SSL termination

dazdaz · 05-30-2012, 03:39 AM

What does SSL termination mean ? I can't find a good description online and would like to learn it's meaning.

I don't think it's related to the certificate itself but more the secure connection (SSL).

acid_kewpie · 05-30-2012, 03:51 AM

it's a point in a solution where the ssl conection is started / ended. I manage a large number of load balancers. These devices also terminate SSL for various websites. So the HTTPS connection goes from the client browser to my load balancers, at which point the SSL is removed and a plain text HTTP connection is established from my load balancers to the web servers themselves. My devices are SSL Termination points.

sundialsvcs · 05-30-2012, 05:22 PM

Incidentally, the presence and the placement of SSL terminators can be important from a security standpoint, so that you do not wind up creating the proverbial "security chocolate candy = tough and crunchy on the outside, but soft and chewy in the middle." Once the cryptographic cloak has been removed from the data, you lose all of the assurances that cryptography provides, from that point forward in whatever is your production-line.