Where do the files deployed through a feature module live?

Question

A few questions regarding what happens to files deployed through a module element in a solution feature. Let's assume it's a partial trust (sandboxed solution). Let's also assume these are static files (images or css for example).

Are the files ultimately stored in the content database? Does the previous answer depend on if your filetype is empty/ghostable/ghostableinlibrary?

Answer 1

1. Yes every thing you deploy as a sandbox solution (even the dll) is deployed as a part of the content database.

2. In case of a farm based solution (non sandbox) also the files deployed through the module element are stored in the content database only. Whenever you create a module element, you always specify a url attribute which is the url of a SharePoint library. Also the Type attribute signifies whether the file will be cached as part of the library or just the memory of the front end servers.