diff --git a/core/core.services.yml b/core/core.services.yml
index 02da722..399306d 100644
--- a/core/core.services.yml
+++ b/core/core.services.yml
@@ -67,16 +67,12 @@ services:
     factory_method: get
     factory_service: cache_factory
     arguments: [data]
-  config.cachedstorage.storage:
-    class: Drupal\Core\Config\FileStorage
-    factory_class: Drupal\Core\Config\FileStorageFactory
-    factory_method: getActive
   config.manager:
     class: Drupal\Core\Config\ConfigManager
     arguments: ['@entity.manager', '@config.factory', '@config.typed', '@string_translation', '@config.storage']
   config.storage:
-    class: Drupal\Core\Config\CachedStorage
-    arguments: ['@config.cachedstorage.storage', '@cache.config']
+    class: Drupal\Core\Config\DatabaseStorage
+    arguments: ['@database', 'config']
   config.factory:
     class: Drupal\Core\Config\ConfigFactory
     tags:
diff --git a/core/includes/install.core.inc b/core/includes/install.core.inc
index aa158a2..1900afc 100644
--- a/core/includes/install.core.inc
+++ b/core/includes/install.core.inc
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ function install_begin_request(&$install_state) {
   // Ensure that the active configuration directory is empty before installation
   // starts.
   if ($install_state['config_verified'] && empty($task)) {
-    $config = glob(config_get_config_directory(CONFIG_ACTIVE_DIRECTORY) . '/*.' . FileStorage::getFileExtension());
+    $config =  Database::getConnection()->schema()->tableExists('config');;
     if (!empty($config)) {
       $task = NULL;
       throw new AlreadyInstalledException($container->get('string_translation'));
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/BootstrapConfigStorageFactory.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/BootstrapConfigStorageFactory.php
index e075261..1df8f07 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/BootstrapConfigStorageFactory.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/BootstrapConfigStorageFactory.php
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 namespace Drupal\Core\Config;
 
 use Drupal\Component\Utility\Settings;
+use Drupal\Core\Database\Database;
 
 /**
  * Defines a factory for retrieving the config storage used pre-kernel.
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ public static function get() {
       return call_user_func($drupal_bootstrap_config_storage);
     }
     else {
-      return new FileStorage(config_get_config_directory(CONFIG_ACTIVE_DIRECTORY));
+      return new DatabaseStorage(Database::getConnection(), 'config');
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Config.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Config.php
index 19899a5..ff99c27 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Config.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Config.php
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 namespace Drupal\Core\Config;
 
 use Drupal\Component\Utility\NestedArray;
+use Drupal\Component\Utility\String;
 use Symfony\Component\EventDispatcher\EventDispatcherInterface;
 
 /**
@@ -215,6 +216,11 @@ public function save() {
         $this->data[$key] = $this->castValue($key, $value);
       }
     }
+    else {
+      foreach ($this->data as $key => $value) {
+        $this->validateValue($key, $value);
+      }
+    }
 
     $this->storage->write($this->name, $this->data);
     $this->isNew = FALSE;
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/DatabaseStorage.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/DatabaseStorage.php
index fd8f2ee..aa0e022 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/DatabaseStorage.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/DatabaseStorage.php
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ public function decode($raw) {
    */
   public function listAll($prefix = '') {
     return $this->connection->query('SELECT name FROM {' . $this->connection->escapeTable($this->table) . '} WHERE name LIKE :name', array(
-      ':name' => db_like($prefix) . '%',
+      ':name' => $this->connection->escapeLike($prefix) . '%',
     ), $this->options)->fetchCol();
   }
 
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/StorableConfigBase.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/StorableConfigBase.php
index 8aa292b..18c0f07 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/StorableConfigBase.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/StorableConfigBase.php
@@ -132,6 +132,27 @@ protected function getSchemaWrapper() {
   }
 
