Published on

January 31, 2007

Best Practices for Storing IP Addresses in SQL Server

When designing a database for web traffic analysis, one of the requirements is often to store IP addresses efficiently and allow for easy querying on a range of IP addresses. In this article, we will explore the best practices for storing IP addresses in SQL Server.

Data Type Considerations

One option for storing IP addresses is to use a VARCHAR(15) data type. However, this can be wasteful as an IP address is essentially four integers in the range of 0 to 255. Storing it as a VARCHAR(15) would take up unnecessary space.

Another option is to use a BIGINT data type, where the IP address is represented as a single number. While this is more efficient in terms of storage, it may not be easily readable for humans.

A better approach, as suggested by Joe Celko, is to store the IP address as four separate TINYINT fields. This allows for efficient storage and maintains human readability.

Using CLR User Defined Types

In SQL Server 2005, another option is to use CLR User Defined Types (UDTs). These UDTs provide additional functionality for working with IP addresses, such as returning individual bytes, string representation, and varbinary representation.

However, it is important to note that storing IP addresses using CLR UDTs can result in larger storage sizes compared to other methods. The instance of the UDT, including structure and data, is serialized and stored in a VARBINARY format in the field.

Indexing for Efficient Queries

When it comes to querying on IP addresses, it is important to consider indexing for efficient searches. One approach is to create an index on the four TINYINT columns representing the IP address, recording the IP address backwards. This takes advantage of the fact that the right-most portion of an IP address varies the most, making the index more selective.

Alternatively, a calculated column can be used to store the IP address as a single INT value using bitmasking techniques. This allows for simpler WHERE clauses and easier handling of multiple ranges of IP addresses.

Conclusion

When storing IP addresses in SQL Server, it is important to consider the trade-offs between storage efficiency and human readability. Storing the IP address as four separate TINYINT fields provides a balance between the two. Additionally, indexing the IP address columns or using a calculated column can improve query performance when searching for IP address ranges.

By following these best practices, you can efficiently store and query IP addresses in your SQL Server database for web traffic analysis.

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