>>Anything new seems overwhelming at first, but in .Net, you can handle the data many ways depending on what it is you are trying to do. I just attended a data access firestarter locally here in philly this weekend where they covered LinQ, LinQToSQL, WCF Data services, WCF Ria Services, oData, the entity framework and azure data access.
>
>>If you want to learn data access strategies and you are using a backend database without webservices, then entityframework or LinQToSQL should be your target. If your data is remote or you require webservices, then you need to look at WCF Data/Ria services and oData for you webservices.
>
>>There are many links on the microsoft site for these technologies. Just do a quick Bing search and you'll find tons of webcasts, how to, etc. However, in my opinion, forget ADO.Net. It's a relic of 7 or 8 years. The newest technologies surpass its capabilities.


Given your criteria, I would use SQL Server, write my own DAL and use LinqToSQL for data access or you can use the entity framework model with SQL Server and use LinqToEntities for the data munging. Regardless of what you choose, you need to learn LinQ now as it is the basis for current data technologes and will be the backbone for what's coming in the future.