Session variable removal question. as related to a paged data source - asp.net

Question

I have inherited some very old ASP.Net code. Written initially in 1.0 and then converted to 2.0 There is a page which uses a custom pager control. That control has the following logic in it:
Private _DataSource As PagedDataSource
Public Property DataSource() As PagedDataSource
Get
If Not IsNothing(Session("DataSource")) Then
_DataSource = Session("DataSource")
Return _DataSource
End If
Return Nothing
End Get
Set(ByVal value As PagedDataSource)
_DataSource = value
If Not IsNothing(value) Then
Session("DataSource") = value
Else
Session("DataSource") = Nothing
End If
End Set
End Property
The page which uses that pager has the following logic in it:
Private PagedData As PagedDataSource
Private Function GetData() As DataTable
Dim DT As New DataTable
Dim CategoryID As Integer = -1
If IsNothing(ddlCategories.SelectedValue) OrElse Not Integer.TryParse (ddlCategories.SelectedValue, CategoryID) Then
CategoryID = -1
End If
Dim myConnection As New SqlConnection(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings("ConnectionString").ConnectionString)
Dim myAdapter As New SqlDataAdapter
myAdapter = New SqlDataAdapter("SearchResources", myConnection)
myAdapter.SelectCommand.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
If SearchText <> String.Empty Then
trFiltered.Visible = True
End If
With myAdapter.SelectCommand.Parameters
.AddWithValue("#CategoryID", CategoryID)
.AddWithValue("#SearchText", SearchText)
.AddWithValue("#CompanyID", CompanyID)
End With
If Not Security.IsSiteAdmin Then
myAdapter.SelectCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("#UserIsAdmin", 0)
myAdapter.SelectCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("#FTPUserID", Security.GetUserID(Context.User.Identity.Name))
Else
myAdapter.SelectCommand.Parameters.AddWithValue("#UserIsAdmin", 1)
End If
Try
myAdapter.Fill(DT)
Catch ex As Exception
ErrorLog.LogError(ex.Message, ex.StackTrace, HttpContext.Current.User.Identity.Name, HttpContext.Current.Request.Url.ToString)
HttpContext.Current.Response.Redirect("~/error.aspx", False)
Return Nothing
End Try
Return DT
End Function
Protected Sub ReloadData()
CurrentPage = 0
CheckFilters()
BindData()
End Sub
The task at hand was to remove all session variables. What would be the best way to represent this data without the use of session. Originally i was told to put all session items into a cookie, while this worked for most of the items it will not work for this due to the cookie size limitation, Im also not to keen on the idea of keeping it in ViewState or even if that is an option. Im very new to VB and dont have much expierence re-writting legacy code. Session is not an option because this is being moved into a web-farm and Sticky sessions are turned off so it must work without session.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Sorry if im asking a question that has a painfully obvious answer.
thanks in advance,
-James.

Answer 1

Well, somebody may come by and vote me down... but I'd say your best option is ViewState.
If you are limited as you are to not use SessionState and you are running into a cookie size limitation, I can only think of two other options (Cache and ViewState) and I certainly wouldn't recommend Cache for this.
Now you know you can use a out of process session state (either a SQL Server or a StateServer)?
More info can be found here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms178586.aspx