Storing images on a database [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Storing Images in DB - Yea or Nay?

For ages I've been told not to store images on the database, or any big BLOB for that matter. While I can understand why the databases aren't/weren't efficient for that I never understood why they couldn't. If I can put a file somewhere and reference it, why couldn't the database engine do the same. I'm glad Damien Katz mentioned it on a recent Stack Overflow podcast and Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood, at least silently, agreed.

I've been reading hints that Microsoft SQL Server 2008 should be able to handle BLOBs efficient, is that true? If so, what is there stopping us from just storing images there and getting rid of one problem? One thing I can think of is that while the image can be served by a static web server very quickly if it's a file somewhere, when it's in the database it has to travel from the database to the web server application (which might be slower than the static web server) and then it's served. Shouldn't caching help/solve that last issue?

Answer 1

Yes, it's true, SQL Server 2008 just implemented a feature like the one you mention, it's called a filestream. And it's a good argument indeed for storing blobs in a DB, if you are certain you will only want to use SQL Server for your app (or are willing to pay the price in either performance or in developing a similar layer on top of the new DB server). Although I expect similar layers will start to appear if they don't already exist for different DB servers.

As always what would the real benefits be depend on the particular scenario. If you will serve lots of relatively static, big files, then this scenario plus caching will probably be the best option considering a performance/manageability combo.

This white paper describes the FILESTREAM feature of SQL Server 2008, which allows storage of and efficient access to BLOB data using a combination of SQL Server 2008 and the NTFS file system. It covers choices for BLOB storage, configuring Windows and SQL Server for using FILESTREAM data, considerations for combining FILESTREAM with other features, and implementation details such as partitioning and performance.