[plug] web serving alternatives

[Sol]

Without wanting to provoke a flamewar about what the best web server scripting 
or content management solution are best, I had a couple of questions that I 
don't know where to look for the answers. Perhaps someone can help?

1) When it comes to small files (ie:plain HTML) which method of serving is 
faster: the UNIX filesystem, a database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc), or 
something else?

2) When it comes to large files (ie: mp3's) which method of serving is faster:
the UNIX filesystem, a database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc), or something else?

3) Whilst there are many methods of authentication and many considerations 
when it comes to security, generally speaking, which is faster: the UNIX 
filesystem, a database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc), or something else?

4) Are there any major pros and cons when it comes to serving from the UNIX 
filesystem or a database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc)?

There's lots of material on the web when it comes to comparing different 
databases, scripting languages and CMS's, but I'm not sure where to find out 
(how to search for) information comparing fundamental storage and serving of 
files to the WWW. Any thoughts, links, crude humour appreciated. :P

sol