SSL Information Centre - 10 Tips for Managing Multiple Servers from VeriSign Sarl.

If you exchange secure information between Web servers and clients, facilitate server-to-server connections or support server load balancing or SSL acceleration, you are managing cross-network security for multiple servers. These 10 tips from VeriSign will help you save time and money without sacrificing the trust of your customers.

1. Choose a management tool with a single point of control.

Managing enrolment, issuance and renewals of certificates one by one is tedious and time-consuming. VeriSign offers several options for managing multiple SSL Certificates from a single, Web-based console.

VeriSign® Trust Centre is designed for administrators who purchase SSL Certificates one at a time, and want to centralise management, purchasing and backups.
VeriSign Trust Centre Enterprise Account includes additional reporting, delegated administration and volume discounts for customers who purchase 10 or more SSL Certificates per year.
Managed PKI for SSL provides a more comprehensive solution for purchasing a large number of certificates for issuance by multiple administrators to different organisations or business units with Certificate Discovery and other advanced tools.

2. Look for instant issuance with high-quality authentication.

VeriSign offers different levels of control, depending on your organisational needs. With VeriSign Trust Centre Enterprise Account, you can pre-approve domain, organisational and contact information to streamline issuance.

With Managed PKI for SSL, VeriSign authenticates the primary administrator who pre-purchases VeriSign® SSL Certificates for instant issuance. Administrators can be assigned organisations as well as roles and privileges to manage security, account configuration or certificates.

3. Take advantage of volume pricing.

If you need four or more SSL Certificates per year, save time and money by bundling your annual SSL purchases into one transaction with Volume Discounts. Units can be redeemed throughout the year to issue SSL Certificates when you need them. Each certificate's validity period begins when it is issued by the administrator. And all certificates can be managed from your VeriSign Trust Centre Enterprise Account. Volume pricing is also available through Managed PKI for SSL.

4. Take advantage of a longer validity period.

Reduce your management time by choosing a multi-year certificate whenever possible. When you purchase multiple certificates through VeriSign Trust Centre Enterprise Account or Managed PKI for SSL, you receive expiry notification alerts and can generate reports based on expiry dates in 30, 60 or 90 days.

5. Issue a unique certificate for each server.

To ensure a common, high-level standard of security across all types of configurations, VeriSign recommends that you do not share or copy certificates among servers. To support redundant server backups, server load balancing or SSL acceleration, VeriSign offers a licensing option for certificates.

6. Maximise customer confidence with a verifiable trust mark.

Concerns about identity theft and browser warnings erode consumer confidence, even on secured pages. The best way to communicate security and instil trust is to display the VeriSign Trust Seal, the most trusted mark on the Internet. Our SSL Certificates, the VeriSign Trust Seal, VeriSign Seal-in-Search technology, and daily Web site malware scanning work together to help assure your customers that your site is safe from search to browse to buy.

7. Customise enrolment pages to streamline processing.

If you have several administrators managing SSL Certificates for multiple business units, Managed PKI for SSL enables administrators to customise enrolment pages for instant issuance and generate email alerts for appropriate sub-administrators. The Web-based portal offers a single point for quick response to requests for all your VeriSign certificates across your enterprise.

8. Choose the strongest possible SSL Certificates.

Standard SSL Certificates provide a minimum of 40-bit and up to 256-bit SSL encryption. Certain older browsers and operating systems (for a complete list go to SGC: Strongest SSL Encryption) will achieve only 40- or 56-bit encryption unless there is a Server Gated Cryptography (SGC)-enabled certificate on the server. VeriSign is the leading SSL provider of SGC-enabled SSL Certificates, enabling 128- or 256-bit encryption for over 99.9 per cent of Internet users.

9. Purchase certificates from a trusted, experienced SSL provider.

Over 93% of the Fortune 500 and 97 of the world's100 largest SSL-using banks choose VeriSign* as their SSL provider. They trust our encryption technology and rigorous business authentication practices. When you protect your site with a VeriSign SSL Certificate and display the VeriSign Trust Seal, your customers know that their transactions are secure.

10. Protect your reputation and improve your online business.

When your company protects the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information with SSL from VeriSign, the leading certificate authority and most recognised trust mark on the Internet, your business benefits and so does your reputation. Customers complete their transactions online. Partners trust you with sensitive business information. And you gain peace of mind as a reliable online resource. (E-Commerce, Trust and SSL.)

*Includes VeriSign subsidiaries, affiliates and resellers.