Do You Need a Dedicated IP for SSL

Since you are reading this post, you probably know how important it is for your site to have an SSL certificate installed. Whether you are running a blog, a business website, or an online shop, installing an SSL certificate is a necessity. The encrypted SSL connection will enhance security, increase website performance, boost SEO ranking, while also improving visitors’ trust.

There is a question that is often being raised: Do I need a dedicated IP in order to install an SSL certificate? In this post, we will answer that question, as well as provide some additional information on the matter.

• What is a Dedicated IP Address?
• Dedicated IP Address and SSL
• Do you Need a Dedicated IP for the FastComet SSL Certificate?
• Do You Offer Dedicated IP as an Аddon Service?

What is a Dedicated IP Address?

When it comes to web hosting environments, most companies will give you a choice between a shared IP address and a dedicated IP address. When using shared web hosting, you will be sharing the same IP address with a number of other websites on the same server. On the contrary, if you have a dedicated IP address instead of a shared one, that means your domain is using a unique IP, not sharing it with any other domains. You may have multiple websites under that dedicated IP, but it’s only yours, and you have full control over it.

Dedicated IP Address and SSL

Back in the day, installing an SSL certificate used to require that your website is using a dedicated IP address.

Yet, if SSL certificates could be installed only on dedicated IP addresses, there would be many unhappy site owners, especially because of the fact that having an SSL has become a standard. Fortunately, there is a technology called Server Name Indication (SNI) that 

allows the webserver to use one IP address for creating thousands of virtual host environments. Those virtual environments may host their own SSL certificates. The Server Name Indication informs (indicates) the hostname for a specific site and refers to it in particular, instead of suggesting the use of the shared IP address. In other words, SNI provides the capability to install an SSL certificate while using a shared IP address.

Since version 11.48 of cPanel, a dedicated IP address is no longer a necessity for the installation of an SSL certificate on your domain. This means that there would be no need to change your IP address and no downtime for your website thanks to the SNI (Server Name Indicator) technology.

Yet, not all web hosts support SNI, so you might still need to use a dedicated IP if you wish to install your SSL certificate.

Do You Need a Dedicated IP for the FastComet SSL Certificate?

FastComet servers are powered by the industry-leading web hosting platform cPanel. 

As such, FastComet and all modern web hosts support SNI technology that allows installing multiple SSL certificates on a Shared IP address without the need of having a dedicated IP address. This means that our servers intelligently serve the correct SSL certificate for the domain name being requested. 

But you don't always have to pay for your SSL certificate. If you have a Shared Hosting account with FastComet you can benefit from our Free SSL options. Setting up SSL with our free Let’s Encrypt integration is extremely easy.

Additionally, our FastCloud Plus and FastCloud Extra clients can benefit from a free Comodo PositiveSSL. FastCloud Plus users can have Comodo PositiveSSL free for 1 year, while clients that are on our FastCloud Extra plan may have the premium SSL certificate for as long as they have an active FastComet account.

Do You Offer Dedicated IP as an Addon Service?

FastComet does not offer dedicated IP addresses on any shared hosting plan offering. There is a myth that your SEO rank can suffer because of “noisy neighbors.” If that’s the only reason you want a dedicated IP address, you don’t have to worry. Even if you own one of the few “good” websites on a shared server, Google will always take a close look and make sure your site is not penalized because of a “bad neighborhood.”

However, there are some benefits of having a dedicated IP address, such as a better reputation when sending emails, or perhaps the ability to run particular third-party applications. In that case, if you have a VPS or a Dedicated CPU Server with us, you can purchase your dedicated IP address as an addon service.

Related articles

• Why the SSL Certificate Green Bar No Longer Exists
• How to Get Free SSL Certificate from FastComet for Your Website
• What is SSL/TLS?