Re: Great masses of files on database.

[Bill Karwin]

As Anthony states, many people ask the same question.

Yes, storing digital media in a database is best done with the BLOB type. Actually since your data are typically 50MB, you should use LONGBLOB.

Your database backups will be very large if you store the media in the database. On the other hand, it makes the backup task simpler since you don't have to collect the media as external files when you back up.

Since this is a medical records databases, the usual caution applies: if you are in the US, you must comply with HIPAA requirements for data security (and even if you aren't in the US, it's a good idea to guarantee patient privacy).

So you need to ensure that any external media files cannot be read by unauthorized people. This may be more complex to enforce if the files are external to the database.

Regards,
Bill K.