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    <h3>What is VARCHAR(max)?</h3> <p><code>varchar(max)</code> is a feature of Microsoft SQL Server.</p> <p>The amount of data that a column could store in Microsoft SQL server versions prior to version 2005 was limited to 8KB. In order to store more than 8KB you would have had to use <code>TEXT</code>, <code>NTEXT</code>, or <code>BLOB</code> columns types, these column types stored their data as a collection of 8K pages separate from the the table data pages; they supported storing up to 2GB per row.</p> <p>The big caveat to these column types was that they usually required special functions and statements to access and modify the data (e.g. <code>READTEXT</code>, <code>WRITETEXT</code>, and <code>UPDATETEXT</code>)</p> <p>In SQL Server 2005, <code>varchar(max)</code> was introduced to unify the data and queries used to retrieve and modify data in large columns. The data for <code>varchar(max)</code> columns is stored inline with the table data pages.</p> <p>As the data in the MAX column fills an 8KB data page an overflow page is allocated and the previous page points to it forming a linked list. Unlike <code>TEXT</code>, <code>NTEXT</code>, and <code>BLOB</code> the <code>varchar(max)</code> column type supports all the same query semantics as other column types. </p> <p>So <code>varchar(MAX)</code> really means <code>varchar(AS_MUCH_AS_I_WANT_TO_STUFF_IN_HERE_JUST_KEEP_GROWING)</code> and not <code>varchar(MAX_SIZE_OF_A_COLUMN)</code>.</p> <h3>MySql does not have an equivalent idiom.</h3> <p>In order to get the same amount of storage as a <code>varchar(max)</code> in MySql you would still need to resort to a <code>BLOB</code> column type. <a href="http://www.dreamwerx.net/phpforum/?id=1" rel="noreferrer">This article</a> discusses a very effective method of storing large amounts of data in MySql efficiently.</p>
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    1. POEquivalent of varchar(max) in MySQL?
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    1. CONice answer! +1
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    2. COThis has more to do with SQL Server than MySQL.
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    3. CO@njk Yes, but in order to explain what the "equivalent" in MySql (or the lack of an equivalent in this case) necessitated describing exactly what `varchar(max)` **really** means.
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