Re: Storing blobs in database vs filesystem

Sandeep,

I think you've touched on most of the relevant issues.

• One other issue to consider is whether the blob data is manipulated in the database.
• I think that most filesystems can handle that amount of files, but may need a sys admin who knows what they are doing to tune the file system a little.
• Storing the blobs on file systems also offers the opportunity to store the blobs on another server, and reduce your Oracle licensing costs.
• You shouldn't be building your test and development databases with exp/imp. Clone the database, preferably from a backup, so you actually test your backups occassionally.
• Having the blobs on a filesystem can cause additional administrative work, for example when you build the test database, then somebody will have the additional step of copying the files to the test system.
• Maybe more programming work as the application is developed. Your developers should be consulted.
• In summary, there is no hard-and-fast rule of which is better. Your mileage may vary. You'll just need to examine all the factors and then probably do a benchmark with your data in your environment to come to a conclusion.

Dennis Williams

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