LDAP Design Advice

["Andrew Crum" <acrum@oculustech.com>]

I have been fiddling with OpenLDAP for about 2 weeks now and still consider
myself a major newbie to the LDAP scene.  I want to create a central
database that stores all the users information for authentication and for a
centralized directory. I don't know if I am living in a pipe dream, but I
want to set this up so if I have to add a new user I just add an entry into
OpenLDAP, put them in a specific group, and instantly they have an login and
password for network services (only the ones that the group allows them
to)email, secure web access, etc. I know "most" of the applications I run
now have ldap support, and I know I will have to do some serious tweaking to
get the apps to work with OpenLDAP.

I specifically want these features:
-SSL support. All communication with the LDAP server must be secure. I can't
have password flying around in plain-text.
-Users on unix/linux authenticate from the ldap directory instead of though
NIS as we are doing now.
-Users on Windows 2000 authenticate from the ldap directory. (Samba
intergration)
-Users on MacOS 9 and X authenticate from the ldap directory. (netatalk for
os9 intergration).

I know this a very general question, but any information will be greatly
appreciated. If anybody is doing something similar to this, please email me.
I would very grateful if you could give me some pointers.


Thanks,
Andrew Crum
acrum@oculustech.com