What tools to build login-secured sites?

We are developing our website using the DreamWeaver UltraDev toolkit, and we want to secure access to certain pages with a login account & password. Obviously we need to keep a database of accounts & passwords somewhere.

I’m looking for a jumpstart on how to implement this – what tools to use, how the the scripts & database are linked to the web pages, etc.

Can someone recommend a good book or knowledgebase?