> > My original idea was using the just the hash as filename, by this way I > could have a direct access. But the customer rejected this and requested to > have part of the long file name (from 11 to 1023 characters). As linux only > allows 256 characters in the path and I could get duplicates with the 256 > first chars, I trim teh real filename to around 200 characters and I add the > hash at the end (plus a couple metadata small fields). > > Yes, there requirements does not makes too much sense, but I've tried to > convince the customer to use just the hash with no luck (seems he does not > understand well what is a hash although I've tried to explain it several > times). > > That's why I need or a) use mysql or b) do a directory lising. I would use either only a database, or only the file system. To me - using them both is a violation of KISS. If you were able to convince them to change the directory layout, and if you are more confortable with a database - try to convince them to use a database.