Jody just for clarification
1) Is your solution self managing files outside of the database? (i.e. storing the path or partial path of the files to a field in a database table, thus requiring you to manage backups and security outside of 4D) (which I would concur is a very good way of doing it, we have also done similar things) 2) Or are you referring to the 4D database field option “outside data file” http://doc.4d.com/4Dv15R5/4D/15-R5/External-data-storage.300-2964253.en.html <http://doc.4d.com/4Dv15R5/4D/15-R5/External-data-storage.300-2964253.en.html> (which is what Kirk was referring to in the original post) Message: 4 From: Kirk Brooks <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> I haven't used the 'store outside of datafile' option (text, object, picture fields) very often. I'm wondering about how 4D manages loading the records across the network. At each site we stored terabytes of files (PDFs, pictures, etc therefore hundreds of thousands of documents) outside the data file for 24 years at a few hundred sites. As you know medical so many regulations on security and logging of changes to the files. 1. We automatically created new folders each month and within the month each day. 2. The backup was adjusted each month to only backup the current months files and the rest of the year (usually empty). 3. All backups encrypted appropriately. 4. Multiple backups kept of all previous years of data. 5. If a document was modified, it would be moved to the current month’s folder. Doing the above greatly reduced the size of the backup required each night. Security 1. No on the network had access to the server where the files were stored. The backup device was attached directly to it. Only 4D had access to manipulate the files in anyway. 2. All access to the files was audited (even a view) both within our application, and the log files of the server they were stored on. 3. When the files were delivered to 4D Client for viewing they were encrypted and decrypted upon viewing. This provided security over the network of the documents. This is how we set things up to keep the data file size down within 4D. This greatly speeded up the maintenance of the 4D Data file which got done each quarter - more or less depending on the site. By creating new directories the speed of the storage Server was faster in delivering the documents. Also faster in working on that server directly and going into a folder. If ever we needed to have programatic access to run through the files to manipulate for some reason we could easily keep track of where we where in the process. Of course you may already have thought of all of this and there is some other reason this would not work for you. Jody Bevan ********************************************************************** 4D Internet Users Group (4D iNUG) FAQ: http://lists.4d.com/faqnug.html Archive: http://lists.4d.com/archives.html Options: http://lists.4d.com/mailman/options/4d_tech Unsub: mailto:[email protected] **********************************************************************
