According to theSolarWinds Platformconfiguration documentation, the option toEncrypt connections with SSLduring the database configuration wizard specifically dictates the security level of the communication channel between the application server and the database backend. When this box is checked, the platform ensures thatthe network data between SolarWinds' Hybrid Cloud Observability Platform server and the SQL server will be encrypted. This security measure is critical for protecting the integrity and confidentiality of the performance metrics, configuration data, and credentials as they traverse the internal network between these two primary architectural components.
This encryption utilizesTransport Layer Security (TLS)to wrap theTDS (Tabular Data Stream)protocol used by Microsoft SQL Server. By enabling this feature, the platform prevents potential "man-in-the-middle" attacks where an adversary could sniff network traffic to intercept sensitive monitoring data or administrative information stored within the SQL database. It is important to note that for this setting to function correctly, theSQL Servermust be configured with a valid SSL/TLS certificate that is trusted by the SolarWinds application server.
This setting differs from simple credential encryption (Option C) or secure storage (Option B) because it applies toall datatransmitted during the session, not just the initial login exchange. Furthermore, while the configuration wizard does require a login account (Option A), that account's specific permissions are a separate functional requirement from the underlying encryption of the transport layer. Enabling SSL encryption is a standard best practice for organizations following strict compliance frameworks likeHIPAA,PCI-DSS, orSOC2, where protecting data-in-transit is a mandatory requirement even on internal, "trusted" network segments. This centralized encryption toggle simplifies the deployment of high-security observability environments by orchestrating the secure connection parameters through the standard SolarWinds Configuration Wizard interface.
