title: Storing BLOBS > 2gb
body: <p>I've inherited a system which originally started as a small document management system but recently large files have started to be uploaded and the request is to have files up to 3gb stored in our DB</p>
  
  <p>The DB is MS SQL Server 2008 R2 and the content is stored as binary in a 'VARBINARY(MAX)' column. Currently we split any upload into 10mb chunks to help manage large files.</p>
  
  <p>I've had a look at the Microsoft help files and it appears the max you can store in a Varbinary column is 2gb (<a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188362.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188362.aspx</a>). I for some reason thought this was on SQL Server 2005 and below only, but it appears to be a limit on all versions as far as I can see. </p>
  
  <p>I know this isn't an efficient way to store large data but its not possible (short term at least) to change. Have I any options other than maybe splitting the file?</p>
  
  <p>Many thanks</p>