Understanding Shared IP vs. Dedicated IP

Choosing between a Shared IP vs. Dedicated IP address is an important step in setting up your IT infrastructure. Each option offers distinct advantages and challenges, and the right choice depends on your site's specific requirements.

In this guide, we'll outline the differences between shared and dedicated IPs and highlight the important considerations to keep in mind.

• What is a Shared IP Address?
• What is a Dedicated IP Address?
• What is a Port?
• Shared IP vs. Dedicated IP: Websites Hosting Considerations
• Alternative Hosting Solutions
• Summary

What is a Shared IP Address?

Every domain name has an IP address assigned to it, which is its real address of on the internet. Domain names were developed because long IP numbers like 234.123.66.7 are difficult to remember. In shared hosting, we host several hundred websites on one server; those same sites will share one single IP address. Instead of having a unique IP address for every domain, you share one IP address with all of the accounts on your server.

Advantages of a Shared IP

• Affordable: Using a shared IP address can be a more economical choice compared to a dedicated IP. Many senders purchase a shared IP through the same service, resulting in a split of server costs among users.
   
• Easy to use: It is easier to configure shared IP addresses compared to dedicated IPs. Email tools typically provide a straightforward process that can be completed with a few clicks. Additionally, choosing shared IP eliminates the need for IP warming for Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Disadvantages of a Shared IP

• Potential Damage to Reputation: The downside to shared IPs is that some countries, like China, censor particular websites by their IP address. If a website they censor is on the same server as yours, and China blocks that website using the shared IP address, then your website and the hundreds of others on that server are also blocked. This means that any clients in China would be unable to view your site. Getting a dedicated IP address would make your website separate so that if the shared IP address were blocked, your site wouldn't automatically be blocked along with it.
   
• Brand Identity is Limited: If you send emails, your brand can get mixed up with other brands using the same mail server. Because of this, it can be difficult to create a distinct brand identity for your domain, regardless of your email marketing strategy and efforts.

What is a Dedicated IP Address?

With a dedicated IP address, your site is the only one that uses that unique IP address on the Internet. For example, if you typed http://64.233.187.99/ into your web browser's address bar, you would see Google's website come up. This is their unique address on the web, which is attached to the domain name google.com.

Advantages of a Dedicated IP

• Better Security: When an IP address is assigned to a specific website or device, it becomes significantly more challenging for cybercriminals to break into it. This is because the IP address is not shared among multiple websites or devices, lowering the chances of hackers finding a loophole to exploit.
   
• Improved Website Performance: When a website shares an IP address with other sites, its performance can be impacted by the other sites. This can lead to slow loading times and other performance-related issues. However, with a dedicated IP address, the website is not impacted by other websites. As a result,  this leads to faster loading times and overall improved website performance.
   
• Customizable DNS Settings: Users with a dedicated IP address completely control their DNS settings, providing more flexibility, especially for businesses requiring frequent DNS changes. In contrast, with a shared IP address, the hosting provider controls the DNS settings.

Disadvantages of a Dedicated IP

• Costly: Dedicated IP addresses are more expensive than shared IP addresses because they are reserved for one user and not shared among other users.
   
• Complex Management: Managing a dedicated IP address can be more complex than managing a shared IP address because users will be solely responsible for managing their own IP address, requiring more technical knowledge.

What is a Port?

A port is managed by a computer's OS (Operating System). It is a point where network connections begin and end. Every port is linked with a particular process or service. Moreover, using ports enables computers to differentiate between various types of traffic easily.

Here are a few examples of commonly used ports:

• Port 21 - FTP (File transfer)
• Port 25 - SMTP (Email sending)
• Port 80 - HTTP (Web traffic)

All devices connected to a network have standardized ports that are assigned specific numbers. Most ports are reserved for particular protocols. Port numbers are used to target specific services or applications within devices. In contrast, IP addresses are used to enable messages to be sent to and received from particular devices.

Shared IP vs. Dedicated IP: Websites Hosting Considerations

Program and Script Requirements

The program or script you run on your site may require a process to run longer than 10 minutes. The process will terminate at the 10-minute mark on a shared IP address. With a dedicated IP address, processes are allowed to run for more than 10 minutes as long as they aren't consuming too much of the server's memory, which would result in CPU throttling. CPU throttling can occur both on a shared and a dedicated IP address. Certain voice chat programs require a dedicated IP address before being set up and used. If you have a program that sends out emails every so many seconds, such as from a mailing list program like DaDa Mail, a dedicated IP address could be helpful if it takes more than 10 minutes to send the emails.

Port Access for Applications

Some ports must be blocked in a shared hosting environment where everyone shares the same IP. We block access to specific ports to help avoid having security holes in the firewall and to allow us to monitor and control customers who attempt to abuse the different services that we allow to run through these ports. Most processes requiring specific Port Access are typically bound to the IP address they are running on.

On a shared IP, only one service could run through a specific port from that IP. We have only opened the ports for processes running on our servers (webmail, cPanel, etc.). Purchasing a dedicated IP will allow us to grant you access to the ports you need to run your specific services. This applies to both outbound and inbound connections running on non-standard ports.

Generally, with a dedicated IP address on your account, you can open any port over 1024. Ports 1024 and lower are restricted and cannot be opened.

Alternative Hosting Solutions

If you do not have a dedicated IP and private SS, you can use a PayPal shopping cart or an alternative shopping cart hosted by another company off of your site. Your main site will still be hosted by Bluehost. However, when someone goes to pay, they would be redirected to the company you choose to host your shopping cart. Most businesses and customers don't like the idea of sending or being sent to a new website address to complete their transactions.

Summary

This article discusses the key differences between Shared IP vs. Dedicated IP. Shared IP addresses are cost-effective and less complex to use but can lead to reputation issues and limited brand identity. On the other hand, dedicated IP addresses offer better security, improved website performance, and customizable DNS settings, but they are more expensive and require more technical knowledge. It is important to learn how ports work and that program or script requirements have a significant impact on deciding which type of IP address to choose. This article helps you identify the advantages and disadvantages of Shared IP vs. Dedicated IP to make an informed decision for your site's specific needs. To help you figure out which option is better for you, read our article "Shared Hosting vs. Dedicated Hosting: Which Is Best for You?".