FAQ - SSL

• What is SSL?
• What is an SSL certificate?
• What is the difference between Verisign, Thawte and Equifax?
• Which SSL certificate does inSolSys.com recommend?
• How much does InSolSys.com charge for an SSL certificate installation?
• Can I move my SSL from another host to your servers?
• I have an SSL certificate for www.mydomain.com but I also have www2.mydomain.com pointed to the site. Whenever someone uses the www2 host name, the SSL certificate does not work. Why?
• I have an SSL certificate. How do I get the lock to appear in Netscape?
• Can I force people to only use SSL to access a page or pages?
• Should I use SSL on my entire site?

What is SSL?

This is a security feature that allows all communication between a browser and inSolSys.com's servers to be encrypted. You will know a page is encrypted when the "lock" appears within your browser window. You can also tell if the beginning of the URL you are trying to access changes from http:// to https://. Sites that need to transfer sensitive information such as passwords and credit card information from the browser to the server need to have SSL enabled for their site.

What is an SSL certificate?

An SSL certificate is a "key" file that sets the encryption between InSolSys.com's servers and the browser. It is purchased from a Certificate Provider such as Versign, Thawte or Equifax.

What is the difference between Verisign, Thawte and Equifax?

The technology is pretty much the same between the SSL certificates. One does not have "more power" than the other. The costs do vary widely though.

Which SSL certificate does InSolSys.com recommend?

We support either Verisign, Thawte or Equifax.

How much does InSolSys.com charge for an SSL certificate installation?

We do not charge anything to install an SSL certificate. Each of the certificate providers mentioned above have their own yearly fees for use of the certificate.

Can I move my SSL from another host to your servers?

If you are moving from an NT IIS server to ours, there is a good possibility you can. Ask the administrator of your current server to export the certificate for you. Then send us the file and we can try to import it into our servers, although we can not guarantee it will work. If you have a UNIX account, you will need to apply for a new SSL certificate.

I have an SSL certificate for www.mydomain.com but I also have www2.mydomain.com pointed to the site. Whenever someone uses the www2 host name, the SSL certificate does not work. Why?

This is because an SSL certificate is tied to the exact domain name used in the URL. If you use www.yourdomain.com for the SSL certificate, it will ONLY work if the URL that is requested is www.yourdomain.com. It will not work if it is called yourdomain.com or www2.yourdomain.com. If you also wish to have people access the site securely using a second hostname/domain name combination, you must purchase a second SSL certificate.

I have an SSL certificate. How do I get the lock to appear in Netscape?

You must change the URL of the page you are accessing to https://. This is what triggers the browser into entering "SSL mode."

Can I force people to only use SSL to access a page or pages?

Yes, you can. However, you must contact InSolSys.com's customer support to activate this. We need to know which pages or directories you wish protected in this way.

Should I use SSL on my entire site?

You could but we do not recommend it. SSL is a very server intensive process. This will slow down your site tremendously especially as user traffic increases. You really only need to protect form pages that you feel are passing information that is highly sensitive between the server and the browser.