I wouldn't even store it on the filesystem if I could avoid that.
Most people I know will assign the video a unique identifier (which is stored in the database) and then store the video
filewith a 3rd party (e.g. Amazon S3).
1. This is often cheaper. Videos take up a lot of disk space. Having to ensure 2-3 copies of a file as a failover is
notfun.
2. It offloads work from internal servers. Why deal with connections that are serving a static file if you can avoid
it?
In terms of FS vs DB (aside from the open vs streaming which was already brought up)
I think the big issue with storing large files in the database is the input/output connection.
Postgres has a specified number of max connections available, and each one has some overhead to operate. Meanwhile, a
serverlike nginx can handle 10k connections easily, and with little or no overhead. While the speed is comparable to
theOS, you end up using a resource from a limited database connection pool. And you run the risk of a slow/dropped
clienttying up the connection.
Why allocate a resource to these operations, when there are more lightweight alternatives that won't tie up a database
connection?