SQL Server Binary Data Types

Binary Data Types

Binary data types in SQL Server represent sequences of bytes. They are used to store non-textual information, such as images, audio files, and other binary files. These data types are used when you need to store raw data instead of text-based representations.

Supported Binary Data Types

`VARBINARY`: Stores variable-length binary data.
`BINARY`: Stores fixed-length binary data.
`IMAGE`: An older data type used to store large binary objects. It has been largely replaced by `VARBINARY(MAXSIZE)` and other methods for handling large binary data.

Using VARBINARY

The VARBINARY data type is the most common and recommended way to store binary data in SQL Server. It is a variable-length data type, meaning it can store different amounts of binary data depending on the values stored within it.

        
          CREATE TABLE MyTable (
              ID INT PRIMARY KEY,
              ImageData VARBINARY(MAX)
          );

Example

The following example demonstrates how to insert a binary value into a VARBINARY column.

        
          INSERT INTO MyTable (ID, ImageData)
          VALUES (1, 'This is binary data');