Also, many of these devices do SSL offloading for web farms. Basically, they do the decryption and encryption of the traffic to take the load off of the servers on the farm. Good idea.

SSL offloading works by handling compute-intensive SSL functions for servers – such as key exchange, bulk encryption and client certificate management. It’s ideal for scaling SaaS and e- Contributory ...

F5, of course, also recommends offloading the SSL at the F5 for various reasons [ease of mgmt, reduced complexity, etc] but they later state you can bridge it if you don't WANT to offload it.

Nathan Pearce of F5 Networks discusses why more organizations are reviewing their security in the wake of recent breaches, how raised security arrangements will inevitably put strain on servers, and ...

Britestream's 100% SSL offload solution integrates seamlessly with Linux Virtual Server to bring a new level of security, protection and performance for Guardian's deployments on Linux.

SSL and its descendent, TLS, are protocols that encrypt internet traffic, making secure internet communication and ecommerce possible.