> > I have two options for storing this data: As BYTEA or as large objects. Is it true that if you update a row containing a large BYTEA value, (even if you're not updating the BYTEA field itself, just another field), it requires the entire BYTEA value to be copied to a new row (because of MVCC) ? Or is this not true because of TOAST? If true, would this have an impact on the buffer cache and/or checkpoints ? (You could always separate out the BYTEA values to their own table by themselves to avoid this drawback) ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 9: In versions below 8.0, the planner will ignore your desire to choose an index scan if your joining column's datatypes do not match