Can mysql store images

MySQL can store image binary data through the BLOB data type, but since storing and processing images is not its strength, it is better to store images in many cases in object storage services (such as AWS S3) and store image URLs only in MySQL.

Can MySQL store images? The answer is yes, but there is a gap of experience between "can" and "should".

In this article, I will take you through this muddy waters and let you understand the ins and outs of MySQL storage images and why in many cases, it is not the best choice.

Let’s talk about the basics first. MySQL itself does not store image files directly, it stores binary data of image files. You can understand image files as a bunch of bytes, and MySQL stores these bytes as BLOB (Binary Large Object) data. There are several sizes of BLOB types, TINYBLOB , BLOB , MEDIUMBLOB , LONGBLOB , respectively, corresponding to different maximum storage sizes. Which one is selected depends on your image size.

So, how to save it? How to get it?

A simple example, suppose you use Python, the code might look like this:

<code class="python">import mysql.connector import os mydb = mysql.connector.connect( host="localhost", user="yourusername", password="yourpassword", database="mydatabase" ) mycursor = mydb.cursor() def store_image(image_path, image_name): with open(image_path, "rb") as image_file: image_data = image_file.read() sql = "INSERT INTO images (image_name, image_data) VALUES (%s, %s)" val = (image_name, image_data) mycursor.execute(sql, val) mydb.commit() def retrieve_image(image_name, output_path): sql = "SELECT image_data FROM images WHERE image_name = %s" val = (image_name,) mycursor.execute(sql, val) result = mycursor.fetchone() if result: with open(os.path.join(output_path, image_name), "wb") as image_file: image_file.write(result[0]) else: print(f"Image '{image_name}' not found.") #Example usage store_image("path/to/your/image.jpg", "myimage.jpg") retrieve_image("myimage.jpg", "path/to/output/directory") mycursor.close() mydb.close()</code>

This code is concise and clear, but don't be happy too early.

This is just superficial skill. In practical applications, you will encounter various problems. For example, the storage and reading speed of large images will be very slow, which will directly affect your application performance. Database backup and recovery can also become extremely time-consuming. More importantly, MySQL is not designed for storing and processing images, it is good at relational data management. Squeezing images into the database is equivalent to plugging a screwdriver into the hammer handle. Although it can be stuffed in, it is awkward to use and inefficient.

A more professional approach is to use object storage services, such as AWS S3, Alibaba Cloud OSS, etc. These services are designed specifically to store and manage large amounts of unstructured data, including images, and are fast, scalable and cost-effective. You just need to store the URL of the image in MySQL, and the image itself is stored in the object storage service. This way, your database stores only metadata, keeping it lightweight and efficient.

Of course, if you are just processing a small number of small images and have low performance requirements, it is barely acceptable to use MySQL directly. But remember, this is just a stopgap measure, not a best practice. When choosing a technical plan, you should follow the actual situation and not be confused by superficial phenomena. Remember, performance and scalability are the key to long-term development. Don’t wait until the project is launched to find that the database has become a bottleneck. If you change it then, the cost will be high.

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