Every website on the internet can be reached via its IP address, not by the site's domain name. When an internet user enters a website name into their search browser such as www.example.com, the name is converted into a series of numbers which is called an IP address. The computer directs the particular IP address to the website.

Unique IPs vs. Shared IPs

Not every single website has its own particular IP address that has been exclusively allocated to the site. Therefore, for example, there can be a site such as joeexample.com and susanexample.com using the same IP address. A user looking for joeexample.com is directed to the server that is hosting the IP addresses and will direct the user to the specific web page. This is referred to as a Shared IP address. On the other hand, if a site has its own IP address, this means it is not sharing the IP address with any one else. This is called a Unique IP address.

Benefits of Unique IPs

The advantage of having a unique IP address is users always have the ability to access a site that has a unique IP address by using its IP address by itself. If a user is using a shared IP address, they cannot access a website using a shared IP address by typing in just the IP address by itself. This is due to the fact that when you type in a shared IP address, you are going to the shared server and the server will not be able to identify which site the user wants to reach because the use did not enter the domain name of the site they want to access.

There are many benefits to using a unique IP address. For instance, you can only use SSL encryption on a unique IP address. So, for a user to transmit sensitive data over the web the data has to be encrypted to stop a criminal from capturing the information. You can only use SSL encryption when the website has its own unique IP address.

For a business who wants to ensure every internet user has accessibility to their website, the best choice is a cloud web hosting plan that provides them with their own unique IP address.

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