An IP address is a unique number which separates an Internet site or a web server on the world-wide web, so in the event that you have a dedicated IP, it shall be employed only by your sites and shall not be shared with other individuals as it happens with shared website hosting accounts. If you have your own hosting server, you shall have a dedicated IP, but you may require extra ones for a variety of uses. Provided you have an electronic store, for example, you will need an SSL certificate for it, to make certain that the payment information which your customers submit will be encrypted and protected. The same is valid if you have a login form of some sort and you want the usernames and the passwords which visitors input to be secured. The SSL certificate requires a dedicated IP, which should be different from the one which you already have on the server. You could also need an individual IP for an app such as a VoIP server, or if you want a slightly better performance for a given website, which will influence its position in search engine results.