certificate servers

Certificate servers are designed for security authentication. They can authenticate users using a smart-card, allow users to send encrypted emails and have other security features.

Pretty much, it's used when you want to be sure that the computer you are communicating with is really who they say they are.

you can take a look at the following article for more info.

remove any spaces from the URL.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/planning/security/casetupsteps.asp

If you set up a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), you will need a certificate server.

In a PKI, there are two parts to a key - the public part(on a server) and the private part(on your PC). Applications, such as Lotus Notes, or Exchange use both parts to verify who you are, whether you are encrypting mail or a document, or digitally signing something.

Important thing to know about a certificate server is that it has to be very secure - locked room, intrusion detection etc. Otherwise when your business tries to cross certify with another one(establishing a trust relationship), they may not agree to certify.

James