uploading images

i have a question about the general practice of having users upload images. in what cases is it better to store uploaded images in a database, and in what cases is it better to store images in a directory? i know that retrieving images is slower when they are stored in a database, but it seems easier to manage images when they're in a database (partly because i don't have to worry about file names or paths).

i ask because in trying to redesign a site, there is a gallery which i initially had uploading images to a database, but now that there are about 40 images stored, retrieval to a thumbnail layout is slow and sequential since it is cycling through the recordset. so i'm wondering, then, whether it's EVER a good idea to store images in a database?? for instance, our members are permitted to upload one personal picture for their profile, and it's only viewed in the user's profile (so only one image would be accessed at a time)... is this a good scenario for database storage over directory storage?

It is always better to store the images in a directory, and store the path to the image in the database.

Not that this is my situation, but if one had a web farm, i.e., multiple servers. Wouldn't the database make more sense than deploying the .gif directory to multiple machines? Even more so if customers were able toupload their images?

Or to put it backwards, when does the DB make more sense to store gifs?