>I'd argue that it certainly *does* belong there - just that the option isn't well supported :-}
>
>Well, I've seen several companies that have stated specific reasons why they wanted to keep them external (reasons ranging from flexibility to system issues I described earlier) - I have yet to see or hear any stated requirement/reason to keep them in the database.

Unless you've got tight control over the external storage than I would think security/integrity would be a big issue.
No guarantees that the file you are expecting actually exists and, if it does, whether it has been swapped inadvertently or deliberately.
No guarantee that someone hasn't changed the neccessary permissions when you need to add/change/delete a file.
No guarantee that the d***d folder even exists without checking every time......

You mentioned that there may be backup issues with filestream - but I would think they pale in comparison to any robust strategy for synchronously backing up external files. And varbinary presents no problem there anyway.

Unless I see a noticeable performance hit from varbinary (which in this instance I don't) I think I'll stick with it. But when I get time I'll try testing a FILESTREAM option.

Best,
Viv