Storing VARCHAR, VARBYTE, and VARCHAR(n) CHARACTER SET GRAPHIC Data
Consider storing VARCHAR, VARBYTE, and VARCHAR(n) CHARACTER SET GRAPHIC data as CLOB or BLOB, or data, respectively, if the columns in question are not accessed regularly. This consideration also applies to storing VARCHAR, VARBYTE, and VARCHAR(n) CHARACTER SET GRAPHIC data as XML data.
Large objects are stored outside the base table row in subtables (subtable rows have the same row hash value as their associated base table rows, so both are stored on the same AMP), so there is no performance impact of non-LOB or non-XML queries against tables that have LOB or XML columns. There is a performance cost to retrieving rows with inline VARCHAR, VARBYTE, and VARCHAR(n) CHARACTER SET GRAPHIC data if that data is not part of the request.
Conversely, character and byte columns that are frequently accessed must be stored as VARCHAR, VARBYTE, and VARCHAR(n) CHARACTER SET GRAPHIC if possible because of the performance cost of retrieving a LOB or XML string from its subtable.