Is it wise to store a big lump of json on a database row

Posted by Ieyasu Sawada on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Ieyasu Sawada
Published on 2013-10-24T07:52:36Z Indexed on 2013/10/24 10:10 UTC
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I have this project which stores product details from amazon into the database.

Just to give you an idea on how big it is:

[{"title":"Genetic Engineering (Opposing Viewpoints)","short_title":"Genetic Engineering ...","brand":"","condition":"","sales_rank":"7171426","binding":"Book","item_detail_url":"http://localhost/wordpress/product/?asin=0737705124","node_list":"Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Biotechnology","node_category":"Books","subcat":"","model_number":"","item_url":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/ecom-plugin-redirects/ecom_redirector.php?id=128","details_url":"http://localhost/wordpress/product/?asin=0737705124","large_image":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/ecom/img/large-notfound.png","medium_image":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/ecom/img/medium-notfound.png","small_image":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/ecom/img/small-notfound.png","thumbnail_image":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/ecom/img/thumbnail-notfound.png","tiny_img":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/ecom/img/tiny-notfound.png","swatch_img":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/ecom/img/swatch-notfound.png","total_images":"6","amount":"33.70","currency":"$","long_currency":"USD","price":"$33.70","price_type":"List Price","show_price_type":"0","stars_url":"","product_review":"","rating":"","yellow_star_class":"","white_star_class":"","rating_text":" of 5","reviews_url":"","review_label":"","reviews_label":"Read all ","review_count":"","create_review_url":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/ecom-plugin-redirects/ecom_redirector.php?id=132","create_review_label":"Write a review","buy_url":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/ecom-plugin-redirects/ecom_redirector.php?id=19186","add_to_cart_action":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/ecom-plugin-redirects/add_to_cart.php","asin":"0737705124","status":"Only 7 left in stock.","snippet_condition":"in_stock","status_class":"ninstck","customer_images":["http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ecom_images/51M2vvFvs2BL.jpg","http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ecom_images/31FIM-YIUrL.jpg","http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ecom_images/51M2vvFvs2BL.jpg","http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ecom_images/51M2vvFvs2BL.jpg"],"disclaimer":"","item_attributes":[{"attr":"Author","value":"Greenhaven Press"},{"attr":"Binding","value":"Hardcover"},{"attr":"EAN","value":"9780737705126"},{"attr":"Edition","value":"1"},{"attr":"ISBN","value":"0737705124"},{"attr":"Label","value":"Greenhaven Press"},{"attr":"Manufacturer","value":"Greenhaven Press"},{"attr":"NumberOfItems","value":"1"},{"attr":"NumberOfPages","value":"224"},{"attr":"ProductGroup","value":"Book"},{"attr":"ProductTypeName","value":"ABIS_BOOK"},{"attr":"PublicationDate","value":"2000-06"},{"attr":"Publisher","value":"Greenhaven Press"},{"attr":"SKU","value":"G0737705124I2N00"},{"attr":"Studio","value":"Greenhaven Press"},{"attr":"Title","value":"Genetic Engineering (Opposing Viewpoints)"}],"customer_review_url":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/ecom-customer-reviews/0737705124.html","flickr_results":["http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ecom_images/5105560852_06c7d06f14_m.jpg"],"freebase_text":"No around the web data available yet","freebase_image":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/ecom/img/freebase-notfound.jpg","ebay_related_items":[{"title":"Genetic Engineering (Introducing Issues With Opposing Viewpoints), , Good Book","image":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ecom_images/140.jpg","url":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/ecom-plugin-redirects/ecom_redirector.php?id=12165","currency_id":"$","current_price":"26.2"},{"title":"Genetic Engineering Opposing Viewpoints by DAVID BENDER - 1964 Hardcover","image":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ecom_images/140.jpg","url":"http://localhost/wordpress/wp-content/ecom-plugin-redirects/ecom_redirector.php?id=130","currency_id":"AUD","current_price":"11.99"}],"no_follow":"rel=\"nofollow\"","new_tab":"target=\"_blank\"","related_products":[],"super_saver_shipping":"","shipping_availability":"","total_offers":"7","added_to_cart":""}]

So the structure for the table is:

  • asin
  • title
  • details (the product details in json)

Will the performance suffer if I have to store like 10,000 products? Is there any other way of doing this? I'm thinking of the following, but the current setup is really the most convenient one since I also have to use the data on the client side:

  • store the product details in a file. So something like ASIN123.json
  • store the product details in one big file. (I'm guessing it will be a drag to extract data from this file)
  • store each of the fields in the details in its own table field

Thanks in advance!

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