VS 2008 Migrate BLOBs Out Of Database

I have a suite of programs that currently store PDF files as BLOBs in a SQL Server database table. The purpose of this design is to take advantage of Adobe's PDF iFilter and Microsoft's Full-Text Search functionality to allow other modules of my suite to run queries against the contents of a PDF file.This has been a huge headache, however, resulting in databases that are gigantic and unwieldy. We have also run into problems getting the Adobe PDF iFilter to play nice at times. Further, re-creating the entire full-text index on an 80 GB database can take a looooooong time (when it works at all!).So, the new idea is to use the open source XPdf library to extract a copy of the textual contents from each PDF file, and instead of storing the entire BLOB, merely store that textual data for the full-text functionality. Then, instead of storing the whole PDF file in the database, it will be stored somewhere on the server's file system.My issue relates to that last bit, storing the file on the server's file system, and the subsequent serving of that file out to remote users. Currently, with the entire BLOB residing inside of SQL, it has been very simple (though not easy) to manipulate the BLOB from the server to the client and vice versa. Sending the files across the network in chunks worked out well, too. I'm not sure how to do what I want to do now, though. I'm thinking that it's not a good solution to simply make a network share where all of the PDF files are stored and let the remote user view them by issuing a: Process.Start("{remote file share}filename.pdf")What I would LIKE to do is the following:

1. A Search is run, and the end user selects a file for viewing.
2. The SQL Server knows where the file resides on the local file system.
3. Something (on the server) issues a command to create a temp copy of the file at a safe location that is shared over the network.
4. The client's program then opens the file using a web browser.

Advantages:

1. The main body of the PDF files are protected and hidden from the prying eyes of those who shouldn't see them.
2. PDF files with Fast Web View enabled will load in a linear fashion, improving user experience.

Drawbacks:

1. I don't know what the "something" is in #3 above.
2. I don't know what happens when a file type other than ".pdf" is the target of the URL in a web browser. I know simple image formats will just open, but what if the file is ".doc/x". What about any other file type? Is it the same as issuing a "Process.Start("") to the UNC path?