If you'd like to protect the data that visitors submit on your website, you need an SSL certificate. The abbreviation stands for Secure Sockets Layer and this is a protocol used to encode any info exchanged between a site and its users as to guarantee that even if an unauthorized person intercepts any information, they'll not be able to read or use it in any way. The present level of encryption makes it literally impossible to decrypt the real content, so if you have a login form of some sort or you offer services and products online and customers submit credit card info, using an SSL certificate will be a guarantee that the information is protected. Usually a dedicated IP address is needed to install an SSL, which will increase the cost to maintain your site. The additional cost may matter in case you run a small web shop, a non-profit organization or any other entity that doesn't generate a big profit, so to save you the funds, our cloud web hosting platform supports installing an SSL certificate on a shared server IP address, not a dedicated one.
Shared SSL IP in Website Hosting
A shared IP could be used for any SSL certificate, regardless if you purchase it from our company or from another vendor and regardless of the website hosting service which you have on our end. If you acquire the SSL through us, you will come across this option on the certificate order page within your hosting Control Panel where you can also take advantage of the 1-click automatic configuration option which we offer. If the latter is selected inside the SSL order wizard, our system will install and set up everything for you through the specifically configured server shared IP, thus once you obtain and approve the SSL, there will not be anything else to do on your end. You could save the money that you will otherwise have to pay for a dedicated IP address and the SSL shall work in the exact same way, so any information the website visitors submit shall be encrypted. The one difference is that if you enter the shared IP instead of your domain inside an Internet browser, the website will not show up.
Shared SSL IP in Semi-dedicated Hosting
The shared IP option is available with all Linux semi-dedicated hosting and the setup takes only a couple of clicks within the hosting Control Panel no matter if you buy an SSL from our business or through a third-party provider. There won't be any difference in the way the certificate works or encrypts the information your website visitors submit, so your site will be protected without spending any additional funds for a dedicated IP. The sole thing which will be different is that https://the-shared-IP shall not open your site, unlike https://the-dedicated-IP, but it is quite unlikely that anyone will ever try to access your internet site in this way instead of keying in your domain. We also offer an auto-configuration option for the SSLs purchased through our company and if you select it and you choose to use a shared IP instead of a dedicated one, our system shall set everything up the moment the SSL is approved and issued without any action on your end.