When does HTTPS handshake take place?

Question

I understand from various sources that the HTTPS handshake is the heaviest part of using HTTPS. I'm using POSTs internally between my servers to communicate information and would like to use HTTPS for it. I wondered how long the actual HTTPS handshake lasts/"stays open"? Is it re-done for each POST I'm sending to a server, or what is the lifetime?

Answer 1

I believe the handshake occurs on connection (ie, as part of the SSL negotiation). It you use HTTP keep-alive connections then the handshake only occurs once as long as the connection is active.

Answer 2

I don't know the particulars, but I'm sure the handshake is supposed to occur only when the session is started. It would be too expensive otherwise.

Edit: Here's a nice description of the process.