Can I use both regular and db-sessions at the same time?

[eluser]Jaketoolson[/eluser]

I do feel that adding flash_messages causes quite a bit overhead on my mysql-server, with a whole lot of unneccesary updates

2-3 tiny update queries won't break your system. Run benchmarks on the queries. Why spend all this time stressing over it when mysql's purpose is to provide you with a database system you can use. Are you running myisam or innodb? you could even try settting up some tables as MEMORY (heap) as they are extremely fast up to 33% faster than myisam and 50% than innodb. Because it is a memory table if mysql goes offline or something, these tables are wiped clean. But they are perfect for storing messages etc;