title: I have passwords hashed into 512 bits, how to store them in MySQL?
body: <p>I have passwords hashed into 512 bits, how to store them in MySQL?</p>
  
  <p>Initially I wanted <strong><code>BINARY(512)</code></strong></p>
  
  <p>However binary has fixed length 255.</p>
  
  <p>I know I can use <strong><code>VARBINARY(512)</code></strong></p>
  
  <p>But since my data is "fixed" and not variable-length, i do not think this is the best solution and am looking for a better alternative.</p>
  
  <p>From the page <a href="http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/blob.html" rel="nofollow">http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/blob.html</a>:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>In some cases, it may be desirable to
    store binary data such as media files
    in <code>BLOB</code> or <code>TEXT</code> columns. You may find
    MySQL's string handling functions
    useful for working with such data.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>So does that mean that there is another way to store binary data other than <code>BLOB</code>?</p>