People still ask us about Dedicated IPv4 addresses for their SSL Certificates – it’s a no!
We stopped providing dedicated addresses to customers a long while back, as short of incredibly outdated/insecure systems there’s no need for them. There’s still a method to acquire the same solution if it’s needed – customers can spin up a LEOPARD.host VPS and bolt-on additional IPv4 (ie. a /29), then move account/s over to those spare addresses in order to accomplish the goal.
What’s included with Hosting accounts? Shared IPv4 always, with optional Dedicated IPv6 if you’d like it.
There’s a limited amount of IPv4 out there, and a hefty portion of it’s still being left dormant by the United States Government (for reasons unknown to the world). End result is that IPv4 exhaustion has approached faster than expected, and the need to responsibly issue v4 space has climbed exponentially. If you don’t need a dedicated v4 address, then you shouldn’t have it.
IPv6 adoption globally is slow, though it continues to climb. Australia is around 1/4 deployed at the moment, so there’s plenty of avenue for downgrades (where a v6 connection has to downgrade to v4 as it reached a non-v6 “hop” en route to its destination). We’re hoping to see that improve, especially as ISPs such as Aussie Broadband focus on improving their dual-stack options (via SLAAC, etc).
How do I know my Hosting/Server account’s IPv4/v6 addressing information though?
It’s simple! When you signed up, you should’ve received a welcome email from us – that will contain a stack of handy info, including your addressing details. We always include relevant IPv4/v6 even where you’re likely to be using hostnames instead. Please let us know if you haven’t received it (or can’t track it down) so we can resend it to you – something you can also do within my.LEOPARD if you’d like to!
I’m worried about HTTPS without a Dedicated IPv4 address – should I be? What about Let’s Encrypt?
There’s no reason to worry – SNI is the system that allows multiple SSLs to function over a shared address, and it’s been working reliably for many years now. If your host is continuing to sell you a Dedicated IPv4 address, they’re taking you for a ride! We use Let’s Encrypt for all SSL certificates across Servers and Shared Hosting – unless your DNS is elsewhere, it’ll issue a wildcard certificate for your domain/s.
