BLOB - PHP Peformance DB vs. Web server Opinions

Thanks to all who helped with my earlier questions on pulling BLOB data out of Oracle using PHP. I am however finding that performance is slow when downloading huge files from the database. A typical 2Meg GIF file being downloaded from Oracle via. PHP is taking about thirty seconds. Everything (database, web server, development box) are all on a 100 Megabit Switched ethernet setup. 1) Are there any pitfalls or guidelines when working with BLOBs and web apps? 2) Is there any advice for or against storing images as blobs in a database? Or is it better to store them on the web server file system? So far I am finding the web server file system to be faster, but I tend to think that it is less manageable from a relational data perspective. thoughts? thanks Ahbaid