ssl certificates

[generic]

Just thought I would add my experience of obtainig a ssl cert(s) so others could learn from my mistake, and the great deal on certs from Geotrust that I got. I know others out there want to do this so...

My goal:
1. I wanted to secure my control panel to resell hosting.
2. I wanted to secure my reseller website so I could also have a store.

My mistake:
I did not realize that a subdirectory like cp.yourdomainname.com (the control panel) would not be secure with a certificate for www.yourdomainname.com. (my reseller website) I fould out I need 2 certificates!
1. cp.domainname.com
2. www.domainname.com

I went to http://www.ev1servers.net/english/quickssldetails.asp (used to be rackshack) and got my Geotrust Instant ssl for $25. GREAT DEAL!

After talking with tech support at Vortech, (your tech support is great by the way ) I learned that I was on NT 24 and I needed a Microsoft IIS 5.0 cert. I also learned if you are on NT26 or NT27 which are upgraded you will need Miscosoft IIS 6.0.

So I purchased my cert for www.yourdomainname.com, got all set up, and my domain www.yourdomainname.com was now secure!. So simple! Then discovered my mistake about the urls, so later today I will purchase a cert for my cp.yourdomainname.com

Still will only cost me $50 total, so I can't complain!

Hope this helps everyone trying to do what I did!

[Silverbug]

Yeah its been that price there for some time now, which is great. the other thing to note is that the cert only lasts for one year then you have to re-new it.

[mresell]

silverbug,
Do you renew directly thru geotrust at a higher rate or thru ev1 or have you not renewed yet? I know they have a faq that discusses some of these ?'s

[gadgetgal99]

FYI tracewebspace,
You said you purchased certificates for
cp.domainname.com and www.yourdomainname.com

If you use your logo or a custom banner on a secured cp (cp.domainname.com), make sure you store the image(https://www.yourdomainname.com/images/yourlogo.gif)
in a subdirectory
(www.yourdomainname.com/images) of the domain (www.yourdomainname.com) that has your second ssl.

When securing your cp, you need a second certificate whether you want a store or not if you plan to use custom images. If you don't do you will get the dreaded "some items on this page are not secure, do you want to continue" popup for every page load in the cp.

[generic]

great point, hope others realize this too, well at least in the end, $50 for the 2 is still better than most other certs prices for 1.

[Silverbug]

mresel: to be honest im not really sure. i dont see why you couldnt just let the old one run out and then just re-register the domain again.

[antic]

Hi... I just found this on the WhichSSL site, which says Geotrust certs are incompatible with IE5, and therefore roughly 20% of all visitors (by Google's own browser stats) will not be able to use Geotrust certs...

http://www.whichssl.com/ssl-certific...cognition.html

[edit1]
That's for GeoTrusts's "InstantSSL" product. Comodo also offer an "InstantSSL" product, which apparently is ok with IE5. So I guess make sure your "InstantSSL" is the one supplied by Comodo, not GeoTrust.
[/edit1]

[edit2]
Ok, now I've read the following it seems that Comodo also has a problem:
http://www.sslreview.com/ssl-certifi...modo3year.html
[/edit2]

[Brangwyn]

Yeah many do have issues with IE5 plain, IE5.01+ should be fine though.

According to W3Schools V5 (including 5.01, 5.5 and other variations) accounts for <10% of the browser market currently, it's been dropping by almost a percent a month based on their figures http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

Actually google looks like its showing well under 20% too though it's a little hard to tell exactly from their graph here

http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html

[mresell]

I would say most have 5.5 if they have 5.