HTTPS and HTTP2

     A relatively small portion of the domains hosted here has https and http2 enabled by an encryption certificate.

     The primary advantage of https is so all of the data flowing between the web server and the web client is encrypted so can’t easily be monitored by a third party.  A secondary advantage is that Google ranks https sites higher than http only if all other things are equal.

     An encryption certificate also enables http/2, a  modification of http protocol in which instead of opening a TCP connection to transfer each object, the web page, any images, separate CSS code, separate JavaScript code, etc. Because there is a three-way handshake for each item this increases latency loading web pages.  HTTP2 addresses this by opening just one connection and sending all items over that one connection.  This results in faster page loads and also higher google ranking.

     If you wish to have your domain https enabled, there is no additional fee for us, you just have to purchase a certificate from someone who sells SSL certificates.  This would be used for Apache which requires certificates to be in the PEM format, although I can convert from most modern formats using openssl.  An annual certificate for a single domain name + www.domain name is usually around $40/month.  Contact support@eskimo.com if you wish to pursue this.