Attachment data in SQL or local file system?

[Michael Salisbury]

Hi all,

Seeing as database storage of attachments is deprecated, are there any benefits of keeping attachments in a database (using SQL in this case) over the local file system these days?  I back up the home directory regularly, so that doesn't really feature.  Have the character issues been resolved (seemed to be that and clustering why people wanted them in a DB)?

Just wondering whether I should move mine now while it's still straight forward (only have a 2GB database).

Thanks

[Michael Salisbury]

Hi Renato,

I know how to retrieve a file using entities.xml.  If I'm not using the built in Confluence backups, where does that file reside?

If it doesn't reside anywhere, then what do I reference when needing to restore an attachment?

[Michael Salisbury]

Thanks Renato, sounds like the way I should go.  As far as backups are concerned, I know that when restoring an attachment from an XML backup I can reference the entities.xml file for the location of the required attachment.  I have an image of the entire file system every hour, so am thinking to disable the scheduled Confluence backup as requested, but how do I find out the required attachment location in this instance if I don't have the entities.xml file to reference?

[rrudnicki]

Hi Michael, Please check out this documentation about how to point for a specific file on entities.xml. https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/retrieving-file-attachments-from-a-backup-187758.html

[rrudnicki]

Hi Michael, 

The reasons I can see to move your attachments to your file system are that attachments on filesystem are easier to backup and file system tends to be faster than database. Also, if you have 2GB of attachment and you try to do a XML backup including your attachments, this could cause issues since we don't recommend you use a XML backup bigger than 2GB. 

Also, as you could see, this option is being deprecated, so would be better you move to filesystem . 

P.S.: In case you will move your attachments from database to filesystem, make sure to have a backup and do this in a staging environment first. 

Regards, 
Renato Rudnicki