package MyStuff::Database;

%db_conns = ();

sub _DBconnect_internal { 
  
   my ($dsn, $user, $password, $host, $tag, $options) = @_; 
   
   if (not exists $db_conns{"$tag:initialized"}) { 
  
     $db_conns{"$tag:data"}->{conn} = [$dsn, $user, $password, $host]; 
     $db_conns{"$tag:initialized"} = 1; 
     &Log("DB Handle $tag ready for connect.") if $_debug > 5; 
     return; 
  
   }
   #Connecting happens here 
   .
   .
   .
}

##END OF PACKAGE

use MyStuff::Database qw(%db_conns _DBconnect_internal _DoQuery);

Variant 1

sub DBConnect {

  _DBconnect_internal('DBI:mysql:database=test;host=localhost;port=', 'foo', 'bar', 'TestDB', 'mysql');

}
.
.
&DBConnect;
&server_start;
.
.

Variant 2

use MyStuff::Database qw(%db_conns _DBconnect_internal _DoQuery);

sub DBConnect {

  $MyStuff::Database::db_conns{"mysql:data"}->{conn}= ['DBI:mysql:database=test;host=localhost;port=', 'foo', 'bar'];
  $MyStuff::Database::db_conns{"mysql:initialized"} = 1;

}
.
.
&DBConnect;
&server_start;
.
.