What DB to use for lots of IMAGE files?

I am in the process of evaluating how to set up a database of about 1,000,000 (million) images of products, medical files etc... The database would consist of the following attributes: Search_KeyWord1, Search_KeyWord2, Search_KeyWord3, Description (text 100 chars), FileName, FileExtension, PathOfFile, ImageData (Raw 100K to .5 MB).

This could be stored in 1 table, but I would probably split the non-image attributes from the image attributes since not all users would want to view the image data.

The criteria is FAST ACCESS to the data, and fast loading of the image if the user wants to see it. Some users may want to go through a list of 10-100 images before finding the one they want.

How can I set this DB up? What DBMS would be good for this?

I was thinking a table for the text data, a table for the image data, a set of indeces for each table.

Can I do this using SQL Server? My user is probably not going to be able to afford something like the Oracle Workgroup Server and would need to run it off of Windows NT or 95. What DBMS's are affordable enough for a small user community of 5 or so people?

What format should the image data be stored in (.jpg, .gif, .tif, ....)?

As an aside:
How does one determine what vendor's product (DB, etc...) is best for a particular process? For example, what's the best warehousing product out there?

Thanks for any advice!
-Mir.

PS: Please respond by email! Received on Sun May 04 1997 - 00:00:00 CDT