Introducing FILESTREAM
Both of the traditional BLOB solutions present tough challenges, so what do you do? With FILESTREAM, SQL Server offers a way out of this conundrum. First, make sure you understand that FILESTREAM is technically not a SQL Server data type. Rather, it is implemented as an attribute that you apply to the varbinary(max) data type—the same data type traditionally used to store BLOBs directly inside structured tables. However, merely applying this attribute tells SQL Server to store the BLOB in the file system rather than the table’s structured filegroup. With the FILESTREAM attribute applied, you continue to treat the varbinary(max) column as though its contents were stored in-line with your structured table data. Under the covers, ...
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