For IPFS, I took a pinning service called Pinata. It has an easy set up, accept crypto payment, and they make sure your images remain available. I like the fact that if I grow I can run a server to pin my own content. I had little traffic so I haven't used the service much to be honest.

As for the database, it is to help improve the home page loading performance. I display content with a cover which is in the first blog post of a series. Instead of digging for it in the blockchain I 'd rather save a few key information in a json object and pull it out quickly. I still have to work on image optimization but loading speed has improved since last year.

I have a few other things that will need a database but I use it more as a cache than a proper data storage.