To combat this performance loss, systems administrators have been able to reduce delays in SSL transactions by installing SSL accelerators and offloaders. Accelerators increase transaction speeds by performing some of the SSL processing tasks while relying on secure Web server software to do the rest. Offloaders take on all SSL processing tasks and do not require secure Web server software, allowing Web servers to provide secure and nonsecure services at the same high speeds. Key management and maintenance procedures are also more efficient on offloaders because they do not rely on manual configuration of application software. By installing an SSL offloader directly onto a server, systems administrators can solve speed and security problems.
Secure data is transferred from clients through the Internet and network directly to a server.
The offloader installed in the server decrypts the data and transfers it along the PCI bus directly to the processor. The result is that host servers can provide secure transaction services at the same speeds as nonsecure ones while guaranteeing the security of data during transit between clients and servers. Bull is a communications engineer at Phobos, an Internet traffic management company in Salt Lake City. Find out what type of secure server a site is running Netcraft. Feedback Tell us your thoughts on this article or the issues raised in it.