Is It Important To Ask Your Web Host For A Static IP Address

When you sign up with a web host, you will normally be given either one of two types of IP address. Shared IP addresses and static IP addresses are the two different types of IP address provided. Shared web hosting involves your site being given a portion of space on the web host’s server. All websites on the server will have the same shared 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. Likewise if you have a website that is holding confidential information, you would also need a static IP address. It is essential for sites such as these to use static IP addresses if they are going to use SSL encryption. SSL encryption is required in order to make sure that any confidential data travelling to and from your site is encrypted. This way you can prevent any of this data from ending up in the wrong hands. SSL encryption cannot be used with shared IP addresses.

FTP transfers also require the use of a static IP address. If you are allowing visitors to your site to download files then you must have a static IP address. These are the main reasons that most people use static IP addresses.

Although you do not need to worry too much about security for your site if it is not an ecommerce site. If your site is just there to make you money from ads, then you do not need to worry about static IP addresses. You can also forget about static IP addresses if your website does not have the facility for visitors to download files.

Whenever you make your decision to enter the big, bad world of internet marketing, you should really have web hosting set up beforehand. But the world of web hosting can be confusing. For example, you may come across reseller web hosting or even linux web hosting on your travels.