Retrieve images from SQL Server and store in VB.Net

While SQL Server is capable of storing images in blob columns, the retrieval of images from the database does incur...

Sign in for existing members

Continue Reading This Article

Enjoy this article as well as all of our content, including E-Guides, news, tips and more.

Step 2 of 2:

• You forgot to provide an Email Address.

  This email address doesn’t appear to be valid.

  This email address is already registered. Please login.

  You have exceeded the maximum character limit.

By submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent.

By submitting your email address, you agree to receive emails regarding relevant topic offers from TechTarget and its partners. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Contact TechTarget at 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA.

You also agree that your personal information may be transferred and processed in the United States, and that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.

certain overhead that you have already noticed. For that reason, many high performance Web sites store only image names and path-to-the image folders. The application then retrieves the image from the file system, rather than pulling it from the database. You didn't provide many details about how the application works or what it does with images. But, based on what I know, I would recommend storing path-to-image folders in a reference table, and then have a table that stores image names and any additional details you may need.

If you move images to another folder, you just modify the path to the image folder. Using this approach also makes image management much easier since you can easily preview, resize or move images stored in the file system. Storing them in the database often requires a lot of custom coding to implement image management. So, unless you have some really unique requirements, in most cases you are better off with images in the file system and image locations in the database.