.table_factory.reset(
+      NewBlockBasedTableFactory(table_options));
   if (options.bulk_load) {
-    rocksdb_options.PrepareForBulkLoad();
-  }
-  return rocksdb_options;
+    column_family_options.level0_file_num_compaction_trigger = (1 << 30);
+    column_family_options.level0_slowdown_writes_trigger = (1 << 30);
+    column_family_options.level0_stop_writes_trigger = (1 << 30);
+    column_family_options.disable_auto_compactions = true;
+    column_family_options.source_compaction_factor = (1 << 30);
+    column_family_options.num_levels = 2;
+    column_family_options.target_file_size_base = 256 * 1024 * 1024;
+    column_family_options.max_mem_compaction_level = 0;
+  }
+  return column_family_options;
+}
+
+ColumnFamilyOptions OptimizeOptionsForDataColumnFamily(
+    ColumnFamilyOptions options, std::shared_ptr<Cache> block_cache) {
+  options.prefix_extractor.reset(NewNoopTransform());
+  BlockBasedTableOptions block_based_options;
+  block_based_options.index_type = BlockBasedTableOptions::kHashSearch;
+  block_based_options.block_cache = block_cache;
+  options.table_factory.reset(NewBlockBasedTableFactory(block_based_options));
+  return options;
 }
+
 }  // namespace
 
 class MetadataStorage {
@@ -618,26 +714,30 @@ class MetadataStorage {
 Status SpatialDB::Create(
     const SpatialDBOptions& options, const std::string& name,
     const std::vector<SpatialIndexOptions>& spatial_indexes) {
-  Options rocksdb_options = GetRocksDBOptionsFromOptions(options);
-  rocksdb_options.create_if_missing = true;
-  rocksdb_options.create_missing_column_families = true;
-  rocksdb_options.error_if_exists = true;
+  DBOptions db_options = GetDBOptions(options);
+  db_options.create_if_missing = true;
+  db_options.create_missing_column_families = true;
+  db_options.error_if_exists = true;
+
+  auto block_cache = NewLRUCache(options.cache_size);
+  ColumnFamilyOptions column_family_options =
+      GetColumnFamilyOptions(options, block_cache);
 
   std::vector<ColumnFamilyDescriptor> column_families;
   column_families.push_back(ColumnFamilyDescriptor(
-      kDefaultColumnFamilyName, ColumnFamilyOptions(rocksdb_options)));
-  column_families.push_back(ColumnFamilyDescriptor(
-      kMetadataColumnFamilyName, ColumnFamilyOptions(rocksdb_options)));
+      kDefaultColumnFamilyName,
+      OptimizeOptionsForDataColumnFamily(column_family_options, block_cache)));
+  column_families.push_back(
+      ColumnFamilyDescriptor(kMetadataColumnFamilyName, column_family_options));
 
   for (const auto& index : spatial_indexes) {
     column_families.emplace_back(GetSpatialIndexColumnFamilyName(index.name),
-                                 ColumnFamilyOptions(rocksdb_options));
+                                 column_family_options);
   }
 
   std::vector<ColumnFamilyHandle*> handles;
   DB* base_db;
-  Status s = DB::Open(DBOptions(rocksdb_options), name, column_families,
-                      &handles, &base_db);
+  Status s = DB::Open(db_options, name, column_families, &handles, &base_db);
   if (!s.ok()) {
     return s;
   }
@@ -659,13 +759,15 @@ Status SpatialDB::Create(
 
 Status SpatialDB::Open(const SpatialDBOptions& options, const std::string& name,
                        SpatialDB** db, bool read_only) {
-  Options rocksdb_options = GetRocksDBOptionsFromOptions(options);
+  DBOptions db_options = GetDBOptions(options);
+  auto block_cache = NewLRUCache(options.cache_size);
+  ColumnFamilyOptions column_family_options =
+      GetColumnFamilyOptions(options, block_cache);
 
   Status s;
   std::vector<std::string> existing_column_families;
   std::vector<std::string> spatial_indexes;
-  s = DB::ListColumnFamilies(DBOptions(rocksdb_options), name,
-                             &existing_column_families);
+  s = DB::ListColumnFamilies(db_options, name, &existing_column_families);
   if (!s.ok()) {
     return s;
   }
@@ -678,22 +780,22 @@ Status SpatialDB::Open(const SpatialDBOptions& options, const std::string& name,
 
   std::vector<ColumnFamilyDescriptor> column_families;
   column_families.push_back(ColumnFamilyDescriptor(
-      kDefaultColumnFamilyName, ColumnFamilyOptions(rocksdb_options)));
-  column_families.push_back(ColumnFamilyDescriptor(
-      kMetadataColumnFamilyName, ColumnFamilyOptions(rocksdb_options)));
+      kDefaultColumnFamilyName,
+      OptimizeOptionsForDataColumnFamily(column_family_options, block_cache)));
+  column_families.push_back(
+      ColumnFamilyDescriptor(kMetadataColumnFamilyName, column_family_options));
 
