SAN Certificate

SAN (Subject Alternative Name) certificates, also known as Multi-Domain SSL certificates, allow a single certificate to secure multiple distinct domain names that may be completely unrelated to each other. Unlike wildcard certificates that secure subdomains of a single domain, SAN certificates can protect entirely different domains such as example.com, anotherdomain.org, and thirdsite.net all with one certificate. Each domain name is explicitly listed in the Subject Alternative Name extension of the certificate. SAN certificates typically start with a base number of domain names (often 2-5) and allow additional domains to be added for an extra cost. This makes them ideal for organizations managing multiple websites, web applications, or services across different domains. SAN certificates are particularly useful for Microsoft Exchange environments, load balancers, and cloud applications where multiple domain names need to be secured efficiently. They provide better cost management and administrative simplicity compared to purchasing individual certificates for each domain while offering more precise control than wildcard certificates.