There were two main database limitations in MDT 2008 Update 1:

  1. We didn’t add any new “settings” columns – the list of available settings was still the same as it was originally in BDD 2007.
  2. To add new columns to the database and to have them show up in the Deployment Workbench required making code changes to Deployment Workbench, definitely not a trivial exercise.

With MDT 2010 Beta 2, we’ve fixed those limitations:

  • We’ve added lots of additional columns, enabling you to configure any setting that could be specified via CustomSettings.ini.
  • The upgrade process will modify any existing databases to add the new columns.
  • The user interface in the Deployment Workbench will show any new columns without making any code changes, so you can add your own columns to the Settings table fairly easily (some SQL Server knowledge is required, obviously).

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If you are looking for the database node in MDT 2010 Beta 2, you can find it under the deployment share’s “Advanced Configuration” node.  That means that each deployment share can have its own database, too.