Secure sockets layer (including SSL acceleration) was developed to create secure access to websites. It's used today to secure web traffic by encrypting data and requiring certificates and authentication whenever necessary. Public networks usually encrypt data to offer users secure connections to the web, protecting credit card numbers, emails, and other important private interactions.

SSL accelerators are devices, usually cards that attach to a PCI slot, which handle computer-intensive SSL encryption and decryption on separate processors. This leaves your main processor free to work on other things and prevents slow-downs during peak usage. Here are some things to think about when setting up SSL accelerators:

1. If using an Internet security and acceleration (ISA) server with your SSL accelerator, you must configure it to work behind your SSL appliance. Faulty configuration will cause responses with http links to be returned, which causes errors.

2. If using SSL appliances in a network behind a server, you will have to enable communication between the server and the SSL device. This allows the SSL accelerator to pass information back and forth easily.

3. You may have to purchase separate licenses for each server in a server farm if you're using SSL security hardware to protect them.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy a PCI card if you want simple SSL security hardware

SSL devices can take the form of an external device connected to the server computer or Internet. Depending on your needs, one of these may work best for you; but most computers only require a PCI card for regular SSL traffic. An SSL acceleration card works best when protecting a single server, and can be plugged in, set up and forgotten. SSL accelerator cards are the most simple and popular form of SSL hardware.

I recommend: Check out nCipher's PCI cards, or Cisco's SSL accelerator PCI solution.

Purchase SSL appliances for secure web farms

These often come in variable speeds, measured in translations per second, and contain Ethernet and serial ports. Some are mounted while others are stand-alone units. Make sure the appliance supports a variety of encryption key standards.

I recommend: Buy an SSL appliance from Coyote Point Systems or get one from Radware.

Invest in an SSL application switch or other multi-purpose SSL appliance

These devices do much more than simply handle SSL encryption data. They can also handle load balancing and form the basis of a server farm. Depending on the model, application switches and other devices may also provide port mapping and protect against certain types of hacker attacks, like IP spoofing and ICMP attacks.

I recommend: Select a custom configuration from F5 or purchase a data center from Array Networks.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  While multi-purpose SSL accelerator devices may save you money in the short-term, upgrading one function of the devices requires all parts to be updated, which could end up costing you more in the longterm. Make your decision based on how often you plan to upgrade your network hardware and how much you're willing to spend.