Actually my only requirement for using SSL encryption is that when a user logs in, the password is transferred encrypted. However after reading a bit about protocol switching, that an HTTPS session can't be taken over as an HTTP session etc. I've been asking myself if it's so bad to just have the entire application use HTTPS only. What are the reasons against it and how would you rate their importance? Please also mention: How much performance do I lose on server side (roughly)? How much performance do I lose on client side (roughly)? Any other problems on server / client side?