Articles & eCommerce & Linux web hosting & Tech world & Hosting Features | 17 Jun 2008 05:52 pm
The importance of dedicated IP in web hosting
What is an IP address
Every machine on the Internet has a unique identifying number, called an IP Address. A typical IP address looks like this:
* 216.27.61.137
IP stands for Internet Protocol. An IP Address is a unique number used by computers and other devices to identify and communicate with each other on a network. Routers, computers, printers, internet fax machines, and some telephones will each have their own IP address
What is a dedicated I.P. address?
A dedicated I.P. address is an I.P. address that is reserved just for you. In other words it is dedicated to you. With a dedicated I.P. address your site is the only site hosted on the I.P. address.
Why would I need a dedicated I.P. address?
You would need a dedicated I.P. address if you need services like private SSL, private name servers or other services that can not run from a shared I.P. address. To have your own web site you do not usually need a dedicated I.P. address.
Many of us who is still beginner in web hosting industry didn’t really know what is Dedicated IP/Static IP and does it really important to have dedicated IP for your site ?. And is there any difference between having dedicated IP and shared IP. In this article, I will try to explain and elaborate as much as possible so you can have better understanding and decide whether you really need them.
As the IP Address is getting harder and harder to get, most web hosting company doesn’t offer dedicated IP to their hosting account. So basically when you host your site with them, you are sharing your IP Address with other web site and one IPaddress is normally shared by hundreds or even milion sites.
Then, the question is , how does it work, how did it knows how to load my site and is there any performance issue when your site IPAddress is shared between other web site?
The answer is that all the web request is handled by Web Server,and the webserver will load the your site based on the host header or virtual host name that your site is configured.
For example if the web server has 5 website and all sharing one IP, then the Network Admin has to configure host header or virtual host that is unique to your site such as www.yourdomain.com to your site.
And there is no performance benefit on using dedicated IP over shared IP. It all depends on your hosting provider bandwidth.
So what is the reason why people want dedicated IP?. The main reason is if you planning to use SSL on your site, then you need dedicated IP.If not then either static IP or shared IP doesn’t make any difference.
