MVP Pattern, n-tier application architecture in .NET

I'm at the beginning of my road concerning Programming and Software Development and Design. I want to develop some applications in .NET(C#) WinForms with a SQL server as back-end (haven't decided yet: PostgreSQL, MSSQL or other). What I want to ask is where do I get information on:

1. How do i structure my SQL tables, Schemas, users, stored procedures etc. ?

2. How to design the application to conform to the n-tier structure?

3. How does the MVP/MVC pattern couple with the above?

What I'm actually for is to please refer me to Web-Sites, books or any kind of learning material. Or if one would be so kind as to guide me through the process I would highly appreciate it.

The first app will be a small "pilot" app just to test these designs and tweak them. I thought it would be better than to just start writing the main ones.

There is also a plethora of information and books. But I don't want to waste time with reading them if they aren't on the subject because at the moment this is what I want to focus on.

Another thing. How to separate SQL code from the rest of the code? and how to interact with the database without breaking the MVP pattern and keeping sql code separate?

Read up on Domain Driven Design. Find some sample applications and study them so you are familiar enough with the concepts to implement them in your own solutions.

The architecture all depends on the type of application, you may/may not need a service layer depending on the complexity of your application.

For User, Roles... I would recommend reading up on the asp.net MembershipProvider as it gives you a lot for free.

Here is an interesting series of articles about implementing MVP pattern in winforms application: The Build Your Own CAB Series Table of Contents

http://www.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/.net-application-architecture-the-data-access-layer/ - I think I got it from here. Maybe my question was a bit ambiguous. In this article layers and sub-layers are presented. Regarding the MVP I did some more digging and the concept became more clear.

I think the DAL was the mystery for me. Thank you for answering. I hope I don't run into more problems regarding the Architecture.