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IP Address Lookup

The following is for informational purposes only

What is a Virtual IP

What is a Virtual IP

What is a Virtual IP?

A virtual IP address (VIP/VIPA, also known as "floating" or "shared" IP addresses) is a public IP address shared by several devices connected to the Internet through the NAT device (often a router). VIPs are often found in on-premises environments such as home or office networks. A VIP is just a cybernetic reference that is not tethered to particular ports and doesn't correspond to a physical machine or interface. Since it is frequently used to protect web servers, serve multiple IP addresses from the same subnet, or further network address translation (for instance, one-to-many mappings with devices on a network), a VIP is often described as a load-balancing instance that directs browsers towards a site.

What is the difference between IP and VIP?

Unlike a regular IP address bound to a device and restricted to a physical network wire, a virtual IP address doesn't have a corresponding real-life port. With VIP, internally, all its connected machines have their unique local IP address, but externally, they share one virtual IP. A VIP address is infinitely more accessible on a server than any other physical IP address, which is often unreachable because of extremely resilient dynamic routing protocols or TCP/IP protocols that use network-based (link-centered) mapping to recognize network nodes.

How does a VIP work?

How does a VIP work?

First of all, a VIP has its IP address, which has to be publicly available; otherwise, it cannot be used. Usually, the VIP is associated with a UDP or TCP port number, like TCP port 80 for internet traffic. The traffic is differentiated based on the port number, which helps to determine what IP address should receive the traffic. Also, a VIP would have at least one real server assigned to it, to which it will distribute web traffic through one-to-many relationships of IP addresses. A frequent application of VIPs is to have a common, public IP address (externally) to represent the web server, FTP server, and email server, each with a unique private IP address.

What are the benefits of using a Virtual IP?

What are the benefits of using a Virtual IP?

The main advantages of VIPs over the physical IPs are the nearly limitless mobility, simplicity, source address choice for outbound connections, support for host mask, and high availability. Moreover, a virtual IP address excludes a host's reliance upon single network interfaces and provides a failover alternative to individual machines. Previously, if an interface failed, all its connections were lost. Now incoming data batches are directed to the system's VIP address; then, they're distributed by dynamic routing protocols through the actual network interfaces.

For this to work, the host needs an interior gateway protocol - the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), for instance - and it has to become a router for the rest of the network. When one web interface fails, the OSPF guides traffic through another interface. VIPs have multiple implementation set-ups and variations, including Proxy Address Resolution Protocol (Proxy ARP) and Common Address Redundancy Protocol (CARP).

How do I find my virtual IP address?

On a Windows computer, open the Command Prompt and type "ipconfig" in the command line to view all network connections (disconnected, connected, and virtual). Press Enter, and a list of all the network Ethernet and wireless adapters found on your device will be displayed; both IPv6 and the IPv4 addresses will be featured for each network adapter, as well as the VIP you are looking for.

How to add a virtual IP address?

How to add a virtual IP address?

Adding and configuring a Virtual IP Address on Windows starts by going to Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Center.Choose Change adapter settings and right-click on a Network connection, then click Properties. To configure the virtual IP address, you have to select the TCP/IP connection -> Properties -> Advancedfor the configured IP address. Click on Add in the Advanced TCP/IP Settings window and type the Subnet mask and the IP address, then click Add. For a virtual service's VIP address, the configuration can be based on an IP address or DNS domain name.

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