Re: What DB to use for lots of IMAGE files?

Mirwais Qader wrote: > > I am in the process of evaluating how to set up a database of about > 1,000,000 (million) images of products, medical files etc... The > database would consist of the following attributes: > Search_KeyWord1, Search_KeyWord2, Search_KeyWord3, > Description (text 100 chars), FileName, FileExtension, PathOfFile, > ImageData (Raw 100K to .5 MB). > > This could be stored in 1 table, but I would probably split > the non-image attributes from the image attributes since not all > users would want to view the image data. > > The criteria is FAST ACCESS to the data, and fast loading of the > image if the user wants to see it. Some users may want to go > through a list of 10-100 images before finding the one they want. > > How can I set this DB up? What DBMS would be good for this? > > I was thinking a table for the text data, a table for the image > data, a set of indeces for each table. > > Can I do this using SQL Server? My user is probably not going > to be able to afford something like the Oracle Workgroup Server > and would need to run it off of Windows NT or 95. What DBMS's > are affordable enough for a small user community of 5 or so > people? > > What format should the image data be stored in (.jpg, .gif, .tif, > ....)? > > As an aside: > How does one determine what vendor's product (DB, etc...) is best > for a particular process? For example, what's the best warehousing > product out there? > > Thanks for any advice! > -Mir. > > PS: Please respond by email! Hi, Why not SQLBase? Depending on your front end you could use compression. I currently support a SQLBase/SQLWindows app which has approximately 800,000 compressed images in a table of a separate database from the production database. Performance is fine with 30 users. The database is about 4 gigs in size. I haven't had many problems during the 2 + years of use. Jerry O'Brien DAR Computer Inc. 905-508-8700