PHP - to store big session array in $_SESSION or in database?

Question

I need to store a big array during the session (currently up to few kB, and I'd limit it to 0.25MB max).

In your opinion and practice, is it better to store it in $_SESSION or in database?

Speed matters, but so does processor/memory usage, as it's on shared host, and I wouldn't want them to shut the site down for resource overuse.

Would you say there's a size range in which $_SESSION can be used with confidence it will work well? (For example 0kb-100kB or whatever your practice/tests showed).

Thanks.

Answer 1

0.25MB with a sane number of sessions will use less resources if stored in the Session, than in the DB. So the likelyhood of resource overusage is lower with the session.