The database can be stored in Active Directory, SQL Server, both, or an OLE DB compliant data store you happen to want to use. Create a profile in Commerce Server, and you are in fact defining the database structure for the data. The profile definition is the table structure for the profile. This can be hierarchical, so a user profile can include the item address, which is itself a profile definition. Profile properties define the data that needs to be collected when a user visits your site, and become the column names.
Attributes specify information about the property, such as the data type.
If it s down to you to set up the site in the first place, a good place to start is the Commerce Server Solution Sites. These replace the old Starter Sites which came with Site Server 3.0. The one that comes in the box is still the Blank site, which continues to raise the question of just what sort of commerce site needs blank pages for its solution. There s also a retail site and a supplier site which are a tad more functional but have to be downloaded from the Commerce Server web site. The retail site includes a customer service option that lets users view order status and manage profile information.