diff --git a/weed/command/server.go b/weed/command/server.go
index 87f404ed3..6aa68b6d2 100644
--- a/weed/command/server.go
+++ b/weed/command/server.go
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ func init() {
 	serverOptions.v.fixJpgOrientation = cmdServer.Flag.Bool("volume.images.fix.orientation", false, "Adjust jpg orientation when uploading.")
 	serverOptions.v.readRedirect = cmdServer.Flag.Bool("volume.read.redirect", true, "Redirect moved or non-local volumes.")
 	serverOptions.v.compactionMBPerSecond = cmdServer.Flag.Int("volume.compactionMBps", 0, "limit compaction speed in mega bytes per second")
+	serverOptions.v.fileSizeLimitMB = cmdServer.Flag.Int("volume.fileSizeLimitMB", 256, "limit file size to avoid out of memory")
 	serverOptions.v.publicUrl = cmdServer.Flag.String("volume.publicUrl", "", "publicly accessible address")
 
 	s3Options.filerBucketsPath = cmdServer.Flag.String("s3.filer.dir.buckets", "/buckets", "folder on filer to store all buckets")
diff --git a/weed/command/volume.go b/weed/command/volume.go
index 3e8341ef8..b0f46bbf3 100644
--- a/weed/command/volume.go
+++ b/weed/command/volume.go
@@ -10,17 +10,19 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/security"
-	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/util/httpdown"
 	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 
+	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/security"
+	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/util/httpdown"
+
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/reflection"
+
 	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/glog"
 	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/pb/volume_server_pb"
 	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/server"
 	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/storage"
 	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/util"
-	"google.golang.org/grpc/reflection"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -47,6 +49,7 @@ type VolumeServerOptions struct {
 	cpuProfile            *string
 	memProfile            *string
 	compactionMBPerSecond *int
+	fileSizeLimitMB       *int
 }
 
 func init() {
@@ -67,6 +70,7 @@ func init() {
 	v.cpuProfile = cmdVolume.Flag.String("cpuprofile", "", "cpu profile output file")
 	v.memProfile = cmdVolume.Flag.String("memprofile", "", "memory profile output file")
 	v.compactionMBPerSecond = cmdVolume.Flag.Int("compactionMBps", 0, "limit background compaction or copying speed in mega bytes per second")
+	v.fileSizeLimitMB = cmdVolume.Flag.Int("fileSizeLimitMB", 256, "limit file size to avoid out of memory")
 }
 
 var cmdVolume = &Command{
@@ -158,6 +162,7 @@ func (v VolumeServerOptions) startVolumeServer(volumeFolders, maxVolumeCounts, v
 		v.whiteList,
 		*v.fixJpgOrientation, *v.readRedirect,
 		*v.compactionMBPerSecond,
+		*v.fileSizeLimitMB,
 	)
 
 	// starting grpc server
diff --git a/weed/server/common.go b/weed/server/common.go
index 888ddec49..6828e9dc5 100644
--- a/weed/server/common.go
+++ b/weed/server/common.go
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ func submitForClientHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request, masterUrl st
 	}
 
 	debug("parsing upload file...")
-	fname, data, mimeType, pairMap, isGzipped, originalDataSize, lastModified, _, _, pe := needle.ParseUpload(r)
+	fname, data, mimeType, pairMap, isGzipped, originalDataSize, lastModified, _, _, pe := needle.ParseUpload(r, 256*1024*1024)
 	if pe != nil {
 		writeJsonError(w, r, http.StatusBadRequest, pe)
 		return
diff --git a/weed/server/volume_server.go b/weed/server/volume_server.go
index 6cf654738..a406b36cc 100644
--- a/weed/server/volume_server.go
+++ b/weed/server/volume_server.go
@@ -4,13 +4,15 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 
-	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/stats"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 
+	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/stats"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
+
 	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/glog"
 	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/security"
 	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/storage"
-	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 )
 
 type VolumeServer struct {
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ type VolumeServer struct {
 	compactionBytePerSecond int64
 	MetricsAddress          string
 	MetricsIntervalSec      int
+	fileSizeLimitBytes      int64
 }
 
 func NewVolumeServer(adminMux, publicMux *http.ServeMux, ip string,
@@ -41,6 +44,7 @@ func NewVolumeServer(adminMux, publicMux *http.ServeMux, ip string,
 	fixJpgOrientation bool,
 	readRedirect bool,
 	compactionMBPerSecond int,
+	fileSizeLimitMB int,
 ) *VolumeServer {
 
