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Digital Literacy How the Web Works The World Wide Web Domain Names and IP Addresses

helmi al kindy
helmi al kindy
1,371 Points
Posted by helmi al kindy
helmi al kindy
1,371 Points

Is it possible that .....

One single IP address to host different websites ? E.g: 123.220.255.48 = teamtreehouse.com >> example.com >> someotherexample.com >> soonandsoforth.com

2 Answers

Dennis Balagna
Dennis Balagna
4,948 Points
Dennis Balagna
Dennis Balagna
4,948 Points

Yes, one single IP can host multiple websites. The server knows what website to send you to at that IP address with the "host" field in the header that is sent in the request by the client.

removericcardodedomenico
removericcardodedomenico
Courses Plus Student 961 Points

Hi Dennis, may I ask you what do you mean by "host reader"?

Dennis Balagna
Dennis Balagna
4,948 Points
Dennis Balagna
Dennis Balagna
4,948 Points

Riccardo, I am talking about the host field of the HTTP header. You can view a list of the different fields of the HTTP header at (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HTTP_header_fields)

I've slightly modified my original answer to add a little clarity.

Marcus Parsons
Marcus Parsons
15,719 Points
Marcus Parsons
Marcus Parsons
15,719 Points

Hey Helmi,

IP addresses are unique identifiers that vary per computer/server/device and are never repeated. No two computers/servers/devices can have the same IP address. A good analogy of this is to think of IP addresses like house addresses but each with only person or company living at that particular address. If I wanted to send mail to "203 Main Street New York, New York 10001" but that address belonged to "Team Treehouse" and "Example" and "Some Other Example" and "So On And So Forth" and had a bunch of other names associated with it, it would be confusing as to who I wanted my mail sent to. There would also be cases of getting someone else's mail you didn't want and so on and so forth. And that's why IP addresses are made unique so that data cannot get mixed up out in the internet.

Marcus Parsons
Marcus Parsons
15,719 Points

You're welcome, Helmi.

Artyom Silivonchik
Artyom Silivonchik
935 Points
Artyom Silivonchik
Artyom Silivonchik
935 Points

It's not answering the question.

One IP address can host (better word "belong to") several sites. If you need more info - please read about "shared hosting" it's a very wide spread practice.

Julian Williams
Julian Williams
1,022 Points

Well, not really, Marcus ("...like house addresses but each with only person or company living at that particular address"). Just as one house address may have several individuals residing therein, so may a single individual living at an an address have several web-connected devices, each of which (as you yourself say) have separate, unique IP addresses.

Joseph O'Donnell
Joseph O'Donnell
1,449 Points

So would it be correct that every device I may be using at my home (on the same wireless network/same modem) will have a distinct IP Address? Does this change if there is a LAN in place? Will each computer in the same local area network have its own IP address as well?