Hash Cache using Require

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I recently ported a set of old CGI applications for mod_perl. Each script 
loads a few hashes from flat files (using "open") filled with plain rows of 
delimited data that rarely changes (~50k each). The hashes are built by 
iterating thru each file, row by row, assigning values to keys.

All the file data is permanently stored in a non-local sql database (mysql) 
and anytime the hash data is updated in the database, the flat file content 
is simply refreshed using results from a simple query that joins a couple 
tables.

QUESTION:

Am I more or less efficient than just creating the hashes directly from 
hitting the database everytime the application needs it? The database is 
*not* under heavy load, at all.

I'd like to efficiently cache this same data (somehow) now that I've ported 
the applications for a mod_perl environment for future scaling; Is this 
pointless (or more expensive doing file access). What if the data in each 
file increases from 50k to 500k or even 1-2 MB giving larger hashes?

I've considered writing the cache file as a require-able file knowing that it 
won't be reloaded unless updated; would this be more reasonable or more 
pointless? Can anyone suggest a better solution?


Thanks for your suggestions!


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