![]() Historically, databases where created when the filesystem provided by the OS were not good enough for the problem at hand. The key difference between a filesystem and a database is that the filesystem API is part of the OS, thus filesystem implementations have to implement that API and thus follow certain rules, whereas databases are built by 3rd parties having complete freedom. That's it.Ĭontext: I've written a filesystem that has been running in production for 7 years now. Think of the possible actions (now + future), consider both ways, and choose the fastest / most efficient for the case. Those who say "database always wins" or "files always win" probably just don't know enough. Programming rarely says "never" or "always". You want to store lots of binary content (pictures or mp3s).You want other apps to access your data without API (like text editors).You have big chunks of data that grow frequently (typically, logfiles).You like to use version control on your data (a nightmare with dbs).Your users will read/write the same data all the time (better locking).You need atomic transactions (data safety).You need lightning-fast lookup / sorting by more than one value (indexed tables). ![]() You want to store many rows with the exact same structure (no block waste).(These are no complete lists, surely you can stuff in a lot more on both sides.) Let's see a few typical examples when one is better than the other. Filesystems, btw, are close to databases today, as many of them use a balanced tree approach, so on a BTRFS you can just put all your pictures in one folder - and the OS will silently implement something like an early SQL query each time you access your files. Think in benefits, not fashion.Īgain, if you're storing JPG pictures and only ever look for them by one key (their id maybe?), a well-thought filesystem storage is better. Those guys programmed all this for you, it's yours to use think of the likely (most frequent) scenarios, enumerate all possible actions you want to perform on your data, and decide which one works better for you. There are lots of other good points but these are the first mountains you're trying to climb when you think of a file based db alternative. Full read, some kind of sort - then do it next time all over. Find row, then read+write everything after it. You either scan the whole file or build an index yourself. It's painful, you have to alter each row and read+write the whole file. Imagine a textfile (something like tsv/csv) with 99999 rows. In a database, you have options you don't have with files. There is a well-known versioning solution (svn) that finally ended up using a filesystem-based model to store data, ditching their BerkeleyDB. You can store lots of stuff in lots of files & folders, there are situations where this will be the way. You can find n number of difference over internet. ![]() When handling small data sets with arbitrary, probably unrelated data, file is more efficient than database.įor simple operations, read, write, file operations are faster and simple. Server-client implementation with server-side objects like stored procedures, functions, triggers, views, etc.Īdvantage of the File System over Data base Management System is: ![]() Transaction processing addition to SQL (Transact-SQL) However, the contents of a txt file won't be indexed, which is one of the main advantages of a database.įor very complex operations, the filesystem is likely to be very slow. The file system is useful if you are looking for a particular file, as operating systems maintain a sort of index. The file system is more general, and databases are built on top of the general data storage services provided by file systems. On the other hand, a file system is a more unstructured data store for storing arbitrary, probably unrelated data. A database is generally used for storing related, structured data, with well defined data formats, in an efficient manner for insert, update and/or retrieval (depending on application).
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