One thing I noticed was that config sections look a lot like directories. It may be possible to apply a few conventions so that conversion from the current config to the new structure (and back, obviously) would be automatic. (I'm not sure exactly how much this applies, but something like the /proc filesystem seems applicable)
For instance if map = {
HOME /usr/local/aol/config
SECTION ns
SERV1HOME /web/oacs/config
SERV1SECTION ns/server/serv1
}
Then HOME + /parameters => /usr/local/aol/config/parameters
and SECTION + /parameters => ns/parameters
SERV1HOME + /modules => /web/oacs/config/modules
and SERV1SECTION + /modules => ns/server/serv1/modules