   for (const auto& index : spatial_indexes) {
     column_families.emplace_back(GetSpatialIndexColumnFamilyName(index),
-                                 ColumnFamilyOptions(rocksdb_options));
+                                 column_family_options);
   }
   std::vector<ColumnFamilyHandle*> handles;
   DB* base_db;
   if (read_only) {
-    s = DB::OpenForReadOnly(DBOptions(rocksdb_options), name, column_families,
-                            &handles, &base_db);
+    s = DB::OpenForReadOnly(db_options, name, column_families, &handles,
+                            &base_db);
   } else {
-    s = DB::Open(DBOptions(rocksdb_options), name, column_families, &handles,
-                 &base_db);
+    s = DB::Open(db_options, name, column_families, &handles, &base_db);
   }
   if (!s.ok()) {
     return s;
@@ -730,13 +832,13 @@ Status SpatialDB::Open(const SpatialDBOptions& options, const std::string& name,
     for (auto h : handles) {
       delete h;
     }
-    delete db;
+    delete base_db;
     return s;
   }
 
   // I don't need metadata column family any more, so delete it
   delete handles[1];
-  *db = new SpatialDBImpl(base_db, handles[0], index_cf, next_id);
+  *db = new SpatialDBImpl(base_db, handles[0], index_cf, next_id, read_only);
   return Status::OK();
 }
 
diff --git a/utilities/spatialdb/spatial_db_test.cc b/utilities/spatialdb/spatial_db_test.cc
index 4cd2c8eed..166920b57 100644
--- a/utilities/spatialdb/spatial_db_test.cc
+++ b/utilities/spatialdb/spatial_db_test.cc
@@ -151,41 +151,53 @@ TEST(SpatialDBTest, FeatureSetTest) {
 }
 
 TEST(SpatialDBTest, SimpleTest) {
-  ASSERT_OK(SpatialDB::Create(
-      SpatialDBOptions(), dbname_,
-      {SpatialIndexOptions("index", BoundingBox<double>(0, 0, 128, 128), 3)}));
-  ASSERT_OK(SpatialDB::Open(SpatialDBOptions(), dbname_, &db_));
-
-  ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(33, 17, 63, 79),
-                        "one", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
-  ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(65, 65, 111, 111),
-                        "two", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
-  ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(1, 49, 127, 63),
-                        "three", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
-  ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(20, 100, 21, 101),
-                        "four", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
-  ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(81, 33, 127, 63),
-                        "five", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
-  ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(1, 65, 47, 95),
-                        "six", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
-
-  AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(33, 17, 47, 31), "index", {"one"});
-  AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(17, 33, 79, 63), "index",
-                      {"one", "three"});
-  AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(17, 81, 63, 111), "index",
-                      {"four", "six"});
-  AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(85, 86, 85, 86), "index", {"two"});
-  AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(33, 1, 127, 111), "index",
-                      {"one", "two", "three", "five", "six"});
-  // even though the bounding box doesn't intersect, we got "four" back because
-  // it's in the same tile
-  AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(18, 98, 19, 99), "index", {"four"});
-  AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(130, 130, 131, 131), "index", {});
-  AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(81, 17, 127, 31), "index", {});
-  AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(90, 50, 91, 51), "index",
-                      {"three", "five"});
+  // iter 0 -- not read only
+  // iter 1 -- read only
+  for (int iter = 0; iter < 2; ++iter) {
+    DestroyDB(dbname_, Options());
+    ASSERT_OK(SpatialDB::Create(
+        SpatialDBOptions(), dbname_,
+        {SpatialIndexOptions("index", BoundingBox<double>(0, 0, 128, 128),
+                             3)}));
+    ASSERT_OK(SpatialDB::Open(SpatialDBOptions(), dbname_, &db_));
+
+    ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(33, 17, 63, 79),
+                          "one", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
+    ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(65, 65, 111, 111),
+                          "two", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
+    ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(1, 49, 127, 63),
+                          "three", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
+    ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(20, 100, 21, 101),
+                          "four", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
+    ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(81, 33, 127, 63),
+                          "five", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
+    ASSERT_OK(db_->Insert(WriteOptions(), BoundingBox<double>(1, 65, 47, 95),
+                          "six", FeatureSet(), {"index"}));
+
+    if (iter == 1) {
+      delete db_;
+      ASSERT_OK(SpatialDB::Open(SpatialDBOptions(), dbname_, &db_, true));
+    }
 
-  delete db_;
+    AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(33, 17, 47, 31), "index", {"one"});
+    AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(17, 33, 79, 63), "index",
+                        {"one", "three"});
+    AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(17, 81, 63, 111), "index",
+                        {"four", "six"});
+    AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(85, 86, 85, 86), "index", {"two"});
+    AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(33, 1, 127, 111), "index",
+                        {"one", "two", "three", "five", "six"});
+    // even though the bounding box doesn't intersect, we got "four" back
+    // because
+    // it's in the same tile
+    AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(18, 98, 19, 99), "index", {"four"});
+    AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(130, 130, 131, 131), "index", {});
+    AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(81, 17, 127, 31), "index", {});
+    AssertCursorResults(BoundingBox<double>(90, 50, 91, 51), "index",
+                        {"three", "five"});
+
+    delete db_;
+  }
 }
 
 namespace {