RE: [courier-users] What to use? ldap or MySQL

courier-users-admin@lists.sourceforge.net wrote:
> From: Dan Johansson [mailto:Dan.Johansson@bluewin.ch]
>>=20
>> I'm about to setup a Courier mailsystem for a small Company (~50
>> accounts). I want to use virtual mail accounts on this system. I was
>> thinking about either a ldap or MySQL backend for authentication. So
>> my question is: Which backend to use, ldap or MySQL? I would
>> appreciate some advice/suggestions/"horror stories"/"success
>> stories"/pro/cons of the two methods.
>=20
> For only 50 accounts, I would bypass both and use the
> built-in userdb. I am using it with ~1000 accounts (~300
> active) with no problems.
>=20

I have to differ with the recommendation. I would use MySQL with Quica =
or
something like it. It makes managing the accounts much easier. =
Especially
with such a small installation, the less of your time you spend managing =
the
server, the better.

I have also used UserDB for accounts, for about 200 accounts. It wasn't =
too
bad, as I scripted most of it. But MySQL is no harder to set up, so why
not? And then add a nice web GUI front-end for account maintenance, and =
now
it's so easy, our HR person adds most of the accounts when she is =
getting
their paperwork filled out on their first day on the job. Not that =
she's
not smart, it's just that having a non-techie set up email makes my job =
much
easier.

> Userdb has the advantage of being extremely easy to configure
> and manage. If you grow to thousands of accounts, you might
> see performance problems, but then you could migrate to ldap or MySQL.
>=20

Agreed, but I lost a bit when I did the migration to MySQL. If you're
starting off, you might as well start off right.

> I have a server I am currently testing that is using ldap.
> It works very well, but if you are not familiar with ldap,
> there is a VERY steep learning curve. The advantage is that
> it is fast (if you index it correctly), scaleable (I've
> tested with over 200,000 accounts), and it can be used for
> authentication with other services as well.

I think that's the key to LDAP. If you use it for other stuff, then use =
it.
If it's only for Courier, it's overkill, IMHO.

>=20
> Bowie



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