   /**
+   * Validate the values are allowed data types.
+   *
+   * @throws UnsupportedDataTypeConfigException
+   *   If there is any invalid value.
+   */
+  protected function validateValue($key, $value) {
+    // Minimal validation. Should not try to serialize resources or non-arrays.
+    if (is_array($value)) {
+      foreach ($value as $nested_value_key => $nested_value) {
+        $this->validateValue($key . '.' . $nested_value_key, $nested_value);
+      }
+    }
+    elseif ($value !== NULL && !is_scalar($value)) {
+      throw new UnsupportedDataTypeConfigException(String::format('Invalid data type for config element @name:@key', array(
+        '@name' => $this->getName(),
+        '@key' => $key,
+      )));
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
    * Casts the value to correct data type using the configuration schema.
    *
    * @param string $key
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DependencyInjection/UpdateServiceProvider.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DependencyInjection/UpdateServiceProvider.php
index aa3c709..8d84bd6 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DependencyInjection/UpdateServiceProvider.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DependencyInjection/UpdateServiceProvider.php
@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ public function register(ContainerBuilder $container) {
       // Prevent config from accessing {cache_config}.
       // @see $conf['cache_classes'], update_prepare_d8_bootstrap()
       $container
-        ->register('config.storage', 'Drupal\Core\Config\FileStorage')
-        ->addArgument(config_get_config_directory(CONFIG_ACTIVE_DIRECTORY));
+        ->register('config.storage', 'Drupal\Core\Config\DataBaseStorage')
+        ->addArgument(new Reference('database'))
+        ->addArgument('config');
       $container->register('module_handler', 'Drupal\Core\Extension\UpdateModuleHandler')
         ->addArgument('%container.modules%');
       $container
diff --git a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Controller/ConfigController.php b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Controller/ConfigController.php
index 18f6287..c79b8cb 100644
--- a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Controller/ConfigController.php
+++ b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Controller/ConfigController.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 use Drupal\Core\Config\StorageInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\DependencyInjection\ContainerInjectionInterface;
 use Drupal\system\FileDownloadController;
+use Symfony\Component\Yaml\Dumper;
 use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
 
@@ -81,13 +82,15 @@ public function __construct(StorageInterface $target_storage, StorageInterface $
    * Downloads a tarball of the site configuration.
    */
   public function downloadExport() {
+    file_unmanaged_delete(file_directory_temp() . '/config.tar.gz');
+
+    $dumper = new Dumper();
+    $dumper->setIndentation(2);
+
     $archiver = new ArchiveTar(file_directory_temp() . '/config.tar.gz', 'gz');
-    $config_dir = config_get_config_directory();
-    $config_files = array();
-    foreach (\Drupal::service('config.storage')->listAll() as $config_name) {
-      $config_files[] = $config_dir . '/' . $config_name . '.yml';
+    foreach (\Drupal::service('config.storage')->listAll() as $name) {
+      $archiver->addString("$name.yml", $dumper->dump(\Drupal::config($name)->get(), PHP_INT_MAX, 0, TRUE));
     }
-    $archiver->createModify($config_files, '', config_get_config_directory());
 
     $request = new Request(array('file' => 'config.tar.gz'));
     return $this->fileDownloadController->download($request, 'temporary');
diff --git a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Form/ConfigSingleExportForm.php b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Form/ConfigSingleExportForm.php
index 101dacb..4b2b6f7 100644
--- a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Form/ConfigSingleExportForm.php
+++ b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Form/ConfigSingleExportForm.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityTypeInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Form\FormBase;
 use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Yaml\Dumper;
 
 /**
  * Provides a form for exporting a single configuration file.
@@ -33,6 +34,13 @@ class ConfigSingleExportForm extends FormBase {
   protected $configStorage;
 
