By If you have been remotely close to setting up a website in 2020 for various purposes like blog posts or selling anything, you might have surely heard of a dedicated IP. And if you are still a newbie, then don’t worry. We have got you covered as well. This post will dig a little deep into why a dedicated IP address will help you in this day and age. So, sit tight and bear with us till the end.
Table of Contents
IP Address: The Basic Definition
To put it simply, an IP address acts as an identifier for a computer that is connected online. Hence, it is a unique string of numbers that will set your computer apart from all the other networks that the internet holds together. And each of them has a unique IP too. It helps to identify the type of computer you use and its location.
The DNS or the Domain Name System works using the domain name and the IP address. When you search for a particular website, your ISP(Internet Service Provider) looks for the IP address corresponding to the domain name and finally loads the website you were looking for. So you can say that the domain names help to identify the IP address.
Dedicated IP Address: What Does It Mean?
You can easily understand what a dedicated IP is by first learning about a shared IP. There will be only one server in a shared IP scenario. And several websites will use the same server and, as a result, the same IP address. Consequently, the server will have to grind a great deal to respond to the request of people trying to search one of these websites.
The associated shortcomings of a shared IP are solved with the help of a dedicated IP. In this case, the website will have its very own IP address that is not shared with any other site. Moreover, if you use a dedicated server for it(as done most commonly), then you rack up even more benefits. And to find what these benefits are, let’s move on to the next section.
Advantages: How A Dedicated IP Address Will Up Your Game
Protection
As mentioned above, a person using a shared IP address may face some difficulties. The most common problem is the effect that the activity other websites can have on yours. If one of these other websites were to be flagged because of some malicious content, then your website will be affected as well, since you share the same IP address.
Things will get even worse if the IP address gets blacklisted due to some reason. Hence, you will have to suffer for something that you did not do. To avoid circumstances like this, it’s better to rely on a dedicated IP address.
Your Email And Reputation
If you are a business owner, then you probably know how important an email can be. So imagine if an email from your site does not reach its destination. It may do you a good deal of damage. And that is another problem a shared IP will cause.
This happens because your emails may sometimes reach the spam folder of the recipient. One of the websites that you share the IP with might have the habit of sending out a lot of spam messages. Consequently, the system will presume that the emails front the same IP address as spam. Yet another reason to switch to a dedicated IP.
SSL Certificate
They are small data files. Technically speaking, they digitally attach the details of an enterprise to a cryptographic key. There is no actual need to go beyond that for now. You need to know that these help the browser to make secure connections to your network.
Your website can run without SSL certificates. However, browsers, including chrome, have listed some sites as insecure because of their absence. And the presence of an SSL certificate is now a stipulation for specific situations. Since SSL certificates require a dedicated IP address, you might as well get one.
Short Downtime
Downtime refers to the time when your site becomes unavailable for some time. This can happen whenever the server refreshes your IP address. It occurs only for a short period. But if you are using it for games, then it can cause quite an issue.
Gaming has become a force to reckon in 2020, especially since people are locked in their homes with nothing to do. So, if you use a shared IP for hosting your game, then the game may get stuck wherever the server refreshes it. So a static address will avoid this scenario. Hence, I prefer a dedicated IP.
Running The Website Without A Domain Name
If you are the sole person using the IP address, then a person can get to your website using only that. So you won’t need a domain name to begin with. But it does not mean that you should not get one.
It just means that you could get your website up and running before registering a domain name. And there are many circumstances where this might be the case. Maybe you don’t have enough time on your schedule to work after the registration, or perhaps you don’t have the right name picked yet.
Wrapping Up
Through this post, we have covered a good deal about how having a dedicated IP address will serve you well. If you are an emerging business owner or share some other type of content, then it will be up to your game. But it’s for you to decide if you want to use it or not. So choose wisely. Good luck.
