I am creating a document management systems using asp. I have been
researching the different ways of handling the documents such as using the
file system and storing the path in the db, and actually storing the
document in the db. I like the idea of storing it in the database much
better because I can allow users to manage documents themselves (I already
have the code in place to do it if I decide), having a central system with
the ability to add my own document properties by adding fields to the table,
security, and backups. I have found that most think it is better to store
the path due to performance issues and the rate the db can grow. I have
looked at our current system in access and we have a total of 4400 documents
(of which probably 25% are in the database but don't actually exist anymore
in the file system, one hangup about the file system) since 1988. This
comes to about 300 documents added each year. The other thing is the issue
with the size of the db. I don't see a whole lot of difference with this
issue because it is going to take up space in your file system too, although
the file system may be more efficient at storing them. I would say that 95%
of our docs are under 1 mb in size and done in ms word.
The last thing is using full-text search capabilities in SQL Server. I need
to be able to search the contents of the field.
Is there other issues around storing documents in the db to consider besides
the above?
