storing content data outside the application

Hi there, I have a problem with content data. Currently I do store images inside a data folder. /data This is causing a problem, because everytime I installan update of the application on the server I have to move this folder around to the new version of my application. I am worried that during this coppy an error will apear, due to my fault, or whatever might happen. The immages are part of a dataset stored in a mysqldb. So I tryed to store them to blobs, but this is causing performance problems. Images apear much quicker while comming from the filesystem. They also seem not to be cached by the client anymore. Does anybody know a good method to store the images outside the rootfolder and still access them the old fashion way? Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanx, Andy