SSL.com

The Essential Guide to SAN Certificates

SSL/TLS certificates securely enable HTTPS and other encrypted connections for websites and services. Typically, you need a separate certificate for each hostname or domain you want to protect. This can get expensive for large or complex sites.

SAN certificates offer a convenient and cost-effective solution, securing multiple hostnames or domains with a single certificate. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about SAN certificates and how to use them.

What is a SAN Certificate?

A Subject Alternative Name (SAN) certificate is a special SSL/TLS certificate that allows multiple hostnames or domains to be secured under one certificate. The different hostnames are listed as “subject alternative names” in the certificate.

SAN certificates go by names like Unified Communications Certificates (UCC), multi-domain certificates, and Exchange certificates. But they all refer to the same thing: a single certificate protecting multiple names/domains.

The key advantage of a SAN certificate is consolidation. You don’t need separate certificates for each hostname or domain you want to protect. One SAN certificate can secure them all.

Benefits and Use Cases of SAN Certificates

Many benefits make SAN certificates popular for a variety of use cases:

Some common use cases well suited to SAN certificates:

Any situation requiring multiple different hostnames or domains to be secured makes a SAN certificate the ideal flexible solution.

Technical Details of SAN Certificates

Now, let’s get into the technical details of how SAN certificates work:

A SAN certificate’s public/private key pair secures all included names. However, the certificate can consist of diverse IPs and be installed with multiple private keys across your servers.

Obtaining and Implementing a SAN Certificate

Let’s cover the process of obtaining a SAN certificate and putting it to use:

First, you’ll need to generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) that includes all the hostnames to be secured. This is done through your web server or CSR generator tool.

Next, purchase the SAN certificate from a trusted certificate authority like SSL.com. The CA will validate your identity and issue a trusted certificate containing the Subject Alternative Names provided in the CSR.

Once issued, download and install the SAN certificate on all your web servers, mail servers, load balancers, etc. The certificate secures connections to any of the included hostnames.

Your website visitors, email users, and other clients will seamlessly trust the certificate. Connecting to any hostname in the SAN certificate will validate successfully, and they’ll see the reassuring padlock icon.

Keep the certificate renewed and updated as you add or change host names. A SAN certificate makes this process fast and convenient compared to managing individual certificates.

Conclusion and Recommendations

SAN certificates offer immense flexibility at an affordable cost by consolidating multiple hostnames under a single SSL/TLS certificate.

A SAN certificate is for you if you need to secure multiple domains or subdomains, use the same certificate across multiple servers, or make frequent hostname changes.

Choose a reputable CA like SSL.com to issue your SAN certificate process and the best value for stress-free. Take advantage of the convenience and simplicity of SAN certificates for your multi-domain needs. One certificate can do it all!
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