Is storing images in sql really that bad now?

Hello,
I have seen a lot of articles and comments trying to disuade people
from storing photos images in sql2k and msde. My question is why?
Microsoft's sharepoint technology stores all .doc, .xls, .pdf, .jpg, etc.
into sql2k or msde depending on what backend you are using. Here is the
issue we are running into and would appreciate suggestions. We have an
application that is running on a windows 2000 tablet pc. Currently the app
(coded in vb.net) takes data from the access database (that resides on the
tablet pc) and moves it to our Sql Server in the office via the internet as
some staff are in different states. The application also transfers .jpg and
.tif files between the server and the client(currently stored as files). We
are having issues with scalability due to the amount of growth we have been
experiencing. Two years ago there was about 15 users running this
application, now there are over 60, with growth expected to continue. My
question is can MSDE help solve this problem. I was thinking that if I use
MSDE on the client and tweak the application to store the .jpg and .tif
files into the MSDE then I could have SQL manage the replication. I know
there is a limitation of 2 gigs on MSDE and we would make a temp db that the
clients would replicate to and move the data up to the live database thus
hopefully eliminating that issue. So basically with the amount of data we
are transferring can MSDE accomplish this with Sql Server at the office,
thus eliminating our vb.net application? The average size for a .tif or .jpg
is between 200k and 3mb. Thanks in advanceThere are always pro's and con's to this issue and it is never a generic yes
or no answer. It is certainly feasible to store the images in the database
and it sounds like off the top you are already set up to do this. Storing
them in the db does solve some issues such as having to give the user access
to the files themselves etc. MSDE sounds like a good alternative to what
you are doing now and with Yukon and SQL Express the limit goes to 4GB.
--
Andrew J. Kelly SQL MVP
"Jake" <rondican@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23JUmcV$mEHA.952@.TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> Hello,
> I have seen a lot of articles and comments trying to disuade people
> from storing photos images in sql2k and msde. My question is why?
> Microsoft's sharepoint technology stores all .doc, .xls, .pdf, .jpg, etc.
> into sql2k or msde depending on what backend you are using. Here is the
> issue we are running into and would appreciate suggestions. We have an
> application that is running on a windows 2000 tablet pc. Currently the app
> (coded in vb.net) takes data from the access database (that resides on the
> tablet pc) and moves it to our Sql Server in the office via the internet
as
> some staff are in different states. The application also transfers .jpg
and
> .tif files between the server and the client(currently stored as files).
We
> are having issues with scalability due to the amount of growth we have
been
> experiencing. Two years ago there was about 15 users running this
> application, now there are over 60, with growth expected to continue. My
> question is can MSDE help solve this problem. I was thinking that if I use
> MSDE on the client and tweak the application to store the .jpg and .tif
> files into the MSDE then I could have SQL manage the replication. I know
> there is a limitation of 2 gigs on MSDE and we would make a temp db that
the
> clients would replicate to and move the data up to the live database thus
> hopefully eliminating that issue. So basically with the amount of data we
> are transferring can MSDE accomplish this with Sql Server at the office,
> thus eliminating our vb.net application? The average size for a .tif or
.jpg
> is between 200k and 3mb. Thanks in advance
>|||The only issues I can see are MSDE works great with a couple of
connections but is deliberately set to degrade with more than 5-8 users.
Replication may be an issue, transactional replication between SQL
Server and MSDE is not a problem but I'm not sure the other way. Merge
replication does no work with MSDE.
Adrian
Jake wrote:
> Hello,
> I have seen a lot of articles and comments trying to disuade people
> from storing photos images in sql2k and msde. My question is why?
> Microsoft's sharepoint technology stores all .doc, .xls, .pdf, .jpg, etc.
> into sql2k or msde depending on what backend you are using. Here is the
> issue we are running into and would appreciate suggestions. We have an
> application that is running on a windows 2000 tablet pc. Currently the app
> (coded in vb.net) takes data from the access database (that resides on the
> tablet pc) and moves it to our Sql Server in the office via the internet as
> some staff are in different states. The application also transfers .jpg and
> .tif files between the server and the client(currently stored as files). We
> are having issues with scalability due to the amount of growth we have been
> experiencing. Two years ago there was about 15 users running this
> application, now there are over 60, with growth expected to continue. My
> question is can MSDE help solve this problem. I was thinking that if I use
> MSDE on the client and tweak the application to store the .jpg and .tif
> files into the MSDE then I could have SQL manage the replication. I know
> there is a limitation of 2 gigs on MSDE and we would make a temp db that the
> clients would replicate to and move the data up to the live database thus
> hopefully eliminating that issue. So basically with the amount of data we
> are transferring can MSDE accomplish this with Sql Server at the office,
> thus eliminating our vb.net application? The average size for a .tif or .jpg
> is between 200k and 3mb. Thanks in advance
>|||Adrian,
Will the new msde 2005 be able to handle merge replication? I tested
Merge (granted it was justa couple of rows of data) between MSDE and sql2k
and it worked. I don't want to spend a lot of time testing this if someone
knows for sure that merge replication will not work.