   /**
+   * The YAML dumper.
+   *
+   * @var \Symfony\Component\Yaml\Dumper
+   */
+  protected $dumper;
+
+  /**
    * Tracks the valid config entity type definitions.
    *
    * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityTypeInterface[]
@@ -46,10 +54,14 @@ class ConfigSingleExportForm extends FormBase {
    *   The entity manager.
    * @param \Drupal\Core\Config\StorageInterface $config_storage
    *   The config storage.
+   * @param \Symfony\Component\Yaml\Dumper $dumper
+   *   The yaml dumper.
    */
-  public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager, StorageInterface $config_storage) {
+  public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager, StorageInterface $config_storage, Dumper $dumper) {
     $this->entityManager = $entity_manager;
     $this->configStorage = $config_storage;
+    $this->dumper = $dumper;
+    $this->dumper->setIndentation(2);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -58,7 +70,8 @@ public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager, StorageInter
   public static function create(ContainerInterface $container) {
     return new static(
       $container->get('entity.manager'),
-      $container->get('config.storage')
+      $container->get('config.storage'),
+      new Dumper()
     );
   }
 
@@ -151,8 +164,7 @@ public function updateExport($form, &$form_state) {
       $name = $form_state['values']['config_name'];
     }
     // Read the raw data for this config name, encode it, and display it.
-    $data = $this->configStorage->read($name);
-    $form['export']['#value'] = $this->configStorage->encode($data);
+    $form['export']['#value'] = $this->dumper->dump($this->configStorage->read($name), PHP_INT_MAX, 0, TRUE);
     $form['export']['#description'] = $this->t('The filename is %name.', array('%name' => $name . '.yml'));
     return $form['export'];
   }
diff --git a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Form/ConfigSingleImportForm.php b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Form/ConfigSingleImportForm.php
index 1295862..7b3643c 100644
--- a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Form/ConfigSingleImportForm.php
+++ b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Form/ConfigSingleImportForm.php
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Form\ConfirmFormBase;
 use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Yaml\Yaml;
 
 /**
  * Provides a form for importing a single configuration file.
@@ -32,6 +33,12 @@ class ConfigSingleImportForm extends ConfirmFormBase {
   protected $configStorage;
 
   /**
+   * The YAML component.
+   *
+   * @var \Symfony\Component\Yaml\Yaml
+   */
+  protected $yaml;
+  /**
    * If the config exists, this is that object. Otherwise, FALSE.
    *
    * @var \Drupal\Core\Config\Config|\Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigEntityInterface|bool
@@ -52,10 +59,13 @@ class ConfigSingleImportForm extends ConfirmFormBase {
    *   The entity manager.
    * @param \Drupal\Core\Config\StorageInterface $config_storage
    *   The config storage.
+   * @param \Symfony\Component\Yaml\Parser $parser
+   *   The yaml dumper.
    */
-  public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager, StorageInterface $config_storage) {
+  public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager, StorageInterface $config_storage, Yaml $yaml) {
     $this->entityManager = $entity_manager;
     $this->configStorage = $config_storage;
+    $this->yaml = $yaml;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -64,7 +74,8 @@ public function __construct(EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager, StorageInter
   public static function create(ContainerInterface $container) {
     return new static(
       $container->get('entity.manager'),
-      $container->get('config.storage')
+      $container->get('config.storage'),
+      new Yaml()
     );
   }
 
@@ -184,7 +195,7 @@ public function validateForm(array &$form, array &$form_state) {
     }
 
     // Decode the submitted import.
-    $data = $this->configStorage->decode($form_state['values']['import']);
+    $data = $this->yaml->parse($form_state['values']['import']);
 
     // Validate for config entities.
     if ($form_state['values']['config_type'] !== 'system.simple') {
diff --git a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigCRUDTest.php b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigCRUDTest.php
index 7576163..2375608 100644
--- a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigCRUDTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigCRUDTest.php
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 use Drupal\Core\Config\ConfigNameException;
 use Drupal\simpletest\DrupalUnitTestBase;
 use Drupal\Core\Config\FileStorage;
+use Drupal\Core\Config\DatabaseStorage;
 use Drupal\Core\Config\UnsupportedDataTypeConfigException;
 
