1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory containing an object-oriented framework mechanism that provides at least one persistent storage environment, the framework mechanism executing on the at least one processor, the framework mechanism comprising: a container configuration class defining: at least one container configuration object that contains configuration data corresponding to at least one of a plurality of persistent containers; and a second set of object methods to return the name of the persistent container and to identify at least one object that contains additional information regarding the persistent storage environment; a container class configuration class defining: at least one container class configuration object that contains configuration data for at least one class in at least one persistent container that defines which classes the at least one persistent container supports; a container store configuration class defining: at least one container store configuration object that contains configuration data that defines a container store that represents an extent of storage that a persistent container has configured to use.