[RESOLVED] SSL question

neizo

Hello, amazing forum!

So, I want to use SSL on my web site,
in control panel of my hosting plan there is a "SSL Certificate Requests" tool.

They said that I need first to purchase a dedicated IP for my hosts,
and then I have to use their SSL generator that generates their shared SSL certificate.

Lets say that I purchase the IP and after use the "SSL Certificate Requests" tool:
I need to use PHP to run SSL?
or the SSL just runs between client and server and the data is secured?

Thanks,
Nick

gardnc

SSL is not dependent on PHP. SSL is the state of encrypting data sent to and from the client/browser and web server. Any server page type can be encrypted by SSL.

neizo

Thanks for the reply!

In a few words,
SSL just run between client and server as a layer and data is secured?

And something else,
I read in some web pages like Comodo or verisign that I need to buy SSL Certificate.
Why? I can't use SSL for free?

gardnc

Short answer: You can

Long Answer: When you "purchase" a SSL certificate, you really purchase someones insistence (not a guarantee) that you are who you say you are. Verisign is a well know company that sells this kind of insistence in varying levels of confidence. When you purchase the greatest insistence level you will have a background and financial check made of your entity.

In addition, nationally recognized certificate issuers are also natively recognized by prominent web browsers and will not present the web user with a warning that the issuer is unknown (web users can always add your certificate to their browser cache, but many are afraid to do that for security reasons).

If your site is not going to pass financial data back and forth then you probably can use your own certificate and your users put up with the warning inconveniences or use the shared certificate supplied by many web hosts - usually at no charge. Otherwise, get an appropriately signed certificate.

Also, there are many recognized certificate signers besides Verizign that are also cheaper. godaddy.com supplies many of ours for $19.95/year.

neizo

Thanks so much for the explanation! 🙂