The varbinary(max) was implemented to eliminate image data type limtations/quirks. It can be used the same way as regular varbinary.

>I have a filed that was defined as varbinary(2400). Then there was some changes to the project so now I need the field to be able to hold up to 7700 bytes. If I change the field to varbinary(7700), I will violate the maximum rowsize (8060 bytes) (because there are other fields in the table and they add up to a lot more than 360 bytes).
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>So I guess I have to change the field type to varbinary(max). Before SQL2005 I tried not to use IMAGE or TEXT types unless I really had to, and that is kind of how I feel about varbinary(max).
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>Is there anything I should watch out for when using varbinary(max)?
>Does varbinary(max) reduce performance a lot?
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>Any other thoughts on the issue are also welcome.
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>Thanks,
>Einar