There are usually two types of IP address that are given to customers for their websites from the web host. These two types are static IP addresses or shared IP addresses. Shared web hosting involves your site being given a portion of space on the web host’s server. That server is shared by many different customers whose sites all share the same IP address. Sites such as blogs or sites purely offering information will find a shared IP address more than adequate.
Although static IP addresses are essential for sites such as ecommerce sites where security would be an issue. Other sites that would need a static IP address would be sites which are holding any data which is confidential. Sites like these require the use of SSL encryption which requires the use of a static IP address. Any confidential data which is directed either to or from your site is encrypted with SSL encryption. This way you can prevent any of this data from ending up in the wrong hands. It is not possible to use SSL encryption with a shared IP address.
FTP transfers also require the use of a static IP address. Your site must have a static IP address if your website allows users to download files. These are the main reasons that most people use static IP addresses.
However security is not such a major issue for those sites that do not accept payments from customers etc. If your site is just there to make you money from ads, then you do not need to worry about static IP addresses. Another reason you can forget about static IP addresses is if your site does not facilitate ftp transfers.
Anybody thinking about venturing into internet marketing should have web hosting set up beforehand. Newbie’s can find, though, that the web hosting world can be rather confusing. For example, you may come across reseller web hosting or even linux web hosting when you are looking at different hosting plans.
Tags: dedicated ip address, linux web hosting, reseller web hosting, shared web hosting, static ip address, web hosting