An IP address is a unique number which identifies a website or a server on the world-wide web, so in the event that you have a dedicated IP, it shall be used only by your Internet sites and shall not be shared with other individuals as it happens with shared web hosting accounts. Provided you have your own hosting server, you'll have a dedicated IP, but you may require extra ones for many different purposes. If you have an Internet store, for example, you shall need an SSL certificate for it, to make certain that the payment information your customers submit will be encrypted and safe. The same is valid in case you have a login form of some type and you want the usernames and the passwords that visitors input to be secured. The SSL certificate requires a dedicated IP address, which needs to be different from the one which you already have on the server. You may also need an independent IP for an application such as a VoIP server, or if you need a slightly better overall performance for a particular Internet site, which shall affect its position in search engine results.