SQL large comment field

Question

I have been asked to code an SQL table that has a comment field that:

must be able to store at least several pages of text

What data type should I use, and what value equates to several pages of text?

Answer 1

In MS SQL varchar(max) stores a maximum of 2 147 483 647 characters

Answer 2

Depending on the Database you are using, there are Text or CLOB (character large object), which you should use for the column with the several pages of text.

The reason for this is, that the content of these columns are stored somewhere else in the database system (out-of-line) and don't decrease performance on other operations on this table (like e.g. aggregation of some statistaical data).