I am currently working on a project that maintains multiple DataTables in memory right now. Most of them are bound/linked to controls on form(s). Obviously the more I have, the more memory/resources that they take up, the more the applications performance is decreased.

My question is this, what other alternatives can be used that are "secure", will allow quick and easy access, and will help boost performance? I have considered using Application Settings, but am unsure if they are stored in memory or on hard disk. I know that they can be relatively secure as well. The downside is that these tables and such do not need to be kept after the program is shut down.

These are other options I have explored:

  • Local db file - messy and unstable...

  • Local text file(s) - too many and they would be recoverable after the program quits or if it quits unexpectedly.

  • Registry - too much data to store there, some tables have several hundred rows.



Thanks for the input!!

D