When you enter the URL of a website you want to view the URL connects to the Domain Name Server (also called DNS). Domain Name Server is a kind of directory which has the record of the URL’s and their IP addresses. Once you enter the URL of the website you want to view the Domain Name Server find’s the IP address of the website and then you get the website you want to view. So IP addresses play a very important role in this whole process. There are two kinds of IP addresses. One is a Shared IP address and the other is a Dedicated IP address.

Shared IP address:-

Shared IP address is an IP address which is shared by more than one website. There is no specific number of websites that can have a same IP address. In fact you might come across a many websites hosted on the same IP address. If you enter the domain name of a website you want to view than the Web servers determine the IP address with the same Domain name you have entered in your browser. However, if you directly enter a Shared IP address than you will be shown some kind of a generic page instead of any of the website which has been hosted on the same IP address. If you have a shared IP address for your website than too it will not affect your website in any way. It is said that if you have a Shared IP address it affects your website ranking on the search engines (some do agree to this statement). But, for special access such as SSL or Anonymous FTP for your website you will need a Dedicated IP address. Another disadvantage of a shared IP address is you will not get direct access to your website by entering the IP address.

Example of a Shared IP address-

67.27.79.148/~youraccount

Under most conditions your website will work fine on a shared IP address if you do not have any special requirements.

Dedicated IP address:-

Dedicated IP address means that a website has an IP address which is not shared by any other website. This means that the website has a unique or in other words separate IP address. Dedicated IP address is also called as a Static IP address. If you have a Dedicated IP address for your website than your website can be displayed even if only the IP address of the website which is in numerical form is entered in the browser and you will get the same website. This is also considered as a benefit of a dedicated IP address. Another benefit of a Dedicated IP address is you can get special access to your website like Anonymous FTP access and Private SSL Certificate. If you need this kind of special access to your website then you will definitely need a Dedicated IP address as this kind of special access to your website will not be possible with a Shared IP address.

Example of a Dedicated IP address-

67.14.62.198

You must have heard people related to the Web Hosting industry saying that a website having a Dedicated IP address is more preferred by search engines in comparison to the websites having a Shared IP address. However, this is not considered as a true statement by some of them.