Creating Your First Table in Microsoft SQL Server

Understanding the FileTable

SQL Server 2012 introduces a new type of table, the FileTable. This table builds on the existing FileStream technology. Therefore, you must enable the FileStream capabilities prior to creating a FileTable. The FileTable feature allows you to store various types of documents, and you can also directly query the attributes exposed by the Windows file system using T-SQL.

FileStream is an advanced feature of SQL Server, and a detailed description of it is beyond the scope of this book. However, an introduction to the FileTable is necessary because it offers some unique capabilities to the RDBMS. It brings together SQL Server and the Windows file namespace. As a result, integrated SQL Server services such as full-text and semantic search can query the unstructured data stored in the FileTable.