Como gerar um número aleatório ÚNICO em php

<?php
$num= mt_rand();
$con = mysql_connect("localhost","uname","password");
mysql_select_db("dbname",$con);
$sel_query  = "SELECT *  FROM  my_table WHERE rand_num =%d"; // query to select value 
$ins_query = "INSERT INTO my_table(rand_num) VALUES(%d)";    // query to insert value
$result =  mysql_query(sprintf($sel_query,$num),$con);
while( mysql_num_rows($result) != 0 ) {                      // loops till an unique value is found 
    $num = mt_rand();
    $result = mysql_query(sprintf($sel_query,$num),$con);
}
mysql_query(sprintf($ins_query,$num),$con); // inserts value