Re: ISP converting to automation with LDAP

I am really having trouble with the idea that there are 50 ways to setup
an ISP using Postfix. I am almost sure that 90-95% of Postfix
installations could be almost exactly the same and the user's would have
the same or better level of satisfaction as they do now.

There has to be a consensus by now about what constitutes an appropriate
core setup for an ISP or major corporation using LDAP, Postfix, IMAP and
SASL/PAM.
We seem to have narrowed the web server down to 2 (IIS and Apache hold
95% of the market between them) and we are all happy about that. The
shakeout in development architectures is still a long way off but that
is another story.

I understand that each ISP or IT department will want to create an USP
by adding features and applications but just as I can do this with
Microsoft Server, I should be able to get the core functionality up and
running with a set of open source packages glued together by a uniform
set of configuration files that look almost the same as everyone elses.
Then, augment the LDAP schema and basic configuration to support my
value added applications.

How many ways are there to write an email address? It is not like the
old days with sendmail supporting uucp and 50 other address schemes.

How many ways are there to support virtual domains?

Maybe we can start with a comparison chart of different virtual domain
architectures.

What about IMAP - what is the big difference between the 3 main contenders?

If we can do this, there will be an incentive for open source projects
like web service support for administrative tasks and more
administrative tools. The current "every man for himself" environment is
extremely costly and contributes to Microsoft's ability to claim a lower
TCO than Linux.

Ron


Victor Duchovni wrote:

>On Tue, Jun 07, 2005 at 08:19:20AM -0400, Ron Wheeler wrote:
>
>
>
>>Excellent advice.
>>
>>One thing that has puzzled me for a while, in the wonderful world of
>>Postfix Sasl Imap and LDAP is that there does not seem to be a "best
>>practice" guide for someone wanting to set up an ISP or a multidomain
>>service. There are bits and pieces of information everywhere with
>>postfix.org probably the most complete. openldap.org has taken a
>>different approach with this type of discussion being verbotten which is
>>why the interoperability forum was set up but it has no www site or
>>repository for information.
>>
>>
>>
>
>I've answered this question before. Can't find the reference, you may
>have more luck. The basic idea is that there is no one size fits all
>solution outside the confines of monolothic integrated systems.
>
>The best advice I can give is: strive for simplicity of design.
>
>
>