This tutorial will look at the definition of IP addresses and help you decide if you need a Dedicated IP. An IP Address is an Internet Protocol Address. It is a unique number address that every server that has access to the Internet is required to have in order for other computers on the WWW to identify the server. To a computer, it is like a phone number.

When you signed up for services from our hosting company, you were given an IP address to use until your domain name propagated. That IP address is how computers from all around the world will find your website, identifying it by the numbers. Every server is running a domain name server (DNS) at all times, which works like a switchboard for all the incoming requests for websites. The server can identify your site based on the IP numbers, and will then fetch it for the browser requesting it. The DNS server is responsible for informing all the other computers on the Internet about your website address and domain name. It keeps track of which domain names correspond to which IP addresses.

The IP address you were given is probably a shared one. You will usually share one with many other domain names. The important thing is that you have an IP address assigned to your domain, and that all the right nameservers know what it is. You can also purchase a dedicated IP Address from us, and that will be your address alone. But do you need a dedicated IP? Most websites don't. The most common reason that a website would need a dedicated IP is if it requires an SSL certificate for operating secure connections. Usually these are necessary if you are operating a business that processes transactions over the Internet. Any eCommerce site should have an SSL Certificate, and therefore would require a dedicated IP.

This concludes the tutorial about IP's. You now know a little more about IP's and dedicated IP's and who should have one....