Lightweight data management patterns

Hi,

Does anyone know of patterns for lightweight data management? By that,
I mean patterns to allow the maintenance & management of relatively
simple data which could be stored (for example) in flat files.

The project I'm working has a number of other requirements regarding
data management (as follows), so any patterns you might be thinking of
should ideally not conflict with them:

- Simple interface
- Single point of access
- Access control (to control both component & user access to data)
- Location transparency (i.e. data can live anywhere)
- Change-notification

Any help would be appreciated,

Kind regards,

James Siddle
Software Architect
Siemens Communication, UK