 	v := viper.GetViper()
@@ -62,6 +66,7 @@ func NewVolumeServer(adminMux, publicMux *http.ServeMux, ip string,
 		ReadRedirect:            readRedirect,
 		grpcDialOption:          security.LoadClientTLS(viper.Sub("grpc"), "volume"),
 		compactionBytePerSecond: int64(compactionMBPerSecond) * 1024 * 1024,
+		fileSizeLimitBytes:      int64(fileSizeLimitMB) * 1024 * 1024,
 	}
 	vs.SeedMasterNodes = masterNodes
 	vs.store = storage.NewStore(vs.grpcDialOption, port, ip, publicUrl, folders, maxCounts, vs.needleMapKind)
diff --git a/weed/server/volume_server_handlers_write.go b/weed/server/volume_server_handlers_write.go
index 05e21612b..cd35255e5 100644
--- a/weed/server/volume_server_handlers_write.go
+++ b/weed/server/volume_server_handlers_write.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func (vs *VolumeServer) PostHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	needle, originalSize, ne := needle.CreateNeedleFromRequest(r, vs.FixJpgOrientation)
+	needle, originalSize, ne := needle.CreateNeedleFromRequest(r, vs.FixJpgOrientation, vs.fileSizeLimitBytes)
 	if ne != nil {
 		writeJsonError(w, r, http.StatusBadRequest, ne)
 		return
diff --git a/weed/storage/needle/needle.go b/weed/storage/needle/needle.go
index 2f03ba87b..494cc138e 100644
--- a/weed/storage/needle/needle.go
+++ b/weed/storage/needle/needle.go
@@ -3,13 +3,13 @@ package needle
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
-	"io/ioutil"
-
 	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/images"
 	. "github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/storage/types"
 )
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func (n *Needle) String() (str string) {
 	return
 }
 
-func ParseUpload(r *http.Request) (
+func ParseUpload(r *http.Request, sizeLimit int64) (
 	fileName string, data []byte, mimeType string, pairMap map[string]string, isGzipped bool, originalDataSize int,
 	modifiedTime uint64, ttl *TTL, isChunkedFile bool, e error) {
 	pairMap = make(map[string]string)
@@ -61,13 +61,17 @@ func ParseUpload(r *http.Request) (
 	}
 
 	if r.Method == "POST" {
-		fileName, data, mimeType, isGzipped, originalDataSize, isChunkedFile, e = parseMultipart(r)
+		fileName, data, mimeType, isGzipped, originalDataSize, isChunkedFile, e = parseMultipart(r, sizeLimit)
 	} else {
 		isGzipped = false
 		mimeType = r.Header.Get("Content-Type")
 		fileName = ""
-		data, e = ioutil.ReadAll(r.Body)
+		data, e = ioutil.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(r.Body, sizeLimit+1))
 		originalDataSize = len(data)
+		if e == io.EOF || int64(originalDataSize) == sizeLimit+1 {
+			io.Copy(ioutil.Discard, r.Body)
+		}
+		r.Body.Close()
 	}
 	if e != nil {
 		return
@@ -78,11 +82,11 @@ func ParseUpload(r *http.Request) (
 
 	return
 }
-func CreateNeedleFromRequest(r *http.Request, fixJpgOrientation bool) (n *Needle, originalSize int, e error) {
+func CreateNeedleFromRequest(r *http.Request, fixJpgOrientation bool, sizeLimit int64) (n *Needle, originalSize int, e error) {
 	var pairMap map[string]string
 	fname, mimeType, isGzipped, isChunkedFile := "", "", false, false
 	n = new(Needle)
-	fname, n.Data, mimeType, pairMap, isGzipped, originalSize, n.LastModified, n.Ttl, isChunkedFile, e = ParseUpload(r)
+	fname, n.Data, mimeType, pairMap, isGzipped, originalSize, n.LastModified, n.Ttl, isChunkedFile, e = ParseUpload(r, sizeLimit)
 	if e != nil {
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/weed/storage/needle/needle_parse_multipart.go b/weed/storage/needle/needle_parse_multipart.go
index 8be1a1da4..f0a239f9f 100644
--- a/weed/storage/needle/needle_parse_multipart.go
+++ b/weed/storage/needle/needle_parse_multipart.go
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 package needle
 
 import (
-	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/glog"
-	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/util"
-
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"mime"
@@ -11,9 +9,12 @@ import (
 	"path"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/glog"
+	"github.com/chrislusf/seaweedfs/weed/util"
 )
 
-func parseMultipart(r *http.Request) (
+func parseMultipart(r *http.Request, sizeLimit int64) (
 	fileName string, data []byte, mimeType string, isGzipped bool, originalDataSize int, isChunkedFile bool, e error) {
 	defer func() {
 		if e != nil && r.Body != nil {
@@ -41,11 +42,17 @@ func parseMultipart(r *http.Request) (
 		fileName = path.Base(fileName)
 	}
 
-	data, e = ioutil.ReadAll(part)
+	println("reading part", sizeLimit)
+
+	data, e = ioutil.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(part, sizeLimit+1))
 	if e != nil {
 		glog.V(0).Infoln("Reading Content [ERROR]", e)
 		return
 	}
+	if len(data) == int(sizeLimit)+1 {
+		e = fmt.Errorf("file over the limited %d bytes", sizeLimit)
+		return
+	}
 
 	//if the filename is empty string, do a search on the other multi-part items
 	for fileName == "" {
@@ -58,12 +65,16 @@ func parseMultipart(r *http.Request) (
 
 		//found the first <file type> multi-part has filename
 		if fName != "" {
-			data2, fe2 := ioutil.ReadAll(part2)
+			data2, fe2 := ioutil.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(part2, sizeLimit+1))
 			if fe2 != nil {
 				glog.V(0).Infoln("Reading Content [ERROR]", fe2)
 				e = fe2
 				return
 			}
+			if len(data) == int(sizeLimit)+1 {
+				e = fmt.Errorf("file over the limited %d bytes", sizeLimit)
+				return
+			}
 
 			//update
 			data = data2