[tlug] Limits on file numbers in sort -m

[Jim Breen <jimbreen@example.com>]

A real *n*x question for once.

I'm gearing up for a merging of a very large number of
sorted text files(*). Does anyone know if there is an upper
limit on how many sorted files can be merged using something
like: "sort -m *.interim > final".

Also, is it worth fiddling with the "--batch-size=NMERGE" option?
The system I'll be doing it on has masses of disk (10Tb), 8Gb of
RAM and is a quad processor.

TIA

Jim

(*) about 10k files, each about 4M lines of text.

-- 
Jim Breen
Adjunct Snr Research Fellow, Japanese Studies Centre, Monash University