{"id":871,"date":"2009-05-06T13:47:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-06T13:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/blogs\/paul\/post\/Misconceptions-around-FILESTREAM-storage.aspx"},"modified":"2017-04-13T09:53:50","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T16:53:50","slug":"misconceptions-around-filestream-storage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sqlskills.com\/blogs\/paul\/misconceptions-around-filestream-storage\/","title":{"rendered":"Misconceptions around FILESTREAM storage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nThis short post is prompted by a question that came in through Twitter – I *knew* it was worth joining and spending time on it (<\/font>http:\/\/twitter.com\/PaulRandal<\/font><\/a>).<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe (paraphrased) question is "can FILESTREAM data be stored remotely?"<\/em>. This has been confusing people, and neither FILESTREAM BOL nor my FILESTREAM whitepaper (see <\/font>here<\/font><\/a>) explicitly answer the question.<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe FILESTREAM data container for a database must be placed on an NTFS volume on locally-connected storage. Just like database data and log files, the directory cannot be on a UNC share. The confusion comes from the fact that FILESTREAM data *can* be *accessed* remotely through a UNC share – but as far as the host instance is concerned, the FILESTREAM storage must be local.<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA second question that came up a while ago is whether FILESTREAM data containers can share the same directory or be nested. The answers are kind-of, and no, respectively. Let's see.<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nI'll create the first database with a FILESTREAM data container:<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n\tCREATE DATABASE FileStreamTestDB1 ON PRIMARY
\n\t    (NAME = FileStreamTestDB1_data, FILENAME = N'C:\\SQLskills\\FSTestDB1_data.mdf'),
\n\tFILEGROUP FileStreamFileGroup CONTAINS FILESTREAM
\n\t    (NAME = FileStreamTestDB1Documents, FILENAME = N'C:\\SQLskills\\FSDC\\Documents')
\n\tLOG ON
\n\t    (NAME = FileStreamTestDB1_log, FILENAME = N'C:\\SQLskills\\FSTestDB1_log.ldf');
\n\tGO<\/font> <\/font>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nAnd now let's try another database with the same parent directory:<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n\tCREATE DATABASE FileStreamTestDB2 ON PRIMARY
\n\t    (NAME = FileStreamTestDB2_data, FILENAME = N'C:\\SQLskills\\FSTestDB2_data.mdf'),
\n\tFILEGROUP FileStreamFileGroup CONTAINS FILESTREAM
\n\t    (NAME = FileStreamTestDB2Documents, FILENAME = N'C:\\SQLskills\\FSDC\\Documents2')
\n\tLOG ON
\n\t    (NAME = FileStreamTestDB2_log, FILENAME = N'C:\\SQLskills\\FSTestDB2_log.ldf');
\n\tGO<\/font> <\/font>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nThis works fine. You can't have another database use the *same* directory as the first database (i.e. N'C:\\SQLskills\\FSDC\\Documents'), but two FILESTREAM data containers can have the same parent directory.<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd now let's try a nested one:<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n

\n\tCREATE DATABASE FileStreamTestDB3 ON PRIMARY
\n\t    (NAME = FileStreamTestDB3_data, FILENAME = N'C:\\SQLskills\\FSTestDB3_data.mdf'),
\n\tFILEGROUP FileStreamFileGroup CONTAINS FILESTREAM
\n\t    (NAME = FileStreamTestDB3Documents, FILENAME = N'C:\\SQLskills\\FSDC\\Documents\\Documents3')
\n\tLOG ON
\n\t    (NAME = FileStreamTestDB3_log, FILENAME = N'C:\\SQLskills\\FSTestDB3_log.ldf');
\n\tGO<\/font>\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tMsg 5136, Level 16, State 2, Line 1
\n\tThe path specified by 'C:\\SQLskills\\FSDC\\Documents\\Documents3' cannot be used for a FILESTREAM container since it is contained in another FILESTREAM container.
\n\tMsg 1802, Level 16, State 2, Line 1
\n\tCREATE DATABASE failed. Some file names listed could not be created. Check related errors.<\/font>
\n\t<\/font>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\nDoesn't work, as expected, as this is documented in BOL here<\/a>.<\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThanks<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This short post is prompted by a question that came in through Twitter – I *knew* it was worth joining and spending time on it (http:\/\/twitter.com\/PaulRandal). The (paraphrased) question is "can FILESTREAM data be stored remotely?". This has been confusing people, and neither FILESTREAM BOL nor my FILESTREAM whitepaper (see here) explicitly answer the question. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,61,86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-filestream","category-misconceptions","category-sql-server-2008"],"yoast_head":"\nMisconceptions around FILESTREAM storage - Paul S. Randal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sqlskills.com\/blogs\/paul\/misconceptions-around-filestream-storage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Misconceptions around FILESTREAM storage - Paul S. Randal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This short post is prompted by a question that came in through Twitter – I *knew* it was worth joining and spending time on it (http:\/\/twitter.com\/PaulRandal). The (paraphrased) question is "can FILESTREAM data be stored remotely?". This has been confusing people, and neither FILESTREAM BOL nor my FILESTREAM whitepaper (see here) explicitly answer the question. 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