 /**
@@ -192,10 +193,11 @@ function testNameValidation() {
    */
   public function testDataTypes() {
     \Drupal::moduleHandler()->install(array('config_test'));
-    $storage = new FileStorage($this->configDirectories[CONFIG_ACTIVE_DIRECTORY]);
+    //$storage = new FileStorage($this->configDirectories[CONFIG_ACTIVE_DIRECTORY]);
+    $storage = new DatabaseStorage($this->container->get('database'), 'config');
     $name = 'config_test.types';
     $config = $this->container->get('config.factory')->get($name);
-    $original_content = file_get_contents($storage->getFilePath($name));
+    $original_content = file_get_contents(drupal_get_path('module', 'config_test') . "/config/$name.yml");
     $this->verbose('<pre>' . $original_content . "\n" . var_export($storage->read($name), TRUE));
 
     // Verify variable data types are intact.
@@ -220,7 +222,7 @@ public function testDataTypes() {
     $this->assertIdentical($config->get(), $data);
     // Assert the data against the file storage.
     $this->assertIdentical($storage->read($name), $data);
-    $this->verbose('<pre>' . file_get_contents($storage->getFilePath($name)) . var_export($storage->read($name), TRUE));
+    $this->verbose('<pre>' . $name . var_export($storage->read($name), TRUE));
 
     // Set data using config::setData().
     $config->setData($data)->save();
diff --git a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigSingleImportExportTest.php b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigSingleImportExportTest.php
index 46a14d4..5f1a416 100644
--- a/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigSingleImportExportTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/config/lib/Drupal/config/Tests/ConfigSingleImportExportTest.php
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ public function testImportSimpleConfiguration() {
    */
   public function testExport() {
     $this->drupalLogin($this->drupalCreateUser(array('export configuration')));
+    $yaml = new Yaml();
 
     $this->drupalGet('admin/config/development/configuration/single/export/system.simple');
     $this->assertFieldByXPath('//select[@name="config_type"]//option[@selected="selected"]', t('Simple configuration'), 'The simple configuration option is selected when specified in the URL.');
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ public function testExport() {
     $this->assertFieldByXPath('//select[@name="config_name"]//option[@selected="selected"]', t('Fallback date format'), 'The fallback date format config entity is selected when specified in the URL.');
 
     $fallback_date = \Drupal::entityManager()->getStorage('date_format')->load('fallback');
-    $data = \Drupal::service('config.storage')->encode($fallback_date->toArray());
+    $data = $yaml->dump($fallback_date->toArray(), 2, 2);
     $this->assertFieldByXPath('//textarea[@name="export"]', $data, 'The fallback date format config entity export code is displayed.');
   }
 
diff --git a/core/modules/config_translation/lib/Drupal/config_translation/Tests/ConfigTranslationUiTest.php b/core/modules/config_translation/lib/Drupal/config_translation/Tests/ConfigTranslationUiTest.php
index 405aaf5..cb07cd4 100644
--- a/core/modules/config_translation/lib/Drupal/config_translation/Tests/ConfigTranslationUiTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/config_translation/lib/Drupal/config_translation/Tests/ConfigTranslationUiTest.php
@@ -368,7 +368,6 @@ public function testContactConfigEntityTranslation() {
    */
   public function testDateFormatTranslation() {
     $this->drupalLogin($this->admin_user);
-    $file_storage = new FileStorage($this->configDirectories[CONFIG_ACTIVE_DIRECTORY]);
 
