On Fri, Jul 23, 2004 at 04:07:34PM +1000, Carl wrote: > Just having some interesting conversations... > > Use a directory structure or store it into the database? > > Just want to get some input on what is better, safer, easier to code, > and easier to manage (just thinking of the cost of getting more db space > compared to disk space, as some of the videos are 4mb a piece and there > is normally 25 per customer, and there can be up to 500 customers or > more at any one time)? > > We have PDF docs and videos that get embedded into pages (pdf directory > sits below webRoot and video sits above webRoot), some say that having a > directory structure is better, but others say put it all into the DB as > this is more secure, but others say this is slower...
There are databases specifically designed for storage and retrieval of files. They're called filesystems. NTFS. Fat. EXT. XFS. etc. Storing files in tables is usually a bad idea for various reasons. - can the DB accept a binary file without converting it to a text structure? if not you've got significant overhead both in conversion time and size bloat - dbs often store large data blobs in external files, ergo more overhead - how does the db handle reclaiming deleted space? At least one db I'm aware of won't reclaim deleted blobbed items without an exclusive table lock. *not* pleasant on a 24x7 system. and if you've got heavy updates (ie: insert, change, delete) the disk usage is going to go balistic. Trust me on this one... ;) I'm sure there are good and valid reasons for storing binary files in databases. But I haven't yet seen any that overcome the problems. Cheers Paul Haddon Technical Services Manager Formstar Print Technologies --- You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Aussie Macromedia Developers: http://lists.daemon.com.au/
