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Asked: 2026-06-05T04:03:28+00:00

I have a website which is using SQL SERVER 2008 which allows user to

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I have a website which is using SQL SERVER 2008 which allows user to upload files like excel, word, txt, pdf, media files and other format also. (Just like Rapishare, Megaupload)

What is the best way to store them into SQL SERVER ?

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  1. Editorial Team

    FILESTREAM or VARBINARY(MAX), but you should consider the pros and cons of doing so versus storing the files on the file system and just a pointer to the file in the database.

    Pros for storing files in the database:

    • transactional consistency
    • security (assuming you need it and that your database isn’t wide open anyway)

    Cons:

    • much larger database files + backups (which can be costly if you are hosting on someone else’s storage)
    • much more difficult to debug (you can’t say “SELECT doc FROM table” in Management Studio and have Word pop up)
    • more difficult to present the documents to users (and allow them to upload) – instead of just presenting a link to a file on the file system, you must build an app that takes the file and stores it in the database, and pulls the file from the database to present it to the user.

    In SQL Server 2012, FileTable will offer a more usable hybrid.

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