Store emails - flat file or SQL database?

  • Hi there,

    I need to write a web based email manager type application, which basically enables the import of email lists and lets you edit/delete/etc. The email lists, of course, will be used for sending out emails using a mail server.

    Easy enough, but I'm not sure the most efficient way to store the data. As it's only a single field that's required 'EmailAddress', I can't decide whether it should all be stored as a flat file or add an EmailAddress table to the application SQL Server database. The main issue I have is the potential quantity of email data to be stored. Some users may import hundreds of thousands of email addresses, perhaps a few million, and am wondering if all that data should be stored seperately to the main app. There is some data manipulation, such as editing email lists, removing excluded emails, etc., and of course it's web based, so I don't want the web server hogged up too severely either, so performance considerations are also an issue.

    Anyone any ideas, anyone needed to do this before?

    Thanks

    Gerard

  • This was removed by the editor as SPAM

  • You say that you might have to save a few million entries... and you are actually still considering a flat file??

    A DBMS is made for data selection and manipulation as you need it.

    So PLEASE do not use a flat file for your intention.

  • Thank you!

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