There are a lot more than two ways to store your information (I assume you mean session data). One good way is to use the cookie or hidden field to simply hold onto a session key -- sometimes MD5 encrypted. That key would crossreference a row in a database such as MySQL, in which you keep the session info.

This approach is desirable because it keeps all the information on the server side, instead of trusting the client's browser to pass it back and forth in cookies or hidden fields. Remember that cookies and hidden fields can be manipulated by ill-behaved (or custom) browsers. By keeping the data server-side, and associating it with an MD5 generated session key, you improve security somewhat.

A lot of the legwork is done for you by CGI::Session, and CGI::Session::MySQL. For ID Generators, see CGI::Session::ID::MD5.

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