The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol is a standard for encrypted network communication. It was conceived at Netscape in 1994; version 2.0 was the first public release. SSL was later upgraded to 3.0, and, with further minor improvements, standardized under the name TLS (Transport Layer Security). This guide aims to establish a straightforward assessment methodology, allowing administrators to assess SSL server configuration confidently without the need to become SSL experts.