title: What's the best way to save and retrieve binary files with Oracle 10g?
body: <p>I'm about to implement a feature in our application that allows the user to 'upload' a PDF or Microsoft PowerPoint document, which the application will then make available to other users in a viewer (so they don't get to 'download' it in the 'Save as..' sense).</p>
  
  <p>I already know how to save and retrieve arbitrary binary information in database columns, but as this will be a commonly used feature of our application I fear that solution would lead to enormously large database tables (as we know one of our customers will want to put video in PowerPoint documents).</p>
  
  <p>I know there's a way to create a 'directory' object in Oracle, but is there a way to use this feature to store and retrieve binary files saved elsewhere on the Database Server?</p>
  
  <p>Or am I being overly paranoid about the database size?</p>
  
  <p>(for completeness our application is .Net WinForms using <a href="http://www.devart.com/oranet/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CoreLab / DevArt OraDirect.Net drivers</a> to Oracle 10g)</p>