On the topic of DB versus filesystem for media, I prefer storing media in a filesystem and meta data in a DB. The advantages of storing large binary files outside of the DB are
* Reduce contention in the DB -- it's doing so much * You have more control with a filesystem where your data goes -- e.g. you can have a disk for one type of data, and another disk for a different type * Filesystems are optimized to stream out data ... which I think makes sense That first point is really key. If you're serving data to a UI from the same database you're storing large files into, the whole experience is going to suffer. The best article I've read on this topic is http://mysqldatabaseadministration.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-will-not-blob.html The main scale issue I'm careful of is how many files I put per directory. For large amounts of files, I sometimes link directories into trees. I might be a little paranoid about this, but it seems to scale well. In terms of backup and security, I think a FS is easier to manage -- e.g. chmod and rsync on a cron job -- though you'll have to write more code and scripts. You also have to be careful of things like shell injection if you're running shell commands from your webserver. Anyway, hope that gives some help. I was also confused with this when I started writing DB backed apps. On Feb 9, 2008 4:58 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thanks for the suggestions! > > I like using the database for storage for it's easy maintenance and security, > but marshalling a lot of binary data (like a large image library) adds a bit > of overhead to the application. > > I'll look into pursuing a storage directory external to the webapp. > > > > -------------- Original message ---------------------- > From: "Johnny Kewl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > HARBOR: http://coolharbor.100free.com/index.htm > > The most powerful application server on earth. > > The only real POJO Application Server. > > Making the Java dream come true. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: <users@tomcat.apache.org> > > Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 11:13 PM > > Subject: managing user uploads best practices > > > > Yes... outside. > > Its been a long long time now, vaguely remember struggling with Apache > > uploader then eventually getting all to work... > > Anyway... what I did is store the files in an Apache httpD folder, so I > > could spy on the uploads, and they available for viewing again. > > And whats cool is because Apache is also the load balancer in my case... can > > have lots of TC's doing their thing. > > I was making a kind of wiki thing for an estate agency... thats how I did > > it.... way back when... > > > > > > > What's the current wisdom on managing user uploaded files to a web app > > > that's > > > deployed via a WAR? > > > > > > In other words, when the WAR is updated, the directory containing uploaded > > > files > > > would be wiped out. > > > > > > Do people save uploaded files outside of the web app root directory? > > > Security > > > issues with this? > > > Do people not use auto-expanding WAR files and manage the deployment by > > > hand? > > > Do you not include the directory for uploaded files in the WAR (but create > > > it at > > > runtime) and then trust that the expanded WAR won't overwrite it on > > > deployment? > > > > > > Any pointers greatly appreciated! > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > To start a new topic, e-mail: users@tomcat.apache.org > > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To start a new topic, e-mail: users@tomcat.apache.org > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To start a new topic, e-mail: users@tomcat.apache.org > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To start a new topic, e-mail: users@tomcat.apache.org To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
