Which is faster in php/mysql? File opertaions or connection pool

[viktorpl]

I have to decide whether I should change my web host as my current host does not support \[code\]mysqli\[/code\]. Currently I do my data manipulation by saving data files and using \[code\]fopen, fwrite, fread\[/code\]. I was thinking of saving data in mysql using connection pool. Apart from security(which frankly is not of much concern), data searches are so much more easier in mysql. However the users will be accessing the mysql DB every few seconds, thus connection pool is a must, and so is processing time.I have already calculated that without connection pool, the processing time in mysql is many times slower as compared to file operations. I wanted to know the latency difference between connection pool and file manipulation, and if connection pool is significantly faster than file manipulation through php.Also what would be the difference in processing load on the host servers if I chose connection pool.Thanks in advance.