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We give nCipher's nForce 300 kudos for its security. The nForce uses a smartcard, accessed via a reader connected by a standard DB9 connection, to secure your private keys. The smartcard reader provides a method of secure authentication by requiring an additional pass phrase during Web server start-up to access the private keys. For backup purposes, the keys are also stored on disk in an encrypted form, and utilities distributed with the nForce 300 can restore the keys to cards in case of problems. Smartcard management is offered via a CLI (command-line interface); we'd like to see a more robust method for performing these tasks. The other internal solutions we tested store keys on the hard drive and do not provide additional security methods.

Full integration with the Web server is typical of the other PCI solutions, requiring manual modifications to the Web server configuration. An additional step is required to initialize and create the "security world" to manage and use the smartcards. The $9,400 price tag also made us smile -- that's a lot of security for a competitive price. The performance was great, more than 270 SSL transactions per second.

The nForce 300 and Compaq's AXL300 support 3.3V or Universal PCI slots, offering better scalability than that of the CryptoSwift 600.

nForce 300 Secure e-Commerce Accelerator, $9,400. Available: Now. nCipher Corp., (800) 624-7437, (781) 994 4000; fax (781) 994 4001. www.ncipher.com