subject: What is dedicated IP and why do I need it [print this page] What is dedicated IP and why do I need it
An IP address dedicated to a single website is a dedicated IP. Dedicated IP web hosting allows the website owner to have his own IP address that can be used exclusively for an individual server space or domain. Therefore, a web user could access this web information by typing in the domain name or the IP address. An IP address is a 32-bit numeric address usually expressed as 4 numbers from 0-255 separated by dots. Whether you type in your URL or the numeric form of its IP address, both will bring you to the same domain. Due to the rapid increase of the number of registered domain names and the finite number of IP addresses, shared IP is more preferred by web hosts. Dedicated IP hosting is the lesser followed norm. When websites share an IP address, the visitor should type in the domain name and typing in IP would show you some generic page. Dedicated IP hosting is an ideal feature for large businesses or companies involved in e-commerce. This is because dedicated IP hosting offers enhanced security, which is important in online business.
Dedicated IP hosting also provides options such as a private SSL certificate and anonymous FTP. Using this FTP software you can access files stored in a special directory on your website. So if you want this, you need a dedicated IP address for your website. Sometimes it so happens that if a website that has a shared IP address contains spam or adult material, some search engines may stop listing all websites sharing that IP address from their index. So that way, to be safe from this you need a dedicated IP.
