To FILESTREAM or not to FILESTREAM... That is the question.

re: To FILESTREAM or not to FILESTREAM... That is the question.

ZachSkylesOwens — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:38:35 GMT

Clement,

That's an interesting perspective... Which features are you referring to that aren't available when using FileStream?

FileStream isn't really targeted at avoiding the need for a file server... It's all about managing binary data alongside relational data when consistency and manageability are important. Building a content management system is a classic example where developers have had to decide to store the binary data in the database or out in the file system with a pointer to its location stored as text in a table. Maintaining consistency is then up to the application which isn't always a viable option when it comes to database backups, restore, etc.

re: To FILESTREAM or not to FILESTREAM... That is the question.

ZachSkylesOwens — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:38:34 GMT

Clement,

That's an interesting perspective... Which features are you referring to that aren't available when using FileStream?

re: To FILESTREAM or not to FILESTREAM... That is the question.

Clement — Sun, 03 May 2009 16:16:57 GMT

Hello,

I do not see much good in Filestreaming or maybe for small companies, to avoid to deal with file server, San and all.

I see so many features that are not available when using filestreaming...

SQL server should handle data, not files!

re: To FILESTREAM or not to FILESTREAM... That is the question.

David — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:54:25 GMT

Correction - Make that ADO.NET Data Services/Astoria for Q3...too many data services to keep track of these days. :)

re: To FILESTREAM or not to FILESTREAM... That is the question.

David — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:31:43 GMT

Hi Zach,

To add to the questions you've addressed here: Will we be able to access FILESTREAM blobs through 1) the Entity Framework, 2) LINQ to Entities and/or 3) SQL Server Data Services?

If 3) is true, then "the concept of OpenFile("C:\Path_To_My_File\File_Name.docx")" would be baked in, no?

Lastly - if so, when?

Thanks,

David