SSL Certificate for Startup?

[Guest]

Hey guys,

 

I'm currently with SiteGround and we have our site scheduled to go public soon. SiteGround offers a 256 bit AlphaSSL certificate with free install and a dedicated IP. Is all that necessary?

 

Should I just go with a cheaper SSL to start off with like Comodo or RapidSSL?

 

Would appreciate some advice!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

[Bill Dalton]

Most web sites do not need SSL. Many payment gateways provide the required SSL in that when it comes time to pay the customer switches over to their secure server. PayPal Express is a good example of this. However with PayPal Pro you may handle the transaction on your own web site and using your own SSL and this provides a more seamless experiences for your customer because they never leave your site.

 

The cheap cert's are fine to use. But you still need a dedicated IP to bind them. Unless your web server supports SNI.

 

 

Server Name Indication. SNI which allows the client to include the requested hostname in the first message of its SSL handshake (connection setup). This allows the server to determine the correct named virtual host for the request and set the connection up accordingly from the start.

 

The client browser must also support SNI. Here are some browsers that do:

 

Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or later

Opera 8.0 or later (with TLS 1.1 enabled)

Internet Explorer 7.0 or later (on Vista, not XP)

Google Chrome

Safari 3.2.1 on Mac OS X 10.5.6

 

>>Internet Explorer 7.0 or later (on Vista, not XP)

 

And that's what kills it, SNI depends on an SChannel system component which introduced the support of TLS SNI extension, starting from Windows Vista, not XP. And as you know many people still love their XP.

[Guest]

Hey Bill,

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

I understand that payment gateways such as Paypal and GoogleCheckout would not require SSL as they go offsite to pay. However, I was interested in accepting credit card payments on the site, like you said to make the customer experience more seamless.

 

So dedicated IP is required if I want to have all browsers supported basically? If I just use a cheap certification without a dedicated IP it would only support modern browsers? Is this correct?

 

If I get SiteGrounds SSL package I should be covered for all of that right?

 

Thanks so much for the help, it is much appreciated.

[Bill Dalton]

Looking at,

http://www.siteground.com/ssl_certificates.htm

 

$82.00 includes the Cert, dedicated IP and installation. That is a fantastic deal and you will be covered like a bank.