Where does SharePoint store the real files?

Question

When I add a new document in SharePoint (like a Microsoft Word document) where exactly is the file (binary data) stored?

In an MSSQL engine? (BLOB?) On a hard drive as a native file?

Somewhere else?

Answer 1

By default, it is stored in the SQL Server Content Database associated with the site collection. However, Sharepoint 2010 does support storing list data as BLOBs in external storage.

See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee748607.aspx for more information.