Store Files in SQL Server or keep them on the File Server?

Question

Currently we have thousands of Microsoft Word files, Excel files, PDF\'s, images etc stored in folders/sub folders. These are generated by an application on a regular basis

Answer 1

rule of thumb for doc size is:

size < 256 kb: store in db
265 kb < size < 1 MB: test for your load
size > 1 Mb: store on file system

EDIT: this rule of thumb also applies for FILESTREAM storage in SQL Server 2008