I am trying to write a local program management and install system for my home network, and I think I\'ve got the technologies nailed down:
You can use ADO.Net and System.Data.SqlClient namespace for the same. I will advise you to go with Entities framework (ORM). Please find below links for Entity Framework walk through
http://thedatafarm.com/LearnEntityFramework/tutorials/creating-an-ado-net-entity-framework-entity-data-model/
http://thedatafarm.com/LearnEntityFramework/tutorials/use-an-entity-framework-entity-as-a-winforms-data-source/