You can configure InfoPath Forms Services to use the Session State Service (the default option) or Form View to control how user sessions are managed. When you configure InfoPath Forms Services to use the Session State Service, all browser sessions are maintained on the SQL Server database corresponding with the Shared Services Provider (SSP) associated with the Web application on which the form template is hosted. This scenario uses little network bandwidth, but has a cumulative performance impact on the computer running SQL Server. When you are using Form View, sessions are maintained on the client browser, and all session data is included in each postback to the server, up to 40 kilobytes of session data. This uses more bandwidth than using session state, but does not affect the computer running SQL Server. Once session data reaches 40 KB in size, the session automatically transitions to session-state management.

We recommend the use of Form View in environments that have smaller groups of users, because it reduces the impact on SQL Server. If your InfoPath Forms Services deployment will have many users, particularly if session data is below 40 KB for many high-usage form templates, session state is likely a better choice. If Form View is used, the bandwidth used by browser sessions of 40 KB or fewer can be monitored if there is a concern that network performance might be adversely affected.

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