What is Dedicated IP Address?

IP stands for Internet Protocol and is defined as unique address assigned to each computer that is connected to a certain network. Internet Protocol address plays the role of unique identifier that is used to provide actual location of a machine or a website in a given network.

Why is it beneficial to have a dedicated IP address?

Is it necessary to have a dedicated IP address for your website and why, if you just can use a shared one? Generally, having a shared IP address will not cause you any harm. But using dedicated IP address provides with certain crucial advantages:

• It provides a higher stability

The fact that multiple websites share single IP address on the Web gives a clear picture about difficulties that may appear with a separate website. Just imagine that one of the websites hosted on a Shared server as well as yours, was suddenly flagged as a malicious one or the actual IP address of the server was blacklisted due to possible spamming activity of one of the users. Unfortunately there is a possibility that your website would suffer the consequences as well, however dedicated IP address will allow to control reputation of the website on your own in this case, and it won’t be affected by the others activity.

• Less Downtime

Each time your IP address refreshes you run the risk of downtime from the server. While this is usually only for a very short time, it can wreak havoc on your gaming. Having a static address eliminates this risk.

• Good for a business identity

If you are going to host your own online-store or other e-commerce related website, and you are not going to use some additional third-party services for handling payments, it is quite necessary to grab some Dedicated IP address and SSL certificate for the website. Secure e-commerce websites need SSL certificates for accepting credit cards online in order to provide security for your customer’s data. Web hosts usually offer a shared SSL certificate where clients can share the Web host’s SSL; but on the website which uses dedicated IP address, customers will feel more safe making transactions.

• Running an FTP server

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is an efficient and reliable way to transfer data from one computer to another. If your business often needs to receive large files then you’ll probably be investigating setting up your own FTP server so that people can send you files. Once you’ve set up the site with FTP server, clients, partners or friends just need to log in to access, edit or upload files.

• Remote access

With a static IP address you can access your PC no matter where you are in the world. Using programs such as Remote Administrator and PC Anywhere you can log into your work or home PC no matter where you are. Although you can set the connection up regardless of what type of IP address you have, you need a fixed address to maintain it otherwise the program will no longer be able to find your computer when your PC refreshes its dynamic address.

• It is required for particular third-party applications/scripts

Sometimes a particular application or a script that you may wish to run on your server requires a dedicated IP address.