The Configuration Management Application Block (CMAB) looks pretty cool and pretty comprehensive. It enables you to store config info. where you want (SQL Server, XML files, or the Windows Registry), encrypted or not, at will. The information is well documented including both the requirements, architecture and implementation. Here is some summary information from the docs:
The Configuration Management Application Block (CMAB) provides an easy-to-use solution for the management of application configuration data, but sacrifices little in the way of flexibility or functionality in order to achieve this simplicity. This section of the documentation gives you the information you need to start using the CMAB within your applications. The content in this section focuses on the three main usage scenarios in which the CMAB will most commonly be employed:
Out-of-Box Deployment
With minimal coding and a few simple configuration settings, you can use the CMAB to read and write application configuration data stored in SQL Server, XML files, or the Windows Registry.
Strongly-typed Configuration Data
With minimal development effort, you can extend the CMAB to read and write strongly typed configuration data. You must implement the class or structure to contain the configuration data and a custom Configuration Section Handler (CSH) that can correctly process instances of this type.
Complete Customization
The CMAB provides an extensible framework into which you can plug your own Configuration Storage Provider (CSP) and Data Protection Provider (DPP) implementations. Coupled with the ability to define your own CSH, this means that you can store any data in any repository and support any security implementation.
