An IP address is a unique number that identifies an Internet site or a hosting server on the world-wide web, so if you have a dedicated IP, it shall be employed exclusively by your Internet sites and shall not be shared with other individuals as it happens with shared hosting accounts. In case you have your own server, you will have a dedicated IP, but you may require extra ones for various uses. If you have an Internet store, for instance, you shall need an SSL certificate for it, so as to ensure that the payment information your customers submit will be encrypted and protected. The same is valid if you have a login form of some kind and you wish the usernames and the passwords which visitors input to be secured. The SSL certificate requires a dedicated IP address, which ought to be different from the one which you already have on the machine. You could also need an individual IP for an application such as a VoIP server, or if you want a slightly better functionality for a given website, which may influence its position in search engine results.