Which is a better method for storing images - folder or SQL Server as binary?

Question

I am planning the development of a photo gallery application for a client. I am developing the app in asp.net 3.5 and would like to develop it so that I can re-use the applicati

Answer 1

We had large LOB application that provided Bank tellers identification information about the member standing in front of them. Our textual data was stored in SQL Server. Image data was stored in files. The database field simply had a filename. This approach works well if you are behind the firewall. Reading and writing files is easy. The trouble is the file management. You should secure the file system so that random people cannot view the directory. Also, backups are more complicated with loose image files. You have to backup the database and the image files. The fields can reference paths that no longer exist. For example, some IT dude decides to move the image folder and now all the references in the db are broken. If your application needs to pass information through the firewall, I would suggest storing images in the SQL Server using the mentioned FileStream storage.

Storing the images in the database would have saved us some grief. We would have only had to backup the database, it would be more secure, the references would never break and we would not have had to jump through hoops to get files from network outside the firewall.