Jake
"Adrian Edwards" <a.n.other@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:cieqt7$edm$1@.sparta.btinternet.com...
> The only issues I can see are MSDE works great with a couple of
> connections but is deliberately set to degrade with more than 5-8 users.
> Replication may be an issue, transactional replication between SQL
> Server and MSDE is not a problem but I'm not sure the other way. Merge
> replication does no work with MSDE.
> Adrian
> Jake wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I have seen a lot of articles and comments trying to disuade
people
> > from storing photos images in sql2k and msde. My question is why?
> > Microsoft's sharepoint technology stores all .doc, .xls, .pdf, .jpg,
etc.
> > into sql2k or msde depending on what backend you are using. Here is the
> > issue we are running into and would appreciate suggestions. We have an
> > application that is running on a windows 2000 tablet pc. Currently the
app
> > (coded in vb.net) takes data from the access database (that resides on
the
> > tablet pc) and moves it to our Sql Server in the office via the internet
as
> > some staff are in different states. The application also transfers .jpg
and
> > .tif files between the server and the client(currently stored as files).
We
> > are having issues with scalability due to the amount of growth we have
been
> > experiencing. Two years ago there was about 15 users running this
> > application, now there are over 60, with growth expected to continue. My
> > question is can MSDE help solve this problem. I was thinking that if I
use
> > MSDE on the client and tweak the application to store the .jpg and .tif
> > files into the MSDE then I could have SQL manage the replication. I know
> > there is a limitation of 2 gigs on MSDE and we would make a temp db that
the
> > clients would replicate to and move the data up to the live database
thus
> > hopefully eliminating that issue. So basically with the amount of data
we
> > are transferring can MSDE accomplish this with Sql Server at the office,
> > thus eliminating our vb.net application? The average size for a .tif or
.jpg
> > is between 200k and 3mb. Thanks in advance
> >
> >|||I could be wrong but I don't think so. Merge Replication is available in
Enterprise SQL but other versions, e.g. its a licensing not technical
issue, MSDE is free!
Adrian
Jake wrote:
> Adrian,
> Will the new msde 2005 be able to handle merge replication? I tested
> Merge (granted it was justa couple of rows of data) between MSDE and sql2k
> and it worked. I don't want to spend a lot of time testing this if someone
> knows for sure that merge replication will not work.
> Jake
> "Adrian Edwards" <a.n.other@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:cieqt7$edm$1@.sparta.btinternet.com...
>>The only issues I can see are MSDE works great with a couple of
>>connections but is deliberately set to degrade with more than 5-8 users.
>>Replication may be an issue, transactional replication between SQL
>>Server and MSDE is not a problem but I'm not sure the other way. Merge
>>replication does no work with MSDE.
>>Adrian
>>Jake wrote:
>>
>>Hello,
>> I have seen a lot of articles and comments trying to disuade
> people
>>from storing photos images in sql2k and msde. My question is why?
>>Microsoft's sharepoint technology stores all .doc, .xls, .pdf, .jpg,
> etc.
>>into sql2k or msde depending on what backend you are using. Here is the
>>issue we are running into and would appreciate suggestions. We have an
>>application that is running on a windows 2000 tablet pc. Currently the
> app
>>(coded in vb.net) takes data from the access database (that resides on
> the
>>tablet pc) and moves it to our Sql Server in the office via the internet
> as
>>some staff are in different states. The application also transfers .jpg
> and
>>.tif files between the server and the client(currently stored as files).
> We
>>are having issues with scalability due to the amount of growth we have
> been
>>experiencing. Two years ago there was about 15 users running this
>>application, now there are over 60, with growth expected to continue. My
>>question is can MSDE help solve this problem. I was thinking that if I
> use
>>MSDE on the client and tweak the application to store the .jpg and .tif
>>files into the MSDE then I could have SQL manage the replication. I know
>>there is a limitation of 2 gigs on MSDE and we would make a temp db that
> the
>>clients would replicate to and move the data up to the live database
> thus
>>hopefully eliminating that issue. So basically with the amount of data
> we
>>are transferring can MSDE accomplish this with Sql Server at the office,
>>thus eliminating our vb.net application? The average size for a .tif or
> .jpg
>>is between 200k and 3mb. Thanks in advance
>>
>
>