I will have a web app that has a feature which allows a user to create SQL data sources (based on a specific database type).

What’s the best practice for saving the credentials? Here’s what I don’t want to do with the credentials:

• Store in a database (even encrypted, just not thrilled about this option)
• Save as some kind of a secret in a production system (secrets are a dev thing)
• Use ODBC or OLE DB data sources (the underlying data access layers are a mystery)

The most elegant solution is actually ODBC or OLE DB, which would work with the web app perfectly where a new data source would be configured just by DSN, and the credentials stored in the server. However, ODBC and OLEDB are very old, unless their implementation has been modernized?

I tried ODBC, OLEDB, it is doable, but not ideal. Saving as secrets not a production system thing. Storing in a database is a no-brainer but security is an issue, it obviously has to be secure.