Remote BLOB Storage (RBS) in a Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 environment

By default, these BLOBs, also named unstructured data, are stored inline in the SharePoint content database together with the metadata, or structured data. Because BLOBs can be very large, it can be helpful to move BLOB data out of the SQL Server database

RBS can provide performance gains. However, if users will frequently revise the content, using RBS will decrease performance. This is because extensive versioning will cause significant growth in both the metadata in the content database and the size of the BLOB store

RBS was designed to move the storage of BLOBs from databases on database servers to directories on commodity storage solutions. Therefore, under the specific environments that RBS was intended to be used in, you can experience performance or cost benefits. By using lower-priced storage instead of more expensive storage on a databases server, you can save on costs. RBS saves storage resources when there are fewer large BLOBs. When there are many smaller files, there is no benefit.

Most optimal use of RBS

Because RBS is a solution created for a specific set of conditions, there is an optimal use of RBS in which the benefits outweigh the costs. The optimal environment for using RBS is an environment where the following is true:

• You want to store fewer large BLOBs (256 KB or larger) for read-intensive or read-only access.
• The resources on the computer that is running SQL Server might become a performance bottleneck.
• The expense of high-cost drive space is greater than the expense of increased IT operations complexity that might be introduced by using RBS.
• RBS is typically recommended in the case where the content databases are 4 gigabytes (GB) or larger

Least optimal use of RBS

RBS is not a good solution for all environments. The costs will outweigh the benefits most of the time. The least optimal environment for using RBS would be an environment where the following is true:

• You want to store many small BLOBs (256 KB or less) for write-intensive access.
• The resources on the computer that is running SQL Server are not a performance bottleneck.
• The expense of increased IT operations complexity that might be introduced by using RBS is greater than high-cost drive space.