Performance-Related SSL Issues

Performance-Related SSL Issues

While not errors per se, SSL/TLS performance problems manifest as slow page loads, connection timeouts, or elevated server CPU usage. Users might not see explicit errors but experience degraded performance that impacts satisfaction and conversion rates. These issues often emerge after SSL implementation or during traffic spikes when encryption overhead becomes noticeable.

Common performance bottlenecks include disabled session resumption forcing complete handshakes for every connection, missing OCSP stapling causing clients to check certificate revocation separately, inefficient cipher suite selection using slow algorithms, and lack of HTTP/2 support missing protocol improvements. Hardware limitations on older servers can struggle with encryption operations during peak loads.

Diagnosing performance issues requires measuring SSL/TLS-specific metrics. Tools like WebPageTest break down connection timing including SSL negotiation time. Server monitoring should track CPU usage during SSL/TLS operations. Session resumption rates indicate whether optimization features function correctly. Compare performance metrics before and after SSL implementation to quantify impact.

Optimization strategies focus on reducing handshake overhead and computational load. Enable session resumption through session IDs and session tickets. Implement OCSP stapling to eliminate revocation checking delays. Prioritize hardware-accelerated cipher suites like AES-GCM. Enable HTTP/2 for multiplexing benefits. Consider SSL/TLS termination at load balancers or CDNs to offload encryption from origin servers. Modern hardware with AES-NI instructions dramatically improves encryption performance.