Where does ASP.Net stores sessionIDs by default?
By default, ASP.NET stores session IDs in a cookie on the client-side. The session ID cookie is typically named "ASP.NET_SessionId". This cookie is sent back and forth between the client and the server with each request, allowing the server to identify and associate the request with the correct session.
The session ID cookie is created and managed by the ASP.NET framework automatically. It contains a unique identifier for the session, which is used to look up the corresponding session data on the server.
By storing the session ID on the client-side as a cookie, ASP.NET ensures that subsequent requests from the same client can be associated with the correct session without relying on URL rewriting or other techniques. This approach is generally more secure and convenient for managing session state.
It's important to note that the session ID cookie is typically set with an expiration time, allowing the browser to automatically delete the cookie when the session expires or the browser is closed, depending on the cookie's settings.
If you need to customize the behavior of the session ID cookie, such as changing its name or configuring additional properties, you can do so through the 'sessionState' element in the ASP.NET configuration file ('web.config').
Here's an example of how the session ID cookie can be configured in the 'web.config' file:
<configuration>
<system.web>
<sessionState cookieName="MySessionId" cookieTimeout="20" />
</system.web>
</configuration>
In this example, the 'cookieName' attribute specifies a custom name for the session ID cookie, and the 'cookieTimeout' attribute sets the timeout value for the cookie to 20 minutes.
By modifying the session state configuration in the 'web.config' file, you can control various aspects of session state management, including cookie-related settings.
It's worth mentioning that the default behavior of storing the session ID in a client-side cookie can be overridden if you choose to use a different session state mode, such as 'StateServer' or 'SQLServer', where the session ID is stored on the server-side or in an external data store. However, the client-side cookie approach is the default and most commonly used method for storing session IDs in ASP.NET.