What is the current best method for storing website uploaded documents?

[Gary Theisen]

Hello forum,

What is currently the best method, in terms of security as well as scalability and least complexity, to store user uploaded documents on a shared hosting platform?

Is it to store the uploaded documents in a secure folder(s) location with a reference pointer (file path) in the database?

Or store the documents in the database itself (blob datatype)?

Or use a nosql "document store" version of the database?

The documents uploaded will be:

Mix of sensitive information (ex. containing a living person's date of birth) as well as historical, non-sensitive information

Varying in size from 1 page or image to several dozen

Varying in document type, mainly from .pdf, image files (.png, .jpeg, etc), .doc or .txt text files (there will be no audio or video file types)

The number of documents stored in the first year is estimated between 100 and 500, with about 1000 to 1200 additional each of the next couple of years.

If/when the site outgrows a shared hosting environment, other hosted solutions will be explored.

Other info:

PHP version 8.3.2
MySQL version 8.3.0 (InnoDB type used)


Thanks in advance!