You have contracts as PDFs, product photos as JPEGs, and customer uploads scattered across email attachments, Dropbox folders, and that one guy's desktop.
Someone asks for the signed contract from last March. You spend 20 minutes searching through folders named 'Contracts_Final_v2_REAL'.
That file should be one click away, linked to the customer record.
FOUNDATIONAL - Every system that handles documents, images, or uploads needs file storage.
Databases store structured data: names, dates, numbers. But a signed PDF, a product photo, or a 50MB design file? Those don't fit in database columns. They need somewhere else to live.
File storage is that somewhere. It holds the actual bytes of your files while your database holds metadata about them. Customer record #47 has a 'contract_url' field pointing to the PDF in storage. The database stays fast. The file stays accessible.
Every AI system that works with documents, images, or media needs file storage. It's where the raw material lives before processing turns it into something useful.
File storage solves a universal problem: how do you store large, unstructured blobs so they're retrievable without slowing down everything else?
Store the blob separately. Keep a reference (URL, path, or ID) in your structured data. Fetch the blob only when needed. This pattern works whether you're storing a 10KB icon or a 10GB video.
Click "Upload File" to add documents. Compare what happens when files live in your database vs. separate storage.
Each click simulates uploading a contract, photo, or document.
| File | BLOB Data | Customer |
|---|---|---|
| No files yet. Click "Upload File" above. | ||
Every file bloats the database. Backups take forever.
| id | file_url | customer_id |
|---|---|---|
| No files yet | ||
Database stays tiny. Files scale independently.
S3, GCS, Azure Blob - infinite scale, pay per use
Upload files to a cloud bucket. Get a URL back. Files are replicated across data centers automatically. You pay for what you store and what you transfer. Most AI systems use this.
Traditional folders on servers or NAS
Store files on your own servers or network-attached storage. You control the hardware. Good for sensitive data that can't leave your network or when you need very low latency.
Store files directly in database columns
Some databases let you store binary data directly. Simple for small files since everything is in one place. But your database backups balloon and queries slow down as files grow.
Your account manager asks this before a renewal meeting. Without organized file storage, you're searching email, Dropbox, and desktop folders. This flow returns every document in seconds, with preview links and signing dates.
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Foundation layer - no upstream dependencies
It works fine with 100 small images. Then you have 10,000 product photos and your database backup takes 8 hours. Every query gets slower because the database is shuffling gigabytes of blob data.
Instead: Use object storage for files. Store only the URL in your database.
You store contracts at /files/contract-{id}.pdf. Someone guesses IDs and downloads every contract. You just leaked sensitive customer data because the URLs were public and predictable.
Instead: Use signed URLs with expiration. Or store files privately and serve through authenticated endpoints.
Customer deletes their account. You remove the database record. But their uploaded files stay in storage forever. Storage costs climb. You might be violating GDPR.
Instead: Implement cascade deletion. When a record is deleted, queue deletion of associated files.
You've learned how files live separately from your database and why that matters. The natural next step is understanding how to get content out of those files.