     $this->drupalGet('admin/config/regional/date-time');
 
diff --git a/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/DrupalUnitTestBase.php b/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/DrupalUnitTestBase.php
index 7737cc8..1dc0523 100644
--- a/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/DrupalUnitTestBase.php
+++ b/core/modules/simpletest/lib/Drupal/simpletest/DrupalUnitTestBase.php
@@ -103,9 +103,15 @@ protected function beforePrepareEnvironment() {
    *
    * @see config_get_config_directory()
    */
-  protected function prepareConfigDirectories() {
+  protected function prepareConfigStorage() {
     $this->configDirectories = array();
     include_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/core/includes/install.inc';
+    // Create the configuration table.
+    module_load_install('system');
+    $schema = system_schema();
+    // We use a different table name here and in the container to avoid
+    // exceptions when system module is installed.
+    Database::getConnection()->schema()->createTable('test_base_config', $schema['config']);
     foreach (array(CONFIG_ACTIVE_DIRECTORY, CONFIG_STAGING_DIRECTORY) as $type) {
       // Assign the relative path to the global variable.
       $path = $this->siteDirectory . '/config_' . $type;
@@ -127,9 +133,6 @@ protected function setUp() {
 
     parent::setUp();
 
-    // Create and set new configuration directories.
-    $this->prepareConfigDirectories();
-
     // Build a minimal, partially mocked environment for unit tests.
     $this->containerBuild(\Drupal::getContainer());
     // Make sure it survives kernel rebuilds.
@@ -137,7 +140,8 @@ protected function setUp() {
 
     \Drupal::state()->set('system.module.files', $this->moduleFiles);
     \Drupal::state()->set('system.theme.files', $this->themeFiles);
-
+    // Create and set new configuration directories.
+    $this->prepareConfigStorage();
     // Bootstrap the kernel.
     // No need to dump it; this test runs in-memory.
     $this->kernel = new DrupalKernel('unit_testing', drupal_classloader(), FALSE);
@@ -225,8 +229,9 @@ public function containerBuild(ContainerBuilder $container) {
     $container->register('cache_factory', 'Drupal\Core\Cache\MemoryBackendFactory');
 
     $container
-      ->register('config.storage', 'Drupal\Core\Config\FileStorage')
-      ->addArgument($this->configDirectories[CONFIG_ACTIVE_DIRECTORY]);
+      ->register('config.storage', 'Drupal\Core\Config\DatabaseStorage')
+      ->addArgument(Database::getConnection())
+      ->addArgument('test_base_config');
 
     $this->settingsSet('keyvalue_default', 'keyvalue.memory');
     $container->set('keyvalue.memory', $this->keyValueFactory);
diff --git a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/DrupalKernel/DrupalKernelTest.php b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/DrupalKernel/DrupalKernelTest.php
index aaf9612..3e5e9a4 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/DrupalKernel/DrupalKernelTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/DrupalKernel/DrupalKernelTest.php
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ function setUp() {
     // invoke DrupalUnitTestBase::setUp(), since that would set up further
     // environment aspects, which would distort this test, because it tests
     // the DrupalKernel (re-)building itself.
-    $this->prepareConfigDirectories();
+    $this->prepareConfigStorage();
 
     $this->settingsSet('php_storage', array('service_container' => array(
       'bin' => 'service_container',
diff --git a/core/modules/system/system.install b/core/modules/system/system.install
index ca5d128..0bd1942 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -970,7 +970,25 @@ function system_schema() {
       'source_langcode_pid' => array('source', 'langcode', 'pid'),
     ),
   );
-
+  $schema['config'] = array(
+    'description' => 'The base table for configuration data.',
+    'fields' => array(
+      'name' => array(
+        'description' => 'Primary Key: Unique config object name.',
+        'type' => 'varchar',
+        'length' => 255,
+        'not null' => TRUE,
+        'default' => '',
+      ),
+      'data' => array(
+        'description' => 'A serialized configuration object data.',
+        'type' => 'blob',
+        'not null' => FALSE,
+        'size' => 'big',
+      ),
+    ),
+    'primary key' => array('name'),
+  );
   $schema['config_snapshot'] = array(
     'description' => 'Stores a snapshot of the last imported configuration.',
     'fields' => array(