[Techtalk] Mail wisdom

[Michelle Murrain]

Hey all,

I need the wisdom of this group to help me out.

Here's the deal: I'm setting up a server, and I need to provide around 250 
e-mail accounts. I need both IMAP and POP3 (IMAP for the webmail client 
squirrelmail, POP3 for remote mail). I don't want any of these users to 
have shell access (it would be great if they don't have real accounts). 
Also, this server is an extranet, with a password system that uses perl and 
PostgreSQL. I'm dead set on synchronizing the mail passwords with the 
extranet passwords.

So these look like my options:

- standard sendmail (my favorite, since I know it well - although I know 
it's got security problems), combined with cyrus IMAP, using SASL or PAM 
authentication. I somehow build in something that connects the postgres 
password db with the sasldb. I don't really know how to use PAM - but I 
think it is possible to link these too. Also, postgres does have the 
ability to do kerberos v4, as does cyrus - although I can't find any 
documentation on this. I believe in this scenario, every user does need 
their own UID.

- sendmail, combined with qpopper and UW IMAP (the setup I've used before, 
and understand well), give each person a user account, but point the shell 
to /dev/null(?), and write a perl script to update at some intervals (or 
when a password changes) /etc/shadow from the db.

- qmail, with an IMAP/POP server that works with it, and somehow link that 
authentication with postgres.

others?

What have other folks done, used, and suggest?

Thanks!!

.Michelle

---------------------------------------
Michelle Murrain, Ph.D.
tech at murrain.net
AIM:pearlbear0
http://www.murrain.net/ for pgp public key