Images - database versus file - PHPBuilder Forums

Images - database versus file

mogster

Hi all!

I've got a publishing tool written in php that uses mysql for storing pictures (blob).

I'm wondering if there's any opinions on storing pics in database versus storing the image as a file, and storing the link in db only.
Anyone that has experiences to share - especially on sites with heavy load?

It works fine as it is - I'm just wondering 😃

knutm

nnichols

It is more efficient to store just the link in the db and use the file system for the file itself.

I have seen quite a few discussions on this topic with people having very different opinions. Confused by some of the comments (which made very little sense) I wrote a simple application to test the two options.

The results were very conclusively against storing images in a db.

My advice - "DON'T STORE IMAGES IN YOUR DB"

Hope this helps 😉

mogster

Think so?

Well, must check this further, but thanks for advice.

Point is: if I'll store the bin in db, it's possible to store two pics (thumb/big pic), and this makes it very easy to create automatic routines for handling big images.

But - guess I'll just create two versions of the image-treatment, and use the file version for my future, 2.000.000 hits-a-day sites, hir-hir 😃

knutm

andrewm

Storing images in the database is fine for smaller sites, but it just doesnt work for large sites.

My vBulletin attachment table is around 2 gigs and it is slow, very slow, especially when there are 600+ people online.

I am counting the days until vB 3 comes out so I can move all the images out of the database.