Index: jackrabbit-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/persistence/db/DatabasePersistenceManager.java
===================================================================
--- jackrabbit-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/persistence/db/DatabasePersistenceManager.java	(revision 753368)
+++ jackrabbit-core/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/persistence/db/DatabasePersistenceManager.java	(working copy)
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@
     protected String schemaObjectPrefix;
 
     protected boolean externalBLOBs;
-
+    protected String externalBLOBDirectory;
+    
     // initial size of buffer used to serialize objects
     protected static final int INITIAL_BUFFER_SIZE = 1024;
 
@@ -183,6 +184,14 @@
         this.externalBLOBs = Boolean.valueOf(externalBLOBs).booleanValue();
     }
 
+    public String getExternalBLOBDirectory() {
+        return externalBLOBDirectory;
+    }
+
+    public void setExternalBLOBDirectory(String externalBLOBDirectory) {
+        this.externalBLOBDirectory = externalBLOBDirectory;
+    }
+
     //---------------------------------------------------< PersistenceManager >
     /**
      * {@inheritDoc}
@@ -221,7 +230,9 @@
              * of the workspace home directory
              */
             LocalFileSystem blobFS = new LocalFileSystem();
-            blobFS.setRoot(new File(context.getHomeDir(), "blobs"));
+            File blobRoot = externalBLOBDirectory == null ?
+                new File(context.getHomeDir(), "blobs") : new File(externalBLOBDirectory).getCanonicalFile();
+            blobFS.setRoot(blobRoot);
             blobFS.init();
             this.blobFS = blobFS;
             blobStore = new FileSystemBLOBStore(blobFS);