Design Principals

Digi-CA™ is the core software that includes the interfaces, modules and applications [IP] that are common to both the Digi-CA™ Server software and the Digi-CA™ Service. The importance of this common IP is unique to Digi-CA™ and makes it possible for the Service and the Server versions of Digi-CA™ to be interchangeable. Therefore, starting with one version of Digi-CA™ and migrating to the other, as your requirements grow, will not
require a complete system replacement (as is the case with legacy CAs) and thereby saves you considerable costs, should such a requirement arise.

The Digi-CA™ System provides a full scale of services necessary for the management of X.509 certificates. At its core, the Digi-CA™ software was designed for Unix and Linux operating systems that provide a robust and stable operating environment. The simplicity of the architectural design of the complete Digi-CA™ system means, that the same software can be deployed on a single server device and later scaled for enterprise or Internet PKI use with minimum or no disruption.

Typically, scaling may start from single server, or 'handful' of servers acting in a cluster or
fail-over mode. This setup can be later extended to reach greater capacity and performance by introducing additional servers as required, almost without or completely without interrupting the operation of the existing production environment. This is a critical component when deciding on a CA that may scale considerably over time and allows organisations to carefully plan their investment costs whilst still achieving all its functional goals.

The rules, methods and guidelines that specify how the Digi-CA™ will issue its certificates and these processes and procedures are documented in the certificate Practice Statement [CPS] and certificate Policy [CP]. The CP is the ‘Who, What, Where and How’ document that describes the principles of the digital certificate usage and how they are to be distributed.

This CP is agreed before the Digi-CA™ is operational and all digital certificates must be deployed in accordance with the CP. Appendix I is a questionnaire designed to assist in creating your CP.

There are three different types of Digi-CA™ system:

• Digi-CA™ Service - Managed CA
• Digi-CA™ Server - CA Software
• Digi-CA™ Shared - Dedicated CA