What are the potential advantages and disadvantages of storing image URLs in a MySQL database for PHP usage?

Storing image URLs in a MySQL database for PHP usage can be advantageous as it allows for easy retrieval and display of images on a website. However, it can also lead to slower loading times if there are a large number of images stored in the database, as each image must be fetched individually. Additionally, if the database is not properly secured, it could potentially lead to security vulnerabilities.

// Connect to MySQL database
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "images";

$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Retrieve image URLs from database
$sql = "SELECT image_url FROM images_table";
$result = $conn->query($sql);

if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    // Output data of each row
    while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        echo "<img src='" . $row["image_url"] . "' alt='Image'>";
    }
} else {
    echo "0 results";
}

$conn->close();